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Shroomism
Space Travellin
Registered: 02/13/00
Posts: 66,015
Loc: 9th Dimension
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Dung stall
#1424745 - 04/02/03 10:45 PM (21 years, 8 months ago) |
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Flying Squirrel has a large tub with dung/straw that was innoculated about two weeks ago. Proper incubation temperatures were hard to achieve as the room was quite cold..substrate temperature hovered around 70F for most of colonization. Growth was a bit below average speed, but substrate was approx 92% colonized and appeared to slow down significantly. The plastic is still laying over top of the substrace layer. Over the past few days squirrel has observed and growth appears to be slowed drastically..squirrel also noticed the presence of a yellow liquid on the substrate surface..assuming it to be the mycelium's metabolic waste.
No foul odors or rank smells apparent.. only the average musty colonizing straw smell. To what could squirrel attribute this significant decrease in colonization speed and waste product? And what steps could be taken to remedy the situation? Great thanks.
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Edited by Shroomism (04/02/03 10:46 PM)
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SixTango
Mycota
Registered: 01/21/02
Posts: 1,996
Loc: A little North of Paradis...
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Been there & done that...............
Almost always, my foaf's dung/straw combo deep substrate colonize like a grass fire right up to 92 .... 95%........ then seem to stall & squeeze out some tobaco looking juice .........in a few spots.
IMHO, myc is just slowing down because it has a gut full, is busy digesting & ready to belch.............
Sorta like most folks at Thankgiving dinner, after two plates full, they pause, let the belt out a notch, take a break, then go for the pie......
Another factor is that generaly around 95 / 98% colonization, most folks start paying more attention to it, check it more often, because they are thinking.... it is gonna be time to case this Lil sumbitch.... soon.
So, it just seems like it is going slower, because you inspect it more often.
So long as it fully colonizes, my foaf would not worry. Unless it STALL.. dead in the water?
Sorry, I could not be more help
6T
-------------------- ~whiskey river rafting, hot tubbing, dirty dancing & spending money on - wild women - having fun & just gonna waste the rest~
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Shroomism
Space Travellin
Registered: 02/13/00
Posts: 66,015
Loc: 9th Dimension
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Re: Dung stall [Re: SixTango]
#1424959 - 04/02/03 11:53 PM (21 years, 8 months ago) |
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Makes sense yes... I guess all we can do is wait and see. Squirrel is just a bit nervous as it was the last 20 lbs of dung and he cannot make another trip to farmer land for some time. Thanks for your insight.
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SixTango
Mycota
Registered: 01/21/02
Posts: 1,996
Loc: A little North of Paradis...
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If you could somehow bump up the temp to around a steady 78 / 82 F, that might clinch it.
6T
-------------------- ~whiskey river rafting, hot tubbing, dirty dancing & spending money on - wild women - having fun & just gonna waste the rest~
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Shroomism
Space Travellin
Registered: 02/13/00
Posts: 66,015
Loc: 9th Dimension
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Re: Dung stall [Re: SixTango]
#1425145 - 04/03/03 01:00 AM (21 years, 8 months ago) |
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Bumping the temp up is not much of a viable option..seeing as how there is already a heating pad underneath and a blanket wrapped around the bin. Room is just too cold I guess.
Would soaking up the excess waste/water from the top of the substrate with a paper towel be a bad idea or a good one?
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psyphon
mneumatic device
Registered: 11/27/01
Posts: 565
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As long as doing so doesn't introduce contamination, it could probably help. Make sure the paper towel is clean, it might be good to take it from a couple of layers into the roll and cut off the edges that would've been exposed to the outside, or use a fresh roll. Also, maybe you could tilt the tray and pour it off, I don't know...probably not.
As for increasing the heat, the technique of incubating with an inner chamber and an outer chamber with water and an aquarium heater works great! A friend was able to fruit through the winter even though the ambient temp around the chamber was around 40-50F ! Not to second guess you, but if the ambient temp is in the 70s, that should be sufficient since the substrate produces some heat of its own. I know you said the substrate temp was 70s, but were you actually sticking a thermometer into the substrate or something?
In my friend's experience, once it gets mostly colonized (75% or so?), and nothing goes drasticly wrong, it will fruit. Even if there's a few small patches that don't look completely colonized, it can probably still be cased and fruited.
Good luck
-------------------- "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."
- Marcel Proust
I wish you all ceaselessly flowing moments of happiness.
