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thecynicalstoic
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Registered: 05/02/19
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That whole "just start it already" thing really works!!
#25975920 - 05/06/19 02:28 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Why hello there Shroomery. I'm here. I'll admit, it took me a while to join. There is really good information here, but holy hell there is a lot of stuff. It was overwhelming. I'm still learning my way around here, so if I screw up and post something in the wrong place, please let me know. I have read through the rules enough to be confident that this particular thread should be okay. I don't know if I'll want to break out some of the behind the scenes story, where my interest came from, and what I've found so far, but I'll play it by ear.
Long story short, burned down my life about 5 years ago. After reading How To Change Your Mind, I started digging more into psychedelics. I decided to go for it. I'm not the most sociable of people, but I tried to source some from every single person I knew. Nada. Then I started thinking about cultivation. Using reddit as a launching pad, I discovered specific links to TEKs here, and other resources. I wound up getting a couple of syringes (B+ & GT), and decided to check out PF TEK, which was mentioned in a few other resources. I read way too much, including the much vaunted 'just get started already', but eventually followed Pf tek done right TEK with 5 1/2 pint jars (I still haven't seen anyone mention that with Bell Jars, Wide Mouth and Regular Mouth are absolute sizes, not relative to the jar...regular mouth 1/2 jars do not taper!!). I left them on the windowsill, knowing that the room was too cold for ideal conditions, and they would take a while to colonize. After a couple of weeks, I wound up also reading Fast, easy, fool proof inoculation and made SHIPs on the remaining 7 of my lids. I inoculated 6 of them (all of this is BRF), but this time threw them on top of the fridge just to see if they would colonize significantly faster (answer: yes).
You know how it's often mentioned not to look too often at your cakes? Yeah, I took that way too seriously. I didn't see 100% inoculation for a while. Turns out I didn't actually mix up the verm and the BRF all that well, and the parts that weren't colonized didn't have any BRF (learned that later). It wasn't until I thought there may be some contamination that I looked a bit closer. It was a freaking pin. I waited way longer than necessary. So birthed, dunked, and rolled. I made an SGFC out of a 14qt Bella container (from Family Dollar). All 6 GT cakes wound up in there. Since I obviously messed up the BRF ratio really bad with the first 5 B+ cakes, I considered them experimental. One cake I put outside in an almost suitable location just to see what happens. The other 4 I wrapped in cardboard and put in the plastic produce bags misted with the top twisted. Super low tech.
It seemed pretty cramped with 6 cakes in that small SGFC, so I had the better half help me with another one. She used a soldering iron (smaller holes) and wound up spacing them at 1".
My first flush from the 6 GTs resulted in ~303 grams wet, and 34 dried grams (using a food dehydrator). By weight, it seems like the mushrooms should have been wet, but even when I did a short dehydration session (4 hours) and only removed 80/6% of water weight, they were cracker dry. I had to be careful picking them up, because they'd just break apart if I squeezed too hard. The in vitro B+ did wind up fruiting, and the mushrooms were very pretty (kind of one of the goals for these experiments). Wound up with about 15 wet grams from 4 1/2 pint jars.
I just got back from the store, and came back with 4lbs of brown rice. I'll be doing 6 more BRF cakes, and then I'm going to try the broke boi TEK spawning to whole brown rice. Haven't decided on a bulk TEK as of yet.
My goal was a single session, and I took a 5.41g dose (and got a more accurate scale!!) in darkness. I even have enough to try my hand at micro-dosing, just to see how it goes. So why am I trying another TEK? Why am I redoing the TEK I did before? I can tell you exactly what happened, and when. I was misting 2x/day, and it was the morning of the second day (3rd misting ever) that it happened. I sprayed the very first time, and suddenly the smell hit me. I hadn't seen it mentioned. But it was like an old friend, reminding me of little spots I've found on hikes and bike rides. That moment was when it became about the cultivation, with the yield being a happy side effect. The fruiting was so cool to watch. I started viewing the entire thing as a game of risk, where I can only control the map to give my mycelium army every advantage. Folks, I kill mint. And I pulled this off. I am hooked. I started fantasizing about oysters and morels and shiitakes (I've heard the fruiting is kind of odd on that one) and azures and cyans. So I want to make sure I can do BRF cakes properly, just for my own edification. I want to do some kind of bulk tek because I had no clue it was possible without a pressure cooker, and I want to do it. I've got the bug. I haven't worked out the math yet, but I think it would be awesome to spend 3 months a year in extensive cultivation of mushrooms of all kinds to provide me with enough mushrooms of all kinds for all my needs for the year. No idea if that's realistic, but it's not close enough to bother worrying about.
So I guess that's why I'm here. Always looking to learn, always looking to get better, always looking to help those I can. I have fuzzy mycelium on my cakes, and I need to narrow down what causes it (I'm pretty sure it's something about misting), I need to figure out what the average size of cubes are (which I think is based on so many different variables, I probably won't get an accurate number), because there might be a bit of insecurity about the length and girth of my mushrooms.
Glad to be here.
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ShaperDreaming
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic] 1
#25975945 - 05/06/19 02:41 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Hi, welcome.
I see you're using TEKs that are 9 years old. They should produce results, as you've seen, but they're more complicated than they need to be. For example, with brf cakes there's no need to use SHIPs
So! Let me help you cut through the bullshit. Start here. Here is a recommend Easy AF Way to get started.
Also, as someone who came here from Reddit, I recommend staying away from there. There's no way to really gauge if anyone knows what they're saying, and a good majority of the information is either outdated or wrong.
Best of luck!
Also, that brown rice tek may work, but honestly you're safer just making BRF cakes and then shredding them to bulk.
Edited by ShaperDreaming (05/06/19 02:45 PM)
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming]
#25975969 - 05/06/19 02:52 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Yeah, I knew some of them were old. I just recently found that Easy AF series (including the updated Broke Boi TEK) and have it bookmarked. I'm using that to cook my rice (I have to look up how to cook rice at my altitude...I've used a rice cooker exclusively for years) to the proper not-quite-doneness.
As far as the SHIPs, I honestly had the stuff laying around, and decided to try inoculation without a SAB. I didn't think it was needed for BRF cakes more than for inoculation. And yeah, I know that I probably won't wind up using a spore solution moving forward, so it's a moot point I think. I even have 12 brand new plastic lids that I haven't decided what to do with yet.
Thanks for the recommendation to stay away from reddit. I am getting more and more familiar with the search functionality, but those links you sent are a great addition. Appreciate it!
Edit: Oh cool, you added that shredded cake stuff afterwards. I'm not going crazy!! That is actually really cool. I may try just 2 jars then with the Brown Rice, as comparison.
Edited by thecynicalstoic (05/06/19 02:54 PM)
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ShaperDreaming
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#25975978 - 05/06/19 02:56 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Yup! Get cracking on AGAR before everyone tells you to start using agar
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thecynicalstoic
Cheap Beginner


Registered: 05/02/19
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming]
#25975990 - 05/06/19 03:00 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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I love the idea of using agar to be more precise and get more data so much. I will most assuredly do it. I am actually quite interested in the...uh...tilted test tube long term storage thing too.
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ShaperDreaming
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#25976004 - 05/06/19 03:05 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Slants, yeah.
And agar work is the only way that we can come close to guaranteeing we have clean spawn in this hobby. So, the only way to safely move up to grain is to start with agar, get a clean plate, transfer to grains, grow mushrooms!
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming]
#25976042 - 05/06/19 03:31 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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The future is murky, but my ultimate goal would be something along the lines of a full cultivation setup that can be on a < 42ft sailboat, and collapsed down when not in use. I like the idea of overcoming crazy changing weather based on where the boat is, low power usage (even for storage of slants), and discretion.
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ShaperDreaming
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#25976061 - 05/06/19 03:38 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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That's going to make a SAB pretty challenging. I live in a 500sf studio and make it work though, so the space should be enough, but damn, a sail boat!
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StrohngBahd
Not The Cheat



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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#25976300 - 05/06/19 05:56 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
thecynicalstoic said: The future is murky, but my ultimate goal would be something along the lines of a full cultivation setup that can be on a < 42ft sailboat, and collapsed down when not in use. I like the idea of overcoming crazy changing weather based on where the boat is, low power usage (even for storage of slants), and discretion.
Ooh, Psychonautical
-------------------- No Turn Un-Stoned
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verum subsequentis
seeker of truth



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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: StrohngBahd]
#25976482 - 05/06/19 07:49 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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you got me with the 42 foot sail boat bit. I love sailing. I had a twenty three foot ranger out in the blue for four months and have thought a lot about the logistics of growing while living aboard. What about coast guard walk ons though?
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golden-student
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming]
#25976491 - 05/06/19 07:54 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
ShaperDreaming said: That's going to make a SAB pretty challenging. I live in a 500sf studio and make it work though, so the space should be enough, but damn, a sail boat!
This is very interesting... In this situation creating a SAB would be quite challenging, and perhaps unnecessary?
How far out do you plan on floating? I am thinking the further out you go, the less likely there is going to be anything at all in the air (contaminant wise). May be some research on air quality at sea. I'll see what I can find.
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verum subsequentis
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: golden-student]
#25976499 - 05/06/19 08:00 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Have you ever been in rough water? I can see mush, substrate and spawn flying all over the place if not locked down some how.
I really doubt that air out there isn't contammed. It is probably less though. That's an interesting thought.
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MH5109
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: verum subsequentis]
#25976502 - 05/06/19 08:04 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Scientists use sab in nature, like woods rainforest ect, I doubt being on a boat is going to affect your sab work.
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golden-student
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: golden-student]
#25976506 - 05/06/19 08:06 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Section 8 makes me think I am wrong.
sci-hub.tw/10.1016/j.pocean.2012.08.004
Good luck setting up your at-sea lab!
