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WunFunGai
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Isolating with agar and petri dishes - A walk down isolation road 1
#26889280 - 08/19/20 11:19 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Greetings! It's been awhile since my last post, but got the itch after a break to revive the hobby and try something new since I've got a bit of time on my hands.
First pass was over two decades ago stumbling upon the original mmgg.html doc and getting my first spores from PF back in the day.
Flash forward to 2016 and revisited the tek and improvements and overwhelming amount of posts with info. Started from old roots; went brf and shorties in a SGFC, moved on to shoe-boxes, then unmodified tubs based on the postings of The Bod...got a cycle going and was having fun just repeating the process based on a clone of a good fruit and using pasty plates.
Had to move and had some unfortunate contam issues and put things on the side until the present and decided to dive in again and learn how to do real agar plates and pour agar and see if any old plates had life left and take my first shot at isolating starting by going spores to agar.
And here's where I'm at...followed info I found and got some 500ml media bottles with GL45 lids and whipped up some PDA using agar-agar, potato flakes, and honey w/ food coloring. PC'd the mix for 30 minutes, let it cool, then used short microwave bursts to get it liquid again before pouring out 20 plates using the guides that Bod had organized.
NOTE: The spores are Golden Teacher from fruit that was spawned from a good clone from long ago.
Aside from some condensation issues (I know better now), plates went well and on 08/5 I swabbed two plates, and used two others to see if old agar in fridge was viable...old agar was a bust, but on 08/13 the spore plates looked like this:


On 08/14 I culled 3 samples from each plate and put them to 3 new plates:


NOTE: The C Plates look that way since I was lazy and dropped the culled sample on top of my old agar cultures that were doing nothing.
08/16 here's how they look:


08/17 and lots of action: Source plate 01 starting to look weird (toss?)

1A - looking good but is that unwanted visitor at 4 o clock? Started small but it's rapidly outpacing on 08/19

2B - Looking good is that 3 o clock section a different sector?

3C - Looking OK too

PLATE 02 - looking kinda beat up now (toss?)

2A - Looks OK, but kinda meh for speed

2B - Looks pretty good - that 3 o clock section looks interesting

2C - Looks OK, but that whole lower half seems a bit sketchy.

I'm still a noob, I've read a lot of different info, and I'm a bit overwhelmed by some of the conflicting info and just looking for comments, suggestions, encouragement, or even ridicule just to get perspective.
I'm just hoping to make fewer mistakes on the way to learning proper isolation techniques. I'll probably make some anyway, but the goal is to make fewer...
* I've burned 8 plates have twelve poured left in storage. * I have two sleeves of petris 20 plates like shown, and 20 Y plates same size that are unused.
I'm thinking of taking at 1-2 samples of best growth from each plate and grow those out while starting another bottle of agar and dishes.
If the new plates don't look isolated enough, I may put to new plates and experiment with the leftovers to experiment and see what comes out.
If anyone has followed the wall of text this far, I've tried to provide a decent description of what I've done and where I'm at and would greatly appreciate any comments regarding next step, or if you have a good eye for spotting sectors to point out what a more experienced person would do.
Please be patient. This is my first post outside of The Noob Forum and I'm a bit intimidated by all the more experienced posters.
Any comments would be appreciated, and in turn I'll post updates as I walk down isolation road...
Thanks in advance for any thoughts, info, or links.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/10/20 02:23 AM)
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WunFunGai
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Re: First timer trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26890109 - 08/20/20 01:34 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Just figured I'd provide a quick update. No responses, but maybe this info will be useful for others and maybe spare them any mistakes I'm making along the way.
08/20 - Main Plates look pretty burned out - is it normal for myc to eat the food coloring away like that?
 
Plate 1 Transfers: Noted that funky spot going nuts on 1A - gray stuff ain't good right?
  
Plate 2 Transfers: Got a funky spot on one, but I think it's just myc eating around the old agar that didn't do anything.
  
Pulled 6 plates from fridge and "uncondensing" them using the hot cup trick.
Wondering if I should take one good sample from each plate or focus on one and put the others in cold storage to slow further growth.
My plan was to try and get at least 4 plates that looked really good, then spawn each to 1 quart of grain and shoebox it to see how they come out.
If there's exceptional results from any of the four, make more plates from that, and try a larger run.
I'll just continue talking to myself here since putting it in private logs probably won't help (or amuse) anyone.
Comments or input much appreciated, just trying to make less mistakes and optimize my process where possible.
Have a good one!
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/07/20 10:05 PM)
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WunFunGai
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Re: First timer trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26892160 - 08/21/20 05:09 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Update 08/21 - No responses so moving along...
The master plates don't look so hot and will toss those, and of the 3 remaining plates, 1A has something in the that I don't think is myc. 1C/2C look ok, but are growing around the old agar chunks that didn't produce - the fuzzy stuff in those dead sections worry me a bit, but put em in a ziploc and put them in cold storage for now.
Conclusion: I guess myc does eat food coloring after all..

Decided to take the 3 best looking plates and cull two samples from each and put them to plates.
Here's the 3 that were culled.
  
Figured wtf, I got some time on my hands so I started a grain soak, fill 4x1qt jars and PC them, then noc em up with small nuggets of agar from my 3 nice plates I just took samples from to isolate with.
Just for shits and giggles while I wait for the 6 new plates to grow out.
Figger I'll spawn them to 4 shoebox runs to keep them separate and observe any differences.
I'm pretty much going with what I've read from various teks but feeling nervous about what I may be missing or could be doing better.
Comments and suggestions appreciated, even if it's just to confirm my process is OK and things aren't looking bad yet.
Have a good one...
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/07/20 10:05 PM)
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One of Us
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Re: First timer trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26892314 - 08/21/20 07:07 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Everything looks great! Good job!
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redbee
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Re: First timer trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26892337 - 08/21/20 07:23 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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I can't offer you any advice as I'm new to agar, but I just wanted to say thanks for the thorough write-up, it's really helpful to see your process!
Good luck with those grain jars, and I'm staying tuned...
--------------------
redbee's LAGM 2021
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WunFunGai
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Re: First timer trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: One of Us]
#26892733 - 08/22/20 12:53 AM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
One of Us said: Everything looks great! Good job!
Hey, thanks! I hit up some of your LAGM posts too, and I'm glad to see I'm not alone with condensation on plates! I've been away for awhile.
Local environment is hot/humid so stuff happens fast once it starts.
My hypothesis is that although myc is pretty strong and resilient when established. It's kryptonite is warmer temps, which is the supersauce environment for Mr. Grey and w/humid conditions he wins in the end...major clash of titans action at the demarcation on that plate eh? (Sorry, said with a science background it might sound less interesting than it could be...right?)...Two Strains, One Plate, There Can Be Only One.....TOSS...LOL
Thanks for your comments. Really appreciated!
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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WunFunGai
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Re: First timer trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: redbee]
#26892736 - 08/22/20 12:57 AM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Hey, thanks!
I hope it's helpful to add to other good info already here to give some perspective.
This is just my interpretation, I hope it adds/helps your process, don't forget, do what works for you! 
Thanks,
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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SteelGully
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Re: First timer trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26892785 - 08/22/20 02:08 AM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Looks epic! I'm still learning too so this is super valuable follow along with epic pics and great insight on what you are doing. Thanks for sharing sorry I have nothing helpful to add.
-------------------- Loving the shroom journey!
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Jatzan
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Re: First timer trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: SteelGully]
#26892800 - 08/22/20 02:23 AM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Amazing journal, thorough research, meticulous work, good technique, flawless photos, modest character. Good job and Keep up!
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26893620 - 08/22/20 01:35 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Thanks for the kind words everyone. Gonna PC up some grain today...
Here's some backlit shots of the 3 I culled from and tried to adjust to get a good view of the strands.
Musing out loud here, but I just haven't developed a good eye for identifying sectors.
I may try drawing in what I think are sectors later and sharing and see if anyone with a good eye will comment.
  
