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MushroomHuntin
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Pasteurized Manure for inoculation?
#27023046 - 11/05/20 10:48 AM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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I cant seem to get agar-to-grain to work (corn or whole oats), 96 attempts little to no growth. No contamination so I dont know what I'm doing wrong.
I was thinking of going back to the BRF cake method since everyone seems to think that this is the easiest way to get mycelium to grow.
My Main Question is This: Is it a bad Idea to try and use Pasteurized Manure mixed with Vermiculite and Water as an Inoculation Jar with Agar as the source of Mycelium rather than a Spore Syringe?
My agar is doing great but I have not seen anyone use it to inoculate a BRF cake.
Sorry if this belong under advanced. I assume these are all variances of basic methods so I put it here.
Thank for your time sincerely, confused.
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A.k.a
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I think it’s a bad idea to do anything without figuring out why 96 jars failed. Were they getting moldy?
That said people have made cake type things with manure before so it can work.
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LAGM2020     
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MushroomHuntin
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Re: Pasteurized Manure for inoculation? [Re: A.k.a]
#27023347 - 11/05/20 02:04 PM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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thank you.
No. There is no contamination.
the only thing I can think is I'm not getting my moisture levels right. I'm hoping that vermiculite will help with that.
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smalltalk_canceled
Babnik


Registered: 07/13/20
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Pics of your grain
Super yeasty/bacterial myc wont grow, too dry may also stall, too wet may also stall.
-------------------- Willpower is the one true virtue
  
Edited by smalltalk_canceled (11/05/20 02:23 PM)
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MushroomHuntin
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here are some pics of the corn and the whole oats.
I think the oats absorbed all the moisture in the jar. They grew as time went on and filled the jar all the way even though when I first filled the jar there was a decent amount of space at the top.
I think the corn dried out. The first time my corn was too wet so I tried again but didnt cook as long and dried it longer.
the black dots are just coffee grounds not mold or contamination.
It's a bummer when you put in all this time and effort and things dont work out. At least I'm learning. I think?
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xspak
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Registered: 06/08/20
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Do you have photos of your agar dishes ?
I don't quite understand what is happening here. The grains don not look to dry, they look pretty OK to me (I'm not a pro). Even if they are too dry or too wet they should grow some bit until they stall. So I don't thing grain moisture is your main problem.
If these are cubes there should at least be something happening. I suspect there is something wrong on the agar already.
What method of gas exchange to you use on your jars ?
As to the question of putting agar to manure: I have done this with sterilized manure/straw in jars. Brought it to field capacity moisture - so that when you squeeze it really hard only a few drops come out (search shroomery for "field capacity" for more info). Then put in jars, half full and put it in very fluffy, not stuffed. Sterilized for 2 hours. Then put an agar wedge in just like you would do on grains and let it sit.
It will take some time to colonize because you can't really shake it well. But it should colonize and then you can put it in trays or fruit in the jars. With a casing you may get better results, but not totally necessary for normal cubes.
So in short, yes you can put agar directly to manure substrate. It takes a lot of time. Everything in mushroom cultivation that takes long time adds to the risk of contamination because everything that has not been colonized by mushroom mycelium can be colonized by contaminants.
It is not the best way to do things but you will end up with mushrooms.
However, I fully agree with A.k.a ... in your growing future you will have much more success if you figure out what happened with your jars. Agar to grain to bulk is the classic way to do things (for edible mushrooms as well). The reason for that is, that it is a way that works and gives very good results.
I would do both. Try to put agar to your manure substrate but keep going with jars also and see what is happening. And maybe post some photos of your agar to get a better idea what is happening here.
Edited by xspak (11/05/20 03:53 PM)
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MushroomHuntin
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Re: Pasteurized Manure for inoculation? [Re: xspak]
#27023556 - 11/05/20 04:15 PM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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Well I will take some photos of my agar tomorrow, but for now something you have said, xspak, concerns me.
you said something about gas exchange on my jars. There is a 1/4" hole with two pieces of micropore tape over it. Each piece over the hole is 90 degrees to each other. Now I'm wondering if the sealed container is the problem. I didn't realize I needed to let the jar breath.
How should I do the gas exchange properly?
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xspak
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Re: Pasteurized Manure for inoculation? [Re: xspak]
#27023583 - 11/05/20 04:30 PM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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Personally I use polyfill lids , similar to like here:
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/24125953
I never had problems with that. I tried synthetic filter discs as well - many people on the shroomery use them - but saw no difference in using them except less work. Because the filter discs are not easy to get in my country I kept using the polyfill method and when I have trouble with my jars it always was because my cultures on agar where not clean. Polyfill works well. If I was living in the USA where the filter discs are better available and cheaper I would use them probably.
But in general micropore tape should also work. I have not tried it but read people had success doing it just like you write. So probably that is not your problem. It is quite a mystery to me - but hopefully more experienced cultivators will chime in.
You could try on one of your jars to peel off carefully one of the layers of micropore, keeping the other layer intact. That should increase gas exchange.
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MushroomHuntin
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Re: Pasteurized Manure for inoculation? [Re: xspak]
#27023601 - 11/05/20 04:39 PM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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Thank you for the info I will try to remove a layer of tape and see if that helps. I will also try the different lids to see if that makes a difference.
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MushroomHuntin
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As it turns out it was a gas exchange issue. Once I cracked the seal on the lids and let the jars begin to breath I began to see results. Now I just need to know if these are good results or contamination.
The small black dots are coffee grounds.
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