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: golden-student]
#25976635 - 05/06/19 09:20 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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I'm not even sure what ocean I will wind up on. The idea is super immature. I do believe that I would start off by growing edible and gourmet mushrooms. Anything mind expanding would be a one off thing. Assuming PF TEK (since that's the only one I have experience with so far), I could envision the cakes being ready to birth about 2 days into a 23 day Atlantic crossing, resulting in a couple of flushes before I even hit landfall.
Since right now, I'm just getting more comfortable with the different TEKs, I'm in the experimentation phase. For mono tubs or a shoebox, I can see some kind of gimbaled table, or perhaps a locked tub with enough FAE so that it's secure, won't spill, but still work. It's all a ways away. I do know that the high humidity on a boat requires some pretty standard upkeep to keep the mold at bay, so I imagine it would be even more of a pain from a myco standpoint. I have been lucky/anal-retentive/paranoid and haven't wound up getting any contamination, so no firsthand knowledge on that aspect.
I have thought about some kind of collapsible SAB, with threaded holes that allow me to close the arm holes, and use it for regular storage, or collapse 6 sides into a skinny little section.
I am super glad that folks are interested in the idea of a boat. That will be in the back of my mind with these further experiments, but it's not even a real goal yet (I have allotted 6 months on the water initially to figure out logistics, whenever that happens).
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ShaperDreaming
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: MH5109]
#25977369 - 05/07/19 08:39 AM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
MH5109 said: Scientists use sab in nature, like woods rainforest ect, I doubt being on a boat is going to affect your sab work.
Yeah, but nature like that isn't throwing you around and usually they're not in wide open wind flows like on the water. I used to work on boats, and while I'm sure it would/could work, you'd have to wait for the perfect day then *BAM* get to fucking work in your SAB.
As for edibles/gourmet. I recommend looking into doing work in bags. Less likely to fly around. Also possibly straw logs for oysters, you could probably lash them in place from the top and the bottom to handle heavier seas.
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#25979352 - 05/08/19 07:27 AM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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So, with the excellent links provided by @ShaperDreaming, I am making a plan for this next batch. I have 12 1/2 pint jars, 7 metal SHIP lids, 5 regular PF metal lids (4 inoculation holes), 12 unmodified plastic lids, B+ and GT spore syringes, verm, gypsum, perlite, and 2 14 qt clear SGFCs with blue tinted lids.
After thinking about it a bit, I'm not going to do the whole brown rice to bulk (old reddit broke boi to bulk tek), since it looks like a simpler method (that I'm already more familiar with) just doing the cakes.
Cakes will be made following the Updated PF-Tek Guide, although I need to do a bit of research on the role of gypsum, since I have some.
6 GT 3 SHIP lids 3 PF lids 6 B+ 4 SHIP lids 2 PF lids
Afterwards, I still need to get things narrowed down. I don't think I'm doing a full mono right now. So 1 shoebox of GT and 1 shoebox of B+ (I think it's one cake per shoebox, but I need to confirm), 3 cakes of each in my tiny SGFC (TSGFC?) with B+ in the standard hole spacing and size, and GT in the SGFC with smaller holes closer together. The remaining 4 jars (2 B+ 2 GT) I am going to do a version of Bod's Easy AF cheapest way to get started TEK for fruiting them. I did the in vitro method with my B+ weak mycelium based on a book (I think it was Paul Stamets, but I'll find the title later) mostly because they mentioned the mushrooms wound up pretty. I haven't even dried the ones I've harvested, but I did get some pictures, and they were beautiful. So I'll be doing that again based on the TEK above, with 2 important differences. I'm not going to be using sandwich bags, I'll be using produce bags, and probably tape a kabob stick to the jars to keep the thinner plastic upright.
Also, I do know that the entire race difference of the same species of cubes isn't significant, but it's a data point I have. Plus, based on my heroic trip, I have some major curiosity about the potency. I'll post more elsewhere about that, but while it was a good 5 hours in silence, it seemed superficial. I don't have a frame of reference really, so I'm going to track what data I have, and see if it is my perception and reaction or what.
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Professor X
School for the Gifted



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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#25979362 - 05/08/19 07:34 AM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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One cake per shoe box will not get you where you want to be. I would go 4 cakes shredded and mixed with one quart coir and vermiculite per box.
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: Professor X]
#25980456 - 05/08/19 06:23 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Ah, okay. I haven't checked that TEK at all yet, so I was just guessing. I honestly didn't think bulk was possible until relatively recently. I thought you had to have a pressure cooker. Well, perhaps I'll use 8 cakes for the shoeboxes and do the in jar stuff. And then maybe use those jars to do the next test with 2 cakes each in the SGFC and TSGFC. Depends on when I wind up getting coir. Haven't looked at all yet.
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Durgin
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic] 1
#25980694 - 05/08/19 08:12 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Just one piece of advice here: please don't trip on a boat! Mushrooms are generally quite safe themselves, but people can do very unsafe things, especially when high, and being surrounded by water increases the danger exponentially. Maybe if you were very experienced and took moderate doses the risk would be minimal, but since you say you're new to this... Please don't! You sound like a cool person, and it'd suck to see something bad happen.
Also, reading "How to Change Your Mind" is exactly what got me into this as well! Glad to see I'm not the only one.
Edited by Durgin (05/08/19 08:13 PM)
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: Durgin]
#25980789 - 05/08/19 09:18 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
Durgin said: Just one piece of advice here: please don't trip on a boat! Mushrooms are generally quite safe themselves, but people can do very unsafe things, especially when high, and being surrounded by water increases the danger exponentially. Maybe if you were very experienced and took moderate doses the risk would be minimal, but since you say you're new to this... Please don't! You sound like a cool person, and it'd suck to see something bad happen.
Also, reading "How to Change Your Mind" is exactly what got me into this as well! Glad to see I'm not the only one.
Oh yeah. My interest as far as boats go is the actual cultivation aspect. I've got too much respect for the Ocean and the Mushroom to go that route (although I am working on narrowing a good microdose for me, and I could see that being a very positive thing. But yes, it's not something to be taken lightly. And again, this is going to be a while. No ocean in Colorado...but we did just manage to decriminalize mushrooms...so, yeah.
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Durgin
Amateur Mad Scientist



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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#25980814 - 05/08/19 09:34 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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If you're just cultivating, I think Muda's bottle tek (use the search feature) is probably the most instability-resilient method - small closed containers, and if they tip the loss is minimal. (From my limited experience, though, prepare for loads of side pins. The mushrooms still work, just not that pretty and a pain to harvest.)
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Durgin
Amateur Mad Scientist



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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: Durgin]
#25980819 - 05/08/19 09:35 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Or Violet's in vitro tek, which is pretty similar but even more self contained and discrete (you never even take the lids off).
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: Durgin]
#25981319 - 05/09/19 06:42 AM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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I have both of those TEKs on my list. This isn't anywhere near enough to be a concern right now, but eventually maybe. The sailboat idea has been bubbling around the head pretty consistently for about 2 years. No real path forward right now, though. Just general research stages. I am super glad that people are interested in it, though.
I put this in the cultivation forum, because I initially started it as a bit of motivation to people who may about to do what I did and went down some rabbit holes before getting started. But now, there is all kinds of other stuff. I'll poke around a bit later, but if someone knows off the top of their head, what is the best way to post all of these disparate thoughts? Different thread for different subjects? Are journals used like that here? I'll search for the answer, and poke around to see how people use them, but just thought I'd start off by posting here.
I will admit, I'm contemplating big monos too, now. I watched a youtube clip from vice about one of the largest cultivation rooms in the country, and it was kind of cool to recognize the setup. Looks like the basic unmodified stuff with the lids upside down for FAE. Neat!
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ShaperDreaming
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#25981731 - 05/09/19 11:15 AM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Looking good! Like the work you've laid out. I recommend a minimum of 1 myco-quart per shoebox, or you may get poor results. If you really want to stretch out our spawn to do 2 half-pint jars, I would recommend that you do a ratio of approx 1:4 (spawn:sub). It'll take longer to colonize, but you'll need the water from the coir to get good fruits.
Quote:
thecynicalstoic said: Also, I do know that the entire race difference of the same species of cubes isn't significant, but it's a data point I have. Plus, based on my heroic trip, I have some major curiosity about the potency. I'll post more elsewhere about that, but while it was a good 5 hours in silence, it seemed superficial. I don't have a frame of reference really, so I'm going to track what data I have, and see if it is my perception and reaction or what.
Variety is the common term you're looking for. And while I'd say for the most part that "a cube is a cube" there's exceptions that everyone admits. I personally am convinced potency is more related to isolation of good fruits at this point. . . which is hard to do because we don't have good way to test this without a whole lot of work on the front end.
Quote:
thecynicalstoic said: I will admit, I'm contemplating big monos too, now. I watched a youtube clip from vice about one of the largest cultivation rooms in the country, and it was kind of cool to recognize the setup. Looks like the basic unmodified stuff with the lids upside down for FAE. Neat!
LOL was this the place with the eyeball masks? That episode was a joke. If you poke around here there's some fun stories from when Hamilton was reaching out to people here sourcing locations to see grows.
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming]
#25983408 - 05/10/19 07:31 AM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
ShaperDreaming said: Looking good! Like the work you've laid out. I recommend a minimum of 1 myco-quart per shoebox, or you may get poor results. If you really want to stretch out our spawn to do 2 half-pint jars, I would recommend that you do a ratio of approx 1:4 (spawn:sub). It'll take longer to colonize, but you'll need the water from the coir to get good fruits.