Enjoy your day!
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/07/20 10:06 PM)
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26893655 - 08/22/20 02:11 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Thanks for sharing. I'll be starting agar soon and I enjoy following along. Keep em comin.
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Jatzan
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26893957 - 08/22/20 05:33 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
WunFunGai said:
  
Enjoy your day!
This is some serious agar porn! So perfect, so beautiful... daaaamn.
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Yumyumyumyum
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Re: First timer trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: One of Us]
#26893996 - 08/22/20 05:53 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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It is tough sometimes with the replies. For a starter those plates look well made. The samples are nice. Agar has not been too kind to me. Out of the 20 odd plates I have made only 4 have been viable and I never realized you cut out the good stuff and transfer it. The samples do look nice from what I understand about the subject. I make that assumption based on the strand lengths.
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Jatzan]
#26894652 - 08/23/20 12:44 AM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
Jatzan said: This is some serious agar porn! So perfect, so beautiful... daaaamn.
Thanks! And thanks for my first ever rate!! 
I thought you might enjoy those so I figured I'd share to the thread.
Meanwhile back at the ranch...
   
Bout ready PC up some...grainnnnssss (worst zombie impression ever)
G'night Shroomerites! Till the morrow!
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/07/20 10:06 PM)
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26894985 - 08/23/20 08:41 AM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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...grainnnnssss
How do you like those plastic lids? I was gonna get some but the only place I found them wanted almost 13 dollars for 6 lids. Thats more than what I paid for the jars.
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26895396 - 08/23/20 01:16 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
Doctor Mario said:
...grainnnnssss
How do you like those plastic lids? I was gonna get some but the only place I found them wanted almost 13 dollars for 6 lids. Thats more than what I paid for the jars.
I like them a shit ton better than the regular white one's which crack easy and seem pretty lightweight compared to these. The white one's also seemed to deform/deteriorate faster after multiple uses.
I bought two boxes (6 lids each) for $4.49/bx at Target in January 2020 just as the rona was ramping up. $9 for 12 was a great deal! I only typically run 4 qts at a time in two 20qt unmodded tubs so that's sufficient to have stuff lined up or stored if I wanted.
For reference - UPC: 014400108136 -
A quick online search turns up plenty links, but most are either out of stock or overpriced IMHO. Looks like they may be making them from Unobtanium these days Target still lists them for $4.49, but they've shown out of stock every time I've tried since January.
TBH, I'd reluctantly pay $13 for a box if I could find them because the quality is that good...and grey/silver/blue are my favorite colors. LOL
I've also checked Amazon for similar and I almost pulled the trigger on some bright colored ones that had straw holes already in them to eliminate the whole PITA drilling part...the grey lids are not as brittle and much easier to drill without cracking. I look for lids sized for Wide Mouth Mason Jars.
Hope this info is useful.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26895600 - 08/23/20 03:20 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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I'll probably wait until my metal ones start to rust and then buy all plastic. Thank you.
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26895649 - 08/23/20 04:04 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
Doctor Mario said: I'll probably wait until my metal ones start to rust and then buy all plastic. Thank you.
Gotcha. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Not as much of an option in a humid/salt air laden environment - rust is alive and kicking everywhere. So transitioned to plastic pretty quickly.
While I'm posting, I figured I'd throw in a mini-update on the 2nd transfers of the 3 plates I culled:
 
 
 
That #2 plate seems to have performed well across the board so far.
Gonna see about noccing up some jars with some agar from 1st Xfer to see what happens...
Have a good one!
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/07/20 10:07 PM)
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26895731 - 08/23/20 05:14 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
WunFunGai said:
Gotcha. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Not as much of an option in a humid/salt air laden environment - rust is alive and kicking everywhere.
That #2 plate seems to have performed well across the board so far.
Gonna see about noccing up some jars with some agar from 1st Xfer to see what happens...
Its very humid where I live too but im far enough from the coast that rust isn't a real issue. I lived close to Salt Lake city for a while where everything is rust.
Plate 2b1 has some real nice sectoring goin on. You gonna transfer it any further? Could even take a transfer from each sector and see how they perform individually.
Im jealous. Cant wait to start agar. Super paranoid about sterile tek and a little nervous buy excited nonetheless.
Keep us updated please. Ive enjoyed following a long this far.
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26897233 - 08/24/20 02:11 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Update: Another step down iso road...PCd 4 jars and noccd up with 1st xfers that looked I thought looked sexay...will try and post updates of 2nd xfers later.
  
Nocc'd & Loaded...
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/07/20 10:07 PM)
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26897512 - 08/24/20 05:09 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Lookin good!
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26900364 - 08/26/20 11:38 AM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Update: Jars are moving along, but looks like I might have gotten a hitchhiker on one of my wedges - had a little struggle with that wedge and this only highlights how important it is to be careful and methodical in process.
Not sure if it's a leapoff from jiggling around with the knife, or something else.
Anyone know if strong myc can overcome that little piece or if it'll be a "toss"?
 

