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OfflineSeizureSalad
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Registered: 08/15/23
Posts: 82
Last seen: 1 year, 2 months
First time grower - analyze my monotub
    #28469739 - 09/15/23 08:31 AM (1 year, 3 months ago)



Following Bod's monotub tek. A few notes about this monotub:
  • Psilocybe cubensis. The strain(?) is Amazon. 
  • My first ever mushroom grow, i made a few mistakes which are listed below
  • My grain was a bit too wet when i loaded it into the jar before PC, I noticed no contamination throughout the spawn prep stage
  • This was a multispore syringe strait to grain, I know this is a no-no, but this first tub was a trial run, I have two more monotubs worth of spawn colonizing from agar now. No contam has been seen, I think the syringe was relatively clean
  • There is NO casing layer. The only contents of the monotub are grain spawn, coco coir, and water. (no verm, gypsum, etc.)
  • The monotub was immediately placed into FRUITING conditions, I have taken bod's advice and make no distinction between colonizing/fruiting conditions.
  • The grain/coir mix is ~2.5 inches or ~6 cm thick
  • The ratio of spawn to substrate was pretty low. I only used 2 quart jars of grain spawn for this 34 qt monotub (this was because its a trial run, the other 10 1-quart jars were reserved for my 2 proper monotubs)


The last two points are the most relevant to my concerns.

1. While the surface of the monotub looks to my (inexperienced) eyes to be well colonized, I do not see any colonization happening on the bottom half of the bulk substrate. It seems quite wet aswell. Did I use too much water when preparing my bulk substrate? Will I still get decent yield from the mycelium on top?
2. I did not give much thought to the thickness of the substrate when I made the tub, Did I make the substrate/grain mix too thick?
3. Do you agree that the top looks well colonized? Do you see any contamination that I don't see? (it smells healthy, for whatever that's worth coming from a noob)

Feel free to say whatever else comes to mind. I have been journaling about my process aswell if that helps clear things up.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to help out us noobs :crazy: :mushroom2:

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OfflineRoscoeReturnsS
Crotchety chode man
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Registered: 02/12/18
Posts: 2,140
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Re: First time grower - analyze my monotub [Re: SeizureSalad]
    #28469754 - 09/15/23 08:47 AM (1 year, 3 months ago)

Thank you for giving a good amount of back story. So many ask questions without telling us what you did to het here.

You say no casing, but how did you spawn? I think I see grain in the picture of the surface, so I’m assuming you did not use a top layer or pseudocasing. Did you mix your grain into the substrate well? The fact that the top is colonized, but the rest of the sub is not is a bit worrisome, but if most of the grain is close to the surface that might explain it. If your substrate is too wet it may not be able to get any oxygen in the lower portion of your tub. If that’s the case you may still get some fruit.

Surface conditions look pretty good. All those little water droplets are exactly what we want to see. Good job. The colonization doesn’t look great, but there also isn’t anything glaringly wrong about it. It’s a bit whispy and disorganized, but I’ve had tubs like that fruit just fine. I’ve also had tubs looking like that turn green. For now you just sit back and wait.

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OfflineSeizureSalad
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Registered: 08/15/23
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Re: First time grower - analyze my monotub [Re: RoscoeReturns]
    #28469815 - 09/15/23 09:28 AM (1 year, 3 months ago)

No pseudocasing. The grains are present throughout the substrate (although the overall amount of grain is lower than recommended). When you say the mycelium is 'disorganized' what do you mean by that? I notice little knots forming in the mycelium at the surface, I assume the myc is beginning to pin?

As for the lack of myc at the bottom I was thinking the same, too much water, not enough oxygen but I wanted the opinion of some experienced growers. Do you have an opinion about the thickness of the substrate? Is 2.5 inches too much?

Thanks again

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OfflineRoscoeReturnsS
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Re: First time grower - analyze my monotub [Re: SeizureSalad]
    #28469884 - 09/15/23 10:56 AM (1 year, 3 months ago)

2.5 inches is fine, I like it a little deeper like 3 or 3.5 inches. Your grain amount is fine if it’s clean. I use 2 quarts in the same tubs you’re using.

By disorganized I mean it’s very fine and growing in all directions across the surface. I more often see cube myc growing up through the substrate rather than all across it, but like I said, that alone isn’t the death knell. That along with the fact that there is nothing visible at the bottom 2/3 of the substrate makes me think bad thoughts.

Did you check field capacity of your sub before using it?

