Auto-SummaryThe author provides an update on their recent Unidentified Break (UB) growing experience, detailing the results of inoculating three original shoeboxes and five bags of UB rice. Of the three shoeboxes, all produced at least two flushes with no signs of contamination, resulting in a 63% success rate. Of the five bags of UB rice, three fully colonized, one was 90% colonized, and one had wet rot after break and shake, leading to an 80% success rate. The author suggests that UB can be a successful option for beginners, provided they follow good sterile technique and use a quality spore syringe. The author concludes that while agar may be more challenging for beginners, UB is a viable alternative with a reasonable success rate.
Just wanted to provide an update on the 3 original UB shoeboxes and the 5 bags of UB rice I recently inoculated.
The three shoeboxes that were created from 5 colonized rice bags (out of 8 bags; 3 contamed) all produced first and second flushes. I got about 40 grams dried from the first flushes and about 20 grams dried from the second flushes. The second flush that took the longest was only harvested yesterday and I tossed the substrate because I'm about to start some new shoeboxes and don't want to introduce trich from an old shoebox to a new one. There weren't any signs of contamination in the box but I only got 4 dried grams from it and didn't see the point in trying for a third flush.
The other two shoeboxes that produced quicker second flushes are working on a third but the pins and mushrooms are really small so I don't know how much I'll get from them. I'll probably harvest whatever they produce tomorrow or Saturday before starting the new shoeboxes.
So of the three shoeboxes from the first run of 5 rice bags that survived (out of 8 that were inoculated), all three produced at least two flushes and none showed any signs of contamination other than some yellow myc that I believe was caused by allowing the corners to dry out a little too much. So that's a 63% success rate on the rice inoculation phase and 100% success rate on the spawn to bulk phase.
Of the 5 bags of UB that I inoculated about a month ago, 3 have fully colonized, 1 is 90% colonized, and 1 had wet rot after the break and shake. I waited until the bags were about 50% colonized before doing the b&s. One thing I've noticed is that wet rot shows up very quick after doing the b&s. Of the 8 bags I inoculated on my first attempt, 2 clearly had wet rot just after the b&s but not before. Same story here with the second attempt. There were no signs of wet rot or weird smells before b&s. However, after the b&s one bag never recovered and the rice felt loose in the bag whereas the other bags were firm from the myc recolonizing after just a couple days. The bag that wasn't firm smelled like rotten milk when squeezed and I threw it out. So that's 4 out of 5 bags that survived, for an 80% success rate.
This will most likely be my last UB grow before switching to agar. I don't have any more bags and want to start isolating strains and doing clones to get more consistent growth. These tubs also all colonized at different rates and I had to let the earliest mushrooms drop their spores while waiting on the later mushrooms to develop more. Overall though I would say it's been successful enough to recommend as an option for beginners who just want to try a grow or two before deciding to try more advanced TEKs. Just make sure to use a syringe from a reputable supplier and start out with a strain that is known to be easier to grow. My first 8 bags were b+ and the most recent 5 bags were golden teachers and both syringes came from a shroomery sponsor.
Beyond that, use a SAB, shower, wear a mask, utilize rubbing alcohol, flame sterilize the needle, and whatever you do, DON'T INJECT MORE THAN 0.5 CC OF THE SPORE SYRINGE IN A UB BAG. It gets too moist if you do.
So, out of the first 13 bags I inoculated with two different spore syringes, 9 survived, for a success rate of 69%. I mean, that's not terrible for a person's first two attempts. And I improved from a 63% success rate on the first bags to an 80% success rate on the second batch by simply not injecting as much liquid into the bags.
I get why so many here recommend agar. But I also think a lot of those folks don't realize how daunting it can seem to a newb to start with agar. There's just so much to learn! I really believe a lot of people just don't remember what it's like to be a complete beginner. As I mentioned earlier, I hadn't even grown a plant before this.
We can debate the merits of PF TEK and UB TEK, but without a large number of trials between the two I don't think we'll ever know which is better and the success rate of each. Based on my own personal experience, which is admittedly limited, UB worked on 9 out of 13 bags and I improved from the first attempt to the second.
If I had to guess, I'd say PF probably has a higher success rate overall but also probably lower yields. Regardless, my own experience shows that UB can be successful too when following a few rules:
1. Follow good sterile technique, including showering, Lysol the air, use rubbing alcohol, wear gloves and a mask, use a SAB, flame sterilize the needle, use a syringe from a quality supplier, and choose an easy strain to grow such as b+ or golden teacher (no penis envy).
2. DON'T INJECT MORE THAN 0.5 CC INTO A UB BRAND BAG OR YOU'LL GET WET ROT
I'll preface this by saying that I've never done PF TEK, but I have read up on it quite a bit and was going to try it until I realized that wide mouth half pint jars were in short supply and the places that did have them in stock were clearly price gouging (this was about 3 months ago). I think UB is almost as good, and better if you plan to spawn to bulk. Is it foolproof? Nope. But it does work if you do your part in buying a quality syringe from a reputable supplier and follow good sterile technique. It's a great place to start without much investment to determine how deep into this hobby you want to get.
Happy grows everyone
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