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Rich Ryegrain
Hyphal Knot



Registered: 04/08/20
Posts: 34
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Shoebox Troubleshooting
#26660110 - 05/09/20 01:58 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Hey all! I'm having some very consistent issues that I'm having trouble figuring out. I grow in a closet and have run a few monotubs so far, with mediocre results. I've gone to shoeboxes to see if I can control conditions better, but still it seems I'm on my way to running into the same issues. I've got side pinning and the beginnings of yellowing and matting. Check it out:
Variety: Cubensis B+ Spawn: MS to Rye (I'm thinking this could be leading to contams, always the same problems...) Bulk sub: Coir/Verm, bucket tek. 1:1 ratio Closet Temps: Low 70's, stable. Closet RH: Keeping it in the middle now, ~70, but I've tried everything from 20-95. Shoeboxes: 6Q. Spawned 5/1 (8 days ago). Lids snapped on, but occasionally popping them off to peek. Once the surface was colonized, I cracked the lids a little for a few days because they looked too wet, and during that time I gave them a very light misting just a few times to keep droplets on the surface. Now leaving the lids closed.
Issues: 1) Getting side pinning again, just like my monos! Also pinning on the bottom of the sub even though it isn't fully colonized. 2) Yellowing and matting of surface is beginning, just like my monos. There's a subtle odor that is slightly off of pure fresh mycelium.
As for 1, I really don't know, and that's what I'd really like help with.
As for 2, I suspect my spore syringes are bringing the same kind of bacteria to every jar of spawn I make. Some jars have clearly had yellowing in them, but even clean looking ones yellow quickly once I spawn them. I've got a bunch of jars growing from clones to agar so hopefully I don't have to deal with this any more soon.
Can anybody help with the side pin issue? I feel like I've tried every variation of FAE/humidity/misting ratios and I just keep getting the same thing.
Thanks in advance, I love this forum 
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LikeMyc
Microscopicologist

Registered: 12/06/19
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The only thing that has eliminated side pins for me was to make the sub just under field capacity, lighly packing it especially on the edges, and spray the surface at spawning so that the surface is more ideal than the sides.
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exzile
PROFESSOR OF MYCOLOGY




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Re: Shoebox Troubleshooting [Re: LikeMyc]
#26660179 - 05/09/20 02:39 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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I cut up black garbage bags and lay those down before pouring in sub. Stops side pinning completely
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hazyhorse
scoobin



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Re: Shoebox Troubleshooting [Re: exzile]
#26660201 - 05/09/20 02:45 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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for side pins, the best way to eliminate those is gonna be keeping surface conditions optimal. liners can def help but i’ve found that if you just keep your surface decently misted side pins won’t happen. i’ve done what likemyc suggested by misting the sub a bit at spawn & i think it helps too
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LikeMyc
Microscopicologist

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Re: Shoebox Troubleshooting [Re: LikeMyc] 1
#26660218 - 05/09/20 03:00 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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I despise liners although a ton of people have success with them, I just dont want to bother with that extra step.
As far as contamination and overlay: I don't see any contam. The yellow is the beginning of overlay and yellow fluid may be mycelium metabolites.
Looks like overlay is starting. Do you have decent air circulation in your closet? Are you misting from far away? Are your shoeboxes occluded? Was FAE restricted somehow during colonization of the sub? Are they receiving sufficient light? Casing?
Edited by LikeMyc (05/09/20 03:18 PM)
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woofwoof
such mushrooms!



Registered: 01/04/19
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Re: Shoebox Troubleshooting [Re: LikeMyc]
#26660283 - 05/09/20 03:41 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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I have noticed that using a top layer and patting the surface down until really nice and level really helps. Check out ShaperDreamers SFF Shoebox Factory tek, this was a game changer for me.
Also, sounds like the issue with yellowing is going from MS to grains. I think you will have much more success with your agar.
Also if you can try taking it out of the closet and into a more open area, it could also be your environment. In my experience, I had to dial in my shoeboxes by moving them to different spots until I found the sweet spot
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Farnaby1984
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Re: Shoebox Troubleshooting [Re: LikeMyc]
#26660301 - 05/09/20 03:50 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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I'm no expert, but as far as I knonw liners and keeping surface conditions optimal is what helps to avoid side and bottom pins.
Quote:
LikeMyc said: The only thing that has eliminated side pins for me was to make the sub just under field capacity, lighly packing it especially on the edges, and spray the surface at spawning so that the surface is more ideal than the sides.
Do you also spray the surface if you've recently dunked the substrate like after the first flush. If so, do you do it directly after dunking or do you wait?
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LikeMyc
Microscopicologist