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Shroomism
Space Travellin
Registered: 02/13/00
Posts: 66,015
Loc: 9th Dimension
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Re: Dung stall [Re: psyphon]
#1425233 - 04/03/03 01:36 AM (21 years, 8 months ago) |
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Room temp is about 60F
I will try that double bin thing in the future when I have some more money
Substrate temperatures were taken with a thermometer probe on my hydrometer.. its for monitering outside temp.. I stuck it inside the substrate..on the side actually.
So if it's 95% colonized can I lay the casing layer down now and be ok?
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PooPs
What's thisfor???
Registered: 03/05/03
Posts: 4,510
Loc: Stirrin up the pile!
Last seen: 15 years, 7 months
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You could suck the brown piss with a syringe.... i leave it be and case over it.. let it absorb in the casing layer.... not been a problem yet.
Could this be a result of too much water??? i wonder if the mycelium spits it out becasue there is too much?
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Sniff, Sniff... What's that smell???... ohhhhh.!!
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Pot Free for another : nevermind.. never made it..
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deanofmean
mycophagous
Registered: 12/06/02
Posts: 2,017
Loc: PNW
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so Rocky the flying squirrel is using a heating pad ? maybe the dung is getting dry ? that would slow things up . Bullwinkel Moose says, go ahead and case it . and, Rocky might think about punching a hole in the bottom of the container to let co2 out . 20 Lbs. is a lot of shit
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athena
newbie
Registered: 03/10/03
Posts: 38
Last seen: 19 years, 10 months
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HI, since you all are on the subject of dung, I have a question. I hope Shroomism doesn't mind my asking this in his thread. My buddy wants to try something using dung. Most of the dung teks I've read say to use 'well rotted manure'. My question is how does one define 'well rotted'? I mean does that mean manure that has been set up in a compost pile and is completey broken down into black compost? Or does it mean manure that has been sitting in the pasture and has dried out, and just only started to disintegrate, but is still in cow-pie shape, or does it mean the kind from a dirt floor barn that has been there for years and doesn't even look like manure anymore, but just black crumbly debris that might be mistaken for soil except that nothing is grows in it because the livestock keep adding fresh layers on the top ? Does that make any sense? Anyway, can someone help with this so that I can tell my buddy what kind of manure to look for, or how he might rot some fresh stuff? I appreciate the help. Athena.
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psyphon
mneumatic device
Registered: 11/27/01
Posts: 565
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Yeah, I'd say you could case it now. Be sure to pastuerize or sterilize the casing of course; my friend prefers to pasteurize it in the oven or microwave.
Let the mycelium penetrate the casing properly and then you can turn off the heat for 24-48 hours to give them a little cold shock to initiate fruiting, then once the pins show, turn the heat back on. And simultaneous to the drop in temp you can do the whole air exchange, lighting, etc thing too.
These temps actually sound pretty good for this stage; at 60F it should be able to form pins and then you can fruit in the 70s. And hopefully the weather will keep getting better too.
-------------------- "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."
- Marcel Proust
I wish you all ceaselessly flowing moments of happiness.
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psyphon
mneumatic device
Registered: 11/27/01
Posts: 565
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Re: Dung stall [Re: athena]
#1426547 - 04/03/03 02:43 PM (21 years, 8 months ago) |
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If its been rained on at least once and then dried out, it should be good. Sometimes you can even soak it in water and drain it at least once and then use it. This is called leeching. You want all of the piss/ammonia out and possibly other stuff too that I'm not thinking of.
My friend mostly has experience with horse dung, but hopefully this will work for your friend as well and you can search around, theres pictures of cow dung being used for substrate.
Happy Dung Hunting
-------------------- "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."
- Marcel Proust
I wish you all ceaselessly flowing moments of happiness.
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 3 months, 8 days
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Does your flying squirrel's large tub have some way for gasses to drain out?
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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Shroomism
Space Travellin
Registered: 02/13/00
Posts: 66,015
Loc: 9th Dimension
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Re: Dung stall [Re: Seuss]
#1427325 - 04/03/03 10:27 PM (21 years, 8 months ago) |
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There are several very small holes drilled into the bottom of the tub which are currently sealed with duct tape. Flying squirrel thought this to be a good way for Co2 release to initiate fruiting. There is also a 4"x4" hole cut into the side of the bin just above the substrate, which is covered by filter discs. This is also covered by duct tape until fruiting. The idea is for some airflow and Co2 purging even when the top is closed.
The 20 lbs of dung is accounting for two bins.. one was started a week after the first. 10 lbs dung in each and equal or greater volume of straw.
Squirrel is going to add the casing layer tommorrow..he will be using 50/50 coco coir, vermiculite, dash of lime. I will update as he relays information.
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