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Tightsqueeze
Mr


Registered: 04/23/11
Posts: 6
Last seen: 12 years, 9 months
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I <3 Shroomery Day 1 Newb
#14352546 - 04/25/11 11:01 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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A hypothetical story/rant by someone who may or may not be high.
So a few weeks ago I was introduced to mushrooms, and it was the greatest experience ever. I may or may not have already been growing cannabis from a DIY hydroponic system, and after being directed to this site figured mycology just might be another fun side project to work on 
A foaf pointed me here and I went to work. I was used to rollitup.org already and did as much lurking/searching/googling/youtubing as possible like a good boy, and today finally marked day 1 of growing. You know how it goes when you first get started, you're just so excited you gotta tell everyone hehe.
I decided to go with the PF Tek to start out with. I already deal a lot with cloning plants, so I'm very interested in getting some LC going in the future. I got one Golden Teacher syringe, and one free PF Classic syringe from Sporeworks, which I found on the sponsor forums here. Very happy with the service; it came with two needles and even alcohol pads. The syringes looked beautiful, with big visible clumps of spores and when held to light you could see the whole entirety of it swimming with black specks. Vermiculite came from Lowe's, but the BRF I had to order online at Amazon. Perlite, I just happened to already have that on hand Between Shroomery, fungifun.org, and the "Let's grow mushrooms!" youtube series by MushroomRR, I felt I had everything I needed to get started.
Kerr jars didn't arrive in time, but I had some near perfect sized drinking glasses that subbed in just fine. Since they didn't have lids I used a double layer of foil as the lid/injection layer, then a third piece of foil as a cover. I already had a big pot, so I used that to steam sterilize for 90 minutes instead of a pressure cooker. Since a pressure cooker is basically a kitchen autoclave, I'll be making that investment soon. I put a towel on the bottom to protect the glass from cracking, and had a close call where the water boiled much faster than usual. I was worried some had gotten past the foil, but in the end it looked ok and the substrate looked untouched. So note for next time, less water and less heat at the start hehe.
Once it had cooled it was that oh so crucial inoculation time. I was most nervous about this step because I knew this was prime time for contamination. I don't have a glovebox or flowhood, so I did the best I could. I set up a clean area in the kitchen and turned off the AC. I got everything setup before putting on the gloves and sterilizing to help minimize risk. *For any newbies reading this, it's worth the investment into an alcohol lamp. I used a scented candle like an idiot, assuming flame is flame and it will sterilize either way. Iso-alc. burns very clean, scented candles with a bunch of crap added to it DON'T. So unless you want a whole bunch of black, nasty looking carbon crap all over your needle use something that burns clean like isopropyl alcohol. If you need to make a ghetto candle, soak a cottonball in iso, put it into a FLAMEPROOF container, and light it. You may need a few cottonballs if you're 'noccing a lot of jars. I don't know if I was nervous or just didn't want to contaminate anything so I was even holding my breath during the inoculation haha. I'm using a smaller container I already had for a fruiting chamber, so I only inoculated four glasses. I felt good about the first 3, really minimizing the time they were uncovered. The fourth one I got a little sidetracked and left it uncovered with the holes exposed for 30-45 seconds. Going to cross my fingers on that one.
The tops of my cannabis grow cabinets generate a little heat from the lights, so I put the inoculated glasses into an opaque container on top. And that's where my mycological journey ended today
Just wanted to thank all the awesome people on this forum. I've got a passion for life and science, so the experience of growing cannabis and now P.cubensis has been a great one. I know a good deal about plant and cannabis cultivation, but never anything about fungi. I really look forward to learning from you masters and expanding my knowledge of this fantastic fungus, and reaping the benefits of my work Now that my eyes have been opened to the world of psychedelics, I've also been able to find resources on this site for mescaline and DMT. I just love the fact that soon I'm going to enjoy my home lab more than my school labs.
Here's to responsible adults enriching their lives and opening their minds forever!
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deadmandave
Slime


Registered: 02/16/10
Posts: 3,355
Loc:
Last seen: 5 hours, 50 minutes
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welcome to the shroomery!
I dont think you need to worry about the jar that was uncovered longer than the rest. In fact as long as you put in the dry verm barrier then you should take off the top foil layer and let the noc. holes breathe. GE is very important during colonization.
anyways good luck and have fun
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Tightsqueeze
Mr


Registered: 04/23/11
Posts: 6
Last seen: 12 years, 9 months
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Re: I <3 Shroomery Day 1 Newb [Re: deadmandave]
#14352713 - 04/25/11 11:28 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Ah, thanks for that advice. I removed the top foil cover, and positioned the lid of the container they're sitting in so that dust/spores won't fall directly onto the jars.
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EgoDeath0290
Chemically Dependent



Registered: 04/03/11
Posts: 103
Loc: Great American Desert
Last seen: 12 years, 7 months
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Dry Verm is a fantastic barrier. Just don't be tempted to check the jars every day, as too much movement and jarring can disturb that top layer very easily. With the PF tek and the dry verm, the less you handle it, the better. I've been thinking about setting up a webcam to check on the incubation chamber just so I never have to lift one of my jars and set it back down.
-------------------- SWIM made me say/do/post it.
Edited by EgoDeath0290 (04/25/11 11:35 PM)
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skiddy
RockStar


Registered: 03/25/11
Posts: 366
Last seen: 12 years, 6 months
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Leave them alone for 2 weeks. If u can LOL
-------------------- PESH : Pinning Transeski : colonizing Orrisa : colonizing Mex a : colonizing You're not a mycologist just because you grow mushrooms.
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veda_sticks
Cultivator




