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Rosetta-Stoned
Stranger

Registered: 06/12/13
Posts: 16
Last seen: 8 years, 4 months
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Contamintaion?
#22249043 - 09/17/15 12:30 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Hi fellas!
i would really appreciate it if you could tell me what is it that i'm dealing with here!

this is a ready-to-grow kit, i've followed the instructions provided: after spending about 2 weeks in the fridge since arriving, the sealed container has been opened, filled with RO water, lid closed and left for 12 hours, then the water has been drained, 0.5 litres of water has been poured inside the plastic bag provided, and the cake container put inside. the plastic bag is closed with paper clips and it is put in a place with indirect sunlight and at 25 degrees Celsius. IT IS DAY 6 now, and i can see nothing but a white fuzzy coating on some parts as you can see in the pictures.
So, any help is much appreciated.
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ThePhoenix
Risen From Ashes


Registered: 04/20/14
Posts: 99
Last seen: 7 years, 6 months
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If it's only on the top of the substrate it's probably cobweb. And cobweb smells pretty bad. It's like a pungent earthy smell. If it doesn't smell a bit like the store bought mushroom smell, I'd scrape the top with a sanitized fork or something. If it looks uncolonized underneath, it's probably contammed. The clarity of the photos and the condensation droplets are kind of messing with me so it's hard to tell if its rhizo growth or a contam. The third pic does look like a contam though. For future reference, try to avoid grow kits. People around here hardly have good luck with them and it's way more rewarding and inexpensive to do it yourself
-------------------- PM me for print trades! Looking for Cambodians, Mazatapec, or Penis Envy I have Golden Teacher Prints
Edited by ThePhoenix (09/17/15 12:41 AM)
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Rosetta-Stoned
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Registered: 06/12/13
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Last seen: 8 years, 4 months
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thanks for the quick reply, Phoenix! so would you suggest i open the plastic bag and check? i was afraid that it may expose it to more contamination, since it's all wet inside. isn't there any other way to be sure without opening it? correct me if i'm wrong, but i read that contamination tends to spread out rather fast, and the white fuzz i'm seeing, it just appeared after day 2 and isn't spreading or growing much ever since...!?
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ThePhoenix
Risen From Ashes


Registered: 04/20/14
Posts: 99
Last seen: 7 years, 6 months
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I lost my last mono to the fuzz... that sucked and I waited for a good while before tossing it. It ended up having a lot of barely white, almost transparent whisps. There was almost no mycelial colonization (old spawn jars). If that thickens up a bit more over the next week, I'd do a sniff test to double check then fruit that bitch. You can see the sides of the substrate right?
-------------------- PM me for print trades! Looking for Cambodians, Mazatapec, or Penis Envy I have Golden Teacher Prints
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Rosetta-Stoned
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Registered: 06/12/13
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Last seen: 8 years, 4 months
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yes i can see the sides, there is nothing i can notice. here are some more pictures:
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ThePhoenix
Risen From Ashes


Registered: 04/20/14
Posts: 99
Last seen: 7 years, 6 months
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So the sides look like they're colonizing, but that first pic of the top looks almost identical to the contams I had. Cobweb
-------------------- PM me for print trades! Looking for Cambodians, Mazatapec, or Penis Envy I have Golden Teacher Prints
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Mad Season
hookers and blackjack



Registered: 09/16/12
Posts: 12,666
Loc: Canada
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Quote:
Rosetta-Stoned said:

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ThePhoenix
Risen From Ashes


Registered: 04/20/14
Posts: 99
Last seen: 7 years, 6 months
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Quote:
Mad Season said:
Quote:
Rosetta-Stoned said:


I totally missed the blue-green shit on the right side of the photo
Toss that shit!
-------------------- PM me for print trades! Looking for Cambodians, Mazatapec, or Penis Envy I have Golden Teacher Prints
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Rosetta-Stoned
Stranger

Registered: 06/12/13
Posts: 16
Last seen: 8 years, 4 months
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it's not blue-green, it's the shadow of the plastic bag that makes it look a little blue in the picture, but from here it's just white. but it's really hard to tell if anything is happening since the cake itself is also white! so what exactly should i be looking for? and how long does it take normally for the first mushrooms to be visible? it's been 7 days now since the container has been watered and put in the bag. if i recall correctly, they should appear after 5,6 days, don't they?
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micro
bunbun has a gungun



