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Mushrooms, Mycology and Psychedelics > Mushroom Cultivation
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First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek (COMPLETED)
    #10107393 -

Hi all,

I'm doing my first ever grow, after trying mushrooms and REALLY enjoying them.

I got an Equador print from the good folks at FSRE, and decided to try the PF tek with some small adaptations.

After a ton of reading & watching video's, I made a syringe using around 1/3 of the print. For a glove box I just cut the top off a cardboard box, covered it in cling wrap, then cut 2 arm holes.

Canning jars are rare/expensive where I am so I used tupperware containers (the kind that can be heated). They are larger cakes than most I see being used, but meh. I guess I'll have to wait a little longer.

Following the PF tek, I steam sterilised the cakes, no pressure cooker.

Inoculation went smoothly and the 6 cakes are on now on their 6th day of incubation. I'm keeping them in a space above my water heater, wrapped up in some old clothing inside a cardboard box. Not sure of exact temp in there (thermometer will arrive this week) but it seems good - all 6 cakes are colonizing fast.

Comments very much welcome!!

Attached are some pics of day 6 since inoculation:





Edited by thesis (07/17/09 02:40 AM)

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: thesis]
    #10107407 -

Nice growth for only 6 days, good work!


--------------------
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better.  It's not.

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: FoxFire]
    #10107481 -

Yea great growth for 6 days!  Since those jars are so big, and there is such a small surface area for the amount of spawn, might I suggest crumbling and casing them?  Just a suggestion. 

Edited by HiddenIdentity (04/04/09 09:37 PM)

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: HiddenIdentity]
    #10107495 -

Better yet- spawn to coir!
Edit: maybe not since its ur first time, but its worth doing some reading!


--------------------
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better.  It's not.

Edited by FoxFire (04/04/09 09:39 PM)

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: FoxFire]
    #10107918 -

Eh, I hope you have a dry verm barrier... and keeping those upside down is a big no no.

I take it you just put foil over the open containers, or did you leave the plastic lids on with holes in them?


--------------------

200 years from now, we will look back and laugh at ourselves for how stupid we were.
My Glovebox
Find a respected member of the community and study them.  I give thanks to: RogerRabbit, agar, hyphae, Nibin, fahtster, The shroomy 1, monstermitch, FooMan, HippieChick, Blue Helix, eatyualive, mycofile, and many, many more.
Never accept mediocrity, always return the love that is given to you.

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: FoxFire]
    #10107970 -

Thanks for the encouragement!!! I guess you guys can understand my excitement of seeing mycellium on a first grow.

Yeah I've been looking into the whole idea of breaking up the cakes and 'casing' them, as I understand I'll get more fruits that way. Its all new to me, but it doesn't seem that hard so I MIGHT do it. If not this time, on a future grow. I have some weeks to decide anyway.

Will report back once theres some more development! Just going to leave the cakes alone for a few days now that growth is taking hold.

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: shroomzey]
    #10108100 -

shroomzey said:
Eh, I hope you have a dry verm barrier... and keeping those upside down is a big no no.

I take it you just put foil over the open containers, or did you leave the plastic lids on with holes in them?


Yep, theres a dry verm barrier.

Thanks for the tip about not keeping them upside down, I just reversed them based on your advice. Is this because water might drip out of the inoculation holes and aid contams?

The reason I had them upside down is that I saw some people having problems with fruits growing only from the very bottom of the cake. The explanation was that they were incubated the 'right way' around (lids up) but then fruited upside down - so the mycellium was tipped on its head which caused fruits to grow from the underneath. Not sure if this is true or not?

Yes, under the foil I've got the lids on with the holes in them.

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: thesis]
    #10108134 -

Well good job with the dry verm layer, bit it isn't doing jack with it being upside down.  I would also suggest you take the foil off of the jars since you have the lid on with holes.  The only time you need the foil is is during sterilizing, it is there to prevent moisture from falling into the jars during that process.  After that, moisture forms between the foil and the lid, and will likely drop moisture onto your dry verm layer.  This is a heavenly bacterial playground, which you don't want.

I've never see that myth before, but no that is not the reason fruits come out of the bottom of the cake.  Pins form at the bottom of the cake usually because moisture within the cake falls to the bottom due to gravity.  Pins will form where-ever the best environmental conditions are, not by which way you set your jars.


--------------------

200 years from now, we will look back and laugh at ourselves for how stupid we were.
My Glovebox
Find a respected member of the community and study them.  I give thanks to: RogerRabbit, agar, hyphae, Nibin, fahtster, The shroomy 1, monstermitch, FooMan, HippieChick, Blue Helix, eatyualive, mycofile, and many, many more.
Never accept mediocrity, always return the love that is given to you.

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: shroomzey]
    #10108219 -

Also, if you put duct tape around the jars, that will prevent pinning on the bottom.  Light makes shrooms pin. (not as much as FAE, but it still does)

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: HiddenIdentity]
    #10108283 -

HiddenIdentity said:
Also, if you put duct tape around the jars, that will prevent pinning on the bottom.  Light makes shrooms pin. (not as much as FAE, but it still does)


Not so, during colonization light really doesn't matter.



I've had hundreds and hundreds of quart jars colonize in open light.  What causes pre-pinning in jars is contamination or FAE prior to 100% colonization.