Wedges definitely leaping off and grabbing onto grains though, and plates seem to be doing well, but only one looks pretty solid without fuzzies.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/07/20 10:03 PM)
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Martinsapin
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26900423 - 08/26/20 12:16 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Cool project !
IMO that wedge got something more that only the myc. And yes its gonna affect its viability. Id toss it.
I hope that you shake you jars right after Agar2grain.
Im definitely following this thread.
-------------------- looking for a sclerotia producer print
Edited by Martinsapin (08/26/20 12:17 PM)
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Martinsapin]
#26900430 - 08/26/20 12:22 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
Martinsapin said: Cool project !
IMO that wedge got something more that only the myc. And yes its gonna affect its viability. Id toss it.
I hope that you shake you jars right after Agar2grain.
Im definitely following this thread.
Thanks for your reply. I was afraid of that 
No, I did not shake after tossing wedges in. I read a lot of the teks but didn't find anything definitive so left it as is.
In the past I've tried doing all sorts of jar tilting gyrations to put one nugget in north, south, east, west corners of jar, slightly buried and against the glass, but it felt like doing one of those damn brain puzzles. And figured I was not only overthinking it, but increasing chances of contams.
Just to throw it out there: Does everyone shake up the jar after tossing in wedges?
Personally I'd like to see progress and prefer to have some piece of agar against the glass to watch for strands and growth.
Appreciate the comments! Will try and throw up some agar porn later today.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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Martinsapin
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26900699 - 08/26/20 02:23 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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yeah man no need to dispatch it north south east west.
the standard procedure is to drop it and shake the jar so the myc is in contact with the grains and so it wont dry alone on top of the grains. It will speed up colonisation.
shake it !
-------------------- looking for a sclerotia producer print
Edited by Martinsapin (08/27/20 08:51 AM)
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monkey_accident
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Martinsapin]
#26900768 - 08/26/20 02:52 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Really liking this thread. Keep er' updated.
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JJFrozen
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: monkey_accident]
#26900915 - 08/26/20 04:19 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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The grey is cob I think. Nasty bugger. I’m starting agar soon, I think this thread just made me decide to use food coloring after all. Really looks cool and makes the samples easier to see.
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Martinsapin]
#26900994 - 08/26/20 05:07 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
Martinsapin said: yeah man no need to dispatch it north south east west.
the standard procedure is to drop it and shake the jar so the myc is in contact with the grains and it will dry alone on top of the grains. It will speed up colonisation.
shake it !
Copy that. Gonna shake it like a polaroid pictcha! lol...Sometimes when I do something new I'm either end of the spectrum, too conservative or too nuts..Thanks for confirmation.
Agar was kinda scary, but the results and being able to see stuff clearly (even with condensation) is much easier than my initial 4oz PastyPlates. I feel all scientific and shit. Need a lab coat.
I'm tossing 3 of the 2nd level xfer plates, but figured I'd drop some backlit pics of the 3 that I'll keep to try a 3rd xfer.
Thanks again for comments, much appreciated.
WFG 
Update: Agar Pr0n 08/25
 
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/07/20 10:04 PM)
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26901078 - 08/26/20 05:58 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
WunFunGai said:
Anyone know if strong myc can overcome that little piece or if it'll be a "toss"?
Normally you can still get fruits if theres some bacteria but that usually only applies if the bacteria doesn't show up until around the pinning stage. Being that the myc hasn't even began to colonize grain I would suggest to not use that jar. The myc and bacteria are going to be competing for the nutrients in the grain from here on out. That could compromise your whole grow. Its not worth it to try to save it and get a few fruits when you could easily make another jar and have many fruits.
That's too bad that that wedge went contam. Looking like good myc. Its hard to tell from the pics of the transfers that you're keeping but is that bacteria on 2B1 and 2B2? See how it looks blurry like there's a film covering the bottom part of 2B1 and the top left part of 2B2?
The Mycelium doesn't appear to be growing in those sections either which could indicate that it is in fact bacterial and the contam is winning the fight. I could very well be wrong. I've never done agar or cultivated for that matter but I'd hate to be right and not say anything and have you waste time and effort by using them.
You can post those photo's here and here. Someone with a better eye and experience greater than 0 will probably chime in and let you know for certain.
If they are bacterial, it looks like you can still save them by making another transfer from a sector that the bacteria hasn't gotten to yet.
Also, was that sediment in them from the start or is that something new?
Edited by Doctor Mario (08/26/20 06:16 PM)
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26913037 - 09/02/20 12:57 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Doctor Mario said: Also, was that sediment in them from the start or is that something new?
Thanks for your reply. All input is useful.
Nah, the sediment is normal when I do PHA (Potato Honey Agar), I use Idahoan Potato Flakes, Organic Honey, and agar-agar, so there's always a bit there but not an issue.
I'm looking into getting some LME in the future, but so far I've used this basic PHA for a bit and it's worked well...If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 
Been busy but some quick update photos below...things moving along. Pics below are of each jar on a few days ago:
   
Group photo

Will try and post more later.
Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/07/20 10:04 PM)
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Martinsapin
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26913250 - 09/02/20 06:55 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Im gonna follow this thread until I see fruits
-------------------- looking for a sclerotia producer print
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Doctor Mario
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Registered: 08/07/20
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Martinsapin]
#26913306 - 09/02/20 07:41 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26914086 - 09/02/20 04:43 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Update: After jars were shook based on advice, here's how they looked a few more days after.
   
Then it was time for something new and completely different...a 3rd Xfer experimenting with something introduced in D3monic's Perfect Transfers and Agar:
 
May start another side project but trying to juggle efficiently.
Thanks for the comments and encouragement. Much appreciated.
Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26914095 - 09/02/20 04:50 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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What are you using for the hole punch?
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26914922 - 09/03/20 04:16 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Doctor Mario said: What are you using for the hole punch?
Found a 2-pack of steel straws with bendy silicone on end for about $4 that was about the right size made of 18/8 food grade steel.
Pulled the bendy off as a backup to the other straw which I'll use for drinking.
Heated it up with a torch, stabbed in agar a couple times to cool, then cut a puck and used my blade to stab the side of the puck, then flip it over in center of a clean agar plate.
Will try and throw some pics up again later.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26915046 - 09/03/20 07:07 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
WunFunGai said:
Quote:
Doctor Mario said: What are you using for the hole punch?
Found a 2-pack of steel straws with bendy silicone on end for about $4 that was about the right size made of 18/8 food grade steel.
Pulled the bendy off as a backup to the other straw which I'll use for drinking.
Heated it up with a torch, stabbed in agar a couple times to cool, then cut a puck and used my blade to stab the side of the puck, then flip it over in center of a clean agar plate.
Will try and throw some pics up again later.
WFG 
I like it. I might just go to the store and see if I can find something similar.
On a side note, when I was getting my supplies I didn't feel like driving 25 minutes to go to wal mart for an xacto-knife. Walgreens is a few blocks from my house so I went there and looked for a scalpel.
I didnt see one anywhere so I asked the girl at the pharmacy section. She looked super weirded out and whispered to the pharmacist, "He wants a scalpel". With wide eyes the pharmacist looked at me and said, "We don't have any!".
I admit it probably looked suspect AF since I was holding a box of face masks, a box of gloves and a bottle of distilled water. I try to avoid going in there now lol.
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Roger Clemency
Smile


