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Inocuole
Scalpel of Evil's Bane



Registered: 11/21/11
Posts: 24,863
Loc: ★
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Re: how do these bags look? [Re: morty422]
#23605043 - 09/02/16 03:10 PM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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I only have one clear tub, all the rest are opaque. 
I would definitely be doing myself a favor to trade em out for good sterilites. Most of my tubs are from a good few years ago when I just got the cheapest shit I could find to get started. Saran wrap duct tape windows in the lids and shit. Problem is, I dulled out my hole saw on that whole load of tubs and anything else I try to put holes in will be at least a little janky. So far I've invested in and upgraded every aspect other than that. Need to go get like $100 worth of different sized clear tubs.
Basically, it seems like once you've been working with any one piece of starter equipment for too long, you need to start looking at it as a possible vector. Jars, tubs, lids, pasty plates, etc.
A good PC and dehydrator on the other hand should last quite a while..
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user265896
Stranger
Registered: 08/27/16
Posts: 46
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Re: how do these bags look? [Re: Inocuole]
#23607039 - 09/03/16 06:49 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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I'm not getting my hopes up yet, but things are looking good inside the tub. I found a better way to peek inside by shining the light directly over the lid. Those 2 "spotty areas" that I covered the other night weren't what I was thinking, they were really spots where the myc was already eating up the top coir layer! Because there's now over 10 more of them in there, and they're bright white. I can also see more spots of colonization right through the side, faintly when I shine the light. No signs of contams either, crossing my fingers.
The thing I'm a little concerned with now, is my sub isn't completely level. It tapers down lower in the corners a little, but nothing substantial. There's also a lot of spots where there's tiny peaks of substrate, but I'd say no higher than 1/4" over the base level. There's also a spot on the inside, where there's a little bit of moist coir stuck to the wall, but it's down near the substrate. I'm hesitant to open it up again though, unless any of that stuff is posing a potential problem.
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Inocuole
Scalpel of Evil's Bane



Registered: 11/21/11
Posts: 24,863
Loc: ★
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Re: how do these bags look? [Re: user265896]
#23607226 - 09/03/16 08:38 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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If the surrounding substrate isn't colonized stick a clean finger in there and knock over the tall piles of substrate. They can take forever to colonize and a flat surface is significantly better for pinning. Don't worry about the indentations, but if you can flatten out the hills by sweeping them over, you maybe should. Opening it won't do anything bad. Mushrooms grown outside are in an open box all the time, because there is no box.
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user265896
Stranger
Registered: 08/27/16
Posts: 46
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Re: how do these bags look? [Re: Inocuole]
#23607261 - 09/03/16 08:53 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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Cool, thanks for the tips. Do you think I'm sort of out of the woods for contams now, since the myc bounced back strong after 3 days, or is it always a looming possibility? I'm not concerned about a problem after 1-2 flushes, but it would suck to lose the whole tub beforehand.
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Inocuole
Scalpel of Evil's Bane



Registered: 11/21/11
Posts: 24,863
Loc: ★
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Re: how do these bags look? [Re: user265896]
#23607272 - 09/03/16 09:01 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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Contams come from the grain itself so, if you didn't fuck up already, it'll be REALLY hard to fuck up now.
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user265896
Stranger
Registered: 08/27/16
Posts: 46
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Re: how do these bags look? [Re: Inocuole]
#23607334 - 09/03/16 09:23 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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OK nice. I was definitely worried about bacterial contam before, but I figure if that was the case, the spawn wouldn't have smelled like straight myc. I tried this last year, and that's what happened. It was winter so the air was a lot drier/cooler, things were much slower growing, and eventually I could smell a rotten stench through the patches. I'm just guessing here, but I think the reason why my growth slowed down this time is because there was too much moisture. I put 3.3 cc spores per bag, and I could see some overly moist patches of grain afterwards. Myc was growing strong in a matter of days and looked very healthy, but when I mixed I think by redistributing that excess moisture, it made it a tougher environment for strong growth. That's why I made sure my bulk sub wasn't overly wet. I kept the most damp stuff at the bottom of the bucket and didn't use it. So my ratio is probably around 1:1.9, instead of the 1:2 I was planning on.
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Inocuole
Scalpel of Evil's Bane



Registered: 11/21/11
Posts: 24,863
Loc: ★
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Re: how do these bags look? [Re: user265896]
#23607395 - 09/03/16 09:51 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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Bacteria is probably there 99% of the time whether it looks like it or not, it's just a question of to what degree.
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user265896
Stranger
Registered: 08/27/16
Posts: 46
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Re: how do these bags look? [Re: Inocuole]
#23607547 - 09/03/16 10:45 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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True, that makes sense. I'm hoping since I didn't smell any foul odor, it was still at an early stage. The myc seems happy with the new food though. I wanted to add a little gypsum, but I ended up doing just coir/verm at 4:1
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user265896
Stranger
Registered: 08/27/16
Posts: 46
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Re: how do these bags look? [Re: user265896]
#23607952 - 09/03/16 12:44 PM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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I just leveled off the little hills, but I'm really hoping I didn't accidentally introduce any contams. I did it right after getting out of the shower and even sprayed my hands with isopropyl, but here's my worry: I use my phone for a flashlight in one hand, and because of the location of the tub, I had to switch hands to get to all of it (didn't think of this before). I only used my index fingers to do it, and even though my actual fingertip may have not touched the [dirty] phone, it was still very close to it when I was initially holding it. Who the hell knows what's on there. And yes, I should have thought of this beforehand, but SHIT!
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user265896
Stranger
Registered: 08/27/16
Posts: 46
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Re: how do these bags look? [Re: user265896]
#23609769 - 09/03/16 11:20 PM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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Does anyone have a guess if what I did was potentially catastrophic? The worst case scenario is that my fingertip touched my phone before finishing. I had the lid off for less than 1 minute, and I only touched the top layer which is coir/verm. I took care to avoid all the visible myc patches, but it's possible I inadvertently lightly grazed it. My [iphone] isn't filthy looking, I do wash it occasionally with isopropyl, but it's still gotta be harboring nasties. What do you guys think?! THANKS!
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Mushierage
SWIM Sinker



Registered: 06/29/16
Posts: 1,094
Last seen: 7 years, 1 month
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Re: how do these bags look? [Re: user265896]
#23610015 - 09/04/16 01:43 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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I think you are worrying just a little too much.
-------------------- Don't like researching posts? Read this! . Also, if you're new and your posts contain the words: Humidifer, incubator, air-stone, or heater, then you need to read and UTFSE before asking people to review your setup. OR... You should be cultivating reptiles and fish, not mushrooms.
  
Edited by Mushierage (09/04/16 02:11 AM)
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user265896
Stranger
Registered: 08/27/16
Posts: 46
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Re: how do these bags look? [Re: Mushierage]
#23610053 - 09/04/16 02:06 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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Thank you! That's exactly what I needed to hear hahah
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