|
Some of these posts are very old and might contain outdated information. You may wish to search for newer posts instead.
|
MushroomBear
Fun Guy


Registered: 07/05/15
Posts: 27
Loc: *redacted*
Last seen: 8 years, 2 months
|
Karo LC Contaminant? *updated*
#21903125 - 07/05/15 10:13 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
|
|
Hi all!
This is my first attempt at creating an LC or growing fungi of any sort, for that matter.
A solution of 4% Karo in distilled water was used, and I followed sterile technique EXCEPT for the following:
I only have a spore print (P. cubensis "Golden Teacher" from a site sponsor), and I believed that making a spore syringe would add unnecessary steps which would increase the risk of contamination. Therefore, to get the spores into the solution, I scraped up a good amount of spores (about 10% of one print) with a disposable scalpel blade (brand new, sterile), removed the lid *just* a crack, and then dumped the spores in before screwing the lid on tightly.
The jar was gently swirled once a day, and a little puff ball of myc was seen on Day 2.
It is now Day 4, and this is what the LC looks like...
 rekt.
I've looked around the forums extensively, and have come across descriptions of myc with dark spots in the centre and such, but none of these posts contained images to aid in identification.
Now I know this must be a contaminant of some sort (I've already started prepping 5 more jars in the PC), since mycelium should be pure white. However, would anyone know what it could be? Is it mold of some sort?
Thanks in advance!
MB
Edited by MushroomBear (07/15/15 01:04 AM)
|
Weiliithinker
Enlightenment Seeker

Registered: 01/13/14
Posts: 206
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
|
|
The black dots appear to be clumps of spores (they come together to form mycellium) like you see in some spore syringes. Since you tossed in a clump if spores from the print I'm thinking that's what it is... But, as you've probably read online, you can never really know just by looking if your LC us contaminated
To find out, you must inoculate a grain jar (I pc 4 and 'noc 2 so you have 2 control jars)
If they're colonize without contains showing up, the LC should be good to use. If you get contains in your nocc'd jars only, it's your LC. Start over with a new LC. If your control jars get contaminated too, then it's your sterility proocedures that need improving
Good luck (:
Edited by Weiliithinker (07/05/15 10:54 PM)
|
MushroomBear
Fun Guy



Registered: 07/05/15
Posts: 27
Loc: *redacted*
Last seen: 8 years, 2 months
|
|
Thanks so much for the advice, Weiliithinker!
That's a great suggestion. I think I'll keep this one sealed up in a bag and experiment more with it. In the meantime, I'll go ahead and try a couple more LC jars.
Hopefully the print itself isn't contaminated, since getting prints (syringes or vials are out of the question) is kind of difficult for me. Fingers crossed.
My bad on the image not being enlargeable; I've since fixed it.
|
Weiliithinker
Enlightenment Seeker

Registered: 01/13/14
Posts: 206
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
|
|
No problem Bear, I'm glad I could help! Good luck on getting a clean LC! When you harvest, look into how to clone your best fruit and make an agar dish or LC or both with that clone tissue, insuring a large, potent, consistent flush every time
|
MikeBearPig
Not liked.


Registered: 07/15/14
Posts: 2,319
|
|
It's looks like a contamination.. I would not waste time with it.
|
MushroomBear
Fun Guy



Registered: 07/05/15
Posts: 27
Loc: *redacted*
Last seen: 8 years, 2 months
|
|
UPDATE
So I ended up preparing three more LCs from the same spore print. They turned out like this:
1. This LC turned out the best. No dodgy black spots; all white. Those properties are also evident in the jar I inoculated it with.

2. LC was white with several black spots interspersed throughout. There is clear contamination growing throughout the jar.

3. This LC turned out the most like the one in my original post. The jar it was inoculated with shows rapid growth of a white fuzz which I highly doubt is desirable mycelium, but can't be 100% sure of yet.

*All jars are 4 days into growth. ** Each jar is being kept in a ziploc bag with foil loosely covering the lids for GE.
I did not vary anything in preparing the three LCs and their respective jars, so I really do see now why lots of people here refer to spore LCs as a crap shoot.
I'll post more updates once the mycelium develops further.
Edited by MushroomBear (07/15/15 01:01 AM)
|
MushroomBear
Fun Guy



Registered: 07/05/15
Posts: 27
Loc: *redacted*
Last seen: 8 years, 2 months
|
|
Update Two
Jar 3 started to discolour (similar to #2) as well, so I threw both of them out.
This leaves me with one jar, which looks good so far.

The eggs are pretty much all in one basket at this point. Stupid, I know, but I don't have the time at the moment to start another set of cakes.
My current plan is to fruit this one jar when it's ready. I'll probably take a couple of spore prints for future use and a tissue sample for immediate cloning.
This has all been really engaging and fun. I'll keep you updated!
MB
|
MushroomBear
Fun Guy



Registered: 07/05/15
Posts: 27
Loc: *redacted*
Last seen: 8 years, 2 months
|
|
Everything went fine with the one remaining jar.
I birthed it six days ago and it's starting to pin! Looking forward to getting a nice, vigorous mushroom for a master culture.

The bruising at the top of the cake is from my girlfriend knocking over my terrarium a couple of days ago . It was much, much worse, but the mycelium seems to be healing pretty well.
This cake has been a bit of a time-suck. I've since moved on to a rye jar and done some grain-to-grain work with success. It seems that running a household HEPA filter in my work room and upgrading my still air box from a cardboard box to a plastic tote has greatly reduced the incidence of contamination.
MB
Edited by MushroomBear (08/11/15 02:29 AM)
|
|
|
You cannot start new topics / You cannot reply to topics HTML is disabled / BBCode is enabled
Moderator: Shroomism, george castanza, RogerRabbit, veggie, mushboy, fahtster, LogicaL Chaos, 13shrooms, Stipe-n Cap, Pastywhyte, bodhisatta, Tormato, Land Trout, A.k.a 1,140 topic views. 52 members, 237 guests and 37 web crawlers are browsing this forum.
[ Show Images Only | Sort by Score | Print Topic ] |
|