Registered: 05/09/03
Posts: 7,532
Loc: Brick City
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I'd almost say tomentose growth (aside from the spot on the last pic which looks more rhizomorphic) but I agree some of it *could be* cobweb (I can't tell from the pics) and those "kits" just seem like a bad idea in general.
a.) They just had you open a bag and pour water in? b.) The substrate is sitting in a pool of water... c.) If the bag is left sealed like that I'd worry about CO2.
Regardless, from the pics it might be fine.
If it has a "dusty" smell and not just mushroomy it's probably cobweb.
-------------------- Any research paper or book for free (Avatar is Maxxy, a character by Mizzyam, RIP)
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Rosetta-Stoned
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Last seen: 8 years, 4 months
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Re: Contamintaion? [Re: micro]
#22254134 - 09/18/15 12:18 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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i had another experience with these kits and last time it turned out great. (80+ grams dry from a single one)
yes you receive a sealed plastic container and a big plastic bag. you take the lid of the container off, fill with water, leave for 12 hours, then discard all water, now you put 0.5 litres of water in the plastic bag, and put the container inside and close the bag with clips. the cake isn't sitting in water directly, but the container is! and the bag has some strips which i think is for air circulation. again, i had positive results with this same method before, although it was from a different vendor.
do you suggest i open the plastic bag and check? wouldn't it expose it to more possible contaminations in the air?
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micro
bunbun has a gungun



Registered: 05/09/03
Posts: 7,532
Loc: Brick City
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Ah, okay. It looked like it from the pic but it makes sense from what you wrote.
I think the biggest source of contamination is going to be at first when you are handling the "cake" and pouring the water in (I'm assuming it wasn't pressure cooked?) But, I wouldn't bother until it is colonised. If you're only at day 6 it probably hasn't had the time.
It seems like they must have added vermiculite or something and evenly dispersed spores or mycelium so that it won't be as dense of nutrition and the mycelium will take hold quicker than anything else. I see condensation which is good but areas that are uncolonised aren't.
Did the other kit colonise the entire thing and end up like a light brick? It could be that the top is a bit dry, but if the other one colonised the whole way through I'd be careful. It looks like it should be mostly done by now, so maybe give it a few days and see what happens. If it still hasn't taken hold in like 3 days I'd probably open it, see if there's a dusty smell (and if so, move it away from any others around) and if not just try to fan it off and maybe spray the sides with a spray bottle. I'd do that every few days or when you can tell lots of smell is building up.
-------------------- Any research paper or book for free (Avatar is Maxxy, a character by Mizzyam, RIP)
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Rosetta-Stoned
Stranger

Registered: 06/12/13
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Last seen: 8 years, 4 months
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Re: Contamintaion? [Re: micro]
#22254335 - 09/18/15 01:53 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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micro
bunbun has a gungun



Registered: 05/09/03
Posts: 7,532
Loc: Brick City
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Yeah, the top there doesn't look 100% colonised either.
I'd guess they just added a lot of vermiculite or something.
-------------------- Any research paper or book for free (Avatar is Maxxy, a character by Mizzyam, RIP)
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ThePhoenix
Risen From Ashes


Registered: 04/20/14
Posts: 99
Last seen: 7 years, 6 months
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Re: Contamintaion? [Re: micro]
#22266026 - 09/20/15 05:24 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
micro said:
If it has a "dusty" smell and not just mushroomy it's probably cobweb.
I second the "dusty" smell. That is a good way to describe cobweb's scent. How's it looking now? And the top didn't look like myc to me. It was far to spindly to be rhizo growth. From the photos, it literally looked like cobwebs to me. The condensation can make it tricky to identify though. Smell test is the call on this one. Especially if you see that growth is still stalled out at this point.
-------------------- PM me for print trades! Looking for Cambodians, Mazatapec, or Penis Envy I have Golden Teacher Prints
Edited by ThePhoenix (09/20/15 05:24 PM)
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Rosetta-Stoned
Stranger

