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The Big Oyster
Righteous Reishi



Registered: 12/20/08
Posts: 83
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Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis)
#14022083 - 02/24/11 07:47 PM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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This is my first agaricus grow...thought I'd share the process in the event it is successful. Not much documentation on the forums of A. blazeii grows.
I started with agar wedge -> pint of rye berries -> sterilized substrate in spawn bag. The bulk substrate is 60% mature garden compost mixed with 40% rain leached horse manure. Shoulda put gypsum in but spaced it on that, so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully the PH won't be detrimental without the gypsum. Should I open the bag and mix some in; anyone have strong feelings on that?
Here's a day after spawning with the berries recovering:
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cloudwalker
Sonic Tinkerer



Registered: 07/04/10
Posts: 195
Loc: in the studio
Last seen: 6 years, 4 months
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Re: Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis) [Re: The Big Oyster]
#14022166 - 02/24/11 07:59 PM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Awesome to see someone else trying to grow these guys.
I've had trays colonizing for over a month now... will probably case them this weekend. (I've been keeping track of the entire process and gonna post a full growlog/tek once fruits start popping up. )
This mycelium is probably the sloooooooooowest growing I've ever seen...has yours been that way too? Keep us posted.
Edited by cloudwalker (02/24/11 08:00 PM)
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themycoman
Mycologist



Registered: 11/13/10
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Re: Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis) [Re: cloudwalker]
#14023029 - 02/24/11 10:49 PM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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I was reading in GGMM that you can grow ABM on sterilized sawdust then adding a casing layer.
"Argaricus blazei fruiting from enriched alder sawdust/chips mixture supplemented with 20% oat bran. Incubation of 3 months preceded casing, with primordia forming in 20 days."
It would be interesting to see how this works since this mushrooms is usually grown from compost and the recommended mixtures require having a phase one and two chamber.
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The Big Oyster
Righteous Reishi



Registered: 12/20/08
Posts: 83
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Re: Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis) [Re: themycoman]
#14023192 - 02/24/11 11:22 PM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Cool, I'll look forward to your grow log. The mycelium is definitely on the slow side. I'm hoping once it gets a good whiff of the compost and manure it will go for it, rhizo-style.
I saw the GGMM comments too. I guess supplemented sawdust can work, but hopefully the preference for compost will perform well on this grow.
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The Big Oyster
Righteous Reishi



Registered: 12/20/08
Posts: 83
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Re: Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis) [Re: The Big Oyster]
#14088188 - 03/08/11 06:28 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Well, the bags colonized much quicker than I expected so I cased the bags. I cut the top of the bags off about half way and cased them at 2" deep. The casing is coir with a hand-full of yard dirt mixed in for bacteria inoculation. Apparently blazei needs some soil bacteria to fruit at its best. Now it's a waiting game again...here's some pics of the current state:
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cloudwalker
Sonic Tinkerer



Registered: 07/04/10
Posts: 195
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Re: Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis) [Re: The Big Oyster]
#14088604 - 03/08/11 07:39 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Good lord....that was INSANELY FAST!  I must have a faulty blazei strain or something... What temp are yours sitting at?
Please keep us posted on your progress.
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The Big Oyster
Righteous Reishi



Registered: 12/20/08
Posts: 83
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Re: Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis) [Re: cloudwalker]
#14091189 - 03/09/11 07:32 AM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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I have the bags at an average of 80F. It could be the temperature and/or maybe the substrate is moving things faster. I know the substrate is very nutritious.
I know it went fast and was wondering if I should just wait to case because it's supposed to take longer. However, the mycelium was very fluffy on top of the block with nowhere to go. It'll be interesting to see if this is a fast strain at fruiting too.
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lipa

Registered: 07/24/07
Posts: 2,684
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Re: Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis) [Re: The Big Oyster]
#14091680 - 03/09/11 10:19 AM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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I have had the opportunity to see Agaricus blazei growing in a commercial environment. They use a 2.5 inch casing layer composed of peat and lime at a PH of 7. The casing looked like little balls about 1/8-1/4 inch round like they were rubbed between your hands like dough (a tiny bit over saturated with water too). They also use steam generators that feed steam into the growrooms mixed with outside air to keep the heat up and the FAE high (80-85F). This species needs "LOTS" of fresh air to fruit well from what I was told. Circulation is key as well. I noticed that there were large clusters where the air was rushing along surfaces as opposed to areas where there were "dead spots". If I grew blazei I would make sure there was at least 2 feet between shelving for head room so the air movement would be more unrestricted or use bags on wire shelving.
Lipa
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fungus_tao
Hah Zah!



