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Xieo
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First timer questions
#28383241 - 07/03/23 07:01 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Hello friends! I've been browsing this forum and to my surprise, there is a tonnn of information about the topic of mushroom cultivation. Needless to say, it's a bit overwhelming. Up until now, I've been getting all my information from a friend by word of mouth but I've been reading a lot and it seems there is some things I am in the dark about. Any and all tips/links relevant would be greatly appreciated. If I use incorrect terminology, feel free to correct me.
Before I ask a couple questions, this is the stage I'm in. I acquired some spores. I inoculated sterile grain. Once the mycelium was formed, I mixed it in some substrate that I (hopefully) sterilized and placed it in a tub. Here we are now! Basically.. What next?
First, what is "fruiting conditions"? Right now I have the tubs just hanging out near a window, without having direct sunlight but it does see light.
Secondly, humidity. I understand or at least read that a hydrometer isn't ideal. Because the air is less humid than the substrate but that's what I'm working with. I was told 70-80% humidity is what I should shoot for. The thing is, my substrate had a reading of 75% humidity (hydrometer in the tub), once I added the mycelium on the grain to the substrate and mixed it up the air humidity went to 93% and hasn't dropped much in 5 days. Does this mean the tubs' vents are not big enough? Each tub has four 1 1/2 inch diameter vents with breathable tape covering them. Is this ideal?
The only instruction have at this point is, give it fresh air daily by removing the lid and to keep humidity between 70 and 80 and to try my best to keep contaminants out.
I am a beginner but this has been so interesting up to this point and definitely would love to continue this as a hobby.
As mentioned, any tips, links or just general advice is greatly appreciated!! If you made it this far, thank you for reading and may your harvests be plentiful.
https://files.shroomery.org/files/23-27/838915128-IMG_20230701_193057.jpg
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Janus62
Call me Hugh



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Re: First timer questions [Re: Xieo]
#28383250 - 07/03/23 07:08 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Hi Xieo, and welcome.
I'm not going to presume to dive in with tips & tricks as I've not got enough solid grows under my belt to be sure of my competence, but every time I go to try something new, I check out Pastywhyte's thread at https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=2&Number=23651622&fpart=&PHPSESSID=
A word of warning though - it's an addictive hobby.
-------------------- 🅃 🄴 🄰 🄼 🄲 🄻 🄸 🄽 🄶 🅆 🅁 🄰 🄿
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3.A.M
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Re: First timer questions [Re: Janus62] 2
#28383275 - 07/03/23 07:41 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Your cat looks like they’re about to try and bum a cigarette off me.
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Pandaskis
Eating Bamboo



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Re: First timer questions [Re: 3.A.M] 1
#28383305 - 07/03/23 08:11 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Read some of the write ups in my siggy, start with the rule book , you dont want to put spores to grain itll likely contaminate. Dont watch for humidity readings on hygrometers, we only care about surface conditions, make sure there are thousands of micro droplets clinging to the mycelium without it pooling. Use a dialed in monotub (check out Pastywhyte Ez dial monotub or micropore dialed monotub), they are set and forget, no fanning, no removing the lids.
Any images of your spawn before putting to substrate? Was it fully colonized?
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Xieo
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Re: First timer questions [Re: Pandaskis]
#28383311 - 07/03/23 08:23 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Thanks! It'll contaminate? I purchased some sterilized rye grain bags with the injection ports and inserted spores this way. Was this wrong?
My buddy said my grain bags should be good to go as they were far enough. I'm not gonna say it was 100% solid mycelium but they had been going for over a month. I'm seeing a lot of growth in the substrate after just a few days if that's any consolation.
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Xieo
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Re: First timer questions [Re: Janus62]
#28383312 - 07/03/23 08:23 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Thanks!!
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Mycolorado
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Re: First timer questions [Re: Xieo] 1
#28383317 - 07/03/23 08:28 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Far enough is completely colonized, nothing before.
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Janus62
Call me Hugh



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Re: First timer questions [Re: 3.A.M] 1
#28383323 - 07/03/23 08:33 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
3.A.M said: Your cat looks like they’re about to try and bum a cigarette off me.
She found the stash of catnip.
-------------------- 🅃 🄴 🄰 🄼 🄲 🄻 🄸 🄽 🄶 🅆 🅁 🄰 🄿
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Pandaskis
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Re: First timer questions [Re: Xieo]
#28383352 - 07/03/23 09:01 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
Xieo said: Thanks! It'll contaminate? I purchased some sterilized rye grain bags with the injection ports and inserted spores this way. Was this wrong?
My buddy said my grain bags should be good to go as they were far enough. I'm not gonna say it was 100% solid mycelium but they had been going for over a month. I'm seeing a lot of growth in the substrate after just a few days if that's any consolation.
Spores are collected in open air environment, so there is almost no chance they arent in some way contaminated. You want to put spores to agar to clean it up before inoculating. Or do pf tek (brf cakes) which is more bacterial resistant.
As mentioned above, we NEVER put any uncolonized grain to bulk substrate. It is asking for contamination. Mold mycelium is more aggressive and their spores more abundant than the cubes we grow, so any uncolonized grain is free real estate for them. I would suggest for you to stop following your friends crappy bro science advice :P (sorry if im being harsh)
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stroopwafelman