Registered: 06/12/13
Posts: 16
Last seen: 8 years, 4 months
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Quote:
ThePhoenix said:
Quote:
micro said:
If it has a "dusty" smell and not just mushroomy it's probably cobweb.
I second the "dusty" smell. That is a good way to describe cobweb's scent. How's it looking now? And the top didn't look like myc to me. It was far to spindly to be rhizo growth. From the photos, it literally looked like cobwebs to me. The condensation can make it tricky to identify though. Smell test is the call on this one. Especially if you see that growth is still stalled out at this point.
Hey Phoenix! thanks for asking! it hasn't changed much, only the white fuzz looks denser now. still no signs of mushrooms! i opened a small side of the plastic bag and tried to smell it, there was no smell at all! i still don't know what the situation is and what to do!
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micro
bunbun has a gungun



Registered: 05/09/03
Posts: 7,532
Loc: Brick City
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What temperature do you have it at?
It should be at 70-75F when fruiting.
You could always try throwing it in the fridge overnight but i don't think it has necessarily been that long.
If you *do* cold shock it in the fridge make sure its closed to prevent contamination.
-------------------- Any research paper or book for free (Avatar is Maxxy, a character by Mizzyam, RIP)
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Rosetta-Stoned
Stranger

Registered: 06/12/13
Posts: 16
Last seen: 8 years, 4 months
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Re: Contamintaion? [Re: micro]
#22278629 - 09/23/15 12:42 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
micro said: What temperature do you have it at?
It should be at 70-75F when fruiting.
You could always try throwing it in the fridge overnight but i don't think it has necessarily been that long.
If you *do* cold shock it in the fridge make sure its closed to prevent contamination.
Hey micro! the temp is about 75-80 F. what would a cold shock in the fridge do? i've never heard of that. but it has spent 2 weeks in the fridge before i opened and watered it. could that have anything to do with it?
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Mad Season
hookers and blackjack



Registered: 09/16/12
Posts: 12,666
Loc: Canada
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So much facepalm. Cold shocking is information from a long ass time ago..
Quote:
RogerRabbit said: It's important to note that cubes fruit during the summer months. They don't wait for a cold front to shock them into fruiting. Thus, the whole deal with cold shocking was from early growers using it after reading how to cold shock shiitake, so they tried it on cubes. However, despite their efforts, they got fruits. They then attributed the fact that their trays fruited to the cold shock, and a myth was born.
In the summer months, if your 'cold' water is pretty warm, I'd suggest dunking in the refrigerator, just to prevent any fermentation while the cake is underwater. The rest of the year, just use cold tap water and dunk at normal room temp. More valuable then using cold water though is the rinse before and after the dunk with running water. You'll notice the cakes are somewhat slimy after a dunk. RR
Quote:
RogerRabbit said: Here ya go. Watch all four brf tek videos and your questions will be answered. You shouldn't ever colonize in a box or in the dark. Cold shocking is not for cubes. You need to mist daily after placing the substrates into fruiting conditions. RR
Quote:
RogerRabbit said: One of these days, I'm going to delete every stinking page of the archives around here because they're so horribly inaccurate.
You don't cold shock cubensis if that's what you're growing. Cold shocking is for fall fruiting edibles such as shiitake. RR
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Pastywhyte said: Sounds bizarre. Cold shocking is an obsolete practice, never any need to put it in the fridge. The instructions sound like they were written for a kit that comes already colonized. In which case you simply need to fruit it.
I'm going to suggest you post a pic of what you have and burn the instructions. Then listen to the people here and never buy a kit again. Kits are grossly overpriced, horribly designed, and often contminated.
Quote:
Pastywhyte said: Dunking won't hurt pins, cold shocking is not necessary, the black light ain't really doing anything but causing mutation, the perlite is useless without holes in the bottom and, I'd be more worried about how much FAE your getting cause you don't have many holes at all.
I could go on but I don't think that's necessary. I'm just saying it's extremely obsolete.
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micro
bunbun has a gungun



Registered: 05/09/03
Posts: 7,532
Loc: Brick City
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possibly
i don't think it has been long enough to determine there's a problem
sometimes they can take a week or two to fruit
-------------------- Any research paper or book for free (Avatar is Maxxy, a character by Mizzyam, RIP)
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