Registered: 12/06/19
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I don't dunk, I saturate the surface by spray. I get some side pins after the first flush because of the substrate shrinking but very few. I try not to let the over spray hit the side gaps after the first flush. This is where a lining helps but it I find a lining more of a hassle than picking side pins.
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A.k.a
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Re: Shoebox Troubleshooting [Re: LikeMyc]
#26660391 - 05/09/20 04:34 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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It looks like it may need slightly more air.
I’ve done tons of bacterial shoeboxes and all that happens is most of the time is some weird yellow knots and some mutant mushrooms but otherwise fine.
Is that a 6 quart shoebox? Might be the picture but it seems taller. With my sterilite shoeboxes plastic grocery bags fit in perfectly for liners. Takes five seconds.
Packing the edges down when you make it can help side pins but the main thing is to just keep the conditions good. It takes a while to really get an eye for it though.
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LAGM2020     
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Farnaby1984
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Re: Shoebox Troubleshooting [Re: LikeMyc]
#26661588 - 05/10/20 04:06 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
LikeMyc said: I don't dunk, I saturate the surface by spray. I get some side pins after the first flush because of the substrate shrinking but very few. I try not to let the over spray hit the side gaps after the first flush. This is where a lining helps but it I find a lining more of a hassle than picking side pins.
Ok I see. It makes sense that one should avoid the water reaching the side gaps.
Do you do this by directly spraying the substrate where you want the water to go or does it also work letting the mist fall on the substrate (to avoid pooling).
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LikeMyc
Microscopicologist

Registered: 12/06/19
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Since we are talking about rehydrating, I mist until it pools. Any excess water still standing after an hour is removed.
I don't want to hijack OPs thread.
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Rich Ryegrain
Hyphal Knot



Registered: 04/08/20
Posts: 34
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Re: Shoebox Troubleshooting [Re: LikeMyc] 1
#26662903 - 05/10/20 06:13 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Thank you everybody for your input.
As for the liner suggestion——It seems that lots of growers do okay without a liner, and a few very experienced people have said that the liner is more like a crutch for having less than ideal surface conditions. Even if it's a nuisance now, I'd like to learn how to dial things in close to perfect and also avoid more plastic waste.
Quote:
LikeMyc said: I despise liners although a ton of people have success with them, I just dont want to bother with that extra step.
As far as contamination and overlay: I don't see any contam. The yellow is the beginning of overlay and yellow fluid may be mycelium metabolites.
Looks like overlay is starting. Do you have decent air circulation in your closet? Are you misting from far away? Are your shoeboxes occluded? Was FAE restricted somehow during colonization of the sub? Are they receiving sufficient light? Casing?
Thanks for the responses LikeMyc, here are answers to your questions.
The few times I've misted it's been from very far away, letting just the smallest droplets rain down, but the yellowing is progressing despite not having misted at all for several days now.
The shoeboxes have the lids snapped on right now (which multiple teks suggest is plenty for colonization), but I did crack them for a few days once the surface was totally colonized. I closed them back up because the surface would rather quickly lose it's tiny water droplets when they were cracked. Closet has a small but powerful fan that turns on for 15m every 2 hours (it would be more constant if it didn't move so much air).
There's ambient light coming from the monos in the closet. I added a thin coir/verm top layer to one shoebox but not the other, and they each have the same issues.
Yellowing is progressing more quickly now, and the yellowing myc seems less fluffy than other spots. Side pins are growing just as fast as top pins, and there are more on the sides.
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Rich Ryegrain
Hyphal Knot



Registered: 04/08/20
Posts: 34
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Re: Shoebox Troubleshooting [Re: woofwoof]
#26662917 - 05/10/20 06:19 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
woofwoof said: I have noticed that using a top layer and patting the surface down until really nice and level really helps. Check out ShaperDreamers SFF Shoebox Factory tek, this was a game changer for me.
Also, sounds like the issue with yellowing is going from MS to grains. I think you will have much more success with your agar.
Also if you can try taking it out of the closet and into a more open area, it could also be your environment. In my experience, I had to dial in my shoeboxes by moving them to different spots until I found the sweet spot
Good advice, woofwoof. From what I've gathered, experimentation is key when it comes to environment (and most other things mycology, eh?). I'd love for them to thrive in the closet but maybe they'll have to come read me bedtime stories on my nightstand for a little while.
One thing I could certainly have done better is leveled the surface. It isn't "unlevel," but it certainly isn't perfectly flat. I see so many people recommend this, but I still haven't been able to find why this might be so important. The only thing I can imagine is that it would prevent water from pooling. Anybody have a hypothesis as to why flattening the surface is so important?
I do plan on my next shoeboxes and monos to try compressing the sides slightly and misting the top before I set it to incubate. It seems a fair number of people have luck with these techniques.
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A.k.a
Stranger



