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Packerbacker12
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Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble
#26469987 - 02/05/20 10:00 AM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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Hello everyone,
So my lion's mane has given me quite the time. I originally started with spawn from Aloha. I took a few kernels of grain and transferred them to a plate. Heres what I got:

from there I transferred again a few more times and ended up with this:

I thought I was looking golden so I transferred it over to some liquid culture. I then inoculated some grains and made about 8 supplemented sawdust bags. All 8 bags colonized quickly but then became a orange ish tint. I have grown lions mane before and know how quickly you start to get early fruits. Not in this case. My blocks stayed a mild orange for another month and never fruited.
So I decided to test my original LC jar and heres what I got:
heres what my grain jars look like:

A dead give away that something is wrong is the fact that I have now noticed at all phases this mycelium smells sweet. Like over ripe apricots. All of my current "lions mane" grain jars smell this way and even the old plates that I pulled from the fridge.
Now that I look at the plates again, I am very worried I transferred a contaminate of some sort and have been growing it all along.
If any body can help that would be great!
Thanks!
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lionmane
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: Packerbacker12]
#26470715 - 02/05/20 05:06 PM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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So far I have let Lion's Mane mycelium start fruiting in my plates a little to be positive its not white cobweb mold since the two aren't super indistinguishable to my naked eye. The mycelium all looks good to me and the same as Lion's mane mycelium I have run and am currently running but that being said refer to the white mold comment. The lack of fruiting could have to do with other factors but you've grown Lion's mane before so you can hone in on what might be different this time. What was your ratio of sawdust to grains? Stamets does describe bags as taking on a brownish tint that I would say sort of resembles orange. I had that with fruiting. Wood Chips in the nutrified sawdust can help aeration over pure sawdust. Recipe 50% SD, 25% WC, 20% Grains, 5% Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate).
-------------------- -Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence-
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McGrimm
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: lionmane]
#26470739 - 02/05/20 05:16 PM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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those plates do not good IMO. Bacterial seems to be the culprit. My plates were super white. But there are more knowledgeable people around with more experience with Lions Mane.
-------------------- In Peace or Pieces we shall move forward. Grimm
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Packerbacker12
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: lionmane]
#26470785 - 02/05/20 05:37 PM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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thank you for the response! I use a half qt for most of my 5lb bags. i have never had an issue with aeration so haven't thought of adding wood chips. The smell of the grain and even the agar plates smell sickly sweet. Im not really sure whats happened... I appreciate the input though
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Packerbacker12
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: McGrimm]
#26470791 - 02/05/20 05:39 PM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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Thanks for the reply! its a bit hard to tell in the pics but the mycelium is very white, whispy and somewhat uniform. I thought that LM mycelium was usually pretty scattered. The smell on the plates and grain is a for sure sign that something isnt right but i cant tell any other problems just by looking at the agar.
Also the plates pictured above just came out of the fridge and have a lot of water on them.
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McGrimm
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: Packerbacker12]
#26470871 - 02/05/20 06:32 PM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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hmmm
Well, in most cases, like you already surmised, a smell like that is going to most likely be bacterial infection rather than competing molds.
Strange case though
Hopefully someone else can chime in with some info and/or help
That last plate and your jar do not actually look THAT bad...
Edited by McGrimm (02/05/20 06:32 PM)
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Forrester
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: McGrimm]
#26471539 - 02/06/20 06:26 AM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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I think McGrimm is probably right, although you say in all phases of growth the mycelium smells off?
Bacteria shouldn't be that hard to clean up, and lion's mane is really fast, so if you transfer as quickly as possible you should be able to get it clean. Are you waiting too long to transfer away?
I dunno. That grain jar looks a little thick for LM, but I know strains vary and it doesn't look bacterial to me
-------------------- Repugnant is a creature who would squander the ability to lift an eye to heaven, conscious of his fleeting time here. ------------------- Have some medicinal mushrooms and want to get the most out of them? Try this double extraction method.
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Packerbacker12
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: Forrester]
#26471705 - 02/06/20 08:56 AM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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Yeah this ones really got me confused. Yes the plates and grain smell sickly sweet of overripe apricots. No other signs of bactrial infection though. The grain jar looks fine but Im worried its not even lions mane mycelium somehow. I thought LM was somewhat slow on grain. All my "lm" jars finished in 5 or 6 days. Way faster than my oysters
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Forrester
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: Packerbacker12]
#26471793 - 02/06/20 10:16 AM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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No, that's the right speed for lion's mane, 5-6 days for a grain jar is about right. It's really fast. Just usually is so thin/wispy that people don't think it's colonized at that point, and keep letting it go until they have a jar full of fruits.