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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26915143 - 09/03/20 08:12 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Lol pharmacy people are nuts sometimes. I had to buy some syringes once while driving through the country. I think I was in Iowa and stopped at a pharmacy, the dude wouldn’t sell me syringes which was crazy to me cuz I’ve never had trouble getting them in states I lived in. He got pissy with me so I left, went to another pharmacy like 10 minutes away and the guy behind the counter was on the phone saying “yeah I think he’s coming in now” I was like I’m getting outta here before the fuzz show up haha. Bastids.
Anyway...nice looking plates most of them. I don’t like including the very edges of agar plates when I go to grain, the piece you had with the gray mold may have gotten contaminated during inoc but it’s also possible a mold spore had gotten in to the edge of the plate soon before you did your inoculations. The edges are the most vulnerable usually.
I wouldn’t worry too much about sectoring or anything right now, just a few transfers away from spores you still have 3,432 strains there on each plate. Or some number anyway ; )
Once I get fully clean plates (no obvious contams or bald spots of myc or odd growth patterns) I’ll transfer once more and then use the plates for Blenderless LI - https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/22833314 It works well and gives you about 10 day colonization of qt jars.
-------------------- Sour grapes, sweet revenge Heaven starts right where hell ends
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26916135 - 09/03/20 06:09 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Doctor Mario said:
Quote:
WunFunGai said:
Quote:
Doctor Mario said: What are you using for the hole punch?
Found a 2-pack of steel straws with bendy silicone on end for about $4 that was about the right size made of 18/8 food grade steel.
Pulled the bendy off as a backup to the other straw which I'll use for drinking.
Heated it up with a torch, stabbed in agar a couple times to cool, then cut a puck and used my blade to stab the side of the puck, then flip it over in center of a clean agar plate.
Will try and throw some pics up again later.
WFG 
I like it. I might just go to the store and see if I can find something similar.
On a side note, when I was getting my supplies I didn't feel like driving 25 minutes to go to wal mart for an xacto-knife. Walgreens is a few blocks from my house so I went there and looked for a scalpel.
I didnt see one anywhere so I asked the girl at the pharmacy section. She looked super weirded out and whispered to the pharmacist, "He wants a scalpel". With wide eyes the pharmacist looked at me and said, "We don't have any!".
I admit it probably looked suspect AF since I was holding a box of face masks, a box of gloves and a bottle of distilled water. I try to avoid going in there now lol.
Hey, these work great:
63 Pack - 3 Exacto Knives and 60 Blades (6pks of 10) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VZTMKXK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Innoculating Loops (50pcs) and holder- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074M9QQ64/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Both under $10 each...good additions to toolkit. Just wish the handle/rod on innoc loop was a bit shorter.
Hope this helps.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26916320 - 09/03/20 08:12 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Thank you. Im definitely gonna get the loops. I made one out of aluminum wire and I dont care for it much.
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lookintolearn
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26916341 - 09/03/20 08:26 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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I started using D3's leather hole punch idea for transfers and i'm never going back. It makes it so much easier to get beautiful agar and it's so much easier to get the wedge onto the transfer plate, with normal wedges I always had trouble getting it off the scalpel but with these you can just gently lift it from the side, flip it, slides right off.
-------------------- Don't be afraid of feeling the feelings Lookin to LAGM 2021    Looking to start growing? Read through Bod's Introduction to Everything Looking to start agar? Start with Alien's Holy Grail Looking to perfect your transfers? Start with D3monic's Perfect Transfers Looking for easiest prep to Coir ever? Eat's UNBUCKET Tek Looking to start LC? Try LI first! Munch's super easy Blenderless LI
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26916646 - 09/04/20 12:26 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Doctor Mario said: Thank you. Im definitely gonna get the loops. I made one out of aluminum wire and I dont care for it much.
I've used stainless steel paper clips and a needle nose plier to wrap them, but this is much easier.
It's a bit frail for my tastes but it worked good based on what I've posted in my isolation log for doing both a zig zag and rotational swab as noted in the logs.
Hope it works for you as well!
Be safe, be well...
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26917404 - 09/04/20 12:52 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Update: Things moving along on the plates that were xferred, jars looking almost ready too - will try and put up more pics later today or this weekend.
3rd Xfer taken on 08/31 below:

Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/07/20 10:03 PM)
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filthyknees
no coincidence


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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26917409 - 09/04/20 12:54 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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-------------------- But if you're in a hurry, and really got to go If you're in a hurry, might have to find out slow That it's one thing to try and another to fly You get there quicker just a step at a time It's one thing to bark, another to bite The show ain't over till you pack up at night
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mushman1017
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: filthyknees]
#26917434 - 09/04/20 01:14 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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What agar recipe are you using? Ive been doing a 2% lme and 2% agar and my shit has been really tomentose lately.
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Martinsapin
no-mad



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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: mushman1017]
#26917458 - 09/04/20 01:23 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Wow those are nice plates! Yeah the d3monic way with the punch...idk if it makes a big difference vs working with a scalpel? What you guys think?
-------------------- looking for a sclerotia producer print
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: mushman1017]
#26918868 - 09/05/20 08:58 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
mushman1017 said: What agar recipe are you using? Ive been doing a 2% lme and 2% agar and my shit has been really tomentose lately. 
Nothing fancy, just PHA (Potato Flakes, Honey, Agar) I wish I took notes on this one, as this is the first time using this combo. Previously for my PastyPlates I used Potato Flakes, Karo, Agar.
It kinda went like this...On top of old horror hill in a secret laboratory, Professor Weirdo and Count Kook were in their monstrous glory. 6 drops of the essence of terror, 5 drops of sinister sauce...oh wait. Wrong flashback. LOL
For 500ml I believe I used: 5g Idahoan Potato Flakes 10g Organic Honey 9g agar-agar
5-6 drops of designer food coloring of your choice - I like the color for contrast to spot contams, but I can see using different colors to mark batches of plates too.
I'm doing another flask of agar and will take better notes.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Martinsapin]
#26918928 - 09/05/20 09:38 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Martinsapin said: Wow those are nice plates! Yeah the d3monic way with the punch...idk if it makes a big difference vs working with a scalpel? What you guys think?
For me, I would say yes.
I spotted the link at the end of Doctor Mario's sig, and clicked it out of curiosity (Thanks for the rate Doc!!). Hadn't seen that technique before and was intrigued.
Working with SAB and PastyPlates in the past was always awkward for me. Can't see shit clearly most of the time and I just felt a bit fumbly.
Moving to agar on plates was a huge jump in being able to see stuff. And moving wedges from plates vs. glad cups was easier for me as well. I'm no expert with a blade and I still felt like I was wrestling with nuggets when transferring to new plates - sometimes it wouldn't come off easy, or I'd fumble around with it...wasn't pretty.
Watching D3monic's technique was helpful. Thought about it, then improvised a solution that I could test quickly with locally available items. Quick trip to a couple stores nearby and ended up at local Target that actually had a 2-pack of metal straws of food grade steel on sale. NOTE: I was a bit particular about the diameter of the holes. Some are small and what I was actually looking for was a smoothie/shake straw (larger than 1/4") - I ended up with one that was about 1/4"OD which seems to be fine in usage.
If you have a steady hand and are practiced and have muscle memory, this may not be a big deal other than aesthetics, which I like a lot.
For me, it was an improvement from the aspect of ease of use and aesthetically it looks pretty cool on a plate. As a noob, it frees me up to concentrate on other aspects of my process and not worry about wrestling with multiple cuts and fishing out and placing a nugget. For me, it's easier to punch, then horizontally stab a disk, carefully lift it out, rotate blade and put it spores down and centered in a new plate.
I would say it's worth looking in to for sure. Big thumbs up from me...YMMV
Here's some backlit plate pr0n and a jar update from 09/03 - jars may get sprung this weekend. Woohoo!
  