Registered: 10/27/19
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The yellowing and the stuff going on with the myc looks like it’s from bacteria. It’s not usually a big deal ime. Usually when I’ve had it I won’t see anything until there’s a lot of knots, and then some will get yellowish and swell up and there’s mutants but the flushes are usually still good.
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LAGM2020     
Edited by A.k.a (05/10/20 06:57 PM)
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Rich Ryegrain
Hyphal Knot



Registered: 04/08/20
Posts: 34
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Re: Shoebox Troubleshooting [Re: A.k.a]
#26663369 - 05/10/20 09:24 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
A.k.a said: The yellowing and the stuff going on with the myc looks like it’s from bacteria. It’s not usually a big deal ime. Usually when I’ve had it I won’t see anything until there’s a lot of knots, and then some will get yellowish and swell up and there’s mutants but the flushes are usually still good.

Thanks, A.K.A. I've also noticed that my monos with the same problem do eventually fruit decently. If anything what I've noticed as being the downside to whatever is going on here is a slow fruiting process and a high number of funky bluish/fuzzy aborts, many of which abort a bit past the pin stage. No mutants, though——that photo is quite curious.
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Rich Ryegrain
Hyphal Knot



Registered: 04/08/20
Posts: 34
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I'll just keep updating here for those with similar questions who eventually stumble across this thread.
Tops of shoeboxes have been left snapped on for 5 days, boxes spawned 12 days ago. Keeping lids snapped has made surface moisture look perfect to my eye, but pins are starting to get long and stringy, and there is a little bit of water starting to accumulate in the bottom of the boxes. I suspect both of these are indicators that they need a tad more FAE. Again, closet RH and temps are both mid-70's, and a fan kicks on for 15m every 2 hours. Today I decided to flip the lids of the shoeboxes to allow more passive FAE, and I gave them each a quick fan when I did. Of course, I'm looking for a tek that requires very little maintenance, so I'm going to leave them like this for another 5 days without touching them just to see how they fare.
Yellowing doesn't seem to be getting worse, but there is still a subtle and slightly acrid odor when I first crack the lid on the bins. Sides and bottom are still forming a few new pins, but I suspect this might stop now that I have a bunch of knots on the surface that should blow up fast with the added FAE.
Curious if anyone thinks I'm doing this wrong 
Edited by Rich Ryegrain (05/13/20 06:04 PM)
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A.k.a
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Looks pretty good. I think it’s holding moisture enough that flipped lid or maybe even slightly crooked will be perfect.
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LAGM2020     
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Rich Ryegrain
Hyphal Knot



Registered: 04/08/20
Posts: 34
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Re: Shoebox Troubleshooting [Re: A.k.a]
#26679846 - 05/18/20 08:59 PM (3 years, 8 months ago) |
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Thanks for the feedback, AKA. I had the same feeling—lids are now upside down and slightly crooked, closet humidity around 50% seems to be keeping them moist enough, too. I'm going as low as possible with RH to try to give them a chance to fight whatever this contaminant is.
Despite seemingly having conditions really dialed in the closet for the first time, the fruits are showing very upsetting signs of contamination. Yellowing of the mycelium hasn't progressed at all, but fruit growth is slow and many fruits are showing signs of what I believe to be verticillium or pseudomonias infection.
The upsetting part is that fruits are aborting or ceasing to grow very late in the game, some over 1.5'' tall. This is exactly what I've had in my monotubs. Brown spotting turning to splotching low on the stem, blueing, drying and wrinkling of caps, and very thin stipes wasting away just below the caps.

Right now I'm going for maximum FAE and minimum humidity so the myc can have an advantage over the bacteria. My hypothesis is that all my syringes are contaminated, but I'm spawning new shoeboxes tonight with a different brand of coir to see if maybe it's the coir that's contaminated. Pretty sure that's all I can do with these MS syringe jars, but I'm way open to ideas.
I'm considering posting in the contaminants forum at this point since this thread is starting to wander, just continuing to update here for posterity.
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A.k.a
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They look good but definitely need way more air.
It’s got pseudomonas or whatever on the stem but that’s not a big deal usually.
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LAGM2020     
Edited by A.k.a (05/19/20 06:51 AM)
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Rich Ryegrain
Hyphal Knot



Registered: 04/08/20
Posts: 34
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Re: Shoebox Troubleshooting [Re: A.k.a]
#26680955 - 05/19/20 11:50 AM (3 years, 8 months ago) |
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Thanks for the response, AKA. My first thought with the long stems was that they needed more air, but the lids are already cracked pretty wide and a pretty strong fan moves air around the closet for 15m every 2 hours. I also open the closet at least 3x/day for FAE. My monotubs have had the spotting, blueing and aborting, but they haven't had stringy growth. Could they really need that much more air? My only other option would be to have them in my bedroom, with like 10% humidity.
Things are getting worse....

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