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Seamoss
Yard


Registered: 12/06/19
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Azurescens grow 1
#26484546 - 02/14/20 01:04 AM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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I started some azurescens from a spore syringe back in December on rye grain with a touch of alder sawdust mixed in. They took about 9 or 10 days to show noticeable mycelium in the jars. I kept them in temps between 58-68 on a kitchen rack with reflected outdoor light, not direct. It took another two weeks for the pint jars to colonize most of the way through to the point that I could feel good about scooping some out to start a bulk pan.

My idea was to bring some materials from this mushroom’s natural habitat and add them to the bulk pan and see if it helps at all with overall quality. Nothing scientific really, but surely it wouldn’t hurt anything. So I cut a big bag of dune grass from the dunes up near Astoria and also took a bucket of the dark sand from the beach near where I’ve found them before to use as a casing layer.
So I got an aluminum turkey pan from Freddie’s and poked some holes in the bottom for drainage and air circulation. Then I added my soaked and mixed substrate of alder sawdust (hydrated traeger pellets), alder chips, alder chunks, and the dune grass cut into 2-3” clippings. I seeded it with about 8oz worth of myceliated rye at about half depth of the pan, covered it up with more of the sub, then put a 1-1.5” casing layer of beach sand on top. I then watered it in thoroughly. I did not sterilize any of the bulk substrate beforehand.


I put this pan on a rack above some houseplants under a single grow light. I doubt it makes much of a difference but I know some mushrooms enjoy a bit of light. Azurescens grow in that marginal area that isn’t completely dark so in the spirit of keeping my tek reminiscent of the natural conditions I figure it can’t hurt (common theme here). Same temps, 58-68. Within a week the mycelium was growing up through the sand, visible on the surface, and showing a dense mycelial mat just underneath. I let this ride for a month with waterings every other day.



I didn’t dig it up to check to see if it had fully colonized the substrate, but judging by the mycelial mat that was visible when I would wash the sand around during waterings, I felt confident it had gotten to most of it. I moved the pan outside to see what happens, the conditions are just right for fruiting and that is fun to think about. That said, I know most people don’t see fruit before a whole season outside or sometime even two seasons, so I don’t expect much if anything except maybe more thorough colonization of the larger alder pieces in the pan.
I had another three pint jars of 100% colonized grain to do something with so I made another large turkey pan and several smaller loaf pans filled with varying compositions of my substrate and some without the casing layer.

I am excited by how quickly and densely the azurescens took to my substrate mix and I wonder what contributions, if any, the sand has made and if it’s anything special or if it just makes an excellent layer for moisture regulation. Time will tell!
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LeteciMedvedic
Srbin



Registered: 02/11/20
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Loc: Europe
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Re: Azurescens grow [Re: Seamoss]
#26484602 - 02/14/20 02:25 AM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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Following this ... I'm wondering, can you make LC with Woodlovers like Azure and Bohemica
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Mycoactive
Scientist


Registered: 11/20/19
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Love this! I have some azurescens going with sand as well. The myc seems to love, or at the very least not mind, the sand at all. Please keep us updated on this one. What are your plans for encouraging fruiting?
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Reindeerpiss
Trufflemuncher

Registered: 06/20/17
Posts: 6
Loc: Jinsy
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The answer is yes - i soaked beech chips i bought from a pet store (reptile bedding) overnight to create a 'tea' - drain the tea through a sieve then add 4-5% by weight organic honey to make a very successful liquid culture. Just pressure cook for 20 mins, leave to cool naturally then inject spores - in my case from a spore syringe.....simples!!
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Reindeerpiss
Trufflemuncher

Registered: 06/20/17
Posts: 6
Loc: Jinsy
Last seen: 3 years, 11 months
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The answer is yes - i soaked beech chips i bought from a pet store (reptile bedding) overnight to create a 'tea' drain, then add 4-5% by weight organic honey to make a very successful liquid culture. Just pressure cook for 20 mins, leave to cool naturally then inject spores - in my case from a spore syringe.....simples!!
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BlueTryptoYoshi
Cultivator



Registered: 08/18/19
Posts: 290
Loc: Alberta Canada
Last seen: 3 years, 2 months
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Nice bro, I been doing mine in my garage, I'm casing it next week, excited to be patient and expect nothing but it's fun as hell to try lol https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showthreaded.php/Number/26480658
-------------------- Too weird to live, too rare to die.
 
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Seamoss
Yard


Registered: 12/06/19
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Last seen: 2 years, 8 months
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I set my pan outside and I’m just going to see what happens. The temps right now are in the low 50s to upper 40s for the high and the lows are in the mid 30s to low 40s as well as having light rain on most days. These conditions are ideal for fruiting to occur, but as I said before, the common experience shows that I won’t likely see fruits before a few months. So I could potentially see some in a few weeks if conditions stay like they are, or it could be November before it does anything. Time will tell and I’ll update regularly.
Edited by Seamoss (02/14/20 12:35 PM)
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Seamoss
Yard


Registered: 12/06/19
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Quote:
Reindeerpiss said: The answer is yes - i soaked beech chips i bought from a pet store (reptile bedding) overnight to create a 'tea' drain, then add 4-5% by weight organic honey to make a very successful liquid culture. Just pressure cook for 20 mins, leave to cool naturally then inject spores - in my case from a spore syringe.....simples!!
I’ll have to try that next time when I get some cyan syringes. My azurescens took off like wildfire on the rye/alder dust once they got going so it really wasn’t an issue for them. Anything i can do to increase my success rates I’ll try at least once.
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Seamoss
Yard