   
Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Roger Clemency]
#26920497 - 09/06/20 05:40 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Roger Clemency said: Anyway...nice looking plates most of them. I don’t like including the very edges of agar plates when I go to grain, the piece you had with the gray mold may have gotten contaminated during inoc but it’s also possible a mold spore had gotten in to the edge of the plate soon before you did your inoculations. The edges are the most vulnerable usually.
I wouldn’t worry too much about sectoring or anything right now, just a few transfers away from spores you still have 3,432 strains there on each plate. Or some number anyway ; )
Once I get fully clean plates (no obvious contams or bald spots of myc or odd growth patterns) I’ll transfer once more and then use the plates for Blenderless LI - https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/22833314 ; It works well and gives you about 10 day colonization of qt jars.
Hiya, thanks for the comments, much appreciated!
I'm pretty sure this happened during innoc, I had a hard time with manuevering the wedge and I was like...well that's probably fucked. Catching that, and observing it to understand how "not to do it" rather than tossing it immediately to see the behavior over time is valuable as well.
Thanks also for the advice on isolation, by doing I gather more experience and insight, and I'm learning that isolation isn't a 1 transfer thing. I don't know if I named this log correctly..instead of Isolation Road maybe I should have called it Isolation Rabbit Hole. LOL
Like you, I think it's gonna go bad although my noob eye has hope. Personal observations:
- I think I'm getting a better eye for stuff and there's a slight difference in color - myc is a pure-ish sort of white, there's a texture and "look" to it - grey or finer wispy stuff tends to be no bueno.
- Sweaty jars - not sure if pictures are detailed enough to depict that, but for me, bad stuff tends to generate more condensation. More heat from shit fighting? who knows...overly sweaty jars=no bueno, it's like pre metabolite action.
NOOB NOTE: With what I know now, I'd probably toss this and not even bother with it. However, since I'm going to run all the jars in separate shoeboxes and in the interest of "science" I want to see where this goes to develop a better understanding and share that with others. You'll still have to make your own mistakes, but hopefully you'll have something to confirm/validate with 
- Metabolic action - I'm already noticing more than normal condensation at the bottom and darker/wet grain spots in the jar. I'm pretty sure I'm seeing traces of the dreaded golden/amber hue - the jar looks almost right and the noob in me has hope...but my developing Mush Jedi powers say there is no hope...lol...I'm sharing this because I've hit spots like this where you frantically search the shroomery for hope, but you just gotta let go. Unless you willing to take the time to log and learn from the impending crash and burn.
Thanks again for the comments and sorry for not replying sooner. Just got a bit busy and forgot.
I think I'm at a transitionary point of learning where I've got one foot in the noob world and one foot in the beginner world and hope to share info and observations that may make the transition easier for others.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/06/20 07:10 AM)
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26920558 - 09/06/20 07:02 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Update: After trying D3monic's punch technique, I decided to take X3 to X4 with 3 remaining plates since they grew out so fast.
First part looked something like this:
   - Xfer using punch was clean, and seemed pretty fast, I literally punched these 3 days ago...
I had a weird idea. I just PC'd 4 x 1qt jars. I thought, what if I took a couple of samples from the area I just punched and nocc'd with that. If they turn out good..I got a fresh plate that has a better than average chance of having those genetics. Especially if I'm closer to a truly isolated culture.
So in the immortal words of Tom Cruise in Risky Business: "Sometimes, you just gotta say. What the fuck!"
So I did a thing:

Labor Day Weekend Generational Family Photo:

Kids on the right are up on deck for spawning today. Based on observation so far and comments, I'm thinking 2A may be a challenge.
Gonna do another sleeve of plates and just got some LME and contemplating trying that. I don't mind the haze from using Potato Flakes, but clear agar looks sooo sexay. I'll be searching for an LME recipe here and online, but if anyone has a favorite they with good results, please post up 
Sorry for all the posts. Trying to separate them contextually.
Hope the info is useful.
Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/07/20 10:02 PM)
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26920624 - 09/06/20 07:52 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Still looking good! Im anxious to see how it all fruits out.
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Wall.E
Bacteria's Bitch



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Posts: 2,860
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26920824 - 09/06/20 09:44 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Those plates look vigorous to say the least, lol
-------------------- Life’s shit, but I’m loving it
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Wall.E]
#26921548 - 09/06/20 04:36 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Myc_Hunt said: Those plates look vigorous to say the least, lol
I know right? It's been warm and humid lately, but I believe if it gets too warm it goes from being ideal for myc to being happy time for the bad bad.
Trying to keep reasonable expectations. My understanding is just cuz it's vigorous on the plate doesn't mean it'll be that way in the bed...err tub. LOL
Thanks for the kind words.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26921610 - 09/06/20 05:20 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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They look really damn good!
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26921707 - 09/06/20 06:19 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Greetings Mush Cult, Happy Sunday!
An update follows along with some observations and pondering on switching to another tub size.
UPDATE: last night I did a thing...
Prepping Substrate - Nothing fancy here, just a common CVG mix: 1 Brick (682g weighed), 2 quarts verm, 1 cup organic gypsum.
   
* Break up the brick to rip up any potential long strands compressed in. * Pour verm, then gypsum on top * Bring 4qts of water to a full boil, and carefully pour into bucket and seal overnight and mix with a shovel in the morning. * Double make sure it's mixed evenly (gypsum likes to clump) and test for field capacity before hitting the tubs... -- Good ole bucket tek works fine for me.
Prepping to Spawn - some updated pics of the 2 xfer group that was nocc'd up on 08/24.
   
Note that in 2A our suspicion that there was a hitchhiker seems to be correct. Pics should tell the story, and I've post processed them to emphasize the differences; Sweat, amber liquid, excessive condensation while colonizing for me means something is not going well. I may take this through fruiting as far as I feel comfortable to share how things end up down that path.
Feeling Tubby - I've got leftover 6qt shoeboxes left from initial explorations into mini-dubs that I was going to use and spawn each jar to a separate tub, but came across a slightly different sized 9.7Qt box at Target the other day that was square and had a bit more surface area.
Pics for reference:
  
Sterilite 1642 6qt "The Standard" - 13 5/8" x 8 1/4" x 4 7/8" = 129"sq base ~548" volume Target Medium Storage Bin 9.7qt - 11.8" x 11.8" x 5.3" = 139"sq base ~738" volume
Anyone out there use this 97qt size before? I usually do a 1:1.5-2 spawn to sub and was curious if more surface area would be a good or bad thing. Probably gonna just stick to shoebox for now as I can fit 4 boxes side by side on my rack.
Comments, suggestions welcome.
WFG
Edited by WunFunGai (09/07/20 10:02 PM)
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Galendula
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26921803 - 09/06/20 07:20 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Hey loving this thread. Cant wait to see how they fruit. Im a noob currently using agar no pour jars but im seriously considering switching to petri... i wana see what im doing and would love to get all scientific!
Amazing tip with the straws ill definately check that out.
The only issue im having with the petis is that they are one use.. im a bit of a zero waste nerd but itll prolly cut down on waste in the long run if i can stop the contam of my grains... does anyone reuse their petris? Iv read on here glass petris are a hasssleback potato to re sterilise.
Mainly just commenting on this thrwad to say amazing please dont stop posting and thank you 🦖🦖🦖
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Pearl
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Galendula]
#26922428 - 09/07/20 05:06 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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@WFG: really enjoying following this, keep it up! Super interested to see how these fruit given the detailing of the whole life cycle. 
@Galendula: I'm the same about waste and have looked into reusing the plastic ones with good success so far. From what I've read, a 24hr soak in a 10% bleach solution kills the vast majority of bad.
What I did as a trial: 1. Toss dead/used agar pucks and wash petris 2. Submerge petris in 10% bleach solution overnight (or longer - I ended up leaving them in for over a week due to timing issues) 3. Prep agar as normal. 4. Soak a paper towel in alcohol to use as a draining pad. 5. Put everything in a SAB. 6. Prep SAB as normal. 7. Move petris from bleach solution to alcohol for a quick dunk, then drain on an alcohol pad. 8. Once all dishes are done, pour as normal.
So far I have the same level of issues as with sleeved dishes, i.e. maybe one dish has a problem every now and then.
The question becomes: is this worth the time and effort to you?
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Pearl]
#26923205 - 09/07/20 02:35 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Another quick update:
Transfers after 24hrs are already showing signs:

