|
harryyy27
Stranger
Registered: 07/01/23
Posts: 5
Last seen: 6 months, 9 days
|
Preventing contamination after first harvest
#28383160 - 07/03/23 03:07 AM (6 months, 23 days ago) |
|
|
I've recently been harvesting lions mane using sawdust and wheat bran bags. Everything goes extremely well until I attempt to get a second flush out of them. The lions mane does grow for that 2nd flush but I also get contamination over the scars from where I initially harvested these mushrooms. Is there any way of preventing this from happening? I started taping over the scars but I'd quite like to just avoid this contamination altogether. I've been flame sterilising my tools before my first harvest but it seems to happen all the same. I'm growing out these lions mane bags in a mini greenhouse 90-95% humidity at approximately 20 deg C
|
Bigworm



Registered: 03/19/22
Posts: 1,868
Loc: Murica
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest [Re: harryyy27]
#28383254 - 07/03/23 07:13 AM (6 months, 23 days ago) |
|
|
When you say contamination what kind are you talking about? All my lions mane is usually a 3-4 flush per 6lb bag of master's mix and I keep the bags in open air and mist. I get tight pom pom style mushrooms not the shaggy lions mane looking ones but it's still mushrooms. Where I pull the mushrooms from does turn brown a bit but the next flush grows over or through it.
|
Bhud182
Newb


Registered: 02/02/23
Posts: 58
Last seen: 7 days, 5 hours
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest [Re: Bigworm]
#28383262 - 07/03/23 07:27 AM (6 months, 23 days ago) |
|
|
Ive no experience with lions mane but if it were me i would most likely try patching the spots where i have harvested a mushroom with vermiculite. After allowing the vermiculite to set for 30mins or so i would then lightly mist with distilled water from a fine mister. Be careful not to mist so heavily that the vermiculite falls off from where you have just patched. Again, no exp. growing lions mane but i would think that the vermiculite would serve as a contam barrier after harvest and provide moisture for the mycelium to reintegrate after the loss of a fruit from the network.
Edited by Bhud182 (07/03/23 07:29 AM)
|
Stipe-n Cap


Registered: 08/04/12
Posts: 7,623
Loc: Canada
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest (moved) [Re: harryyy27]
#28383267 - 07/03/23 07:33 AM (6 months, 23 days ago) |
|
|
This thread was moved from Mushroom Cultivation.
Reason: Gourmet.
|
3.A.M
Boop!



Registered: 10/17/22
Posts: 848
Loc: Oz
Last seen: 2 minutes, 31 seconds
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest [Re: harryyy27]
#28383272 - 07/03/23 07:38 AM (6 months, 23 days ago) |
|
|
I’ve had the same thing from my 2 limited grows also, metabolites and brown stain from the scar until fruit grows from it again but the metabolites and stain seem to spread from around that point, some bags worse than others. I only sanitise my blade with alcohol before cutting.
|
SHROOMSISAY01
Mr. Shrooms



Registered: 01/22/17
Posts: 3,849
Loc: Virginia, USA
Last seen: 2 days, 12 hours
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest [Re: harryyy27]
#28383300 - 07/03/23 08:06 AM (6 months, 23 days ago) |
|
|
I have not grown much lion's mane but from my experience with oysters, it does not make sense to wait on a second flush. Not only do you increase the risk of contamination. But you also decrease your final harvest. For oysters, if your 1st flush gives you 1 lb then you can expect 1/2 the weight on your second flush. You will also wait longer for it to pin. You are looking at 2 weeks for the 2nd flush to pin then another week until harvest. That is 3 weeks between harvests to get half the weight. I am not very good at math but I am fairly sure this is not what you want!! If you prefer to do a second flush it is fine but you lose in the long run. For a little bit of work and about a dollar a bag, you can double your harvest in the same amount of time with the same amount of space and drastically decrease the risk of contamination.
|
deadmandave
Slime


Registered: 02/16/10
Posts: 3,355
Loc:
Last seen: 1 hour, 44 minutes
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest [Re: SHROOMSISAY01]
#28383320 - 07/03/23 08:31 AM (6 months, 23 days ago) |
|
|
Tear the mushrooms off the surface, don't cut them off the sub. Cutting will leave leftover fruiting body which will contaminate much more readily than substrate.
Harvest young before spores are deposited. A layer of spores will contam faster than most other things.
Clean yo fruiting chamber, ventilation, fans, as especially humidifier weekly. It don't have to take long, just a spray with bleach and a wipe with a rag.
Edited by deadmandave (07/03/23 08:33 AM)
|
harryyy27
Stranger
Registered: 07/01/23
Posts: 5
Last seen: 6 months, 9 days
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest [Re: deadmandave]
#28384380 - 07/04/23 03:47 AM (6 months, 22 days ago) |
|
|
Thanks for the prompt replies everyone 👊.
Bigworm: I'm getting a little bit of trich on the scars. I sprayed the site with isopropyl alcohol which prevented any additional localised growth from both the trich and lions mane but the lions mane did eventually just grow around that site. Definite competition there. Can I ask what kind of yields you get on each of your flushes?
|
harryyy27
Stranger
Registered: 07/01/23
Posts: 5
Last seen: 6 months, 9 days
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest [Re: harryyy27]
#28384397 - 07/04/23 04:18 AM (6 months, 22 days ago) |
|
|
Bhud182: that's an interesting strategy and it could definitely work in some instances. However, i did try this just now and it was very messy and it didn't stick so well. I didn't cut it. Kind of pulled and twisted and it left a fungal protrusion which is difficult to case. Will definitely keep this in mind for subsequent cakes though
Shroomsisay01: your logic makes sense! I've heard a lot of conflicting anecdotal evidence on yields though. My only qualm with attempting second yields at the moment is contamination. I do want to get this right and test for myself before I completely abandon the idea though.
Deadmandave: sound advice! Thanks
|
harryyy27
Stranger
Registered: 07/01/23
Posts: 5
Last seen: 6 months, 9 days
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest [Re: harryyy27]
#28384402 - 07/04/23 04:20 AM (6 months, 22 days ago) |
|
|
While I'm here, any thoughts on getting lions mane to not fruit before the bag is fully colonised? Feel like I'm a little conflicted on when to slice my bags
|
Stromrider
This must be the place