--------------------

200 years from now, we will look back and laugh at ourselves for how stupid we were.
My Glovebox
Find a respected member of the community and study them.  I give thanks to: RogerRabbit, agar, hyphae, Nibin, fahtster, The shroomy 1, monstermitch, FooMan, HippieChick, Blue Helix, eatyualive, mycofile, and many, many more.
Never accept mediocrity, always return the love that is given to you.

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: shroomzey]
    #10109150 -

Thanks for the quick reply shroomzey!

If I take the foil off, the inoculation holes will be exposed. Won't that make it easier for contams to get inside? I was under the impression that during colonisation the jars should be sealed so nothing else gets in. correct me if I'm wrong here!

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: thesis]
    #10109237 -

Just a thought from a newbie - Since the jars have been upside down for a while and are working, maybe you should leave them that way.  Some nutrience could have leached via gravity into the dry verm layer and now it may not be as good a barrier as it was intended to be.  Upside down with the tinfoil off seems like the best.

Just thinking out loud here - take it with a grain of salt.

MC

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: MasterCaster]
    #10113762 -

Thanks for the suggestions people :thumbup:

Theres something I'm confused about with the dry verm layer. Some comments have indicated that the dry verm layer should remain dry during incubation. But I can't understand how the verm layer would still be dry at this stage. During sterilization the water in the substrate was heated and turned to steam, causing many droplets all over the inside of the container. Wouldn't this steam make the verm layer wet??

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: thesis]
    #10113808 -

not really, they shouldnt really develop too much liquid inside the jar. and you should have Al foil lids to prevent it from coming in from the PC


--------------------
In the Quechua language of Peru there are over 1000 words for "potato"

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: potatonet]
    #10114373 -

The best advice I can give you is to leave them alone exactly as they are. Leave the foil on, leave it all as it is, because sir you are doing VERY well for 6 days. The worst thing you can do with something that is growing is fuck with it =)

(seriously, leaving it alone is the best route, if you start flipping it this way and that you'll just slow the process and possibly stall your jars.)


--------------------
My Kratom Experience

>>::(My Garden - Updated 6-16-09!)::<<
(Nelumbo Nucifera) - (Desmanthus Illinois) - (Delosperma Cooperi)
(Coleus) - (Morning Glory H.B.) - (Klip Dagga) - (Nicotiana Rustica)
(Sinicuichi) - (Mimosa Hostilis)

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: demonicaeroponic]
    #10133553 -

I got my thermometer :smile:

After 30 mins in the incubation box, it came out at 76, maximum was 77. This is during daytime, so thats as warm as it'll get in there. I know it could be a few deg's warmer so I wrapped more clothing around the cakes before putting them back.

I took a few more photos while I had them out. Today is day 10 since inoculation.

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: thesis]
    #10133633 -

thesis said:
Thanks for the quick reply shroomzey!

If I take the foil off, the inoculation holes will be exposed. Won't that make it easier for contams to get inside? I was under the impression that during colonisation the jars should be sealed so nothing else gets in. correct me if I'm wrong here!



The myc needs to breathe, which is why your supposed to take off the foil and expose the inoculation holes. The dry verm acts as a shield from contams for the myc. But it seems like your doing very well so i dont wanna mess you up. Also im thinking it might have gotten wet from being upside down for so long.


--------------------
Everything written from this account is part of a social experiment, and totaly fictitious in nature.

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: jono3425]
    #10135280 -

Thanks for the advice Jono. I did some reading up and a common newbie problem is having growth stalling because of not enough airflow. So I loosened off the foil in one section of each cake, to allow some airflow.

Will post back in another week or so!

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: thesis]
    #10187335 -

Its time for an update. Today is day 19 since inoculation. No visible contams yet, 6 out of 6 cakes are healthy and growing like crazy!

Shortly after my last post, I discovered that the space next to my hotwater system was an ideal 84 degrees, so I moved my cakes into there. I also decided to remove the foil, and added a layer of micropore tape to the lid holes.

Heres the cakes in their incubation environment:



The minimum I've recorded in there is 79, the highest is 90.

The cakes themselves:



Close up on the growth:



I'd better get started my fruiting chamber!

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Re: First time grow log (w/ pics) - Equador - PF Tek [Re: thesis]
    #10187399 -

Also something else to mention, you don't need to "incubate" your jars, letting them sit at normal room temperature is fine (69-76), going above above 80F actually stunts growth and caters towards contamination.  The 86F figure was mentioned in The Mushroom Cultivator some 25 years ago, and Paul Stamets himself revokes thats figure now.  Like the picture I posted previously, letting them sit on open shelves at normal room temperature is fine, they don't need to be in the dark either.  I hope that helps.  =)


--------------------

200 years from now, we will look back and laugh at ourselves for how stupid we were.
My Glovebox
Find a respected member of the community and study them.  I give thanks to: RogerRabbit, agar, hyphae, Nibin, fahtster, The shroomy 1, monstermitch, FooMan, HippieChick, Blue Helix, eatyualive, mycofile, and many, many more.
Never accept mediocrity, always return the love that is given to you.

Edited by shroomzey (04/17/09 10:53 PM)

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Mushrooms, Mycology and Psychedelics > Mushroom Cultivation
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