Substrate - Made sure to turn and break up any large coir chunks in the substrate. I like to try and make sure everything is broken up well and pull any long strands of coco fiber that sometimes show up:
 * This time I'm using a bit less water and shooting for "near" field capacity based on some teks I've read.
These guys are on deck in a bit:

Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/07/20 10:01 PM)
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai] 1
#26923297 - 09/07/20 03:51 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Hell yea bro! Moving along beautifully.
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Galendula
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Pearl]
#26923768 - 09/07/20 08:33 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Pearl: awesome suggestion I will definitely give that a go. Sounds not too labour intensive... but as I try I'll figure things out. Great basis to start from thank you!
Will be interesting to transfer to a new plate and a 'washed' plate at the same tie and see the difference 🐙🐙🐙
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Galendula]
#26923913 - 09/07/20 10:01 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Labor Day Update: Been a lot of labor going on today, yeesh...multi-tasking at max.
NOTE: This is a big update, I reserve the right to reformat or change up later if I feel like it! You have been warned 
Got busy and worked on spawn from 2nd xfer agar to grain. Jars have all been shook. 2A as suspected was a bit gnarly looking - A quick cocktail before starting was in order though:
 
  
Jar 2A, I dub thee, Sketchy McSketcherson...for science!!:
 
Spawn to Tubs: Using 1qt jar to 1qt of sub on the bottom, and a 1qt layer of straight sub on top, then hydrate top layer by misting for about 20 seconds.
  
Sketchy McSketcherson Tub and Pics:
 
Finishing Up:

Bewm: 3 promising tubs, 1 on alert, jars started, and 4th xfer moving along...

And now for something different: Gonna mix it up and switch to D3monic's LME agar recipe to do 20x plates for the next leg of isolation road:

Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/08/20 12:17 AM)
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26923922 - 09/07/20 10:08 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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maxmush
Always learning...

Registered: 06/13/20
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26924482 - 09/08/20 10:54 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Great thread. Been looking for a step by step clean up with pics. Very helpful and good job
-------------------- Disclaimer: all information presented is intended for educational purposes only. All photos are only representations and not directly from the user.
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: maxmush]
#26926275 - 09/09/20 12:42 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quick update: Three tracks running simultaneousy...w00t!
Tubs after 1.5 days - Colonizing pretty fast and evenly, except for 2A -The top one is our suspect 2A. It looks almost normal, but we've seen the trail leading to this so this should be educational.

Jars from 3rd xfer plates - Moving along OK. I shook the jars pretty well after dropping agar wedges, most leap off has been from the wedges. Just seeing smatterings of leap off from the shake.

Plates from 4th xfer after 2 days - looking pretty vigorous, but not digging the "bald" spots...

That's it for now.
Gonna try and whip up some LME agar and do plates soon.
Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/10/20 03:54 AM)
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26927537 - 09/10/20 03:45 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Update: Only 2 days and strands have popped on 1A - it's usually taken much longer for that on my shoebox runs. Interesting...

Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26929876 - 09/11/20 12:01 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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UPDATE: Meanwhile back at the ranch...
Tubs moving along decent for 3 days in. Less progress on suspect 1A tub that's at forefront of 1st picture. Second one is just the good kids.
 
1A wants to win the race...

Jars moving along, a little bit of leap off from A2G shake, but thinking they'll be due for a shake this weekend:

4th transfer plates grew out quick - put into cold storage for now.

Gonna rustle up my first try at LME agar - anyone know approximately how long PC'd agar takes to cool down to 120f after PCing?
My last batch I didn't have time so I let it completely cool, put in the fridge until the weekend and did a microwave thang to get it liquid, but I poured a bit hot and got the condensation blues.
Hope these are helpful for those following...comments, suggestions welcome.
Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/11/20 05:32 PM)
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26930031 - 09/11/20 01:40 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Using that same recipe, I let it cool down to 120 and still had too much condensation. Next batch it cooled to 115 and was almost perfect. I had the digital thermometer set to the recommended setting for glass.
Fuck waiting for it. I have to crunch time because I can't really do anything until my kids go to bed. That gives me a couple of hours to work and get my ass to sleep.
I put a pot in the sink and fill it with cold water. Place the bottle in the pot. Wait a minute, swirl the bottle in the cold water and take a temp reading. Empty half of the pot fill it up again and repeat until its cool enough to use. This cools the bottle to usable temps within minutes.
Make sure to wipe the water off the bottle before you check the temp or it will give you a false reading.
Edited by Doctor Mario (09/11/20 01:41 PM)
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26930434 - 09/11/20 05:32 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Doctor Mario said: Using that same recipe, I let it cool down to 120 and still had too much condensation. Next batch it cooled to 115 and was almost perfect. I had the digital thermometer set to the recommended setting for glass.
Fuck waiting for it. I have to crunch time because I can't really do anything until my kids go to bed. That gives me a couple of hours to work and get my ass to sleep.
I put a pot in the sink and fill it with cold water. Place the bottle in the pot. Wait a minute, swirl the bottle in the cold water and take a temp reading. Empty half of the pot fill it up again and repeat until its cool enough to use. This cools the bottle to usable temps within minutes.
Make sure to wipe the water off the bottle before you check the temp or it will give you a false reading.
Thanks for the tip! I may give that a try.
For me, no kids (that I know of), and I may do it just to get a benchmark timing on temps and time to cooldown. Plus I just got an IR Temp gun I've been itching to use to play with other than to see how cranked up my GPU gets while playing video games.
Based on past shoebox runs, I'm guesstimating full colonization mon-wed, then first fruits possibly by next weekend...
Will try and post Tub/Jar progress or LME agar updates and share later.
As always, comments, experiences, suggestions welcome.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26930740 - 09/11/20 08:36 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Great job! It's moving along quickly. My plates are moving real slow. The spore plates went fast. I think I screwed up the agar revipe for the second set of plates because after transferring, the mycelium is moving real slow and doing weird things. Its going inside of the agar and traveling out instead if moving across the top. I'm not too sure why. Some of the plates started showing contamination and i transferred them again to a plates made with a different batch of agar and they're moving steady but slow. 🤷♂️
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seand04
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26930793 - 09/11/20 09:03 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Just wanted to chime in. 🤗 I love to do agar. It is the least waste if it gets messed up. Here is a 2nd Pf classic transfer.
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: seand04]
#26931026 - 09/12/20 12:22 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
seand04 said: Just wanted to chime in. 🤗 I love to do agar. It is the least waste if it gets messed up. Here is a 2nd Pf classic transfer.
Noice! Those are cool containers you are using. What are those?
I'm totally digging the petri's and kicking myself in the ass for not sucking it up sooner and jumping in...like every TC ever has suggested.
I can see where having Pasty Plates or small agar plates could be useful for propagating A2G or just quickly pushing a strain to test viability.
Agar seems complicated and scary at first but it's just another process...lesson learned. Explore processes individually and find what works for you. By not trying other processes you are limiting yourself. If it don't work, no problemo, you've just found a way that doesn't work for you...move on.
"Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless." - Thomas Edison
If you can embrace that, you can get further down the rabbit hole...I'm working on it. 
Thanks for adding to the stone soup! 
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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seand04
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26931353 - 09/12/20 08:05 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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I used to be intimidated by agar, until I started doing the pasty plates. Big ups to Pastywhyte 💪💪💪. I just ordered those lil plates off of ebay. Just searched small sealable containers. They were like 5 bucks for 10. But yea agar is super fun, like I said super low risk as well cause if they get messed up, its just a little spores and agar. I wish I would have started with agar, live and learn 🙏🙏🙏
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Martinsapin
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26931359 - 09/12/20 08:15 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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For condensation,I let cool my agar for 2 hours inside the PC then pour.
Then split the stack in 2 stacks of 10 and put a water glass/small jar full of hot water on top of the stacks it works great. I think thats the way RR does it in his DVD
-------------------- looking for a sclerotia producer print
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seand04
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Martinsapin]
#26931429 - 09/12/20 09:14 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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I just checked this plate. It is is a pe 2nd transfer from an original PE tissue sample. When I put the transfer i moved it around to the middle, I hope thats why the lil white dots are there🙏🙏🙏
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: seand04]
#26931536 - 09/12/20 10:21 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
seand04 said: I just checked this plate. It is is a pe 2nd transfer from an original PE tissue sample. When I put the transfer i moved it around to the middle, I hope thats why the lil white dots are there🙏🙏🙏
Thats very possible. Just keep an eye on them. You dont want them. Here's an example of a very contaminated plate that recently started showing dots.

