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mrpharmacist
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Registered: 05/20/20
Posts: 73
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
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First grow... 7 year old spores...
#26697466 - 05/26/20 04:49 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Hi,
First up, a massive thanks to everyone on this site and for all the amazing information shared here.
OK, so I’ve embarked on my first grow (PF TEK) and have done a pretty thorough job with my jars and other processes.
My first rookie error seems to be the spore print I used which is dated 2013! Nearly 7 yrs old. I’ve researched the forums and it sounds like these spores might not be viable, although some posters have reported success with 5 or 6 year old prints.
My second rookie error was immediately inoculating my jars after making my spore syringe! I’ve since read on the forums that it’s advisable to re-hydrate older spores, for up to 7 days before using them. I can't change it now... it's all a learning experience!
My contingency plan is I’ve used the other half of the print to make up a new spore syringe and this is now in the fridge. My plan is to watch my jars for a week, and if no obvious mycelium growth (which is what I expect), I will re-inoculate them with the ‘hydrated’ spore syringe from my fridge.
Does this sound like a reasonable plan? Obviously I don’t want to waste my beautiful BRF jars. A lot of love went into those! ;o) Btw, I’ve already begun trying to source a fresh print, but it might be 2-4 weeks before that arrives due to Covid snail mail.
A few related questions:
- Is there any need to re-sterilize my jars in the PC if I re-inoculate? - Will 7 days be long enough to assess my jars for mycelium growth from the old spores? - I’ve read about people seeing ‘germination’ of old spores in a syringe which can be an indicator that they still have some life in them. What am I looking for here?
Thanks one and all.
Mr P
Edited by mrpharmacist (05/29/20 11:40 PM)
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mrpharmacist
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Registered: 05/20/20
Posts: 73
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
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Re: First grow... 7 year old spores... [Re: mrpharmacist]
#26706082 - 05/29/20 11:43 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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I’ve read about people seeing ‘germination’ of old spores in a syringe which can be an indicator that they still have some life in them.
I made up the syringe 4 days ago and the appearance is changing slightly.
What am I looking for here?
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Machiavelliavore
Vermiculite Hater



Registered: 12/08/14
Posts: 3,038
Loc: The Sporetorn States
Last seen: 3 months, 19 days
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Re: First grow... 7 year old spores... [Re: mrpharmacist]
#26706320 - 05/30/20 03:14 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Just germinated some 5-7 year old prints with pretty decent success. Expect germination (if it occurs) to take 1.5-3 weeks. This is a significant disadvantage with PF tek and possibly (probably) not 100% clean spore syringes, giving contaminants a better chance to take hold in your cakes.
If you see sort of cloudy white-ish connections between or around the black spore flakes in the syringe, that's a good sign germination may occur in the syringe.
You don't need half a print for a syringe, the area of a hole-punch in paper should be more than sufficient.
If you have a pressure cooker you should do make agar and clean your cultures. Use a soft agar like 1.5% agar, and put a drop from your second syringe onto your plates to try to get germination, then transfer and clean. great information on agar
I wouldn't re-PC your cakes, I think that may throw off the moisture content. I'd just live with what you get off the first syringe, and save the second for agar.
--------------------
I spawned some popcorn casings and had double-overlay cause I didn't put enough hydrogen peroxide in my automated aquarium mister. I only got one mushroom so I cut off the head part where the seeds fall from and put it in a jar of LC and sprayed it all over a tin of PF cakes I made with gravel, cardboard, and bisquick in my microwave. I think it will be good cause B+ is so potent. Triggered yet? Only a square would say "a cube is a cube."
No, this does not look right...
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mrpharmacist
Stranger



Registered: 05/20/20
Posts: 73
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
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Thanks for the info Machiavelliavore. Appreciated. Cool your old prints are working out.
My syringe was stored in the fridge for a week before i used it, and did have a little cloudy milkiness in some areas, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to have worked. I reinoculated my cakes and have not seen anything happen after 12 days.
Well, actually, one of the cakes has got some funky cotton wool type mould growing in it, so you were spot on about the contaminants in an old print / not 100% clean spore syringe. That said, I suppose I'm happy that only 1 out of my 12 cakes is showing signs of contamination. I must've been doing something right with my sterile technique ;o)
I reckon the 7 year old spore print was cactus. It had been through at least 6 Aussie summers and not stored very well. Ha! I'm going to try and source a decent (recent!) spore print, so I can make a proper first attempt! I'll use the PF tek as I've got all the gear, but will deffo consider your suggestion in future with the agar.
I reckon I'll re-use these same cakes (not the mouldy one!) for the good spores once I get some. My plan is to PC them prior to re-inoculation as it's probably gonna be a good month between attempts. Might be wise to sterilise again after such a delay. I want to minimise contamination. Does this sound like a fair plan?
Cheers
Mr P
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