Yeah, I glanced at the TEK, and did vastly underestimate the cakes required. It's okay for now I think. Maybe I'll skip the SGFC entirely, or maybe I'll skip the in vitro stuff (although I really liked the size of the fruits you got with that method). Or maybe it'll be a pain in the ass to find stuff for bulk (very very unlikely), and I'll wind up doing 6 in the SGFCs and 6 in vitro. I just finished drying the last bit from my second flush, and I have more than enough for personal consumption for sure now. So it's just a matter of what I think would be fun to do. I am pretty sure that something from these cakes will be what I use to isolate onto agar (I kind of like the specificity of cutting open a fruit and grabbing that mycelium - I did just glance at it very quickly, so I might be wrong and I'll check again later). I am correct in my assumption that the steps are exactly the same right until the week consolidation, right? Or am I missing something that will bite me in the ass later?
Quote:
ShaperDreaming said: Variety is the common term you're looking for. And while I'd say for the most part that "a cube is a cube" there's exceptions that everyone admits. I personally am convinced potency is more related to isolation of good fruits at this point. . . which is hard to do because we don't have good way to test this without a whole lot of work on the front end.
I literally had the Strain Questions thread open in another tab as I tried to identify the right terminology. My initial thought is that I should probably read that when I'm not super high. And also, I want to design a quick timeline thing, since that seems to be a major factor, and the source of my confusion. My understanding right now is as follows.
I received 2 varieties in multispore syringes. Each cake I inoculated wound up being its own Strain (without quotation marks). The fruits from a specific cake are a specific variety. And then if I isolate it with agar, that becomes a new duplicable Strain...no wait. Each cake (or whatever I wind up cloning to) still winds up being a unique Strain...shit. Okay, I have to look further into this and make a bit more sense of this all. I may have been overthinking it. I really want to use the correct mycological terminology. Variety does seem right. All of my syringes are the same Race, but two different varieties.
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ShaperDreaming said:
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thecynicalstoic said: I will admit, I'm contemplating big monos too, now. I watched a youtube clip from vice about one of the largest cultivation rooms in the country, and it was kind of cool to recognize the setup. Looks like the basic unmodified stuff with the lids upside down for FAE. Neat!
LOL was this the place with the eyeball masks? That episode was a joke. If you poke around here there's some fun stories from when Hamilton was reaching out to people here sourcing locations to see grows.
I've watched VICE for some time, but just recently did YT start suggesting VICELAND videos, including Hamilton's Pharmacopeia, due to some references I was getting for someone about float tanks. I want to like him, but I just can't get into it. Although I have to admit, I thought the eye masks were very cool (even thought the pun he made was horrible). I don't think I like VICELAND. But, since he made that really bad pun, this might be a good time to talk about something else I've recently learned. It's actually recommended that you avoid getting into an argument with someone who knows a lot of bird puns. Toucan play at that game.
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#25983523 - 05/10/19 08:44 AM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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OH YEAH, let's do this in-line shit. I see you know your way around forum coding.
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thecynicalstoic said:
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ShaperDreaming said: Looking good! Like the work you've laid out. I recommend a minimum of 1 myco-quart per shoebox, or you may get poor results. If you really want to stretch out our spawn to do 2 half-pint jars, I would recommend that you do a ratio of approx 1:4 (spawn:sub). It'll take longer to colonize, but you'll need the water from the coir to get good fruits.
Yeah, I glanced at the TEK, and did vastly underestimate the cakes required. It's okay for now I think. Maybe I'll skip the SGFC entirely, or maybe I'll skip the in vitro stuff (although I really liked the size of the fruits you got with that method). Or maybe it'll be a pain in the ass to find stuff for bulk (very very unlikely), and I'll wind up doing 6 in the SGFCs and 6 in vitro. I just finished drying the last bit from my second flush, and I have more than enough for personal consumption for sure now. So it's just a matter of what I think would be fun to do. I am pretty sure that something from these cakes will be what I use to isolate onto agar (I kind of like the specificity of cutting open a fruit and grabbing that mycelium - I did just glance at it very quickly, so I might be wrong and I'll check again later). I am correct in my assumption that the steps are exactly the same right until the week consolidation, right? Or am I missing something that will bite me in the ass later?
I'd skip the invitro stuff for now. I only use it when I have less than a myco-quart of spawn... I haven't done it in like 9 months now? Those fruit sizes aren't average either, there's a reason I cloned that one
The bulk stuff, you just mean coir? Just do straight coir, bucket tek from bod (see my signature if you need a link). You can order that shit from anywhere for cheap. A few people use CHEWY (yes, the pet supply place) and if you buy in bulk you get a discount and free shipping? Something like that, people tend to order like 5x650g bricks. Also, aparently wally world has massive bricks cheap af (I don't have one near me). If you have a scale and want to break up huge blocks of coir for weight, just use a hammer and screwdriver. It'll be in pieces in minutes (I tried many other stupid methods, don't bother ).
As for cloning, this video will make you feel like it's the simplest thing in the world... and it kinda is (unless it's really dirty, then it's kinda a pain in the ass to clean up).
What do you mean when you say "the steps are exactly the same"? What are we comparing it to?
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thecynicalstoic said:
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ShaperDreaming said: Variety is the common term you're looking for. And while I'd say for the most part that "a cube is a cube" there's exceptions that everyone admits. I personally am convinced potency is more related to isolation of good fruits at this point. . . which is hard to do because we don't have good way to test this without a whole lot of work on the front end.
I literally had the Strain Questions thread open in another tab as I tried to identify the right terminology. My initial thought is that I should probably read that when I'm not super high. And also, I want to design a quick timeline thing, since that seems to be a major factor, and the source of my confusion. My understanding right now is as follows.
I received 2 varieties in multispore syringes. Each cake I inoculated wound up being its own Strain (without quotation marks). The fruits from a specific cake are a specific variety. And then if I isolate it with agar, that becomes a new duplicable Strain...no wait. Each cake (or whatever I wind up cloning to) still winds up being a unique Strain...shit. Okay, I have to look further into this and make a bit more sense of this all. I may have been overthinking it. I really want to use the correct mycological terminology. Variety does seem right. All of my syringes are the same Race, but two different varieties.
If we're talking cubes:
Kingdom: Fungi Division: Basidiomycota Class: Agaricomycetes Order: Agaricales Family: Hymenogastraceae Genus: Psilocybe Species: Cubensis
Below that what you have are vendor varieties (i.e. marketing names). Like "Golden Teacher" and "Penis Envy" are varieties.
Every time two spores meet and germinate into monokarotic hyphae, each hyphae is a "strain". So every agar plate from MS syringes is ... a HUGE amount of strains. Pasty does a more in-depth job of explaining this.
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thecynicalstoic said:
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ShaperDreaming said:
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thecynicalstoic said: I will admit, I'm contemplating big monos too, now. I watched a youtube clip from vice about one of the largest cultivation rooms in the country, and it was kind of cool to recognize the setup. Looks like the basic unmodified stuff with the lids upside down for FAE. Neat!
LOL was this the place with the eyeball masks? That episode was a joke. If you poke around here there's some fun stories from when Hamilton was reaching out to people here sourcing locations to see grows.
I've watched VICE for some time, but just recently did YT start suggesting VICELAND videos, including Hamilton's Pharmacopeia, due to some references I was getting for someone about float tanks. I want to like him, but I just can't get into it. Although I have to admit, I thought the eye masks were very cool (even thought the pun he made was horrible). I don't think I like VICELAND. But, since he made that really bad pun, this might be a good time to talk about something else I've recently learned. It's actually recommended that you avoid getting into an argument with someone who knows a lot of bird puns. Toucan play at that game.

I've come around to liking Hamilton though
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming]
#25983740 - 05/10/19 10:48 AM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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ShaperDreaming said: OH YEAH, let's do this in-line shit. I see you know your way around forum coding.
It's easier here than a couple of other forums I use. This is just a text field. I'm actually used to doing them with unix timestamps that link to a specific message with a unique ID (base SMF install).
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ShaperDreaming said: I'd skip the invitro stuff for now. I only use it when I have less than a myco-quart of spawn... I haven't done it in like 9 months now? Those fruit sizes aren't average either, there's a reason I cloned that one
I'll be honest, all the in vitro stuff I did or plan to do is because the mushrooms that fruit are super pretty. Seriously, it's just that and experience. So not a huge priority.
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ShaperDreaming said: The bulk stuff, you just mean coir?
What do you mean when you say "the steps are exactly the same"? What are we comparing it to?
I mean coir and the containers when I say bulk stuff. I should probably be more specific, because that makes it sound like I have more than a single trip to make to actually get the stuff. I think I'll do the CVG (coir, verm, gypsum) methodology for the substrate, based on the Bucket TEK link in your methodologies. I might actually go to Walmart. Only stepped foot inside of one once in the past 10 years.
And when I say the steps are the same, I mean that no matter if I do the SGFC, a mono, a shoebox, or in vitro, they will all start with me inoculating 1/2 pint jars and waiting until it looks to be 100% colonized (but before the consolidation for SGFC). I definitely have to inoculate all 12 jars I have, regardless of what route I go after that. All of this is based on Bod's Easy AF cheapest way to get started TEK or regular PF TEK (which might actually be on that same page, but I don't feel like scrolling down - seems way easier to type out a lengthy explanation of my laziness).
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ShaperDreaming said:

I've come around to liking Hamilton though 
Thanks for the pasty link. I'll dig into that a bit later. And I really like your list of TEKs you use. I bookmarked it, and will probably comment in there just so it shows up in mythreads. And that shirt? Yeah, that'll be the next one I buy. The last one I bought just got retired at the GoT premier. Almost time for another. And I'll give Hamilton some more chances if you say he grows on you. I'm halfway through the first hallucinogenic frogs one on Hamilton's YT Playlist.
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#25983794 - 05/10/19 11:20 AM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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thecynicalstoic said: I'll be honest, all the in vitro stuff I did or plan to do is because the mushrooms that fruit are super pretty. Seriously, it's just that and experience. So not a huge priority.
Fuck yeah do it. Honestly if you stick with the hobby past your second grow you'll likely figure out a way to move up to grains, so do it all while you're still working with cakes.