-------------------- Repugnant is a creature who would squander the ability to lift an eye to heaven, conscious of his fleeting time here. ------------------- Have some medicinal mushrooms and want to get the most out of them? Try this double extraction method.
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Packerbacker12
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: Forrester]
#26471803 - 02/06/20 10:25 AM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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Huh... Well im not sure then. It seems like every one of my lions mane jars smells sweet. All 8 of them. Even though they all look like the one above. My kings and blues don't have any smell and look great, same batch of grain.
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lionmane
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: Packerbacker12]
#26471919 - 02/06/20 12:04 PM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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So from the odor it sort of sounds like wet spot/ sour rot...if you started with a grain kernel of spawn this would also fit. On a related note, I left some agar plates in the fridge and some contaminated with random molds. One plate looks so much like LM mycelium I am saving it to see how it grows out. Honestly could be a random spore got in there! I always mean to get pictures in with my posts, someday!
-------------------- -Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence-
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lionmane
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: Forrester]
#26471926 - 02/06/20 12:06 PM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
Forrester said: No, that's the right speed for lion's mane, 5-6 days for a grain jar is about right. It's really fast. Just usually is so thin/wispy that people don't think it's colonized at that point, and keep letting it go until they have a jar full of fruits.
I have an experiment of a lion's mane plate running in BSG (Brewer's Spent Grain) and it is super fuzzy and thick - almost looks like different mycelium species. Mycology continually fascinates me. Pictures someday.
-------------------- -Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence-
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Forrester
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: lionmane]
#26472963 - 02/06/20 09:57 PM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
lionmane said: I have an experiment of a lion's mane plate running in BSG (Brewer's Spent Grain) and it is super fuzzy and thick - almost looks like different mycelium species. Mycology continually fascinates me. Pictures someday.
That's cool, I don't doubt it can vary by strain or substrate. Pics would be awesome!
-------------------- Repugnant is a creature who would squander the ability to lift an eye to heaven, conscious of his fleeting time here. ------------------- Have some medicinal mushrooms and want to get the most out of them? Try this double extraction method.
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Packerbacker12
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: Forrester]
#26473544 - 02/07/20 09:30 AM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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Yeah I would love to see more pics of other peoples lions mane plates. I really dont know what to do. I think all of my LM grain jars are bad. They all look great but im really starting to think what im growing is a white mold or something. Im getting a few different LM cultures soon so ill play around with them
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lionmane
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: Forrester]
#26614531 - 04/20/20 07:27 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Sorry I never got pics up. I had started a reply and lost power that day and then things got crazy. The Brewer's Spent Grain did not perform well vs. oats and sawdust. Did ok, but didn't run as fast. I fruited all of these right in the jars as an experiment and all the fruits were pretty tiny. Pretty much expected this but just wanted to see what happened. Ended up using the jars as spawn for some logs. I'm going to convert over to bags for Lion's Mane but at the moment don't have as much time to dedicate to the hobby despite the quarantine. Hope you all are doing well.
-------------------- -Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence-
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DigitalRhizae
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: Forrester]
#26615853 - 04/20/20 05:12 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Forrester said:
Quote:
lionmane said: I have an experiment of a lion's mane plate running in BSG (Brewer's Spent Grain) and it is super fuzzy and thick - almost looks like different mycelium species. Mycology continually fascinates me. Pictures someday.
That's cool, I don't doubt it can vary by strain or substrate. Pics would be awesome!
In my experience it can vary quiet a bit dependant on the substrate too. My observations are that lions mane on rye grain is super wispy and thin and like you said you don't think it's colonized and starts to fruit. But my lions mane on sawdust/wheat bran is very thick and noticeable right from the start, almost to the point of looking like oyster mycelium. Here's some pictures.
Starting on grain about 20-30% colonized about 3 days later starting on sawdust/Bran about 60% done and some current ones at about 40%
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Forrester
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: DigitalRhizae]
#26617257 - 04/21/20 09:39 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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That's cool - You think it's thicker on the sawdust because there's so many more (albeit smaller) pieces for it to cover up? Or because of some variation of the nutrients in it? Just thinking out loud...
-------------------- Repugnant is a creature who would squander the ability to lift an eye to heaven, conscious of his fleeting time here. ------------------- Have some medicinal mushrooms and want to get the most out of them? Try this double extraction method.
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DigitalRhizae
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Re: Did I accidentally transfer a contaminate? Lion's mane trouble [Re: Forrester]
#26617294 - 04/21/20 09:55 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Yea I believe that's the case. I think its because there is alot more surface area in pure sawdust as opposed to grain. So the mycelium needs to work much harder to fill those gaps, making it thicker. I think that's why it suggested to add wood chips to decrease the surface area a bit. Also of course age is a major factor for later stages of growth where it'll look just like a white mass.
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