Registered: 07/29/07
Posts: 14,191
Loc: UK
Last seen: 4 years, 26 days
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Re: I <3 Shroomery Day 1 Newb [Re: skiddy]
#14352975 - 04/26/11 12:31 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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kitchen is one of the worst places you could carry out inoculations.
I highly recomend using a glovebox. which gives you a still air enviroment in which contams fall out of the air, something which is probably never going to happen in such an open space.
Not saying that open air inoculations are doomed for failure, some people pull it off, A glove box will give you 99% success (when used right in conjuction with other sterile procedures)
All it takes is for a spore or some bacteria to find its way throiugh one of those holes (which to contaminants would be the huge) land on the verm layer, and get pushed down into the substrate when yoiu insert the needle.
I wouldnt store your jars anywhere near your plants. Plant soils contain molds, Yes yoiu have a dry verm layer, but filters are not 100% effective, the more spores in the air, the more chance 1 will make it throiugh.
Also, growing plants can make a room humid, if yoiur dry verm layer becomes moist, its useless as a filter. moisture will mean things will just grow right through it.
and finaly, your jars will grow fine around 75f,
-------------------- PF TEK - writeup by EvilMushroom666 Lets Grow Mushrooms - RogerRabbit & RoadKills website with sample videos plus the full PF TEK video series. Alot of great information - BUY THE DVD Cakes can and will pin! - So you think cakes suck for pins. Your wrong Franks Simple Coir/Verm Tek Franks Proper Pasturisation Tek Franks Spawning To Bulk - Monotub Professor Pinheads RTV Injection Port Tek Foo Mans No Soak WBS Prep Tek
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k00laid
NEMO


Registered: 05/03/10
Posts: 19,636
Last seen: 6 months, 5 days
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Re: I <3 Shroomery Day 1 Newb [Re: veda_sticks]
#14352985 - 04/26/11 12:34 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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awesome d00d i hope u have success
-------------------- AMU - AMU Q & A - MyVideo Teks!
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EgoDeath0290
Chemically Dependent



Registered: 04/03/11
Posts: 103
Loc: Great American Desert
Last seen: 12 years, 7 months
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Re: I <3 Shroomery Day 1 Newb [Re: veda_sticks]
#14353215 - 04/26/11 01:52 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
veda_sticks said: kitchen is one of the worst places you could carry out inoculations.
I highly recomend using a glovebox. which gives you a still air enviroment in which contams fall out of the air, something which is probably never going to happen in such an open space.
Not saying that open air inoculations are doomed for failure, some people pull it off, A glove box will give you 99% success (when used right in conjuction with other sterile procedures)
All it takes is for a spore or some bacteria to find its way throiugh one of those holes (which to contaminants would be the huge) land on the verm layer, and get pushed down into the substrate when yoiu insert the needle.
I wouldnt store your jars anywhere near your plants. Plant soils contain molds, Yes yoiu have a dry verm layer, but filters are not 100% effective, the more spores in the air, the more chance 1 will make it throiugh.
Also, growing plants can make a room humid, if yoiur dry verm layer becomes moist, its useless as a filter. moisture will mean things will just grow right through it.
and finaly, your jars will grow fine around 75f,
Ahh, this is why I love living in the desert! consistent 95-105 degree temps this time of year and 20% outdoor RH to boot.
I would second the recomendation for using a box of some kind. doens't have to be fancy, I use a 24qt tupperware container with 2 holes in it. I wear latex gloves and long sleeves. Spray that bitch with bleach and let it sit for an hour. Honestly, you really don't have to go to great lengths to reduce the chances of contams by a great deal. Just take a little precaution and things'll be fine.
-------------------- SWIM made me say/do/post it.
Edited by EgoDeath0290 (04/26/11 01:53 AM)
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Tightsqueeze
Mr


Registered: 04/23/11
Posts: 6
Last seen: 12 years, 9 months
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Re: I <3 Shroomery Day 1 Newb [Re: veda_sticks]
#14353381 - 04/26/11 03:02 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Thanks for the advice veda_sticks . I definitely plan on building a glovebox in the future; as a former EMT and current microbio/biochem major I definitely understand how contam's are EVERYWHERE, and when they find a nice spot they like to grow QUICK. Especially after watching the youtube series, I should've realized I could build one for $10<. Guess that's why they call us newbs
Believe it or not, my grow area is actually the cleanest place in probably a 2 block radius I grow in a hydroponic setup, which is basically a liquid solution of yummy nutrients and O2 that the roots grow straight into. Sterility is not quite as stringent as in mycology for a few reasons, but still important nevertheless You'd be surprised by how many correlations there are between plant and fungus cultivation, and yet they're so very different. Very aweseome !
Nonetheless, plants require a lot of airflow and I don't want that much "stuff" moving around my cakes so I took your advice and moved them into a closet in the grow room. From what you say the ambient temp in there is already ideal so I'll spare myself the risk of extra contamination.
I look forward to reading through some of your thousands of posts to glean more knowledge veda
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EgoDeath0290
Chemically Dependent



Registered: 04/03/11
Posts: 103
Loc: Great American Desert
Last seen: 12 years, 7 months
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My incubation location is right above my fridge in a cabinet. The tiny cabinets right above the fridge work awesome because they stay right around 79-80 degrees if you turn the temp dial of your fridge a tad on the cold side.
When picking your box, get one that will hold (without stacking them) about 4 times as many jars as you plan on inoculating at one time. That way you can work around the jars without having to re-arrange them. Try to get one that's perfectly clear too, and not opaque. If its opaque, cut a square hole out either at eye level on the side, or in the lid so you can read the cc ticks on your syringe, and use saran wrap and duct tape to make a viewing window.
I picked one that was 56qts, and I like to look in through the front, in between my arm holes with the box elevated on the table to eye level.
Edited by EgoDeath0290 (04/26/11 11:58 AM)
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