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thecynicalstoic said: I mean coir and the containers when I say bulk stuff. I should probably be more specific, because that makes it sound like I have more than a single trip to make to actually get the stuff. I think I'll do the CVG (coir, verm, gypsum) methodology for the substrate, based on the Bucket TEK link in your methodologies. I might actually go to Walmart. Only stepped foot inside of one once in the past 10 years.
So, do yourself a solid and just go with 100% coir. The other stuff is nice, but it's way less complicated to just go straight coir. Doing that and ditching mono's for shoeboxes only were the two best decisions I made in simplifying this hobby for myself.
For containers, I love these shoeboxes at Target. But target I've never seen carry coir bricks. Petco does though
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thecynicalstoic said: And when I say the steps are the same, I mean that no matter if I do the SGFC, a mono, a shoebox, or in vitro, they will all start with me inoculating 1/2 pint jars and waiting until it looks to be 100% colonized (but before the consolidation for SGFC). I definitely have to inoculate all 12 jars I have, regardless of what route I go after that. All of this is based on Bod's Easy AF cheapest way to get started TEK or regular PF TEK (which might actually be on that same page, but I don't feel like scrolling down - seems way easier to type out a lengthy explanation of my laziness).
Yes, so I like to block out these steps for myself because I like categories:
Pre-Grains/spawn. This involves all the work getting good mycelium ready for grains. Getting prints/syringes ready, agar work, Liquid Culture work, etc. All of this is done pre-grains.
Grain/Spawn: At this point there's really only one vector for contam (if you've done the pre-grains work of cleaning your spawn) and that's bad grain prep. At this point you should basically inoculate your grains with the clean spawn and wait for 100% colonization.
Growing Conditions: This includes all things to do for the final phase before harvest. Prepping your bins, getting your substrate pasturized/sterlized/bucket-tek-ed, etc. When you mix the spawn with the substrate all you should need to do is wait for colonizing then fruiting. If you've done it right this phase should be mostly set-and-forget with as little maintnance as possible. Shoeboxes are much easier to get right than needing to dial in modified-monos.
That's about it. You may fiddle around with how you do each phase of this (like you may just buy a MS syringe for the first phase, then use it to inoculate BRF cakes for the second step, then just put a baggy and verm on top for the invitro phase. OR get super technical, go ms->agar->LC->test on agar again for phase one, then go with intensive grain prep, then spawn it all out to a tray in a self sufficient martha), but they all happen every time. Harvest is the only step not included.
Did this answer your question or was I missing the target.
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thecynicalstoic said: Thanks for the pasty link. I'll dig into that a bit later. And I really like your list of TEKs you use. I bookmarked it, and will probably comment in there just so it shows up in mythreads. And that shirt? Yeah, that'll be the next one I buy. The last one I bought just got retired at the GoT premier. Almost time for another. And I'll give Hamilton some more chances if you say he grows on you. I'm halfway through the first hallucinogenic frogs one on Hamilton's YT Playlist.
Aw thanks! Much appreciated. Yeah, I don't have that shirt, but I got a tote with it... I can't find the link, but it's a commonly stolen image, I'm sure you'll find a place that carries it.
Damn! Those are all Pre-Hamilton's Pharmacopia on VICE. I've only seen a couple of those, mostly I watched his show on VICELAND. Thanks for the link. And I don't know if he grows on you... but I just love the content so much I learned to dislike him less?
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming]
#25983832 - 05/10/19 11:40 AM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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ShaperDreaming said: So, do yourself a solid and just go with 100% coir. The other stuff is nice, but it's way less complicated to just go straight coir. Doing that and ditching mono's for shoeboxes only were the two best decisions I made in simplifying this hobby for myself.
For containers, I love these shoeboxes at Target. But target I've never seen carry coir bricks. Petco does though
Oooh. You know what? I have to make a run for chicken food today at Big R. I'm going to see if they carry it. Damn. They don't carry it, but they do have the containers. Might be an extra productive run today. Chicken Feed for about a month and a half, resulting in lots of eggs (I only have 6 chickens, but they are going gangbusters this year), some delicious licorice, and some shoeboxes (if they are as cheap as the target ones you linked...otherwise I might go to target). And I actually have a petco in the same shopping center as a target. Efficiency!!
As far as just the coir, is that due to simplicity or cost? I was only thinking about the addition of Verm and Gypsum because I have a bunch of it, so the upfront cost is already taken care of.
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ShaperDreaming said: Yes, so I like to block out these steps for myself because I like categories:
Pre-Grains/spawn. This involves all the work getting good mycelium ready for grains. Getting prints/syringes ready, agar work, Liquid Culture work, etc. All of this is done pre-grains.
Grain/Spawn: At this point there's really only one vector for contam (if you've done the pre-grains work of cleaning your spawn) and that's bad grain prep. At this point you should basically inoculate your grains with the clean spawn and wait for 100% colonization.
Growing Conditions: This includes all things to do for the final phase before harvest. Prepping your bins, getting your substrate pasturized/sterlized/bucket-tek-ed, etc. When you mix the spawn with the substrate all you should need to do is wait for colonizing then fruiting. If you've done it right this phase should be mostly set-and-forget with as little maintnance as possible. Shoeboxes are much easier to get right than needing to dial in modified-monos. [...] Did this answer your question or was I missing the target.
You didn't miss the mark at all, and that was pretty much it. So I guess using that terminology, the only differences in my current plan is growing conditions, and I've got time to nail that down.
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ShaperDreaming said: Damn! Those are all Pre-Hamilton's Pharmacopia on VICE. I've only seen a couple of those, mostly I watched his show on VICELAND. Thanks for the link. And I don't know if he grows on you... but I just love the content so much I learned to dislike him less?
Oh, so this is his early stuff. I remember a few lines that had some potential, but fell flat. If he moved to the main VICE channel, I'd assume he got better.
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#25984065 - 05/10/19 01:19 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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thecynicalstoic said: As far as just the coir, is that due to simplicity or cost? I was only thinking about the addition of Verm and Gypsum because I have a bunch of it, so the upfront cost is already taken care of.
Simplicity. Everything you add is a vector for contam. KISS (keep it simple ... stupid ) and cut out anything you can.
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thecynicalstoic said: You didn't miss the mark at all, and that was pretty much it. So I guess using that terminology, the only differences in my current plan is growing conditions, and I've got time to nail that down.
I wouldn't use that terminology anywhere else I just made it up for you here and now, so that's not standard outside of "growing conditions," which I stole from Bod:
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Bod said: I now make no distinction between colonization conditions and fruiting conditions. I just chose to call it Growing Conditions My tubs do not dry out being in "fruiting conditions" during "colonization" My yields have stayed the same. My time to full colonization has decreased as has the time to pinning and harvest. I have always had exposed top grains, doing "fruiting conditions" immediately has not caused an issue even with exposed grains.
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thecynicalstoic said: Oh, so this is his early stuff. I remember a few lines that had some potential, but fell flat. If he moved to the main VICE channel, I'd assume he got better.
Yeah, the two that I've seen that are on that list were not as well put together as his main channel show.
PS: I wish I had chickens
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming]
#25984201 - 05/10/19 02:40 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Chickens are easy, cheap, fun, and the eggs are delicious. I suggest it for everyone (I mean this literally...I haven't found a situation where they wouldn't work, although apartments can be tricky). I can confirm that if chickens eat wet cubes, they don't seem to trip, and their eggs are not psychedelic. 
Holy crap the gardening section of wal-mart has gotten crazy with stuff. I could see it being cool if I could get over the ethical concerns. I've got coir, and 4 of the standard shoebox things. Less than $5 for the containers, and $5.88 for the coir. So there is nothing stopping me except my procrastination.
I didn't feel like I needed a push, but I feel that you gave me one @Shaper, and I appreciate it.
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#25984215 - 05/10/19 02:46 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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thecynicalstoic said: Chickens are easy, cheap, fun, and the eggs are delicious. I suggest it for everyone (I mean this literally...I haven't found a situation where they wouldn't work, although apartments can be tricky). I can confirm that if chickens eat wet cubes, they don't seem to trip, and their eggs are not psychedelic. 
Holy crap the gardening section of wal-mart has gotten crazy with stuff. I could see it being cool if I could get over the ethical concerns. I've got coir, and 4 of the standard shoebox things. Less than $5 for the containers, and $5.88 for the coir. So there is nothing stopping me except my procrastination.
I didn't feel like I needed a push, but I feel that you gave me one @Shaper, and I appreciate it.
Yeah, I'll have chickens when I have land. Should be a couple of years.
I'm disapointed that you won't be doing a psychadelic egg tek
And, woot! You're almost there lol. I've been called a bad influence before, so I guess I'm good at encouraging people to do things they don't need any help getting done
If you have any specific questions for me ever feel free to hit up my , but I monitor shit pretty well and will likely find your questions anyways. Also, I'm far from perfect here, I'm sure that some of the better cultivators have kinda let this thread turn into an obscure 1-on-1 conversation between us. So don't be afraid to ask for advice in outside of this thread.
I'm a big fan of the "Cultivation General Discussion" thread for getting your little questions looked at by a lot of people quickly while participating in a larger conversation
Can't wait to see pics of your grows. Also, I just want to make sure I've linked you to this already right?
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming] 1
#25984229 - 05/10/19 02:57 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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ShaperDreaming said: Can't wait to see pics of your grows. Also, I just want to make sure I've linked you to this already right?
You have now!! I hadn't seen that before. I'm sure I'll be referring to it here soon. Thanks!
As far as pictures go, I'm a bit gunshy hotlinking to hosted ones here. My pics are too high res to upload (512k limit right now), and I don't want to get in trouble. 
I'm a moron. I do have some photos that will fit. This is one of the photos I took of my experimental in vitro jars.

Like I said...pretty.