Registered: 05/10/06
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Re: Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis) [Re: lipa]
#14094398 - 03/09/11 07:13 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
lipa said: I have had the opportunity to see Agaricus blazei growing in a commercial environment. They use a 2.5 inch casing layer composed of peat and lime at a PH of 7. The casing looked like little balls about 1/8-1/4 inch round like they were rubbed between your hands like dough (a tiny bit over saturated with water too). They also use steam generators that feed steam into the growrooms mixed with outside air to keep the heat up and the FAE high (80-85F). This species needs "LOTS" of fresh air to fruit well from what I was told. Circulation is key as well. I noticed that there were large clusters where the air was rushing along surfaces as opposed to areas where there were "dead spots". If I grew blazei I would make sure there was at least 2 feet between shelving for head room so the air movement would be more unrestricted or use bags on wire shelving.
Lipa
That sounds like fun times. I don't think that the FAE requirements are really all that steep though...more so probably with commercial production when there is lots of co2 to get rid of. It's better to have good air circulation in any event. Reason I say that is because I fruited a. blazei when I wasn't even home with my g/h on auto-pilot. The fan to my humidifier setup was broken at the time, so all I had for fresh air was the air pump. I left the fogger on and the GH doors down about 3/4. I put the bag in before I left because I noticed one pin about the size of a penny, and when I got back it looked like this.
-------------------- Follow the light The Light is your guide.
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The Big Oyster
Righteous Reishi



Registered: 12/20/08
Posts: 83
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Re: Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis) [Re: fungus_tao]
#14126355 - 03/15/11 06:09 PM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Thanks for the info Lipa. Definitely some good pointers that I can try to consider as things progress.
For now, to maintain moisture in the casing, I'm keeping the top cut-off portion of the spawn bag as a cover for the bottom portion...since it fits perfectly Once the casing is colonized I'll reduce the temps a bit and remove the cover for increased airflow.
The mycelium really likes the casing and made pretty quick work of it in getting to the surface, despite not having gypsum. However, another two blazei bags in the works do have gypsum in the casing, so we'll see if that makes any difference. I mixed in some garden soil with the coir to make sure some bacteria were present...looks like some weeds made it in also 
Here's another photo sequence of the grow status:
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shroom-jitsu
Divine Triangler



Registered: 01/24/10
Posts: 439
Loc: Here
Last seen: 10 years, 7 months
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Re: Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis) [Re: The Big Oyster]
#14129861 - 03/16/11 10:06 AM (12 years, 10 months ago) |
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Ive never seen a grow like this or of these. Thanks for letting us follow along.
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The Big Oyster
Righteous Reishi



Registered: 12/20/08
Posts: 83
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Re: Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis) [Re: The Big Oyster]
#14313988 - 04/18/11 09:24 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Okay, here we go...wish they would have grown off the top. At least there are fruits. This was off a multispore grow. You can see the sectors on the top surface. I have another bag that's a clone and it does not have the sectoring, rather it's all uniform mycelium. I'll try and get a pic up once the fruits are mature. This has been a fun grow for sure...agaricus are great!!! If you haven't given them a whirl, I highly recommend them. They don't seem that hard, but you must be patient.
Here's the pics:
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The Big Oyster
Righteous Reishi



Registered: 12/20/08
Posts: 83
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Re: Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis) [Re: The Big Oyster] 2
#14335150 - 04/22/11 08:20 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Here's the final pics of fruits maturing and to be eaten. They were damn good with some tri-tip, full of flavor with a nice sweet taste. They are definitely at the top of the list in gourmet mushrooms for me.
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fngbronco
Monkey Man



Registered: 09/26/10
Posts: 2,877
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Re: Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis) [Re: The Big Oyster]
#14338950 - 04/23/11 03:09 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Nice grow, such a cool looking agaricus!
-------------------- I challenge you to challenge yourself more! When you feel complacent and ready to hang it up, challenge yourself to get over it! If you fail, don't look at it as you didn't succeed, look at it as you would a rock face you're trying to climb. Stand back, wayyyy back, and look at it and plot another path. If you can't find one, shuffle down the way a little, a little change of scenery or a view from a different angle may give you the insight you need. Anything I state is relayed information from a friend of a friend and should be viewed as completely fictitious. I do not partake in any illegal or grey-area-of-the-law activities, but do have lots of friends who may or may not. -fngbronco Pill Divider Agar Tek
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Hacendado
Here,There...and in between



Registered: 01/10/10
Posts: 1,274
Loc: Austria
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Re: Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis) [Re: fngbronco]
#14339257 - 04/23/11 04:09 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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I like your grow a lot! Very interesting indeed.
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skyjohnny
Natural Mystic



Registered: 04/21/10
Posts: 200
Loc: Secret Underground Labora...
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Re: Agaricus blazeii grow (a.k.a brasiliensis) [Re: Hacendado]
#14339528 - 04/23/11 05:08 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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WOW! That is a beautiful mushroom. I have been considering an agaricus sp grow, and working on good compost. Blazeii is sounding very cool after seeing that. Thanks for sharing.
-------------------- "Man is that he might have joy. Joy is the "true meaning" of life. May you all experience "true joy". -CJM
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