|
shronoob88
Stranger
Registered: 11/14/23
Posts: 43
Last seen: 4 hours, 31 minutes
|
|
A few more update pictures . Starting to colonise nicely now. I think the pic with 3 jars are jedi mind fuck as looks to be growing differently and slower aswell. The other jars are GTs. Just need to be patient now I think is the key here . How many more weeks in the jars do you guys reckon ?

|
metaneuralnetwork
Stranger
Registered: 12/13/23
Posts: 62
Last seen: 1 day, 20 hours
|
|
I don't buy into the 'heating pads are a fire risk and therefore should not be used' line of thinking. The seedling mats I see on Amazon are 17.5w (labeled as 20). so like .15A
That will not get hot enough to start anything on fire.These things barely exceed 100F. You'd require a short for that which isn't going to happen unless there was damage to the unit or some wonky electrical placements in your setup. But the pad is all non moving parts. Worst thing about a heating pad is overheating and high temps messing up your grow.
If your system was a no touch setup I might be inclined to change my position. But for a fruiting box that you're fanning everyday, occasional misting? I'd try heating pads. Just be careful about getting any substrate or cakes too warm.
Spend a little extra and get a temp controlled one.
|
shronoob88
Stranger
Registered: 11/14/23
Posts: 43
Last seen: 4 hours, 31 minutes
|
|
I forgot to mention actually, I have ditched the heat mat and added in a ceramic heat lamp and inkbird stat controller that I can control remotely on my phone . Jars are sitting at a constant 21c - 21.5c temperature.
The mat was sat a few inches below the jars anyway with 3x storage box lids above it with the jars on top. I was checking the temp with a decent IR thermometer regularly and they were never getting above 24c . However I did agree that heating the space was a better idea than a heat mat so pulled the trigger on lamp and stat . .
I have put probably 300 quid into this hobby so far and I sincerely hope I get some fruits for my efforts.
|
shronoob88
Stranger
Registered: 11/14/23
Posts: 43
Last seen: 4 hours, 31 minutes
|
|
Update on my journey . I managed to use pastywhites agar no pour tek . 1st run was a failure as although the 1st load of pots (20 of them) held up in the PC , the lids sort of melted around the rim so now I have 20 pots of agar fully prepped but the lids are not removable easily so I think they're for the bin unless someone can tell me if they're any use of not.
Anyhow the 2nd run the pots held up so I'm happy with that. I now have 9 agar plates ready to innoc and get some clean agar to make some decent whole oats ready to go . Hoping the condensation isn't too much of an issue. 
|
KnowlesKnows
Stranger

Registered: 10/29/23
Posts: 68
Last seen: 29 days, 2 hours
|
|
Quote:
shronoob88 said: Update on my journey . I managed to use pastywhites agar no pour tek . 1st run was a failure as although the 1st load of pots (20 of them) held up in the PC , the lids sort of melted around the rim so now I have 20 pots of agar fully prepped but the lids are not removable easily so I think they're for the bin unless someone can tell me if they're any use of not.
Anyhow the 2nd run the pots held up so I'm happy with that. I now have 9 agar plates ready to innoc and get some clean agar to make some decent whole oats ready to go . Hoping the condensation isn't too much of an issue. 

If you have excess condensation and water pooling flip them upside down, wonβt hurt it. Iβve been looking into a ceramic heater bulb as well. Does the inkbird work well?
|
shronoob88
Stranger
Registered: 11/14/23
Posts: 43
Last seen: 4 hours, 31 minutes
|
|
Well it certainly does a great job of regulating the temperature in the small space I have to grow in . I'm happy with it for my purposes
|
BeefSupremeJr
Detritivore



Registered: 11/02/11
Posts: 6,812
Loc: 29.9792Β° N, 31.1342Β° E
Last seen: 20 minutes, 32 seconds
|
|
Quote:
shronoob88 said: I forgot to mention actually, I have ditched the heat mat and added in a ceramic heat lamp and inkbird stat controller that I can control remotely on my phone . Jars are sitting at a constant 21c - 21.5c temperature.
The mat was sat a few inches below the jars anyway with 3x storage box lids above it with the jars on top. I was checking the temp with a decent IR thermometer regularly and they were never getting above 24c . However I did agree that heating the space was a better idea than a heat mat so pulled the trigger on lamp and stat . .
I have put probably 300 quid into this hobby so far and I sincerely hope I get some fruits for my efforts.
glad to hear this. did you calibrate the inkbird? using a good mercury thermometer will give you an accurate reading.
|
shronoob88
Stranger
Registered: 11/14/23
Posts: 43
Last seen: 4 hours, 31 minutes
|
|
Update , i lost a jar due to green mould today . Anyway other 6 looking good .
I now have an x acto knife tool thingy and a bunch of metal inoculation loops for it. But all I have is a MSS ,what tek should I use for getting a couple of plates going ? Using the MSS . should I drop straight on the plate or am I better off using the loops with some MSS solution in a shot glass ?
I used the last of my GTs MSS in another 5 BRF jars and forgot to leave some for my agar , so now I only have JMF to make agar plates which I'm not happy with myself about . What a plonker .
|
BrokenHeart
Stranger