Edited by thecynicalstoic (05/10/19 03:05 PM)
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic] 1
#25988851 - 05/12/19 09:37 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Just finished dunking my 6 GT cakes and rinsing off the perlite for both of my SGFCs. Flush 3 is officially started. I do believe I've changed my mind on the 4 B+ in vitro jars I have remaining. After I confirmed I could get pretty mushrooms with this method, I kind of just let them sit. I didn't mist them, nor did I close the bag back over them. I started skipping some of the misting on my SGFCs last flush too, just because I thought I may have been overmisting them (fuzzy mycelium). Sure enough, they fruited pretty well. And then my little in vitro jars started pushing up more mushroom. It's a resilient little bit of mycelium. I was going to throw it in the compost, since I need the jars tomorrow, but the better half mentioned something about that not being very nice. She said it jokingly, but I realized that she was right. I am invested in these cakes and I want them to succeed. So while I wait for my next 12 cakes to colonize, I'm going to take these cakes and grate them for a shoebox with coir. All using stuff I have already. This idea seems right. Did take a recreational trip yesterday with the better half and watched Avatar and Cirque Du Soleil Worlds Away. If was a grand old time, but did put off my next round of inoculation of BRF cakes. Worth it.
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic] 1
#25989841 - 05/13/19 12:48 PM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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thecynicalstoic said: Worth it.
Always
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming]
#25991644 - 05/14/19 07:07 AM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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I had a dream last night that may result in trying to create a new TEK. I haven't searched around for something like it, so there might be something out there already, but I haven't seen it. There are a few different observations that I think all coalesced into this idea. I'll do my best to mention all of the disparate parts, along with my rough idea I may pursue.
- One of the tenders at my dispensary mentioned trying to put spores or something into their indoor flower bed, so that on occasion, it just fruits. Mostly for a hidden aesthetic.
- I read this WIRED article about Ecovative Designs.
- For the past 15 years or so, I've been pretty involved in small scale polyculture methodologies (like aquaponics and the like).
- Last year I mounted extra gutters to the rail of my deck, filled them with potting soil, and tried to do an herb garden. I ran into issues with nutrition and moisture retention, so I've started looking at how to make sure a shallow container works for herbs and the like.
These things coalesced into thinking about a hanging plant of some kind. I'm thinking something that enjoys a lot of moisture, like a fern or spider plant. The idea is to create a mycelium cake with a hollow middle (think angel food cake pan, with a bigger hole in the middle), figure out a good recipe for moisture in a potted plant (maybe layer of perlite, layer of verm, mycelium, roots of the plant in the hole in the middle of the mycelium, and potting soil (maybe a bit of coir too). I think a tent of some kind is needed to maintain high local humidity conditions. Just need to figure out a way to make it look good. This may be unrealistic, and it's early. Seems like an interesting idea. It's funny that I received a comment about that picture above (that does show up for everyone, right?) regarding the greenery surrounding it. That wasn't on purpose, but this idea I have would have something similar, and it would be on purpose. A decorative hanging plant in your house, adding some greenery, with occasional gifts of mind expanding goodness.
Don't worry if this is completely ridiculous. It was just a dream, and I am just learning. But a fun idea.
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#25991860 - 05/14/19 09:15 AM (5 years, 8 months ago) |
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Well, I dump grain that I'm not happy with (usually bacterial) into my potted plants. The problem is that cubes don't really like soil. So, I get some silly fruits now and then, but it's kinda a pain in the ass. If you're going to do this you may want to find a different mushroom first that likes soil, or try to cut in enough materials that something else likes that plants also like (such as manure with pans or something). Good luck!
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#25993916 - 05/15/19 07:35 AM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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I was going to spend some time writing in here this morning, but I ran out of time. I will say that hearing Bill Nye say fuck brightens up my day an unquantifiable amount.
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#25997360 - 05/17/19 05:40 AM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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So I've still been slacking off on inoculation. Been busy at work, and hurting when I come home, so not really feeling it. It will be this weekend. On Monday though, I was walking past the table, and saw my extra materials (including PF TEK lids) sitting there, along with RTV, on top of the tyvek painters uniform. So I thought to myself, "screw it, let's do this", and upgraded the remaining metal lids. I'm also getting used to using the plastic lids (unmodified) as a bottom watering system in my SGFCs. I read somewhere that the first flush is on average 3/4 of total yield, which if that holds true, the fruiting should be slowing down a lot. On my first flush, I wound up with ~303g wet (I didn't have a super accurate scale for the first flush) for flush 1, and 228.21g wet on the second flush. 16g wet came from my 4 in vitro jars, and all the rest came off of my 6 GT cakes in my tiny SGFCs (although first and second flush had them 6 to an FC, and now they are 3 to an FC.
The term psychonautical is sticking with me. I really freaking like it.
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic] 1
#25999748 - 05/18/19 10:58 AM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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I have to say that I am tickled pink by the fact that the surprises in this cultivation are all good so far. I'm on flush #3. I've got 3 cakes in each of my smaller SGFCs, and due to the presence of fuzzy mycelium on my first flush, I decided to look more into the fruiting conditions. I used my plastic lids to start bottom watering the cakes, and reduced misting. In the past week, I've only misted twice. This morning, I was going to mist again. This is what I saw:

That cap that has already dropped spores is more than 3x bigger than any others I've gotten. Sucks that I waited too long, but still, I'm super pleased.
Edit: That cap wound up coming in at 13.71g wet.
Edited by thecynicalstoic (05/18/19 02:54 PM)
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26005428 - 05/21/19 12:19 PM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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Nice! Also I've never heard that 3/4 thing. If anything I think I've heard that second flush is only 3/4 of the first flush. Mine usually do this:
1) 300~g wet 2) 225~g wet 3-5) 125~g wet
I need to start dumping my subs after second flush though, lately I've been letting them go way too long (5-6 flushes) and it's been making me think that I have more work happening than I actually do.
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming]
#26006286 - 05/21/19 08:26 PM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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Yeah, my first bit was weird. I didn't have a super accurate scale, but each flush was actually about 3 days, with harvest twice a day as soon as the veil broke.
I don't remember where the hell I heard that, but I assume it was a youtube video playing that I heard in the background. My results were as follows:
Flush 1: 303g Flush 2: 228g Flush 3: 105g
This is not including the in vitro ones I did, that are mere minutes away from being grated and put with cooked coir in a shoebox (I'll probably do a dubtub for now, since I have extra shoeboxes laying around, but switch to bags later). I think those only pulled off around 50g between the 4 cakes.
I used some of the links in your methodologies, and wound up doing 167g of coir with 1 quart of boiling water (3 1/2 pint cakes to grate, one got water logged, and even though I didn't think it was contaminated, it was weird enough I decided to use it as an experiment for outside). The coir wasn't quite at field capacity, but pretty damn close.
Edit: When I initially glanced at your yields, I was paying attention to the trend line in my head. It was only after I posted it I realized how freaking close our yields are numerically. Like disconcertingly. I feel like I did something right!
Edited by thecynicalstoic (05/21/19 08:31 PM)
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26007016 - 05/22/19 09:16 AM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
thecynicalstoic said: Edit: When I initially glanced at your yields, I was paying attention to the trend line in my head. It was only after I posted it I realized how freaking close our yields are numerically. Like disconcertingly. I feel like I did something right!
LOL, right? I was like, 'dude's making those numbers up'. But yeah, I've been keeping my eye on these things for a while and notice patterns. You're for sure doing something right.
Also, 3 days between flushes is super fast! Mine is usually a week to two.
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming]
#26007814 - 05/22/19 05:14 PM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
ShaperDreaming said: Also, 3 days between flushes is super fast! Mine is usually a week to two.
Yeah, I think I formed that sentence poorly. I meant that I harvest when the veil breaks (or is about to), but it's not all at once. It takes about 10 days between flushes for me, but the 3 days before I dunk, I am harvesting twice a day. They don't all mature at once. I'm guessing it's more of a cake thing, because I saw the harvesting method on the unmodified (floating the substrate up), and it looked like it was all maturing at the same time. I haven't experienced that. That is what I meant. It's 3 days of harvesting on each flush, so essentially I am picking fruits 6 times for each flush. Sorry I wasn't clear on that.
Now I want 3 days between flushes. Granted, I wound up giving away like 1.5 oz on Sunday, as we were wrapping up the GoT Finale*, and still have enough dried to do another heroic trip, microdosing for a few more months, and about 4 recreational trips (I only have one planned with the better half - camping weekend after next, which should be amazing).
Although now that I inoculated 12 more jars, my syringes are low. I need to start looking at the agar stuff, just so I know what I need to do. I am pretty certain I should be taking spore prints for now, and then when I actually start agar, go off of that (or the inner mycelium). I'm not certain what route I'm going to take. I have to poke around on here and rewatch the Let's Grow Mushrooms videos to get my head wrapped around it. I haven't delved deep into that area yet.
I don't think I need to save anything right now, but I only have a very general idea of the steps later. If anyone knows a good starting point (off the top of your head - I've got no qualms doing the research myself), feel free to let me know. This weekend will be for research. I have to say I really like working with coir. It just seems so much nicer than perlite (probably due to the less artificial feel I get from it).
*I felt like the coolest version of Oprah. "You get an eighth! You get an eighth!"
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26010660 - 05/24/19 07:00 AM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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Of course it started here. That's what seems to happen. The second response I received here:
Quote:
ShaperDreaming said: Yup! Get cracking on AGAR before everyone tells you to start using agar 
I'll admit, the idea of agar intrigued me ever since I started researching cultivation. However, I was focused on my BRF cakes, my SHIP lids, my tSGFC, and now my shoe boxes. I started with 4 spore syringes I purchased. I had perlite handy, but I had to source everything else. Also, I didn't realize how it would get under my skin at the time.
