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KatuXiK

Registered: 09/19/13
Posts: 175
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First Grow (Harvest, second flush)
#18866008 - 09/20/13 01:20 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Edit: This grow was actually started more recently than I thought, on 9/12/13, rather than 9/9/13 (give or take 2 days). Unfortunately my concept of time is not as good as I once thought, and am unsure of the accuracy of the times I provided in the original post as well as the first update. I'm not going to attempt to correct the times, other than the date in the first sentence, because I don't believe that they will be any more accurate.
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I am very excited to announce that on 9/12/13 I began my very first grow! I'm using the standard PF Tek, and don't have access to a PC so steam sterilization was used in place.
The preparation of the cake and the sterilization were done in a less-than laboratory grade living room and kitchen, with no fans on and all surfaces were frequently wiped with 90% iso alcohol, I was as careful as my wallet would allow.
I ran into some issues while sterilizing, I didn't keep a close enough eye on the 90 minutes of boiling, and the 3 pots (3 jars in 2 pots, 4 in the other) ran out of water. 7/10 of their jars became cracked when water was added into the pot a second time, and 5/10 jars are slightly burnt on the bottom, 2 were burnt/cracked so badly that were thrown out. 3/10 jars have no cracks, and no burns.
Note: I am very aware that the cracks could lead to contamination, and am keeping a very close eye on all cracked areas. If I suspect there may be signs of contamination, I will surely be seeking the guidance of a more "trained" eye.
Each jar was inoculated with roughly 1cc of Burma spores (.25cc - 4 holes), and set up in my closet to incubate. After 7 days, 1 jar was showing very slight mycelium growth, and all other jars were otherwise indifferent.
At this point I decided that my 65ish degree room may not be the best place to incubate cubies (even though its hard to sleep above 70 ), and borrowed my room mates space heater to make them a little more comfortable. The space heater is maybe 8x8x5 (inches), and quite a dusty sad looking box.. I was very skeptical about its effectiveness, but after leaving it on for 12 hours my room has gone from a chilly september feeling, to a humid july.
3 days after setting up the space heater, I have found growth in 3 more jars, and the original jar is growing 3x or 4x faster than before I got the heater. I even have my eye on a small spot on a 5th jar, and I'm hoping when I wake up in the morning I will find mycelium crawling out along the glass. 

Both of these pictures are of my most colonized jar, and upon further inspection more mycelium was found today at another inoculation point. 

I'm now very tired and going to sleep, but will return in the future to enjoy some other shroomery members and further discuss my new hobby.
UPDATE
A grand bonjour from KatuXiK! Several updates today, there was a lot of activity in the 20 hours that I was unable to check on my jars. There is 1 new jar showing mycelium, and the other 4 jars are really going crazy; especially the jar that had the quarter-sized colony, its grown by maybe 1/3 of its size!


They're so cool! I am a little worried though, what are those little red specks? Could they be metabolite or substrate showing through, or is it contamination?
On that same note, a couple jars have a foggy looking greyness on the bottom ring. The only jars that have it are cracked, and I'm pretty sure (although not 100%) that it was there immediately after sterilization. Here are some pics:


Is this a definite contamination, or could it be excess moisture/wet BRF? Or should I just keep an eye on it and take more pictures in a few days?
Still on the topic of contamination, I have a question regarding a small black speck in the center of a colony I've noticed on 2 jars; I'm almost 100% sure it's substrate because it's somewhat shiny, but I feel that 2 heads are better than one... or in this case 20 or 30.


There is also a foggyness (not grey, just foggy) to the right of the speckled colony on one jar, that I'm not nearly as sure about, so please do look at that. It is to the immediate right of the lens flair, almost touching it. You can see clearly above and below this small spot, so it seems strange. Any possibility its the beginnings of mycelium, or is it more likely mold/moisture?
Note: along the edge of the viewing window on the jar, you can see that the edges are blurred by the glasses pattern. This is apparently on both right and left sides of the jar.

Anyway, that's the entirety of today's update. I will be keeping an eye on this thread for any input the community so graciously grants me!
EDIT: As it turns out, no one here likes the use of SWIM, and my use of it was irrelevant anyway considering that I did not use a proxy server. SWIM is (obviously) and unavoidably me, so I have taken the time to remove SWIM and hopefully any resulting grammatical errors. I do hope you guys take a liking to me, I worked hard to make my post easier for you to read, and less irritating. Took me half an hour for this edit!
Edited by KatuXiK (10/24/13 02:52 AM)
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Mush4Brains
LOOL HACKED!!!

