|
Horticulture
Mycocurious



Registered: 04/30/09
Posts: 1,102
Loc: Midwest
Last seen: 9 years, 3 months
|
Check out the nerve of this Mushroom Swindler.
#21013169 - 12/22/14 05:21 PM (9 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/spora-mushrooms-at-home
Highlights include:
"Agaricus bisporous" fruiting on 3 pieces of particle board at $10,000 ... "Russula aurea" [a mycorrhizal species] fruiting on 3 pieces of particle board at $200,000 "Morchella elata" (Morel) fruiting on 3 pieces of particle board at $280,000 ... "Boletus betulicola" [another mycorrhizal species] fruiting on 3 pieces of particle board at $350,000
In the youtube video it is painfully obvious that these are White Buttons that this dude bought from the market and stuck to a piece of particle board. Then watch him smile and wink, with full knowledge that his entire pitch is a scam.
Seriously don't consider giving this charlatan a dime. This shameless cash grab is an insult to everyone here that puts in hard work cultivating any mushroom species. If there's a dude out there that deserves weird karma, it's this guy.
-------------------- The Plant Mage Guild
|
mpd
Lammen Gorthaur



Registered: 10/22/12
Posts: 9,660
Loc: Mostly at home... Mostly....
Last seen: 8 years, 11 months
|
Re: Check out the nerve of this Mushroom Swindler. [Re: Horticulture]
#21013238 - 12/22/14 05:33 PM (9 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
Who would be dumb enough to pay such a sum to begin with?
-------------------- There is no truer calling for mankind than that of true conservatism.
|
Le_Canard
The Duk Abides


Registered: 05/16/03
Posts: 94,392
Loc: Earthfarm 1
|
Re: Check out the nerve of this Mushroom Swindler. [Re: mpd]
#21013245 - 12/22/14 05:34 PM (9 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
That's what I was thinking as well....
|
musiclover420
psychonaut



Registered: 11/06/12
Posts: 19,563
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 2 years, 9 months
|
Re: Check out the nerve of this Mushroom Swindler. [Re: Le_Canard]
#21013277 - 12/22/14 05:39 PM (9 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
That video made me want to hurt someone... Mostly, that guy... And his smug straight face.
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
|
Patlal
You ask too many questions



Registered: 10/09/10
Posts: 44,849
Loc: Ottawa
Last seen: 7 hours, 36 minutes
|
Re: Check out the nerve of this Mushroom Swindler. [Re: musiclover420]
#21013336 - 12/22/14 05:47 PM (9 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
Its not 100000$ per item.
Its a goal he wants to reach by selling many of them so he can finance his research...
--------------------
|
lowbrow
Paddy Time!!!!


Registered: 09/12/08
Posts: 9,820
Last seen: 1 day, 14 hours
|
Re: Check out the nerve of this Mushroom Swindler. [Re: Patlal]
#21014591 - 12/22/14 10:22 PM (9 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
I don't think its particle board, more like dry wall.
Where. Did the dirt come from? It just kind of shows up.
-------------------- Amanita86 said: Sui is trying to mod right now. Kinda like a newborn calf tryin ta stand fer the first time ain’t it..
|
Horticulture
Mycocurious



Registered: 04/30/09
Posts: 1,102
Loc: Midwest
Last seen: 9 years, 3 months
|
Re: Check out the nerve of this Mushroom Swindler. [Re: lowbrow]
#21018708 - 12/23/14 07:36 PM (9 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
lowbrow said: I don't think its particle board, more like dry wall.
Where. Did the dirt come from? It just kind of shows up.
If you notice in the video he doesn't put any dirt around the mushrooms he sets on the boards. Then in the still images he realizes he can't pull that off convincingly, so he sprinkles some dirt around the bases to conceal the fact that these are literally grocery mushrooms.
Seriously the more I think about this the more angry it makes me. It's made $50 more dollars since yesterday. $50 more dollars he's stolen from some well intentioned but ignorant mushroom enthusiast. $50 someone could've put toward buying a real kit from a respectable cultivator.
-------------------- The Plant Mage Guild
|
lowbrow
Paddy Time!!!!