Registered: 06/02/13
Posts: 7,325
Loc: Dept of know what I'm say...
Last seen: 1 day, 23 hours
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest [Re: harryyy27]
#28384461 - 07/04/23 06:00 AM (6 months, 22 days ago) |
|
|
Quote:
harryyy27 said: While I'm here, any thoughts on getting lions mane to not fruit before the bag is fully colonised? Feel like I'm a little conflicted on when to slice my bags
It's probably fully colonized and you just can't see it. Lions mane mycelium can be really hard to see and fruits very quickly as soon as it gets colonized
I don't second flush anything in my growroom. If you have good genetics and highly supplemented substrate like masters mix you don't get enough from the second flush to justify the space. Plus you run into issues like you're seeing which just makes the growroom nasty
My favorite all time lions mane genetics are from field and forest. Maine cap n stem has a couple awesome strains as well. He-cns and He-pow from Maine cap and stem are both incredible. He-pow has the biggest yeilds of any lions mane I've ever grown but field and forest lions mane is the easiest to grow and makes beautiful fruits
|
deadmandave
Slime


Registered: 02/16/10
Posts: 3,355
Loc:
Last seen: 1 hour, 44 minutes
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest [Re: Stromrider]
#28384549 - 07/04/23 08:25 AM (6 months, 22 days ago) |
|
|
I second the ff lions mane strain. Very nice 
Also agree for the most part about second flushes being less than ideal. Mucks up the grow room and takes up space which could be used by more productive bags. However, let's say that grow room isn't a space issue. If your bottleneck is how many sub bags you can sterilize per week then it makes sense to second flush lions mane and get an extra flush after two weeks.
I can see growers who don't have a steam sterilizer and are using a PC to cook bags being in this category of second flushing being an efficient practice.
|
SHROOMSISAY01
Mr. Shrooms



Registered: 01/22/17
Posts: 3,849
Loc: Virginia, USA
Last seen: 2 days, 12 hours
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest [Re: Stromrider]
#28384598 - 07/04/23 09:31 AM (6 months, 22 days ago) |
|
|

As stormrider said LM is hard to see so look closely. If it is fruiting b4 it is fully colonized then you most likely have a contamination problem in the bag. If there is contamination the mushrooms will try and fruit to beat out the contamination by dropping spores. In other words the mushroom says this contamination is going to kill me I need to drop spores so I have the chance of moving to an uncontaminated spot and keep the life cycle going. I forgot to publish this but I also agree with deadmans opinion on the matter.
|
Bhud182
Newb


Registered: 02/02/23
Posts: 58
Last seen: 7 days, 5 hours
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest [Re: harryyy27]
#28384645 - 07/04/23 10:24 AM (6 months, 22 days ago) |
|
|
Quote:
harryyy27 said: Bhud182: that's an interesting strategy and it could definitely work in some instances. However, i did try this just now and it was very messy and it didn't stick so well. I didn't cut it. Kind of pulled and twisted and it left a fungal protrusion which is difficult to case. Will definitely keep this in mind for subsequent cakes though.
Well im sorry it didnt work well for this particular instance. Again, ive no experience growing lions mane but i use this method for my cubensis grows. Something you may try is first getting the verm slightly moist before patching it. This should allow it to adhere better. I also forgot to mention that a fine grade vermiculite would likely work best adhering and when i do this i dont use much at all. A simple pinch works well for me. My advice should be taken with a grain of salt however since im not working with lions mane. Anyways, i hope you get it figured out and good vibes your way!
|
Mycolorado
Hobbyist


Registered: 07/23/16
Posts: 8,529
Loc: Interdimensional Bootcamp
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest [Re: Bhud182]
#28384707 - 07/04/23 11:03 AM (6 months, 22 days ago) |
|
|
What you’re suggesting really has no relevance to growing lm in bags.
|
harryyy27
Stranger
Registered: 07/01/23
Posts: 5
Last seen: 6 months, 9 days
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest [Re: Mycolorado]
#28387843 - 07/07/23 01:05 AM (6 months, 19 days ago) |
|
|
So does lions mane make a habit of looking like it isn't colonised? Because my lions mane liquid cultures always look quite tame when compared to other species. It always forms a small translucent ball of mycelium. Other species like Reishi and Turkey tail so aggressively eat up the liquid culture medium that they look like they're going to start eating their way out of jar when they run out
|
Stromrider
This must be the place



Registered: 06/02/13
Posts: 7,325
Loc: Dept of know what I'm say...
Last seen: 1 day, 23 hours
|
Re: Preventing contamination after first harvest [Re: harryyy27]
#28388219 - 07/07/23 09:51 AM (6 months, 19 days ago) |
|
|
Yes it has very thin mycelium. The field and forest lions mane has the thickest mycelium of any strain I've encountered. Still thin tho
|
|