My ethereal knowledge of other processes, acquired via lots of reading and having watched the Let's Grow Mushroom videos a few times in the background (I did start researching wooden bowls, though), I know I'm quickly coming up on the point where I need to do something to ensure this is sustainable without more investment. I was pretty sure my options were either a spore print, or have a fresh fruit when I'm ready that I can grab the...isolated (?) mycelium from inside the mushroom. With some of the threads I've read, and the quoted post above, I knew I'd be doing agar eventually. As some of you know, there are rough plans/fantasies about a cultivation setup on a sail boat. One of the main things that made me even think about it were the long term storage possibilities with slants.
I'm at the point right now where I am essentially just waiting for the next steps, so a good time to start researching. Agar was the subject, and I was a touch intimidated. Fortunately, I'm not alone in that, and almost every single thread I read mentioned something to the effect of "yeah, most people are intimidated. It's cool, and not intimidating at all. Here be the facts:". This was surprisingly effective at making me feel better about it. And I'm very excited about checking my Asian grocery store this afternoon to see if they carry it. I've read through the following threads:
Agar Portal (2017 up to date agar links) Why You Should Really Start With Agar Agar - what, why and how? Everything a beginner needs to know.
And I found out what part of this all I am resisting. I do not have a pressure cooker. SABs don't freak me out, and I feel confident (after lessons learned from my first inoculation) in my ability to maintain smooth and methodical motions. But the pressure cooker. I think it was the '06 Stamets cultivation book that mentioned a specific brand of pressure cooker, that was simple and rugged. I don't remember the exact brand (it's getting mixed up in my head with the stems I have in my bathroom), but I'm pretty certain I haven't come across it yet.
I've been contemplating getting an Instant Pot for probably 3 years, and haven't decided to pull the trigger yet. I've kept an eye on Goodwill for a cheap one, but haven't come across one yet. If I buy one, I want to buy one that will last forever, can be fixed by me, and has standardized parts that can be relatively easily found throughout the world.
So that's where I am now. I am heading to the Asian store today, and if they have agar-agar, I'll pick some up. And now I know that my next step is research on PCs. I will use it for mycology, but also for cooking (it's too big to justify for a single purpose).
*You know, when I first started, I was trying to come up with an idea to have some kind of glossary plugin, to where anytime an abbreviation is used, you can mouse over and see what it is. I had initially told myself that I wouldn't be one of these people who just use acronyms willy nilly without explaining it. But I've always liked acronyms, and I find myself using them. Maybe I'll find that glossary and put it in my signature or something.
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26013474 - 05/25/19 10:35 PM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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Over in the Agar - what, why and how? Everything a beginner needs to know. article, there is a line that I have to acknowledge.
Quote:
Psilicon said: If your packet has a smaller rotary phone, or even no phone at all, it'll be fine. Either way, you'll end up spending $2 for enough agar-agar to make about 60 plates.
I read that before I left for work, and giggled. I was keeping in mind that there is nothing complicated about it, and I was doing just fine. Right until I found the aisle. I found a coffee agar desert thing that looked delicious, and an empty slot next to it for agar-agar. Damn. I knew it was agar-agar I needed, since agar is an ingredient, and the whole thing. I felt myself getting a little overwhelmed, until I remembered that it didn't matter what size the phone was. I got more comfortable, and started searching around. With the entire idea of the phone not being there being what stabilized me, I totally found one with a phone. Fuck yeah, and thanks @Psilocon for that particular section of the article.
While I was there, I decided to take a look at the pressure cookers, since that is what I'm coming up against. There was an 8 quart one for something like $70, which was sad. And then I took a quick look on Amazon, and found what looks like a cool one. It's a 23 quart Presto. I decided that would be my starting point. I'd look at the specs, and figure out all the things to pay attention to (I seriously have no frame of reference when it comes to pressure cookers - I don't even think I've ever been in the same room as one). Well, two additional things happened. As I went to close the amazon window, I saw a couple of recommended items, that were replacement parts, which was a good sign. And then, when I was cooking omelettes on a new griddle I recently got, I saw that it was Presto brand.
Fun stuff.
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26017109 - 05/27/19 08:28 PM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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I just dunked my 6 initial GT cakes. This will wind up being their fourth flush. They all smell good with the exception of one section of one cake. I did a soak with some 3% peroxide mixed in. I honestly have no clue if this is going to work or not, but I have a lot more mushrooms than I know what to do with. A buddy of mine and his GF did some last night and played VR on the PS4. He said it was amazing. 
Of the 12 jars inoculated last weekend, I've got solid mycelium growth on 3. I have one that just might have contamination, but it's in a funny spot, so it might just be a trick of the light. I wound up with SHIP lids on all of them, but for the life of me I cannot remember if I was supposed to cover the lids when I put them in the pot. They seemed a bit heavy with water, but not much to do about it now. I'm just going to continue waiting. I think by next weekend I should have a more solid grasp of what is going on. Looking pretty good though.
Not noticing a huge amount of movement with my shoebox experiment. A few bits have popped through the casing layer, but no obvious colonization of the rest of it. I know I'm going to be learning a lot here, and I'm not actually worried about anything as of yet, but kind of fighting that impatience. I can go the route where I don't even notice mushrooms growing, or I check them constantly. One day I might find a happy medium. That day is not today.
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic] 1
#26017945 - 05/28/19 10:00 AM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
thecynicalstoic said: And then I took a quick look on Amazon, and found what looks like a cool one. It's a 23 quart Presto. I decided that would be my starting point. I'd look at the specs, and figure out all the things to pay attention to (I seriously have no frame of reference when it comes to pressure cookers - I don't even think I've ever been in the same room as one).
DO NOT GET AN INSTANT POT. They do not hit 15psi, needed for this work. They will NOT hold enough space to fit your needs. You'll go mad trying to sterlize shit in there.
Thank GOD you found the 23quart Presto... That's pretty much the standard for this kind of work from a hobby level. Get one!
Quote:
thecynicalstoic said: I just dunked my 6 initial GT cakes. This will wind up being their fourth flush. They all smell good with the exception of one section of one cake.
4th flush is a lot! Good work.
Quote:
thecynicalstoic said: Not noticing a huge amount of movement with my shoebox experiment. A few bits have popped through the casing layer, but no obvious colonization of the rest of it. I know I'm going to be learning a lot here, and I'm not actually worried about anything as of yet, but kind of fighting that impatience. I can go the route where I don't even notice mushrooms growing, or I check them constantly. One day I might find a happy medium. That day is not today. 
Remind me what's happening with this again?
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming] 1
#26019013 - 05/28/19 05:56 PM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
ShaperDreaming said: DO NOT GET AN INSTANT POT. They do not hit 15psi, needed for this work. They will NOT hold enough space to fit your needs. You'll go mad trying to sterlize shit in there.
Thank GOD you found the 23quart Presto... That's pretty much the standard for this kind of work from a hobby level. Get one!
Yeah, from just a cooking perspective, there were a few things that I didn't like about the Instant Pot. I just need to find some good recipes that I can cook too and I'll probably grab the Presto or something like it.
Quote:
ShaperDreaming said: 4th flush is a lot! Good work.
Thanks. After the second flush, I used my plastic lids and started bottom watering. We'll see how it goes. I'm rinsing off the perlite tonight. I should find out in another week or two how that goes. I'd be stoked if I got 100g wet.
Quote:
ShaperDreaming said:
Quote:
thecynicalstoic said: Not noticing a huge amount of movement with my shoebox experiment. A few bits have popped through the casing layer, but no obvious colonization of the rest of it. I know I'm going to be learning a lot here, and I'm not actually worried about anything as of yet, but kind of fighting that impatience. I can go the route where I don't even notice mushrooms growing, or I check them constantly. One day I might find a happy medium. That day is not today. 
Remind me what's happening with this again?
While I'm waiting for my new jars to colonize, I took 3 sad cakes (I was short on BRF on that one, so the cakes were not as dense as I had hoped - didn't even birth them) and grated them into cooked coir. I can't remember how much I actually harvested from them, but those are the ones in the picture I posted earlier. So no multiple flushes, but they were dried out a few times (and resurrected), and just kind of played with. I was going to toss them, but the better half said that would be mean, so I am giving those cakes another chance to impress me. So I'm kind of trying to keep my very first inoculation going.
This pic:
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26020078 - 05/29/19 08:11 AM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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Ah yes, cool cool. Keep up the good work
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming]
#26022286 - 05/30/19 06:33 AM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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Of my 12 jars, it appears that one has been found guilty, and has the Black Spot to prove it. This is my first confirmed contamination.
When I inoculated these jars, I wound up doing them in 2 batches. I don't have a pressure cooker, so I'm just using PF TEK and a regular pot. It only holds 9 in a single layer. I tracked the jar, the lid, and the syringe. And with the first batch, I went so far as to track the order I inoculated them. But I'll be damned, but I didn't track the order for the last 3 jars. It was jars 10, 11, and 12 in that last batch, and jar/lid 11/11 is the contaminated one. This kind of pisses me off, because now I don't know. I think I inoculated 11-10-12, and if that is the case, I feel I can safely say that the contamination came from initially putting the needle on the syringe. But I don't know for sure. I switched 3 syringes in the first batch, and there are currently no other signs of contamination. So there is a pretty good chance that I just rushed when I only had 3 jars to inoculate. But I know the jar, and I know the lid. This is the first use of this SHIP lid, so I'll keep an eye on it. I really don't think that's it, because of the location of the contamination, but until I get confirmation, the lid and jar go on a list with a status of "no success". If it happens again with the same lid or jar, I'll take a look. Again, I don't think it's likely.
I may have made one error, and we'll see how that affects things. I didn't put foil over the jars when I sterilized them. I don't remember how heavy they were when I put them in, but I did notice they were a bit heavy when I removed them. I wish I could have remembered, because I wonder if they got a bit more moisture.
