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nergar
Stranger
Registered: 08/24/20
Posts: 2
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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Total newbie needing help with 'abandoned' project
#26897331 - 08/24/20 03:08 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Hello,
So, I had a roomie who really wanted to grow some mushrooms and he went ahead and bought a ton of stuff, spores included. Found some videos online and went ahead with it. The problem is that some personal stuff came up and he had to move so now I'm stuck with his project.
So let me explain what he did, he ordered the spores and prepared some full grain rice, he then sterilized the rice by putting it in solo cups and boiling the solo cups in a pressure cooker. After that was done, he filled 3 big zip-lock bags with it and used a syringe to colonize the rice with the spores. He had to leave after doing all of this and he told me to leave the bags from 2 to 4 weeks for it to fully colonize. Now, here's the real first problem, he doesn't remember the name of the spores he got, what's more, the 3 bags might all have different spores.
When that was done, I am supposed to toss all 3 bags into a plastic container with coconut coir (is that the real name? might be a mis-translation) and vermiculite. But I'm not sure you're supposed to mix different types of shrooms on the same container so I'm not sure I should follow his instructions.
It's now been close to 3 weeks since they started colonizing and I'm not sure what to do next. Hell, how do I even know if the bags aren't contaminated? One is all white, like it snowed inside, the other 2 have some nasty black spots and one of those has a rather strange orange spot on the bottom surrounded by all white.
So my best guess was to come to this place I've known about for years but never really interacted with before.
Here's a little gallery with pics
Edited by nergar (08/24/20 03:12 PM)
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tryptkaloids
Learner



Registered: 02/08/15
Posts: 12,641
Loc: Exact Center
Last seen: 2 days, 10 hours
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Re: Total newbie needing help with [Re: nergar]
#26897344 - 08/24/20 03:16 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Your roomate did a lot wrong. I would toss everything he did and start anew after learning the basics of sterile technique and using agar to clean cultures.
Even if he went about doing things the proper way it wouldn't matter if you spawned all 3 kinds to the same coir (yes thats the proper word) because they were most likely all the sane species. Most people grow cubensis. Cubensis come in many different names but are all inherently the same species and can breed. You can't however breed seperate species without hardcore lab equipment.
If you were to mix oyster spawn and cube spawn into the same bulk substrate they would compete instead of collaborate.
I would recommend you start with the agar links in the second link in my signature. Get a good grasp at what to do and why then give it a shot.
Always keep learning
-------------------- "Remember, kids, the difference between science and screwing around is writing it down" -adam savage Flowchart for Recommended plan of action. Learn the tried and true way to grow mushrooms Use the Damn search engine After you know what you're doing, take a break Pick a book, Make some chips! Josex said:Don't take the site seriously bro, ain't worth it.
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Sir Pentinite
Stranger all the time.

Registered: 05/15/19
Posts: 525
Loc: ation Location Location
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Re: Total newbie needing help with 'abandoned' project [Re: nergar]
#26897943 - 08/24/20 10:54 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Don't try to save any of that. Nothing was done according to best practices. Not by a long shot. Bags 2 and 3 are definitely badly contaminated. #1 will probably develop some if it hasn't already. Scrap them all and start over using the methods on this site if you want to continue yourself.
-------------------- "I thought to myself 'Boy, I'm sure glad there's nobody here to see this because this is exactly the sort of thing that gets people riled-up and they assume you're dying and that something has to be done. Where if you're alone, you know, you either come through it or you die, but in any case you avoid the fuss.'" - Terrence McKenna
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dirtybirdx
getting better

Registered: 07/28/20
Posts: 250
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Re: Total newbie needing help with 'abandoned' project [Re: Sir Pentinite]
#26897946 - 08/24/20 11:01 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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yea pressure cooking plastic solo cups sounds janky as hell
-------------------- Need help?

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tryptkaloids
Learner



Registered: 02/08/15
Posts: 12,641
Loc: Exact Center
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Re: Total newbie needing help with 'abandoned' project [Re: dirtybirdx]
#26897999 - 08/25/20 01:14 AM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Also, ALWAYS UPLOAD ALL YOU PICTURES HERE.
Makes it much easier for everyone else
-------------------- "Remember, kids, the difference between science and screwing around is writing it down" -adam savage Flowchart for Recommended plan of action. Learn the tried and true way to grow mushrooms Use the Damn search engine After you know what you're doing, take a break Pick a book, Make some chips! Josex said:Don't take the site seriously bro, ain't worth it.
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A.k.a
Stranger



Registered: 10/27/19
Posts: 16,782
Loc: Gaming the system
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Re: Total newbie needing help with 'abandoned' project [Re: tryptkaloids]
#26898155 - 08/25/20 05:28 AM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Those actually look way better than I was expecting, assuming that’s myc and not white mold. The first pics where the bag is totally white should work. And yes coir is the actual name, it’s fibers from coconut shells.
The other bags look like they’re stalled. Idk how the bags are set up but they need tiny holes poked in them and then cover the hole with micropore tape.
They need a small amount of filtered air to grow.
If you’re gonna continue with growing mushrooms you should buy some glass quart jars and bird seed. It’s a miracle that these bags are growing anything but mold honestly from the description of how they were made.
Edited by A.k.a (08/25/20 05:31 AM)
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nergar
Stranger
Registered: 08/24/20
Posts: 2
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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Re: Total newbie needing help with 'abandoned' project [Re: A.k.a]
#26899029 - 08/25/20 03:57 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Yeah.... I knew leaving him on his own would result in him just going to youtube and following the first video that felt good.
I'm really interested in trying again with agar tek and proper procedures but I'm also hesitant to just toss all of this to the garbage. Is there anything that can be salvaged or anything else I can learn from this? Specially Bag #1.
I also managed to find out the spores that were ordered but there's no chance of telling which where used in which bag. Here's the list: APE, zapotecorum, Alacabenzi, Albino A+, Ban Hua Thanon
I also found out there are some more vials with spores on the back of my fridge so I am excited to try this for myself.
The bags were cleaned with isopropyl, then the "sterile" whole grain rice was tossed inside and a full vial with spores was squirted inside with a sterile syringe. They have remained closed since around late july. No holes, no added water, no ventilation.
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A.k.a
Stranger



Registered: 10/27/19
Posts: 16,782
Loc: Gaming the system
Last seen: 3 hours, 22 minutes
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Re: Total newbie needing help with 'abandoned' project [Re: nergar]
#26899088 - 08/25/20 04:30 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Ah. Well zap is a totally different species that needs different stuff so that’s off the list. Ape takes forever but it’s great. Rest are just normal cubes.
The first bag is the only one I’d have hope for and that’s assuming the white isn’t mold and that if it is mushroom mycelium that it’s not the zaps.
There’s no reason to really toss them until you see mold. You’ll have to take closer clear pictures of the first bag though. If you upload them to this site so people can see them in the post you’ll get more answers.
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LAGM2020     
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Spore211215
SporeGuy


Registered: 06/06/16
Posts: 108
Last seen: 1 year, 8 months
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Re: Total newbie needing help with 'abandoned' project [Re: A.k.a]
#26899163 - 08/25/20 05:28 PM (3 years, 5 months ago) |
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Now don't get me wrong here boys, a WHOLE LOT of what was written here sounds wrong but lets take it with a grain of salt. I enjoy seeing a post where a lot of things go wrong because its an opportunity to learn what new things are possible from stuff like this. This may not be the one where we learn things from but it is kinda nice every once in a while to see haha.
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