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OfflineSeizureSalad
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Registered: 08/15/23
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Re: First time grower - analyze my monotub [Re: RoscoeReturns]
    #28470490 - 09/15/23 09:13 PM (1 year, 3 months ago)

I did check field capacity, Sqeezed it to see a steady stream into a trickle. But as a new guy I probably misjudged. Im gonna make the bulk sub less wet for my next tubs.

Just one more question, you mentioned pseudocasing. Is it important to do pseudocasing for cubes? The strain i'm using is well domesticated. Bod didn't say much about pseudocasing in this tek. If you do recommend it, what does a pseudocasing entail? is it just a thin layer of pure coir at the top? Bod says exposed grain at the top is fine.

Edited by SeizureSalad (09/15/23 11:29 PM)

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OfflineSeizureSalad
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Registered: 08/15/23
Posts: 82
Last seen: 1 year, 2 months
Re: First time grower - analyze my monotub [Re: SeizureSalad]
    #28473586 - 09/18/23 10:28 AM (1 year, 3 months ago)

Well this monotub has developed the green. These pics are 12 days after mixing the spawn and coir. If anyone happens to be called back here I have a few more questions, and again thanks everyone for your patience and interest in my progress as a noob.



1. Am I supposed to throw the tub away as soon as I see this crap? And if so, how do I prevent this crap from spreading all over my apartment? (there is no liner in this tub)
2. How long (after mixing the spawn with coir) should I wait to expect to start seeing pins? Like I said, this tub was mixed 12 days ago. (should I be holding onto this infected tub in hopes for a tiny bit of yield, or is all hope lost?)

Sad that my first grow ended up like this, but many mistakes were made, many mistakes that I will be learning from to improve my next two monotubs (the grains for these two monotubs will finish colonizing in the next couple days) My beginner's luck didn't last long, unfortunately, but onwards and upwards. :sad: :mushroom2:

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OfflineBlueberry Muffin
The Mold King


Registered: 09/15/23
Posts: 1,189
Last seen: 13 hours, 23 minutes
Re: First time grower - analyze my monotub [Re: SeizureSalad]
    #28477338 - 09/21/23 05:00 AM (1 year, 3 months ago)

Quote:

SeizureSalad said:
Well this monotub has developed the green. These pics are 12 days after mixing the spawn and coir. If anyone happens to be called back here I have a few more questions, and again thanks everyone for your patience and interest in my progress as a noob.



1. Am I supposed to throw the tub away as soon as I see this crap? And if so, how do I prevent this crap from spreading all over my apartment? (there is no liner in this tub)
2. How long (after mixing the spawn with coir) should I wait to expect to start seeing pins? Like I said, this tub was mixed 12 days ago. (should I be holding onto this infected tub in hopes for a tiny bit of yield, or is all hope lost?)

Sad that my first grow ended up like this, but many mistakes were made, many mistakes that I will be learning from to improve my next two monotubs (the grains for these two monotubs will finish colonizing in the next couple days) My beginner's luck didn't last long, unfortunately, but onwards and upwards. :sad: :mushroom2:





I am a complete beginner and still in the process of waiting for growth on agar. I just wanted to ask if the yellow on the pictures is grain or those are metabolites and as I understand, a sign of contamination?

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OfflineKinoko314
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Registered: 12/16/22
Posts: 1,585
Loc: Colorado Flag
Last seen: 4 months, 1 day
Re: First time grower - analyze my monotub [Re: Blueberry Muffin]
    #28477443 - 09/21/23 08:44 AM (1 year, 3 months ago)

Metabolites are a sign of stress, possibly from contamination, possibly from drying out, or going through repeated wet/dry cycles (fanning and misting).

Most people will probably tell you to dump your tub right away.  Some of the TCs here will say it won't affect your other/future grows. I don't have enough experience with trich to argue either way.

Trich can take over pretty quick though, so I'm not sure there's much chance of getting fruit before it's toast, since you still don't have pins.

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OfflineSeizureSalad
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Registered: 08/15/23
Posts: 82
Last seen: 1 year, 2 months
Re: First time grower - analyze my monotub [Re: Blueberry Muffin]
    #28477490 - 09/21/23 09:47 AM (1 year, 3 months ago)

Hey there, im pretty much also a beginner, but I can assure you the yellow is just exposed grain. I just started two new monotubs this morning and this time I did a 'pseudocasing' layer of coir on top so there is no exposed grain. I think this is recommended because it makes it harder for potential contaminants to reach the grain, which is the easiest for contams to colonize. If I understand correctly, it is very difficult for most contams to infect coir alone, so a pseudo casing layer is safer. Also, when you get to time to start your tub, check this thread. My first tub failed because my substrate was far too wet, which caused the mycelium to stall out and allowed trich to infect the bottom of the substrate. So maybe it will save you some hassle.

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