Registered: 02/27/23
Posts: 127
Last seen: 3 hours, 5 minutes
|
|
for a few plates, a simple drop from syringe on plate and then a z streak with fresh or flamed loop would be method I choose. Keeping the variables to a minimum is my play. I would do shot glass if I were having to noc up 30 plates to search for aggressive genetics.
|
shronoob88
Stranger
Registered: 11/14/23
Posts: 43
Last seen: 4 hours, 31 minutes
|
|
Got my plates going today with my JMF. The BRF jars are still not at full colonisation yet. Getting there though . Hoping another week or so and they'll be ready . Getting impatient now . Looking forward to getting some decent plates on the go and switching to some grain jars . And making some big tubs . Really enjoying the hobby so far .
|
shronoob88
Stranger
Registered: 11/14/23
Posts: 43
Last seen: 4 hours, 31 minutes
|
|
|
shronoob88
Stranger
Registered: 11/14/23
Posts: 43
Last seen: 4 hours, 31 minutes
|
|
Update , jars still colonising, seem to just have little patches what don't seem to be colonising . I also lost another jar due to Trich. That's 2 out of 7 so far . Out of interest can anyone tell me how many of these brf jars are likely to become contaminated ? Like is it pretty normal to lose 2 out of 7 ? Or have I done a bad job ?
|
PBJ710
Strangler


Registered: 07/05/19
Posts: 2,623
Last seen: 17 days, 23 hours
|
|
Typically if the MS syringe is bad they will all fail, so it's likely something on your end. Where the jars are failing will tell you how the contam got into your PFTek mix. If it's at some of the inoculation sites, it came in on a dirty needle. If it's happening at the tops of the jars, the contams made it past your dry verm layer. If the jars are randomly contaminating all over, it's likely how they were sterilized or prepared.
The compaction aspect of the tall jars may be playing a role as well...
|
shronoob88
Stranger
Registered: 11/14/23
Posts: 43
Last seen: 4 hours, 31 minutes
|
|

This is the jar I'm talking about . Is there anything to salvage from this or do I toss ?
|
PBJ710
Strangler


Registered: 07/05/19
Posts: 2,623
Last seen: 17 days, 23 hours
|
|
It looks like uncolonized dry verm layer to me (albeit a very thick one)? If you're referring to the blue spot just remove it with the dry verm layer and spawn it.
|
shronoob88
Stranger
Registered: 11/14/23
Posts: 43
Last seen: 4 hours, 31 minutes
|
Re: Heating a space [Re: PBJ710]
#28611468 - 01/06/24 09:15 AM (21 days, 22 hours ago) |
|
|
The other side of the jar is nowhere near colonised
|
PBJ710
Strangler


Registered: 07/05/19
Posts: 2,623
Last seen: 17 days, 23 hours
|
|
Not being colonized doesn't necessarily indicate contam. PFtek doesn't always grow from all inoculation points so sometimes it takes a while to get the jar fully colonized from 1 or 2 of the inoculation sites. Likewise if you injected it into the dry verm layer instead of the PFtek mix it may not germinate at that site. You can use a sharpie to draw an outline of the growth on the jar to see if it's still progressing or if it truely has stalled. Although PFTek is resistant to bacterial contams, it's not a 100% guarantee of success if your MS is slightly contaminated or if you introduce it during the inoculation.
Show some pics of the side with issues if you want feedback on that part of the jar.
|
shronoob88
Stranger
Registered: 11/14/23
Posts: 43
Last seen: 4 hours, 31 minutes
|
Re: Heating a space [Re: PBJ710]
#28611531 - 01/06/24 10:14 AM (21 days, 21 hours ago) |
|
|
The Last picture with the spot of contam is the jar I'm referring to. The side pictured is colonised but the other side isn't at all
|
420Botanist
along for the ride

Registered: 01/02/24
Posts: 61
Last seen: 1 day, 15 hours
|
|
Quote:
shronoob88 said: The Last picture with the spot of contam is the jar I'm referring to. The side pictured is colonised but the other side isn't at all
You could give it some more time, draw outlines as suggested or just for fun and experience with your SAB...you could try and take some transfers to agar plates. You might get some contaminations but then it's good experience chasing them out!
|
shronoob88
Stranger
Registered: 11/14/23
Posts: 43
Last seen: 4 hours, 31 minutes
|
|
So I could leave that jar to colonise fully around the other side and just hope the trick doesn't continue to grow ?
|
|