Registered: 03/21/23
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Re: First timer questions [Re: Xieo]
#28383355 - 07/03/23 09:04 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
Xieo said: Thanks! It'll contaminate? I purchased some sterilized rye grain bags with the injection ports and inserted spores this way. Was this wrong?
My buddy said my grain bags should be good to go as they were far enough. I'm not gonna say it was 100% solid mycelium but they had been going for over a month. I'm seeing a lot of growth in the substrate after just a few days if that's any consolation.
It's not a guarantee that it will contaminate but the chances are much much higher if you use spores to inoculate grain no matter how sterile the grain is the spore print/syringe is what may or may not contain the contaminants. Secondly if I got what you're saying correctly you purchased pre-sterilized grain i.e you're placing your faith into someone properly sterilizing it in the first place, which could also be a vector for contamination.
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Xieo
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Re: First timer questions [Re: Pandaskis]
#28383452 - 07/03/23 10:25 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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I appreciate your reply. I'm quickly learning this process is much more involved than I previously thought or expected. My buddy has had good luck in his process so I thought 'why not'.
I am a perfectionist, which is both a curse and a good trait to have when partaking in hobbies. Especially one like this I'm seeing.
This is the first I've heard of this agar process to clean spores. I never assumed the spores could introduce contaminants from the very beginning. I'm glad I know now.
I keep seeing "tek". What is tek?
I have a few more grain bags in the process of inoculation now, is there anything I can do differently to improve my odds when making more tubs? Other than throwing it out of course.
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Xieo
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So what you're saying is, the best way to go about this, is acquiring your own grain, making sure it's sterile by your own means will ensure the greatest chance of success?
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Pandaskis
Eating Bamboo



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Re: First timer questions [Re: Xieo]
#28383464 - 07/03/23 10:34 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
Xieo said: So what you're saying is, the best way to go about this, is acquiring your own grain, making sure it's sterile by your own means will ensure the greatest chance of success?
Exactly. Pressure cooking them your self and prepping them yourself gets rid of one factor of failure so you can zone in on why else you may be failing.
Tek means method basically. Its basically instructional manuals for cultivating in any particular way.
You have a good attitude and a will to learn, keep it up and youll be seasoned in no time!
Post some photos of your grain bag, to ensure success, dont spawn it to bulk when it isnt 100% colonized
Edited by Pandaskis (07/03/23 10:35 AM)
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Xieo
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Re: First timer questions [Re: Pandaskis]
#28390699 - 07/09/23 06:56 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Thanks!! Its been a few days and bad news... two of my tubs got from what i can tell trich mold in them. I gave them a nice funeral by burying them in the garden.
Funny thing is, i had 3 tubs, 2 of them APE and the 3rd is BM. The two APE tubs are the ones that got contaminated with the mold...hmmm. Could this have been caused by bad spores? they both came from the same spore source. The 3rd tub is still doing fine with no evidence of mold.
I do not think i let it go long enough in the grain bag.. i did get a bit impatient. I could still see uncolonized grain.
I have 3 more grain bags going, i will get some images tomorrow and maybe upload them here.
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Hysteria
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Re: First timer questions [Re: Xieo] 1
#28390718 - 07/09/23 07:11 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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That result is the exact reason people are telling you not to put spores to grain. Had you dropped some in some agar dishes, you would've been able to transfer some clean myc away from any contaminants to a clean dish until you got a clean culture. Don't throw away the APE syringe. Try to clean it up on agar before you use it next time. Good luck with your 3rd tub.
Edited by Hysteria (07/09/23 07:12 PM)
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Xieo
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Re: First timer questions [Re: Hysteria]
#28390739 - 07/09/23 07:27 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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the rest of the ape is already in some grain right now. been a few weeks now since it was started. I think my next go round, i will do it properly... although i dont think i will have enough time this year. It will start getting cold soon and the room i keep them in gets quite cold in the winter. Only thing i could do is maybe get a space heater but that would hit my electric bill very hard and i dont think its worth it.
Well, i imagine theres things i could purchase to help with this issue. I will look into it.
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Hysteria
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Re: First timer questions [Re: Xieo]
#28390845 - 07/09/23 09:08 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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One thing you could do during the cold months is work on agar and get clean cultures ready, so when it gets warm again you can just drop it into some grain jars and go. Keep the agar plates in an insulated tote or drawer after you inoculate and they will grow just fine. Cold might slow them down but they will still grow and you'll be ahead of the game when it warms up again. And you'll have spent a bunch of time sharpening your sterile technique.
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