Registered: 07/31/13
Posts: 4,419
Last seen: 9 years, 3 months
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Re: First Grow :) [Re: KatuXiK]
#18866010 - 09/20/13 01:22 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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You should tell SWIY to make their own account.
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Stromrider
This must be the place



Registered: 06/02/13
Posts: 7,338
Loc: Dept of know what I'm say...
Last seen: 38 minutes, 46 seconds
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No need for the swim here bud. We're cool
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KatuXiK

Registered: 09/19/13
Posts: 175
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SWIM has found himself getting more attention than he likes on several occasions, and would rather stay anonymous for the time being. Maybe he is a little be paranoid SWIM greatly appreciates the reassurance though!
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budmanman
OTD Masterbater



Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 17,983
Loc: PNW
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Quote:
Mush4Brains said: You should tell SWIY to make their own account.
You know what is way more irritating than someone saying a acronym?
Everyone making a big deal about nothing. It really grinds my gears.
-------------------- Everything I have ever said is total bogus bs I am full of crud therefore everything I say should never be taken literal. And I am mentally unstable.
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KatuXiK

Registered: 09/19/13
Posts: 175
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Bump for update, I read the rules and I'm pretty sure this doesn't break them, but if I missed something and it does, let me know!
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maddchef
Vaginal escape artist



Registered: 09/04/09
Posts: 5,602
Loc: Your mom's vag
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Re: First Grow :) [Re: KatuXiK]
#18869899 - 09/20/13 10:17 PM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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We're letting you know It's our own specific rule or pet peeve. While it doesn't break the rules, it does irritate us greatly.
Besides using SWIM doesn't hide the fact that the website logged your Ip address.
If you want solid advice, drop the acronym and half of us will be happy to assist.
-------------------- In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king. All mushrooms are edible, but some only once..... Easier than cakes I do science and shit.
Edited by maddchef (09/20/13 11:20 PM)
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Mush4Brains
LOOL HACKED!!!

Registered: 07/31/13
Posts: 4,419
Last seen: 9 years, 3 months
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Quote:
budmanman said:
Quote:
Mush4Brains said: You should tell SWIY to make their own account.
You know what is way more irritating than someone saying a acronym?
Everyone making a big deal about nothing. It really grinds my gears.
I don't give a shit about your gears.
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KatuXiK

Registered: 09/19/13
Posts: 175
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Re: First Grow :) [Re: maddchef]
#18870087 - 09/20/13 11:03 PM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
maddchef said: We're letting you know It's our own specific rule or pet prevent. While it doesn't break the rules, it does irritate us greatly.
Besides using SWIM doesn't hide the fact that the website logged your Ip address.
If you want solid advice, drop the acronym and half of us will be happy to assist.
Yeah I spose that is something that would bother people, I'll keep it limited to emergencies, which I probably wont have.
And you're right, no point in SWIM when I neglected to use a proxy.
Anyway, hello shroomery, I'm KatuXiK, nice to meet you. :p
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Sockadin



Registered: 01/03/10
Posts: 7,244
Last seen: 3 months, 14 days
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Re: First Grow :) [Re: KatuXiK]
#18870121 - 09/20/13 11:11 PM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Step #2. Go get yourself a supporter account and you can view all this fungi funess through a SSL!
Step #3 Post more awesome picks of your Swims progress.
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SuperFly
Still in the Space Race



Registered: 05/19/13
Posts: 1,032
Loc: Dark side off the moon
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Re: First Grow :) [Re: KatuXiK]
#18870134 - 09/20/13 11:14 PM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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That's a lot of swimming
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KatuXiK

Registered: 09/19/13
Posts: 175
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Re: First Grow :) [Re: Sockadin]
#18870412 - 09/21/13 12:45 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
Sockadin said: Step #2. Go get yourself a supporter account and you can view all this fungi funess through a SSL!
Step #3 Post more awesome picks of your Swims progress.
What is an SSL? I've never heard of that before.. And I hardly (did not) have enough money to start this grow, I can't really afford to donate to a site that I can use for free. But! What I can do is tell my friends to use this site, and until I can afford to up my account, that's what I'll have to do.
Also, because you said my shrooms are awesome, these are just for you. 
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budmanman
OTD Masterbater



Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 17,983
Loc: PNW
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Re: First Grow :) [Re: KatuXiK]
#18875927 - 09/22/13 01:30 PM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Looks healthy so far.
-------------------- Everything I have ever said is total bogus bs I am full of crud therefore everything I say should never be taken literal. And I am mentally unstable.
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KatuXiK

Registered: 09/19/13
Posts: 175
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I hope someone is watching this thread cause I've got a question; what should my level of concern be about the cracks in my jars? Has anyone else encountered this issue and still succeeded? Also - this seems like "Captain Obvious" territory - are these jars possibly reusable?
I thought that just based on my OP someone would say something about it, but I've bad no such luck obviously.
Thanks in advance! 
Edit: Thanks budmanman for the reassuring input. Kind of unrelated to the rest of this post, but I didn't want to double post.
Edited by KatuXiK (09/22/13 10:19 PM)
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SuperFly
Still in the Space Race



Registered: 05/19/13
Posts: 1,032
Loc: Dark side off the moon
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Re: First Grow :) [Re: KatuXiK]
#18878457 - 09/22/13 10:56 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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You should be fine with the cracked jars since it is Pf tek. Definately would not use them for grains, as smacking the cracked jar will cause it to shatter on your hand. If you plan on using them again before you sterilize them mark the crack with a sharpie and see if it grows after sterilization. I would look into buying new jars ASAP.
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KatuXiK

Registered: 09/19/13
Posts: 175
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Re: First Grow :) [Re: SuperFly]
#18878789 - 09/23/13 12:35 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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So even the one that has the moister spot at the bottom should be alright? And yeah I don't really plan to reuse them, it was more of a "what if" curiosity type question.
Thanks!
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SuperFly
Still in the Space Race



Registered: 05/19/13
Posts: 1,032
Loc: Dark side off the moon
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Re: First Grow :) [Re: KatuXiK]
#18879275 - 09/23/13 05:29 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Ya it looks to be ok I don't see any Brf being exposed. From what it looks like mycelium already colonized that super cracked spot unless you are pointing out 2 different pictures. Be careful as you are trying to get the cakes out of those.
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Stromrider
This must be the place



Registered: 06/02/13
Posts: 7,338
Loc: Dept of know what I'm say...
Last seen: 38 minutes, 46 seconds
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Re: First Grow :) [Re: SuperFly]
#18879382 - 09/23/13 06:32 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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I definitely would not re-use them for brf cakes. Not only are they cracked but they are also the wrong type of jars. They will work sometimes for some people but a lot of people have problems with them getting stalled on the bottom. The substrate gets packed too tight on the bottom and it is also difficult for the mycelium to get proper gas exchange in those tall jars. If you put the substrate in them very very loose then they will probably not stall on the bottom. Next time use the short fat wide mouth half pint jars for brf cakes. You will see much faster colonization times and better performance. I tried both types of jars when I was doing cakes and was amazed at how much faster the short wide mouth jars colonized. The tall ones took a little over a month (on average) and the short ones took 2 to 3 weeks (on average) These times can vary quite a bit with different genetics. Anyway I am rambling now so good luck to you and keep us posted on your progress 
P.S. A lot of people have trouble finding the short wide mouth half pint jars. They are made by kerr and can be found at Ace Hardware stores and Amazon.com
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PrinceShroom
Experienced Mofo



Registered: 04/01/13
Posts: 395
Loc: Aiel Waste
Last seen: 9 years, 9 months
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Yea the tall jars are a couple weeks behind the wide mouthed jars IME. My first cakes took forever. Also getting the cakes out of those jars is stupid. I have to get a knife and lever the cake out. I had had several flushes off of rye before my cakes were even done. Using fresh spores you can have the short fat jars colonize quick.
I know what its like being broke though and spending money on shit sucks, but you have to buy new jars anyways if there are cracks. Try to get the wide mouthed jars. Which can be a serious PITA in and of itself also.
--------------------
  WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH Need help? Feel free to me.
Edited by PrinceShroom (09/23/13 07:27 AM)
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Stromrider
This must be the place



Registered: 06/02/13
Posts: 7,338
Loc: Dept of know what I'm say...
Last seen: 38 minutes, 46 seconds
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