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BrownThumb
Versed in sterility
Registered: 02/07/09
Posts: 67
Last seen: 13 years, 6 months
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First time grower puzzled by NO GROWTH AT ALL
#9756189 - 02/07/09 06:17 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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Hey, this is my first time trying to grow mushrooms. Thanks to everyone who have supplied all the excellent instructions on this site - unfortunately, it still may not have been enough to stop me from f*&$%ng it up.
I followed the PF Tek, but I used full pint-size jars (I know, first mistake...). I did increase the recipe accordingly. Anyway, I sterilized everything and used a total of three whole syringes to inoculate a total of ten pint-size jars. Syringes were from Hawks Eye.
Ive incubated the jars in a box near a heater, so theyve been at around 75-80 degrees for TWO FULL WEEKS NOW. No real sign of any kind of growth. No white mycelium, no contams. Jars were cool to the touch after sterilization (I left them in the fridge for two hours after sterilizing).
Any bright ideas? Think I killed the spores somehow? Is it just that the jars are bigger and I have to wait longer? When do I suck it up and buy some new spores and re-inoculate? Anyone with similar experiences? I know patience is a virtue, but no signs of white growth (or any growth of any kind) after two weeks makes me wonder what to do...
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schutzemdown
Waste of Space
Registered: 01/06/09
Posts: 4,048
Loc: The Hoosier State
Last seen: 13 years, 1 month
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Re: First time grower puzzled by NO GROWTH AT ALL [Re: BrownThumb]
#9756272 - 02/07/09 06:35 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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?
-------------------- Money can't buy you love, but it can buy you drugs. Try practicing safe sex and go fuck yourself! AMU
Edited by schutzemdown (02/07/09 06:35 PM)
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danielx
whatup!
Registered: 10/13/08
Posts: 6,500
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Re: First time grower puzzled by NO GROWTH AT ALL [Re: schutzemdown]
#9756303 - 02/07/09 06:40 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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Someone correct me if im wrong but isn't it bad to cool them down in the fridge? That could have been a problem? Did you make them too wet? I've found this to stall a jar. Did you put the sub in the jar nice and fluffy and not pat it down? Pint jars have a tendacy to compact alot restricting gas exchange. Did you take the tape off the jar? Mycelium likes gas exchange, you don't need the tape thats what your dry verm layer is for. Did you shake the syringes before using? I'd also recommend not incubating with heat, room temperature works fine.
And last but not least you didn't say how long have you waited? This hobby takes patience, ive waited over 2 weeks to see any growth from jars before.
good luck!
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NYGiants420
Hippie
Registered: 11/03/08
Posts: 370
Last seen: 13 years, 3 months
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Re: First time grower puzzled by NO GROWTH AT ALL [Re: danielx]
#9756330 - 02/07/09 06:43 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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What do you mean increase the recipe accordingly? The ratio stays the same you just fill the jar with more substrate.
-------------------- If I had a shotgun, you know what I'd do? I'd point that shit straight at the sky and shoot heaven on down for you. Because the bars are always open, and the time is always right, and if God's good word goes unspoken the music goes all night.
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Jitsu
JKD Love
Registered: 11/12/08
Posts: 1,073
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Re: First time grower puzzled by NO GROWTH AT ALL [Re: NYGiants420]
#9756475 - 02/07/09 07:13 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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I think you contaminated your substrate with bacteria by putting it in the fridge before your spores could germinate at all.
Did you use dry vermiculite anywhere in your jar preperation?
-------------------- Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there. How I get my Pinsets The Capabilities Of A Shotgun FC
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Shroominit
Part Time Mycologist
Registered: 11/29/08
Posts: 4,662
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Re: First time grower puzzled by NO GROWTH AT ALL [Re: Jitsu]
#9756485 - 02/07/09 07:17 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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You used a LOT of spores for one thing, and refrigeration may not have been your best idea.
Do the jars smell OK? and did you inoculate near the glass, so you could see growth when it starts?
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BrownThumb
Versed in sterility
Registered: 02/07/09
Posts: 67
Last seen: 13 years, 6 months
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Re: First time grower puzzled by NO GROWTH AT ALL [Re: Shroominit]
#9756814 - 02/07/09 08:24 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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It didn't seem like too many spores, when you think about it. Most teks call for around one 10cc syringe for 6-10 half-pint jars. I made 10 full-pint jars, so at an absolute minimum it should have been two syringes. I ended up using three, so that's only one extra cc per jar.
Your point about inoculating near the glass is a good one. My buddy did the injecting, and was only so-so about aiming toward the glass. Perhaps the mycelium is growing on the inside.
I can't imagine why refrigeration would be a problem - jars were cool to the touch and still had the foil over the holes. If they picked up bacteria in the fridge (unlikely) you'd think I'd see some kind of contaminants growing in there.
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BrownThumb
Versed in sterility
Registered: 02/07/09
Posts: 67
Last seen: 13 years, 6 months
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Re: First time grower puzzled by NO GROWTH AT ALL [Re: Jitsu]
#9756830 - 02/07/09 08:28 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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I put the BRF/verm mix into the jars as loosely as possible. Then covered with about a good half-inch of dry verm.
I punched four holes in the lid of each jar (two-piece lids) but did NOT use tape. I just covered the lids with foil and sterilized.
The substrate does not look particularly dry or wet. Through the glass it looks nice and moist - just like I'd want it to look if I were a hungry baby cube.
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BrownThumb
Versed in sterility
Registered: 02/07/09
Posts: 67
Last seen: 13 years, 6 months
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Re: First time grower puzzled by NO GROWTH AT ALL [Re: NYGiants420]
#9756844 - 02/07/09 08:30 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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Right. We just quadrupled the recipe, keeping all ratios the same. Seemed like a bit too much water, so I poured off the excess water, then mixed in BRF and scooped it loosely into jars before covering with dry verm.
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Jitsu
JKD Love
Registered: 11/12/08
Posts: 1,073
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Re: First time grower puzzled by NO GROWTH AT ALL [Re: BrownThumb]
#9756860 - 02/07/09 08:33 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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Bacterial growth won't be apparent visually. Only by smell.
Also possible your temps are low and it's colonizing on the inside, slowly
It is winter after all! good luck
-------------------- Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there. How I get my Pinsets The Capabilities Of A Shotgun FC
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RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure
Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 42,214
Loc: Seattle
Last seen: 1 year, 29 days
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Re: First time grower puzzled by NO GROWTH AT ALL [Re: Jitsu]
#9756961 - 02/07/09 08:54 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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Always inject against the glass so you can see the solution run down. That also lets you see growth as soon as the spores germinate so you know it's working.
Next time, use the correct size jars, but you already know that. It's going to take three to four times as long, to colonize twice as much, and that's a bad investment of time. Pint jars also tend to stall out due to the substrate compacting. RR
-------------------- Download Let's Grow Mushrooms semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat "I've never had a failed experiment. I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work." Thomas Edison
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