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IndigoGinzo



Registered: 10/28/19
Posts: 25
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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Monotub not colonized after 2 weeks! Please Help!
#26888763 - 08/19/20 04:27 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Hello everyone, let me preface my question by stating that I am a newb, and this is my first attempt at a Monotub, so any and all insights would be greatly appreciated.
Two weeks ago, I used 12 fully colonized 1/2 pint jars (BRF cakes) as spawn to colonize my newly made 32 quart Monotub. The strain was F+, which I bought in multispore syringe form from Spore Depot. I made the bulk substrate by following a video tutorial which stated to use the following ingredients: 1 brick of coco coir; 2 quarts of vermiculite; 1 cup of gypsum; and 5 quarts of water. I used a quart jar for all of the measurements with the exception of the coco coir brick. After that, I initially covered the 6 Monotub holes with 2 layers of micropore tape and several additional layers of a comparably heavy-duty painter's tape (for painter's tape). I was careful to not pack down the bulk substrate and spawn after layering, in order to allow the mycelium to easily form networks. It has now been two weeks, and the top of my Monotub has yet to colonize. There is a section on the side where the paint dips down to reveal a side of the Monotub and it looks minimally colonized (depicted in the picture).
Can anyone inform me where I went wrong? I have been doing some research, and I came up with three possibilities as to what might be wrong. (1) Could it be that I put too much water in the bulk substrate? Throughout the shroomery, people generally seem to recommend 4 - 4.5 quarts of water; so could the fact that I used 5 quarts account for the slow colonization time? (2) Perhaps it is the temperature in the room, as I have had a hard time getting the room temperature warmer than 73 degrees? (3) The last thing that I could possibly presume to have done wrong would be the usage of painters tape to cover the holes? Yesterday, I put several layers of duct-tape on top of the painter's tape just in case the painter's tape was the wrong thing to use. I honestly have been trying to research where exactly I went wrong, but I am unsure if any/all of these things are preventing the Monotub from colonization. Also, is there anything I can do to salvage this situation?
P.S. I apologize for not having a picture of the top of my Monotub, but it was too foggy (but not wet/no visible water droplets on the top) to get a clear picture, and I was concerned to open up the latches and expose it to contaminants prematurely.
Edited by IndigoGinzo (08/19/20 04:47 PM)
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bodhisatta 
Smurf real estate agent


Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,889
Loc: Milky way
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Re: Monotub not colonized after 2 weeks! Please Help! [Re: IndigoGinzo]
#26888818 - 08/19/20 04:48 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Bad spawn. Toss it. It was bad before you started
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IndigoGinzo



Registered: 10/28/19
Posts: 25
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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Re: Monotub not colonized after 2 weeks! Please Help! [Re: bodhisatta]
#26888853 - 08/19/20 05:06 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Thanks for the feedback Bodhisatta. Could it be that I waited too long to put the spawn into the Monotub? I had waited 1 month and 1 week before removing them from the jars; and when I did, the majority of the jars were pinning heavily while inside the jar. Is it possible that waiting too long to use the spawn could have made it bad before I started the Monotub?
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dothedew69
Relearning



Registered: 08/27/08
Posts: 624
Last seen: 3 years, 2 months
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Re: Monotub not colonized after 2 weeks! Please Help! [Re: IndigoGinzo]
#26889301 - 08/20/20 12:01 AM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Definitely waited too long to put the spawn into the bulk substrate. Also the amount of water you use for coir can vary based on many different factors so some may neeed more some may need less water... it’s kind of like baking. Now if you just make the straight brick you add x amount of water but you need to remember vermiculite also retains water on top of that. Here’s how I will be doing my bucket tek. I am going to use the manufacturers recommendation for water and follow bods easy af tek. You have to check field capacity, there’s some good videos going over what the right field capacity is. After you hydrate your coir take a handful and give it a good squeeze. If it fishes out water now you need to add some vermiculite. What you want is a very slow stream, a few drops when you squeeze the substrate hard. I will literally be using straight coir and vermiculite if I need it if it’s too wet, maybe add a little gypsum. What I’ve been reading compared to my knowledge from 10 years ago, keep it simple, follow bods tells because that’s what he does and look at his grows. Also saves a ton of time. I have 12 sterilite 54qt gasket bins to use as unmodofied monotubs.
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IndigoGinzo



Registered: 10/28/19
Posts: 25
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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Re: Monotub not colonized after 2 weeks! Please Help! [Re: dothedew69]
#26889490 - 08/20/20 06:01 AM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Thank you both so much for the info! It's a shame, I had another 10 BRF cakes of Golden Teacher that I've been trying to do PF Tek with, which were from the same batch, and I can't get them to grow either. I'm glad you guys informed me that the spawn was bad from the start because I didn't remove from the spawn from the jars at the proper timeframe. I wish I followed an instructional from here to begin with instead of going to Youtube. I'll def follow Bods tek to the letter for my next attempt. Luckily on 8/5 I made 12 jars of Golden Teacher and 6 jars plus 1 bag of Orissa. Then, on 8/14 I did another 11 jars of Golden Teacher and 11 jars of B+. So I plan on using/learning Bods tek for bulk with these two batches. I really want to learn this hobby and not suck at it!
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girllikeme


Registered: 03/09/20
Posts: 13
Loc: Colorado
Last seen: 1 year, 8 months
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Re: Monotub not colonized after 2 weeks! Please Help! [Re: IndigoGinzo]
#26951957 - 09/23/20 10:13 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Would you please share a link to bods tek? I think I’m having the exact same issue as you (waited too long to add spawn to substrate and monotub not colonizing). :-(
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Doctor Mario
🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄



Registered: 08/07/20
Posts: 1,894
Loc: 🇺🇸
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Re: Monotub not colonized after 2 weeks! Please Help! [Re: girllikeme]
#26951996 - 09/23/20 10:49 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
girllikeme said: Would you please share a link to bods tek? I think I’m having the exact same issue as you (waited too long to add spawn to substrate and monotub not colonizing). :-(
🍄Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods🍄
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girllikeme


Registered: 03/09/20
Posts: 13
Loc: Colorado
Last seen: 1 year, 8 months
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Re: Monotub not colonized after 2 weeks! Please Help! [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26956285 - 09/26/20 03:22 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Thank you very much!
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