Registered: 12/06/19
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Re: Azurescens grow [Re: Seamoss]
#26485906 - 02/14/20 06:33 PM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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Some additional thoughts on the sand and dune grass...
I took the sand from the dunes up in the grassy margin area near where I’ve found azures before. I did not wash the sand out before using it as my casing, so it’s likely full of local bacterias, perhaps other mycelia, sea salts, and random organic matter. It is also a very fine sand, so it makes a fairly dense casing layer. I’m sure all that has or will have some sort of contribution to the overall health of the azures as well as fruit quality.
As for the grass, azures are known to grow around the base of these grass clumps and the dead stalks make up a good portion of the organic matter in the surrounding sand. I figure that having clippings mixed in would give them an additional native food source as well as compounds that are missing from the alder. It also helps keep an open, airy structure in the substrate.
Given the quick colonization of the sub, I’m thinking I could be onto something. I’m curious to see if it makes any difference in fruiting times that others have experienced. If anyone else has some thoughts I would love to hear them.
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MushkingMulah360
Amateur Mycologist


Registered: 01/13/20
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Re: Azurescens grow [Re: Seamoss]
#26485932 - 02/14/20 06:50 PM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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I’m interested in this myself just here for the ride lol def want to see how this turns out.
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One of Us
Stranger



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Seamoss
Yard


Registered: 12/06/19
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Re: Azurescens grow [Re: One of Us]
#26491339 - 02/18/20 08:15 AM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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Either azurescens are a more aggressive grower than I’ve been led to believe, I’ve got some with vigorous genetics, or I’m doing things just right because my 2nd pan took two days to show mycelium on the surface in multiple sites. If nothing else, it’s fun to watch.


Edited by Seamoss (02/18/20 08:36 AM)
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Jizosama
Doctor of Dingus


Registered: 01/31/20
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Re: Azurescens grow [Re: Seamoss]
#26491382 - 02/18/20 09:01 AM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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I just inoculated a substrate yesterday, will share if I have success.
Planning on setting up a bed in my yard this year
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Seamoss
Yard


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Re: Azurescens grow [Re: Jizosama]
#26511357 - 03/01/20 12:49 PM (3 years, 10 months ago) |
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That’s my end goal here as well. Right now I’m hammering down on expanding my colonized substrates and doing a few experiments along the way. Here is a pic of an interesting mycelium pattern that has developed on one of my pans. I’ve got three large turkey pans, eight bun pans, and three pint jars colonizing right now. There is also the colonized pan I stared in December that I’ve set outside. It appears to still be colonizing some added casing so who knows what it’s going to do. I’ll add pics of that later.
Everything is colonizing vigorously so apparently I’m still doing it right enough!
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c10h12n2o
serial dilutor



Registered: 01/21/15
Posts: 3,200
Loc: the abyss
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Re: Azurescens grow [Re: Seamoss]
#26511384 - 03/01/20 01:07 PM (3 years, 10 months ago) |
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Good luck! I hope it works out for you
Azurecens always colonized really well for me, but fruiting it was another matter entirely. I did have some nice flower pots going but they died during a move , RIP
--------------------
  C10's Agar Guide + Tips and Tricks | c10's Flow Hood Build Guide "Partial knowledge is more triumphant than complete knowledge; it takes things to be simpler than they are, and so makes its theory more popular and convincing." "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies" ― Friedrich Nietzsche
Edited by c10h12n2o (03/01/20 01:07 PM)
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Seamoss
Yard


Registered: 12/06/19
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Re: Azurescens grow [Re: c10h12n2o]
#26511393 - 03/01/20 01:16 PM (3 years, 10 months ago) |
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Did you fruit them under artificial conditions or outdoors? I’m building up colonized sub with the intent of setting outdoor beds for this fall/winter. Being in NW Oregon, this should work just fine, but I’m curious about others who’ve had success fruiting azures in a fridge for example and if there was anything special (besides temp/humidity) needed to get them to fruit. I plan on starting a fruiting block later this week in my garage fridge to see if anything happens.
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Jizosama
Doctor of Dingus



Registered: 01/31/20
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Re: Azurescens grow [Re: Seamoss]
#26514059 - 03/03/20 07:06 AM (3 years, 10 months ago) |
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Looks great, I'll definitely share my bed once the grown thaws here. My jars are almost completely engulfed by the mycelium.
Will post images when I get a chance later today perhaps!
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Jizosama
Doctor of Dingus



Registered: 01/31/20
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Re: Azurescens grow [Re: Seamoss]
#26552948 - 03/23/20 11:44 AM (3 years, 10 months ago) |
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How are yours progressing?
Here's two jars almost ready for the next stage.

Excited for the next stage!
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Seamoss
Yard


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Re: Azurescens grow [Re: Jizosama]
#26970365 - 10/05/20 10:18 AM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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Sorry about the big gap in updates everyone. I built up about 5 gallons of colonized alder chips mixed with the beach sand and dune grass then set several outdoor beds in early June. So far, they are looking happy and I just put a thin layer of fresh alder over them to give them some more media to spread into. They are colonizing vigorously since the weather has cooled off a bit here in Portland. Hoping I'll see some fruits later this fall/winter.
Edited by Seamoss (10/06/20 05:02 PM)
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NecroMyce
Mostly Ghostly



Registered: 05/12/13
Posts: 747
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Re: Azurescens grow [Re: Seamoss]
#26970716 - 10/05/20 02:22 PM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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This is super cool! cant wait to see updated fruiting pics!
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