You may be wondering why I haven't uploaded a picture of the contamination in order to confirm. While I have no clue what kind of contamination it is, I have no doubt that it is contamination. So the way I see it, I only have 2 options right now. I can toss the jar today, or just wait and see what happens. If I tossed it, that means I would have one usable 1/2 pint jar. It is not worth it to sterilize/pasteurize a single jar, so the jar is going to be there taking up the same amount of space whether it has something in it or not. So might as well just see what happens. I am setting up a camera today, and I will be doing a time lapse of the jars. The contamination is really neat looking, and does remind me of the black spot from pirate lore. It is getting bigger, so hopefully the time lapse will be really cool. I'll see how it looks with one day of 'footage', and if it's cool, I'll post it. Otherwise, I'll make it a longer time lapse. I'll turn it into a gif.
I might throw another camera on the shoe box. The mycelium is visibly spreading throughout the coir, and I've only misted it once in the past week.
Progress is being made. I'm stoked.
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26022648 - 05/30/19 09:56 AM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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So, you do know that all syringes are dirty right? It's pretty rare that a syringe doesn't have something clinging onto it, as there's just too many vectors to track in MS syringes. This is why spawn isn't considered clean until you grow it out on agar. It's entirely possible that this had nothing to do with you.
As for identifying your contam, here's two great threads for it:
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/23130868 https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/17231150 (for this one scroll down to "how it shouldn't look")
Honestly, I think you're getting a little hung up on your jar count. Just spread out what you got into even dispersal into containers and you'll be fine
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming]
#26023336 - 05/30/19 04:17 PM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
ShaperDreaming said: So, you do know that all syringes are dirty right? It's pretty rare that a syringe doesn't have something clinging onto it, as there's just too many vectors to track in MS syringes. This is why spawn isn't considered clean until you grow it out on agar. It's entirely possible that this had nothing to do with you.
Yeah, I know. I suppose I forgot to mention this part. It's a wee bit embarrassing. I am really, really, really bad with syringes. Meat injectors too. One of the things I wanted to make sure of was that I got a drop from inside before putting on the needle, and making sure I get a drop out the needle. For me, it was more of making sure I get methodical movements down. Due to the multiple cc's of spore solution that decorated my ceiling and walls, I still need work if I'm going to be pushing anything like a plunger. My finger has a hitch or something. It was just practice. And while I may write about it here, and it may seem extensive, it's really just practice. I am doing really well (which is honestly surprising) with not getting too caught up in details before I start on something. Which perfectly segues into this:
Quote:
ShaperDreaming said: Honestly, I think you're getting a little hung up on your jar count. Just spread out what you got into even dispersal into containers and you'll be fine 
Yeah, re-reading it, I could make a valid case for going a bit overboard with detail. And that's not even mentioning the fact that I also track the syringe used, the needle used, the jar used, the inoculation port used, the ambient temperature and datetime of inoculation (I also have city based RH and barometric pressure, but even I thought that was going too far). It may sound like a lot of time and effort, but it's all just stuff I built into a little tracking tool. It actually takes less time to log all of this on my phone than it would to write out a time and make a couple of check boxes. Writing out the story, since I have the detail, I just include it.
And then I geeked out a little. Each of the 12 cakes also has a name. A name that is not in English, but in Elvish. Tolkien's Elvish to be exact. The contaminated cake is called Aglomben, meaning one who passes between two high walls.
I may have issues.
Quote:
ShaperDreaming said: As for identifying your contam, here's two great threads for it:
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/23130868 https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/17231150 (for this one scroll down to "how it shouldn't look")
Awesome!! I'll take a look and figure it out. Thanks for the help.
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26024401 - 05/31/19 07:28 AM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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You just sound like a data hound, no worries. If that's what's fun for you keep doing it.
Also, it's a shame you picked elvish names... you know they didn't all make it to the end
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming]
#26030040 - 06/03/19 08:19 AM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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In an almost scary moment of prescience, Shaper mentioned that 'all syringes are dirty'. It turns out to be a contaminated syringe, because all 3 jars inoculated with that syringe (2 different needles) have the Black Spot growing at the inoculation point. Granted, these 3 jars were also sterilized independently, so there is a possibility there. Since I do have mycelium growth in the jars, I'm going to hold on to them and see who wins.
Colonization of both the coir and the jars is moving a bit slower than I'd like, but it could be that I have no clue how long they actually take since I didn't pay any attention last time. Did a few experiments with timelapses, but they didn't turn out quite like I wanted. Plus the growth at this stage isn't super impressive as of yet. I think as it gets closer to fruiting, I will try again.
With my existing cakes, I think 2 have a bit of contamination, but the mycelium is still going strong on their fourth flush. I think I'll probably wind up with 3 cakes that make it to a 5th flush.
I'm planning on writing something up for the trip report forum, but long story short we went camping this weekend. I took 1.3g and she took .9g. It was super awesome.
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26032089 - 06/04/19 09:36 AM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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LOL, I mean, I've had so many problems with syringes since I started it's not even funny. It's just... when you even look at the procedure for how they're made, there's just too many points for contamination unless you use a total sterile environment the whole time you grow mushrooms, and almost no one has the ability to do that.
Anyways, this is why we use agar
Glad you're still learning a lot! Can't wait to see next steps.
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26033016 - 06/04/19 06:32 PM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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Well huh. During the come down this weekend, as usually happens, a perspective shift. It's almost like a physical sensation. This time resulted in something interesting. As of yesterday, the better half and I have started putting all of our stuff up for sale. We're buying a sailboat, moving aboard, and leaving the country. Looks like things may turn psyconautical faster than I thought. And yes, since this is Shroomery, the one thing I intend to purchase before setting sail for the last time is a pressure cooker. I'm shooting for less than 4 weeks from today.
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26049609 - 06/13/19 07:15 AM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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Cakes are getting dunked, and ready for their next flush. This is 5. Flush 4 yielded 73.92 wet grams. The contamination I had smelled on the cake lost its foothold, so all 6 are smelling good, and going for a 5th flush. This is awesome.
Also, my experimental Dub Tub (recap a couple posts above) with neglected cakes fruited a little. I got 19.71 g wet. There are more pins, and a few more fruits. This is awesome. I do know that I need to fan a bit more. I know FAE is normally a thing that happens mostly naturally, but I don't have a lot of air movement in my house. Even with rotating the top shoebox so there are gaps, I wind up with fuzzy feet. Just something to keep in mind. I did get a 3 day timelapse, but it didn't turn out great. I still might post it, but we'll see.
I know @MrPsychonaught uses lots of peroxide to fight off contamination, and it has worked out well for him. I didn't want to go that far, and it turned out I couldn't since I only had maybe a teaspoon of peroxide left in the container close by. I used it to give a little boost to Aglomben (the cake with the worst contamination), and while @ShaperDreaming correctly mentioned the elves don't make it, they fought hard. And my cake is living up to its name. There is still a bit of whatever contamination, but the mycelium appears to be winning. Maybe I should have named the cake Charlie Sheen. Now I feel like someone should make a brand of peroxide called Tiger's Blood, only for our own amusement. I have a slightly better timelapse of the battle, but I stopped too early. This stuff moves much faster at the very last step.
4 weeks was a bit too optimistic, but 6 may be doable. Garage sale this weekend, so we'll see how that goes. Got enough to get a survey completed on any boat in my desired range. And that is from selling things I got for free and used for years! Sold the chickens too.
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ShaperDreaming
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26049827 - 06/13/19 09:30 AM (5 years, 7 months ago) |
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NOT THE CHICKENS!
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26065203 - 06/21/19 07:45 AM (5 years, 6 months ago) |
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Well huh. This cultivation log has done an excellent job of showing the patience it takes during colonization. So, where do I currently stand?
Still in the process of getting rid of damn near everything. With all of the people going through the house, I wound up putting my SGFCs in another room, and it was time to dunk the cakes after their fourth flush anyway. That was last weekend, and I haven't undunked them. Oops. My experimental shoebox wound up yielding 57.81g, which is cool, but seems really sparse from a visual perspective. Again, this was cakes that already had flushed once, were neglected for weeks, and then dunked and shredded (only 3 small cakes). But I noticed that the coir seems to attract a lot of gnats or something, and it just now started getting some contamination.
I still have 9 perfect jars that are ready to go into shoeboxes. But I'm debating quite a lot. I did the dubtub method since I had extra shoeboxes, even though I plan to use plastic bags on this next batch. The fuzzy feet has made it quite clear that I do not have enough air flow in my house, and will have to fan more. But I'm not a fan of those gnats. I didn't have that issue with the tSGFC, so I'm kind of debating on doing that with these cakes instead. I will probably do at least one, just to see if there is a difference, and I'd like to see a shoebox with the proper mycelium ratio fruit.
And here is where I am now. My syringes are almost out, and I don't yet have a pressure cooker. So I need a way to temporarily halt my mycology work with what I have now. I'm poking around a bit, but I think that spore prints will be the way to go until I get on the boat. Before we leave the US, I will wind up getting a pressure cooker, test tubes for slants, and plates for agar, but for now it is just more stuff to move.
I know I won't have the same issue with FAE on the boat, but contamination will probably be different and harder to deal with. However, based on layouts of boats we are looking at, I do believe that the absolute worst case scenario would be needing to do (and learn, since I haven't done it yet) SAB work on the setee birth. This will be kind of like doing it on the floor, so I'll see what works. It may require a bit of trial and error once it isn't theoretical, but I feel like I'm capable of getting this down on a boat (I will totally try doing SAB work under way at 30°+, just to see). Just have to slow down a bit. Getting this boat is my priority, and then the mycology game picks up in earnest. I know the better half really wants me to expand out into edibles (morels, shittakes, and portobellos/buttons), and I will most definitely do that at the very least on the boat, just because mushrooms are super tasty.
So I'll get a recap of these 4 flushes in my tSGFCs, and post some charts a bit later.