Registered: 09/12/08
Posts: 9,820
Last seen: 1 day, 14 hours
|
Re: Check out the nerve of this Mushroom Swindler. [Re: Horticulture]
#21018933 - 12/23/14 08:27 PM (9 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Horticulture said:
Quote:
lowbrow said: I don't think its particle board, more like dry wall.
Where. Did the dirt come from? It just kind of shows up.
If you notice in the video he doesn't put any dirt around the mushrooms he sets on the boards. Then in the still images he realizes he can't pull that off convincingly, so he sprinkles some dirt around the bases to conceal the fact that these are literally grocery mushrooms.
Seriously the more I think about this the more angry it makes me. It's made $50 more dollars since yesterday. $50 more dollars he's stolen from some well intentioned but ignorant mushroom enthusiast. $50 someone could've put toward buying a real kit from a respectable cultivator.
You could rip him a new asshole in the comments section if you were so inclined.
-------------------- Amanita86 said: Sui is trying to mod right now. Kinda like a newborn calf tryin ta stand fer the first time ain’t it..
|
Horticulture
Mycocurious



Registered: 04/30/09
Posts: 1,102
Loc: Midwest
Last seen: 9 years, 3 months
|
Re: Check out the nerve of this Mushroom Swindler. [Re: lowbrow]
#21019146 - 12/23/14 09:25 PM (9 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
I ripped him a new asshole in the "Let Us Know [About Fraudulence]" link. Hopefully Indiegogo removes this campaign. I would encourage you to do the same in your own words.
This campaign makes ludicrous claims about the cultivation of mushrooms. As someone who has spent a great deal of time researching and cultivating gourmet mushrooms, the absurd fraudulence of the "Spora" campaign is offensive. The creator is preying on the public's relative ignorance of mycology to steal money, plain and simple.
The most obvious fraud is visible from the video where white button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus), are placed on what appears to be particle board, made to look as if they are growing from it. Inspection of the video, particularly at timestamps 1:05 and 1:10 reveal that many of these mushrooms are not even flush to the board, let alone show the characteristic white fuzz of mycelial growth. For further condemning proof of this fraudulence, see the sprinkling of soil that obscures the bases of these grocery-store-purchased mushrooms in the still image on the campaign. Then note the lack of this soil-like substance in the video. White button mushrooms grow on cased compost, a fact that millions of dollars of industry investment and the collective experimentation of hundreds of dedicated amateurs and scientists alike has established. The notion that this species would grow at such an absurd biological efficiency on such a ridiculous substrate is insulting to all real cultivators.
Further offense of this campaign include claims of being able to reliably grow mycorrhizal species such as russula (Russula aurea) and porcini (Boletus edulis). Mycorrhizal species require the presence of living tree roots, which they exchange nutrients with in order to complete their life cycle. These mushrooms have evaded all attempts at "controlled" cultivation and the notion that $350,000 will allow this criminal to grow them on particle board is infuriating. The creator also fails to use proper Latin nomenclature by capitalizing species names in his chart. Genus is always capitalized, species is lowercase; this is a global scientific standard. This is perhaps a minor issue in light of all the other fraudulence taking place here, but I find it personally irritating.
More broadly, I am angered by the fact that "Luca Di Zio" is trying to swindle people by preying on ignorance of a hobby that I am passionate about. I very much want people to succeed at growing mushrooms; not to be dissuaded by someone who is going to take their money and deliver a fictitious product. There are a variety of real home mushroom growing kits created by legitimate businesses that deliver a real product for a fair price. "Luca" alludes to these kits and calls them "smelly, heavy, dirty and bulky." Again he preys on misconceptions. These kits smell of living mycelium, weigh between 50-100% of their expected yield, are exceptionally clean in an absolute sense (bacteria and fungi contaminants must be eliminated from kits for proper colonization of the desired fungi), and are only as bulky as biological efficiency demands. This is the reality of cultivating mushrooms. Maybe it's not "posh" but it is real.
Frankly I think "Luca Di Zio" should be locked up as a criminal, but perhaps that is not the reality of how Indiegogo scamming works. At the very least the "Spora" campaign should be removed, and any money collected refunded at the creators expense.
-------------------- The Plant Mage Guild
|
Horticulture
Mycocurious



Registered: 04/30/09
Posts: 1,102
Loc: Midwest
Last seen: 9 years, 3 months
|
Re: Check out the nerve of this Mushroom Swindler. [Re: Horticulture]
#21019168 - 12/23/14 09:28 PM (9 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
I may have gotten a bit dramatic toward the end...
-------------------- The Plant Mage Guild
|
fapjack
Title



Registered: 07/26/07
Posts: 16,574
Loc: Central New Jersey
Last seen: 4 years, 2 months
|
Re: Check out the nerve of this Mushroom Swindler. [Re: Horticulture]
#21019237 - 12/23/14 09:46 PM (9 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
Its really cool that you are trying to move the hobby forward by crowdfunding your company. I donated $50 towards your cause and really look forward to getting my kits so I can grow mushr0oms for my family. Thanks.
--------------------
|
Epistrophy



Registered: 09/01/11
Posts: 3,031
Last seen: 8 hours, 11 minutes
|
Re: Check out the nerve of this Mushroom Swindler. [Re: Horticulture]
#21019240 - 12/23/14 09:47 PM (9 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
|
|