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Shroom Noob AUS
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Registered: 07/13/23
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Last seen: 1 year, 6 months
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Should I start again?
#28394020 - 07/13/23 12:26 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Looking for a little advice on whether I should persist with this tub or start again.
It's my first grow, started with 3 tubs, they all caught fairy floss mold as well as a bit of something green in one tub. I think I didn't have enough FAE from the get go (kept them sealed up for the first week or so in the tub, following some youtube advice) and my house doesnt have much air flow (it's winter here so we keep the placed pretty closed up)
I turfed 2 tubs but managed to fight off the fairy floss in my last tub with some peroxide. Looks a bit funny now, bit yellowed and maybe dry.
Would you keep it going (now lives in my shed with more FAE but less warmth) or start again?
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SirHuntington
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Registered: 05/03/15
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Quote:
Shroom Noob AUS said: Looking for a little advice on whether I should persist with this tub or start again.
It's my first grow, started with 3 tubs, they all caught fairy floss mold as well as a bit of something green in one tub. I think I didn't have enough FAE from the get go (kept them sealed up for the first week or so in the tub, following some youtube advice) and my house doesnt have much air flow (it's winter here so we keep the placed pretty closed up)
I turfed 2 tubs but managed to fight off the fairy floss in my last tub with some peroxide. Looks a bit funny now, bit yellowed and maybe dry.
Would you keep it going (now lives in my shed with more FAE but less warmth) or start again?

By fairy floss do you mean cobweb mold? The green mold is likely trichoderma and you did the right thing by tossing that tub, by trying to fight it you'll just spread mold around your grow space and give yourself headaches down the track.
How big is the tub you're using? It looks like a shoebox to me so there should be enough FAE even with the lid on, some will crack the lid a little when fully colonized. Personally I'd chuck that, it doesn't look healthy but if your committed; give it a mist and see what happens.
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Shroom Noob AUS
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Thanks for the reply!
Lol yeh I meant cobweb, my bad.
Tub is just a little bigger then a shoe box, small holes on each side with micropore tape. Do you think the holes were overkill? Should I have just had a closed up box? I thought that there wouldn't be enough oxygen coming in and the air would just sit in the bottom.
I gave it a mist today and a few fans with the lid, might just keep it going for a bit, I can't start another one for a while (heading on holidays so wouldn't be able to look after it).
Where my head is at now, I'm trying to figure out if I created poor grow conditions with allowed for the contaminants to grow or if I wasn't clean enough when prepping the box (used a lot of iso though lol) or if I just got unlucky with contaminants in my spores. Any advice here would be greatly appreciated!
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SirHuntington
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Yea the holes were probably over kill but you've done it now may as well use them. Most people here will say not to fan it's not necessary (especially with the extra holes you've added) just check it every now and then and if it looks dry give it a mist. If its dry every time you check it, add another layer of MP tape.
The lids of these boxes aren't air tight so there will be gas exchange occurring, most of the time this is enough.
I'm not entirely sure of your process, but if you went spores straight to grain than I'd say thats where the contams happened. If you haven't gotten into agar yet, I'd start. It's where you'll end up eventually if you keep at this hobby.
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Shroom Noob AUS
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Thanks for the advice mate, I think I will get some agar plates going (I havent tried them before but youtube makes them look easy enough).
One last question, is there a high risk of contamination when I move the agar into a grain/rice bag if I dont have a laminar hood? Can I just dump some agar into a uncle bens bag and tape up the top?
thanks again
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Shroom Noob AUS
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Oh and one more questions sorry....
How important do you think temperature is? Gets pretty cold in my house over night (maybe 8 Celcius sometimes), then I heat the room where the shrooms live to like 26 celcius in the evening. wondering if this is a factor?
again appreciate the advice
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SirHuntington
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All good man
If you haven't already, make a still air box (SAB). Look up a guide on sterile tek and practise it, you don't need a flow hood or FFU to be successful (but they are sure as shit nicer to use). I can't really provide advise on grain bags but I personally wouldn't use an Uncle Bens bag (you might be able to get away with it but I wouldn't count on it).
If you have the money and want to do this properly buy a pressure cooker, the presto 23 quart is great and get your self some 1L preserving jars too.
The lower temps will slow things down considerably but should still produce fruits eventually, if you heat the room you should be fine though.
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Muffa
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I would say start again.
Quote:
I turfed 2 tubs but managed to fight off the fairy floss in my last tub with some peroxide. Looks a bit funny now, bit yellowed and maybe dry.
Don't use hydrogen peroxyde in this hobby.
Quote:
I gave it a mist today and a few fans with the lid, might just keep it going for a bit, I can't start another one for a while (heading on holidays so wouldn't be able to look after it).
Where are you getting this advices? What works best and everyone does now is to dial tubs, when done properly you just leave it untouched untill harvest time. To dial, I mean to provide enough PASSIVE fresh air exchange to enable pinning formation (evaporation is a pinning trigger) but keeping humidity levels on the surface high enough for little droplets to form on the mycelium. That's what you're looking for.
Quote:
or if I wasn't clean enough when prepping the box (used a lot of iso though lol)
You can wash your tub with just water and it will be fine.
Quote:
I just got unlucky with contaminants in my spores
The problem lies in the fact that your spawn was not clean cause you used spores. Spores are inherently dirty because you have to collect 'em from mushroom grown on open air full of contaminants.
Useful links: Checklist for clean spawn. Why you shouldn't use spores directly to grain.
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Shroom Noob AUS
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Re: Should I start again? [Re: Muffa]
#28394055 - 07/13/23 03:38 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Thanks for the replies!
So if I catch some cobweb mold then its time to toss the tub? No point treating it with hydrogen peroxyde?
The advice I've been working from thus far is a real patchwork of youtube videos and forum posts, there's so much info out there and a lot of it is contradicting or outdated I guess, it's been pretty hard to figure out what's best practice.
Thanks for the link, super helpful, there seems to be almost a consensus of best practice I can follow 
I was originally avoiding fanning until I caught all the mold then started frantically trying to figure out what I did wrong and trying new things lol.
Think I'll just follow the advice given on that post you linked, use some agar plates to clean out the spores I got online and buy some more sterilized rye grain bags (until I can afford a pressure cooker lol)
thanks again team!
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RoscoeReturns
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Registered: 02/12/18
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Buying sterilized grain bags is always a crapshoot. Since you’re new and have a spore syringe and don’t have a pressure cooker, I suggest you cut your teeth on PF tek. You can steam the jars rather than PC them. You don’t have to worry about starting with dirty spores. You’ll likely get some mushrooms without wasting a bunch of money on someone else’s grain bags. Once you get a feel for the growing process you can use PF cakes as spawn in your shoebox. It is very beginner friendly, and it’s a progression that allows you to learn how to cultivate without so many ways to fuck everything up. Check it out.
PF tek.
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Shroom Noob AUS
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Hey I just did a little look into PF tek, looks very cool and I might give it a go. Just wondering why I don't have to worry so much about dirty spores with this method? Is it just that its cheaper so less cost if it doesn't work out?
thanks for the help!
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RoscoeReturns
Crotchety chode man



Registered: 02/12/18
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It’s because the BRF verm mixture doesn’t allow bacteria to spread, and you don’t shake like you do grain which also spreads the contaminant around. You may still get contamination in PF cakes, but you can still get fruit from them because the contamination is contained and controlled.
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