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ShaperDreaming
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26065306 - 06/21/19 08:47 AM (5 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
thecynicalstoic said: And here is where I am now. My syringes are almost out, and I don't yet have a pressure cooker. So I need a way to temporarily halt my mycology work with what I have now. I'm poking around a bit, but I think that spore prints will be the way to go until I get on the boat. Before we leave the US, I will wind up getting a pressure cooker, test tubes for slants, and plates for agar, but for now it is just more stuff to move.
Did you take prints? It's pretty easy to get back going again with prints from your own fruits. You can make dozens of syringes off one print. Take some from what you have currently growing before you shut down if you haven't yet!
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: ShaperDreaming]
#26065561 - 06/21/19 11:45 AM (5 years, 6 months ago) |
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Oh yeah, I'm just done with this first part. I still have 9 good jars and 3 somewhat contaminated jars where the mycelium seems to be winning. I'll be taking spore prints off of these ones. I'm just not certain how I want to fruit them.
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26109337 - 07/15/19 09:42 AM (5 years, 6 months ago) |
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The kingdom of Cubentinium was surrounded by enemies. This was a fact of their existence. On occasion, the Great Houses of the Kingdom are called upon to volunteer soldiers for the militia, for one campaign of expansion or another. On the 18th day of the 5th month, the House of the Golden Teacher and the House of Bee Add began training 6 soldiers each.
Training in Cubentinium was not easy, and fatalities were not uncommon. Granted, the citizenry considered training to last right up until the battleground is reached. One must understand the political infighting that happens between Cubentinium Great Houses to understand the pitfalls of a militia made up of two of them. While they are all part of the Kingdom, they are constantly vying for power among themselves.
While what most normal societies call training was completed, the militia began the trek to the chosen section of The Wilds to expand the reach of the Kingdom (and of course to increase the influence of their own respective Houses). At one point, they were set upon by a band of Warriors of Mould. The battle was severe. Two soldiers from the House of the Golden Teacher were struck with the poisoned arrows the Moulds were known for using. The Houses camped separately, which is why the warriors didn't attack the Bee Add soldiers.
Aglomben was the youngest son of a minor member of the House of the Golden Teacher. He wasn't the most coordinated of the soldiers, but his commitment came to be respected by all. He was the one on watch when the band attacked. The Warriors sneaked up in the darkness, and from a hidden position, struck with a volley of poison darts towards the camp. Aglomben somehow saw them flying through the air, and was able to raise the alarm before being pierced with dozens of the darts, falling to the ground. The battle was fierce, but with the exception of Yridhren, an experienced Maiden of War who took a dart in the arm, the Warriors of Mould were dispatched without further casualties.
The resilience of members of the House of the Golden Teacher is known, respected, and aspired to across the lands. This was no exception. Even severely injured, and unable to walk, Aglomben was carried by his housemates on a stretcher, as he fought the infection coursing through his body. Sometimes he was able to sit up, and seemed weak, but normal. Other times he'd be feverish and look to be on the edge of death. Yridhren continued walking, the infection in her arm held at bay by a tourniquet she fashioned out of the clothing of one of the Warriors she killed.
On the 8th day of the 7th month, they reached the body of water they needed to cross. Aglomben succumbed to his injuries, as it turned out the infection ate him away from the inside. Yridhren knew that the poison was sapping her, and she wouldn't survive the crossing with it still inside of her. She gave a look to her housemates, and laid her sword on the fire. When it got red hot, she stood, took a deep breath, and in a motion almost too fast to see, grabbed the handle of the sword, and amputated her own arm. She didn't utter a word, but beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. Without any more ceremony, the cauterized wound still angry and aching, the Militia entered the body of water, and began the last leg of their journey.
2 days later,the 11 remaining soldiers of the militia emerged from the deep, ready for war. The blowing sand was a reminder of the constant trade winds that constantly blew through this area. It has already been mentioned that the House of the Golden Teacher was known for their resiliency. The House of the Bee Add was known for something else. Nobody quite knew what it was though. It was a secret that has been kept for 100s of years. Magic of some kind, that much was certain, but the specifics were nonexistent. This mystery could have very easily cost them the campaign, but the House of the Golden Teacher had already experienced the indifference, and didn't depend on them.
While still dripping wet, one of them pointed in the direction of a small Coir settlement. Without a sound, all 6 housemates drew their weapons and started sneaking in the direction pointed. As they came upon the settlement, they all silently surrounded it, dropped to their knees, and impaled themselves, spilling their lifeblood onto the ground. A glow appeared, encapsulating the settlement, getting so bright the remaining 5 members of the militia needed to look away. When it dissipated, there was no sign of the 6. Investigating further, an invisible barrier surrounded the settlement. The leader of the Golden Teachers, Dinen, shrugged. They had their own goals too. They set off in the direction of their targets. Two rundown industrial complexes. They infiltrated them without a problem, and placed themselves in a meditative state on top of a small amount of water. It was for this state of zen that their resiliency was so highly prized and cultivated. 3 members in one of the complexes, and 2 in the other.
The campaign was a success, and it was time to wait for the reach of the Kingdom to establish itself.
************************************* Shit, what I meant to say was that I dunked 11 of my cakes, tossed 1, shredded 6 to a single coir shoe box, and have 5 cakes in my tSGFCs. Oh, and it's super hot, so I have fans going. No fuzzy feet this time hopefully.
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26138263 - 08/16/19 11:06 AM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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I got the warning. This thread hasn't been posted to in 31 days. Granted, as I am wont to do, I totally thought that the site went down because something about my writing stuff. 
Quick update. I'm shifting to a psychonautical existence soon. To that end, I actually sold my buddy all of my myco gear, along with the 5 1/2 cakes. I get caught up in the science, and what is happening. The better half, as I was explaining everything to my friend, told him that it's significantly less complicated than I make it sound. Fair enough. I have fallen deeply in love with mycology, and the science is probably a big part why. Shaper called me a data hound, and I think that's accurate. I sent my friend the link to this particular thread, so I am going to be writing out everything I think he should know, my existing setup, links to resources, and provide the opportunity for some of the more knowledgeable folks to provide feedback, and what his best bet is. I don't know if he'll actually join up, and if he does, he should definitely not make our IRL connection known. Hint hint. 
Okay, let's break things down. I'll start with the current grow and equipment, and then go to the other stuff I included. On this site, and with the links I will include, there are acronyms that you should be aware of, just so you don't get overwhelmed. BRF is Brown Rice Flour. In my case, it's the brown rice in the nutribullet I use. PF actually means Psilocybe Fanaticus, but it is essentially the method of using jars to make cakes (cakes are the things that come out of the jars, and you have 5 1/2 of them). I have two small tupperware containers modified to be SGFCs (ShotGun Fruiting Chamber). These containers are technically too small, but it's what I had available, and seems to have worked so far. Holes in a container, perlite on the bottom. For information on Shotgun Fruiting Chambers, this "Basic Principles of the Shotgun Fruiting Chamber" link is extremely useful. The most important thing to remember for you is that you need to have the SGFCs (I call them tSGFC for tiny Shotgun Fruiting Chamber) elevated. The holes on the bottom need to be exposed to air. I used these sauce cups on a cookie sheet. I know you can figure out a good method.
You don't want to place the cakes directly on the perlite. Most of the time, people use foil to put the cakes on (and I did that at first). However, you have 8 (?) plastic jar lids, and I've been putting the cakes on those, and bottom watering (pretty much putting water in the inverted lids). If you want to know more about that, this TEK has a lot of useful info. Oh, TEK is used often here, and it mostly means the methodology used. Some folks think it means technique, and others know it's actually an acronym for...something I forgot. It doesn't matter, it's just a shorthand for methodology. You are setup for PF TEK.
The big ass rubbermaid I included (that we put everything in) is intended to be a Still Air Box. This was for agar work, which I never actually got around to. In the previous page (3), there is a post I made that mentioned the agar stuff I was planning to follow, but again, I didn't actually get to it, so I can only point you in that direction, and tell you that based on my research, it's the best route. You do need a pressure cooker, which I don't. And I procrastinate.
Okay so the current state of things. These cakes have already been harvested once. This is called a flush. Between flushes, you dunk the cakes for at least 12 hours to restore moisture. Now, since I last dunked these, I messed something up. The cakes are currently infected with cobweb mold. This is a super useful link ShaperDreaming posted for me. I don't have AC, and things have been super hot lately, which I suspect played a part, since higher temperatures seem to be good for contamination. Also, I may not have cleaned the pot properly, since all of that contamination just appeared. I honestly am not sure what needs to be done for those cakes. Once I noticed the cobwebs, I redunked them with peroxide, and cleaned off all of the remnants.
Worst case, those cakes are fucked. I am really sorry about that, and seriously never had an issue with the cakes. You have 3 spore syringes, and 12 canning jars with Self Healing Injection Ports. For the mixture of Brown Rice Flour and Vermiculite, follow the instructions here. However, when it comes time to actually use the syringes, you want to follow the instructions laid out here.
You also have two shoeboxes, 4 lids, and coir. I tried this methodology, but wound up dealing with contamination, and didn't have any luck. You've got the stuff required, but I can't help unfortunately, since I didn't actually succeed.
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ShaperDreaming
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: thecynicalstoic]
#26138790 - 08/16/19 05:44 PM (5 years, 4 months ago) |
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Awesome work. I'm excited to see where things go. The forum hasn't been back that long, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Good to see you still around.
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thecynicalstoic
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Re: That whole "just start it already" thing really works!! [Re: StrohngBahd]
#26666886 - 05/12/20 03:33 PM (4 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
StrohngBahd said: Ooh, Psychonautical
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ShaperDreaming said: a sail boat!
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verum subsequentis said: you got me with the 42 foot sail boat bit. I love sailing. I had a twenty three foot ranger out in the blue for four months and have thought a lot about the logistics of growing while living aboard. What about coast guard walk ons though?
Anyone want to guess what I've been up to for the last 8 months?
Edited by thecynicalstoic (05/12/20 03:33 PM)
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