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 kermy
Stranger
Registered: 06/30/08
Posts: 5
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 These pics have contam? +other notes/questions from 1st PF colonizing attempt
#8581130 - 06/30/08 05:51 PM (2 months, 6 days ago) |
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I have some pics [all taken at 17 DAYS] of colonizing 1/2 pint PF jars at the end of this post that I would appreciate opinions on whether/not contamination is present  . [I have used the PF brown rice flour/vermiculite method in 1/2 pint canning jars with foil on the top. I inoculated through the foil with a syringe and covered the resulting holes with micropore tape.]
First I wrote here some other notes of interest I have made so far on my first attempt at the myc colonization stage. Any comments on any of them are appreciated!  
1) It can be seen in the below pics that condensation has formed inside my jars. Does this mean I should use less water in the BRF/verm mixture next time?
2) All areas where myc conlonizes eventually shrinks back from the glass wall. Is that normal? Because of this, my .5" verm barrier layer on the top no longer is packed to the top of the jar; some verm also falls down the sides into the newly recessed area.
Should I pack the brf/verm mixture slightly tighter next time to account for this? I know that will make the mixture less airy. Is that tradeoff worth it? I will definitely pack more/tighter verm barrier layer on top.
3) I inoculated 12 jars with one 10cc syringe. 3 of the jars have not colonization even after 3 weeks. Some of the jars have mycelium that started growing from only 1 or 2 inoculation spots. I am inclined to inoculate only 10 jars with one 10cc syringe next time so that hopefully the spores will not be spread so thin, and myc colonization will occur more robustly. How many jars do you inoculate with 10cc's?
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Now for the pics that I am curious about contamination. Most of the jars have varying amounts/degrees of light orange/tan on the parts of the mycelium. These parts are mostly on areas of mycelium that colonized first, not the most recent colonized areas [most of these initial areas have shrunk back as noted above in note 2)]. *Unfortunately the orange does not show up as well as can be seen in real life, so I appreciate you bearing with me! There is none of this "color" on uncolonized substrate. It seems plausible that these orange/tan-colored areas I notice are just the brf substrate color showing through the white myc. But that is what I am not sure about.
In this pic the left jar has the "orange color" towards the top of the white. The right jar is in the pic for comparison (it does not have any orange/tan).
[image] [/image]
Close-up of left jar
[image] [/image]
Close-up of right jar with no orange
 [image] [/image]
Super-close-up of orange in left jar
[image] [/image]
Super-close-up of right jar with no orange/tan
[image] [/image]
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These last three pics of the bottoms of jars illustrate a different possible contam. I'd bet it's probably OK, but I'm still curious.
how all of the normal jars look (notice the fine texture)
[image] [/image]
This bottom of another lone jar shows a less fine texture with blotches on the sides (The blotches are what I think may be contam)
[image] [/image]
Blotch close-up
[image] [/image]
Thanks for any insight! Good luck with all of your growing! 
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 xenophobe
Stranger
Registered: 05/18/08
Posts: 44
Last seen: 18 days, 10 hours
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 Re: These pics have contam? +other notes/questions from 1st PF colonizing attempt [Re: kermy]
#8589995 - 07/03/08 12:10 AM (2 months, 4 days ago) |
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relax man, you have nothing to worry about. but first of all take the tape of the foil and let you myc breath, after you finish cooking your jars you dont even really need the foil anymore because its only put there to control the moisture while cooking, your verm layer should be enough to protect your jars from contams.
your cakes shriveling is normal its just the myc grabbing the substrate. verm falling down is nothing to worry about either, so you dont need to pack it any tighter -that will only make it harder for the myc to colonize.
condensation is not a problem, just think of it as your myc working up a sweat.
the burnt color looks fine.
brf can take awhile to finish so its just a waiting game now.
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kermy
Stranger
Registered: 06/30/08
Posts: 5
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 Re: These pics have contam? +other notes/questions from 1st PF colonizing attempt [Re: xenophobe]
#8597762 - 07/05/08 03:25 PM (2 months, 1 day ago) |
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Thanks, xenophobe. So do you not leave the foil on after sterilization of the jars? Interesting, I haven't read that risk of contamination is apparently not high enough to need the foil left on as you say. I have read suggestions to remove tape and store jars upside down once about 80% of the jar has been colonized (which I have started to do). In the future, I may try your suggestion to leave foil off all together.
Thanks for the words of consolation
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Everything in this post describes my computer-illiterate friend's actions/behavior, not my own;)
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kermy
Stranger
Registered: 06/30/08
Posts: 5
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Re: These pics have contam? +other notes/questions from 1st PF colonizing attempt [Re: kermy]
#8597794 - 07/05/08 03:35 PM (2 months, 1 day ago) |
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As xenophobe indicates above, the orange color may not be a contaminant after all. I have since discovered this peach color may be a result of condensation at the location of the color. OR, it may be a mycelium metabolite (actually helpful). Do a forum search on metabolite to learn more.
It is 6 days later and a few of my jars are close to finishing. I have removed tape over the inoculation holes and flipped those jars in an effort to improve FAE at this slower later end of the colonization.
I plan on dunking and rolling a few cakes, and just dunking to see the difference. I will try to have them fruit in a Poor Man's Pod.
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Everything in this post describes my computer-illiterate friend's actions/behavior, not my own;)
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