I think the mold sporulated and the "dots" are new growth.
Here's another cool pic of contam. Lots of pretty colors in this one. All bacterial, possibly different types of yeast? The plate was intentionally contaminated on 9/1/20. I opened the plate and breathed on it. This shit originated from my mouth...🤮
Pretty gross....
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seand04
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26931917 - 09/12/20 02:18 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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I tossed it. I have a few really good looking plates I am gonna transfer onto new ones.
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: seand04]
#26932305 - 09/12/20 06:09 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Update: These guys looked like they could use a shake so they got shook...

Got busy and whipped up not, one, but two bottles of LME Agar:
  
This is my first time trying LME vs PHA agar. Hoping to get some clear looking plates without the flake sediment I get with PHA - purely for aesthetics. If it doesn't perform as well, I'm going back to PHA.
Gonna PC those bad boys and see if they are cool enough to pour some tonight.
Tubs seem to be working hard today, will see if it's worth an update later.
Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26936202 - 09/15/20 12:23 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Update 09/14: Busy weekend, managed to whip up two 500ml bottles of LME agar ala D3, pour 20 plates of green and lower plate condensation rate, shake jars w/ good recover, and mist tubs.
Agar pour: So happy they turned out pretty clear and much less condensation. Started pour at 125f with ample time to pour without issues.
   
Update:09/15 - After 24hrs all the condensation has gone away. Will let them sit for 48hrs to observe for contam then store away.

Question: Experienced guys...would you wrap plates now that condensation is gone or after a day or two?
Jars after shake: Looks like they recovered well from the shake. Gonna have to prep for firing up more subs and tubs...

Tub Action - As suspected 2A is fail - Mean Green showed up and is getting tossed tomorrow - if you scroll back through the thread, it started with a agar wedge fumble/fiddle shit when transferring, and that tiny little start just messed up and stunted the whole thing...
   
For those of you experienced folks that might be watching my awkward progress. I haven't done shoeboxes for awhile, and I'm really struggling with balancing a microclimate.
I have a number of 6qt shoeboxes from the past, some with holes, some unmodified that I was going to put on top once I see pins. I'm reading and rereading the forums, and Shapers SFF has caught my attention, but would appreciate any suggestions, comments as I stumble through this again.
NOTE: I'll update this post later with some timing/temp data on the agar pour as I have time.
Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/15/20 01:18 PM)
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26942050 - 09/18/20 09:08 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Update: Tubs are looking pretty spiffy and moving along. First pins on all tubs but waiting till they progress a bit more before snagging some more pics.
Here's where they were at as of 09/16:
  

Close up of the new neighbors...inside conditions look pretty good based on pics of seen of preferred conditions. It's far better than what I can recall in the past so leaving things alone as advised lending weight to the adage "less is more".

Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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Martinsapin
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26942606 - 09/18/20 02:50 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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rhyzo asf
-------------------- looking for a sclerotia producer print
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Martinsapin]
#26945115 - 09/19/20 11:25 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Update: Rub a dub dub, pinning and spawning tubs...
Some pics of the kids. Conditions looking pretty decent as far as I can tell, and have tried to just leave em alone to do their thang.
Without further ado...
NOTE: Orientation of image sequence is Left, Front, Top, Frontwards. Sorry for the quality of some images, trying to get better at consistent angles and process
The Kids together:

    1A Observations: Doing pretty well, not much in the way of side pins, but they are there. Climate conditions look good, haven't touched anything and the microbeads of water are present on the surface and condensation on lid looks decent, but not drippy.
    2B-1 Observations: This one also looks pretty good aside from a case of the side pins. I varied my process here somewhere and I'm thinking it was a spawn time and how I tamped spawn, and then top level. I did try to put a bit more pressure along all the edges this time though after reading ShaperDreamings SFF Shoebox tek...question to anyone reading: How tight do you tamp it down? I'm usually too chickenshit to deviate too much from what I've done, which is a gentle leveling and light hand pressure to level but that probably makes it hard to see any postive/negative effects...blergh...
    2B-2 Observations: This one has led the pack from the start and it has not dissapointed. #1 seed for xfer to those sexy new glass plates poured a few days back. Conditions look good, microbeads on surface holding but might be slightly less. Lots of new neighbors today...Condensation are on wider flat portions of tub, corners seem to be drier. Watching the directions of the "boys" and it seems they are seeking a way out...
While that's all going on...the culls from second transfer are trying to bust out of their jars...
Second Transfer Jars 2A1A/2B1A-1/2B1A-2/2B2A:
   
