Yahra said:

You don't need verm in this hobby.

Bulk? Just plain coir
PF tek? Replace verm with coir

Coir is all you want.

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Newshroom42 said:

fiddle_head said:

Newshroom42 said:

Hey guys,

When do you think I should send these jars to bulk?

I inoculated them with agar 2 weeks ago and just did a second shake yesterday as they were around 70%-90% colonized. It’s been about 1.5 days from the second shake and everything is covered with mycelium. It’s not as thick as it was before the shake so Im thinking it should be ready in like a day or two.

I have one grow under my belt but it was definitely bacterial as I went MSS to grain bags. It had a completely different texture like melted ice cream and was a pain to break apart. First bag contamed before the first flush, but second bag is still going strong one month later. It is lacking with yield, but no contam yet.

I’m assuming it should look something like my first picture, but all over the jar.

Any advice would be most appreciated. Thank you!

This was the most colonized jar before the second shake:


This is one of the jars about 36 hours after the shake:

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The growth is kind of wispy and nonchalant which troubles me. Just give it more time; if it colonized completely and it doesn’t get worse, you can spawn it, but my guess is when you smell it it might have a sickly sweet or citrus smell

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Just curious why you think it might smell like that. I assume you are thinking it could be bacterial?  Also, when you say wispy are you talking about the first jar, or the jar after the shake?

What I have read about bacterial contam is that there is usually wet grains, melted ice cream look, mycelium spiking out, uncolonized grain,  slow or no recovery after a shake, metabolites, and a lot of condensation.

From what I can tell there are no wet spots, no metabolites, a tiny  bit of condensation (heard this is normal), it was easy to break up when I shook them, and recovered really fast

Unless I’m missing something they seem like they are going pretty good, but of course I could be wrong as I’m new to this.

Please let me know if I’m missing anything as I want to know more for future grows. Thank you!

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Pandaskis said:

Does this jar look bacterial at all?

Its Agar to Grain. Theres some slight condensation in the jar, but i believe its from temp swings

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mushhead said:

Pandaskis said:

Does this jar look bacterial at all?

Its Agar to Grain. Theres some slight condensation in the jar, but i believe its from temp swings

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Looks fine to me, the following thread:
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/23130868
Might be a good read. It describes bacterial growth with images of some pretty bad jars.
I understand it doesn't go over every situation but your jar looks great.
Closer picture perhaps?

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fiddle_head said:

Newshroom42 said:

fiddle_head said:

Newshroom42 said:

Hey guys,

When do you think I should send these jars to bulk?

I inoculated them with agar 2 weeks ago and just did a second shake yesterday as they were around 70%-90% colonized. It’s been about 1.5 days from the second shake and everything is covered with mycelium. It’s not as thick as it was before the shake so Im thinking it should be ready in like a day or two.

I have one grow under my belt but it was definitely bacterial as I went MSS to grain bags. It had a completely different texture like melted ice cream and was a pain to break apart. First bag contamed before the first flush, but second bag is still going strong one month later. It is lacking with yield, but no contam yet.

I’m assuming it should look something like my first picture, but all over the jar.

Any advice would be most appreciated. Thank you!

This was the most colonized jar before the second shake:


This is one of the jars about 36 hours after the shake:

---

The growth is kind of wispy and nonchalant which troubles me. Just give it more time; if it colonized completely and it doesn’t get worse, you can spawn it, but my guess is when you smell it it might have a sickly sweet or citrus smell

---

Just curious why you think it might smell like that. I assume you are thinking it could be bacterial?  Also, when you say wispy are you talking about the first jar, or the jar after the shake?

What I have read about bacterial contam is that there is usually wet grains, melted ice cream look, mycelium spiking out, uncolonized grain,  slow or no recovery after a shake, metabolites, and a lot of condensation.

From what I can tell there are no wet spots, no metabolites, a tiny  bit of condensation (heard this is normal), it was easy to break up when I shook them, and recovered really fast

Unless I’m missing something they seem like they are going pretty good, but of course I could be wrong as I’m new to this.

Please let me know if I’m missing anything as I want to know more for future grows. Thank you!

---

Bacteria doesn’t always present like that. Sure it’s the most common signs, but I e had jars with growth exactly like that that eventually ended up baccing out. Maybe it’s not bacterial, but that’s not the kind of growth you want. Could be your grains/hydration/GE or something else living in there. Either way something is wrong and the most frustrating part is there’s nothing to do but wait and see.

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tholos said:

I have a couple of plates here I would like an opinion on from some more experienced eyes

T1 plates from spore swab showing thick white growth -- is this healthy/normal looking growth? (this is my first time starting from spore swab) or is this indicative of an immune response to the presence of contamination? I have heard of the idea of “enmeshed” contamination which may not necessarily be apparent as separate growth on the 2D agar surface

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Yahra said:

How to prepare coir as a substitute for vermiculite in PF tek?

Just take a brick, tear it apart, put it in a bucket and pour boiling water onto it?

How long let it steep?

Just use any amount of water and squeeze it until it has reached fiel capacity or do i need to use the correct amount of water from the start?

What else to consider?

Sorry if this has been asked before but i fell for outdated advice multiple times and i don't dare to use the board search anymore.

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Yahra said:

How to prepare coir as a substitute for vermiculite in PF tek?

Just take a brick, tear it apart, put it in a bucket and pour boiling water onto it?

How long let it steep?

Just use any amount of water and squeeze it until it has reached fiel capacity or do i need to use the correct amount of water from the start?

What else to consider?

Sorry if this has been asked before but i fell for outdated advice multiple times and i don't dare to use the board search anymore.

---

Moshe said:

Yahra said:

How to prepare coir as a substitute for vermiculite in PF tek?

Just take a brick, tear it apart, put it in a bucket and pour boiling water onto it?

How long let it steep?

Just use any amount of water and squeeze it until it has reached fiel capacity or do i need to use the correct amount of water from the start?

What else to consider?

Sorry if this has been asked before but i fell for outdated advice multiple times and i don't dare to use the board search anymore.

---

I use a flathead screwdriver to break up the coir, then pour boiling water over it at 1:5 and just let it cool. After it's cool you should mix it with your hands to break the remaining lumps (if any remain). Coir is pretty biologically inert so you can prep some ahead and use it later

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Yahra said:

You don't need verm in this hobby.

Bulk? Just plain coir
PF tek? Replace verm with coir

Coir is all you want.

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stockw said:

Should casing layers of coir generally be looking moist?

Mine are pretty fkn dry looking on my shoeboxes day 7.. Colonisation is going ok though, maybe slowed down a bit the past couple days.

My substrate mix was 1:3 which I know seems dry but that was field capacity for my coir.

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SeaSalt said:

Yahra said:

You don't need verm in this hobby.

Bulk? Just plain coir
PF tek? Replace verm with coir

Coir is all you want.

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You put coir in your PF instead of verm? Why?

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I asked myself the same thing and hope Yahra saw this:

Quote:

mushhead said:
The reason for the verm/coir mix for bulk is because the verm assists the coir in retaining and absorbing hydration.
Verm is used for BRF cakes initially, followed by a case of coir.

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