2Xfer Observations: These jars were seemed faster and more aggressive in growth. No signs of contams, and much earlier and prolific appearance of rhyzo strands. They want out, so Happy Spawning Day to them! 
Whew...that was a shitload more work and clean up organizing of images and info than I expected. If you've survived the wall of text and my mindless drivel this far...Thank you. 
I doubt many TCs or vets are following this since it may be noob ground they've seen before and have gotten tired of seeing. However, I have one favor to ask, if you've tread this path before and have any suggestions or see anything important I may have missed or should be aware of going into home stretch, any tips or sharing experiences of "what works for you" are welcome and encouraged!
- Do conditions inside look normal? Are dry corners OK?
- What's up with side pins? Conditions look similar on all Tubs. Didn't pack down enough on edges?
- I have old tubs both with and without holes. As they got taller was going to flip a tub and put it over. However, has anyone else just unlatched the cover and let the fruits push their way up till completion?
Side pins make me feel like my evil twin - UnFunGai 
This was a big post, but I hope it was worth your time getting this far.
Enjoy.
WFG
Edited by WunFunGai (09/20/20 10:42 AM)
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Doctor Mario
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Registered: 08/07/20
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26946608 - 09/20/20 05:51 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Hell yea! Good job, bro.
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26947087 - 09/21/20 12:02 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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<-- Thanks! Things still moving along...
NOTE: I've also posted similar info in the daily cult pic of the day thread as well, but wanted these here as part of the overall log.
Update: The tub with the most progress already has some very small fruits that have broken their veils. They are pretty small and skinny though. Not sure if that's just genetics or something about how I've set up.
I'm curious if it is normal to sometimes initially have some small fruits like this or if it's a sign of how the rest of the tub will be.
I'm pretty happy with what I've learned with my first time trying plates and taking spores to agar, transferring and going to grain jars. I've got another set of jars I'm spawning that are off the second transfer and am hopeful they will be good.
Three 6qt shoebox tubs running from 1st xfer:
  
Close ups: these guys are really small but look normal otherwise.
 
Conditions inside look pretty good, condensation on sides, microbeads on surface still. Not fussing with anything and letting them run for now.
Contemplating putting a flipped tub on top either with or without holes to give them some headroom.
Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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Doctor Mario
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Registered: 08/07/20
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26947435 - 09/21/20 08:56 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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I believe its common to have smaller sized fruits in shoeboxes. Less substrate means less water. If mushrooms have a large supply of water, they can get much bigger. It doesn't nessecarily mean that you need to use a bigger tub but it would be harder to keep a sub that size fully hydrated without constantly baby sitting and accidentally over watering.
It could also be genetics. Definitely just let them do their thing. Often times, people end up with a higher total weight from the small guys vs a tub with some bigger ones and usually get bigger fruit from the second flush.
Either way, I'm stoked for you! Thanks for continuing to document this for us.
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seand04
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: Doctor Mario]
#26947522 - 09/21/20 10:14 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Golden plates for golden halo spores.
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verum subsequentis
seeker of truth



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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: seand04]
#26947568 - 09/21/20 10:39 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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WunFunGai
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: verum subsequentis]
#26948724 - 09/22/20 01:16 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Update 09/21: Alrighty then...got a response on previous pics and requests for input posted in the Post Your Cultivation Pics thread that were helpful in pointing out that my lil buddies may be searching for more air by the way they were searching for gaps in tub.
Based on that decided to give them some more headroom and air, and threw some old tubs I had with holes in them from my early mini-dub tub projects.
This has always been a funky part of the path for me in correctly observing conditions and doing the right things to keep them ideal.
Any veteran/TC observations or suggestions are welcome, but I keep telling myself my lil buddies know what to do and trying to trust them to do it. LOL
Rather than oscillate wildly changing extremes by fanning or misting like a crazed monkey on crack, I'm trying to just hang back and watch as things develop and only make changes when obviously necessary instead of fretting over it...don't get me wrong..I'm still fretting over it. I'm just letting it go...
 Good Kids & The New Kids On The Block (sorry, couldn't resist): Kids seem to be doing OK so far with one day of extra headroom and surface conditions holding. Spawned the New Kids from second transfer and they were a bit more robust in colonizing jars, although I think relative time is similar. One tub missing to the right, but they were just spawned...Nothing to see here, move along....
   Glamour shots of the Good Kids: All three tubs seem to be OK, condensation seems to be a lot less on the sides so I'm a bit worried about if they'll dry out, but at the moment surface conditions show microbeads and I don't see anything with my not so trained eye that looks wrong. Anyone see anything I'm missing or might suggest that I either watch or adjust for? Average ~80-84F / 55%-65% Humidity daily.
As always, comments/observations/questions, suggestions welcome.
Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
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WunFunGai
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Last seen: 3 months, 22 days
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26950873 - 09/23/20 10:49 AM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Update 09/22: First Fruits...the highly awaited moment (for me at least) was getting to first fruit and it happened. No canopy or monster flush so a bit anti-climatic. 
It's been a fun ride so far, relearning some old things, and taking some chances with doing some new things, and adjusting and learning along the way.
I've got a second set of tubs running that are from second transfer that appear to be much growing much more aggressively - Strands were sticking out of sub already yesterday afternoon. Would be nice to see a canopy or bigger fruits, but I hope I have a fairly decently logged a cycle from spore->agar->clean->agar->grain->tub->fruits.
 First Fruit 09/22: Kinda small first pull, but they were splooging spores already so I pulled them. Enough for a "test run" this weekend. Wet 22.0g / Dry 2.7g.
   Tubs 09/22: Tubs are moving along. Surface conditions holding up, haven't touched or done anything other than putting old shoeboxes with holes on top to give headspace, and a peek and light fanning in morning and evening. The fanning isn't for any particular purpose other than it makes the immediate area smell good...lol
Thanks, if you've stuck around for the ride and reading the tale of the journey so far. 
If you've offered advice or encouragement, BIG thanks! That is what makes it worth taking time to look at my own process and how I'm doing things, how pictures are taken, retaken, and cleaned up, and helped me understand what I'm doing better...even if you can't offer advice. Knowing there's folks who are possibly looking at what they do in a new or different light is worth the effort. 
It would have been cool to have gotten a full canopy or monster first flush, but this roll of the dice didn't turn it up. But I do have a pretty solid process to continue transferring from what I have, or to start a new cycle and roll of the genetic dice.
It's piqued my interest in trying other varieties or even trying to acquire spores from a strain that has unique/proven characteristics to see if I can turn out similar results. I'm actually a bit excited about all these little myco rabbit holes to explore and learn from with what I gained from this little project.
And now that I turn around and look back to the start, this thread may not really have an appropriate title. It will take me some more transfers and research to get to "isolating". As I learned through this, and read more, I've only really cleaned up spores to agar and taken them to a SFF tub.
Not sure what I'd have called it now that I know what I know, but wondering if changing it worth doing if it might help others understand the context of this thread. Any suggestions on a better title?
Not sure if there's any interest to continue logging the progress of the second transfer tubs or if I should start considering a new project.
If you enjoyed or got something out of this thread, comments or suggestions welcome that I can use to improve the next log I post. Or throw a rate my way if it's worthy.. 
Enjoy.
WFG
-------------------- The Official TNF Reccomended Teks & Methods Bod's Simplified Cultivation Methods <-- Awesome!!! D3monics Perfect Transfers and Agar Tek No matter where you go, there you are... - Buckaroo Banzai You gotta be here, if you're not all there...
Edited by WunFunGai (09/23/20 12:30 PM)
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Doctor Mario
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Re: Trying isolation with agar and petri dishes - thoughts? [Re: WunFunGai]
#26950999 - 09/23/20 12:31 PM (3 years, 4 months ago) |
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Looking great, man! Don't be sad about not seeing a canopy. Clone a piece from one of those clusters and the next tub might just be a canopy, if not a bunch of clusters.
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