milkboy said:

lostsoul1976 said:

BeefSupremeJr said:

pretty blurry picture but it appears to appear ok.

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Shit! 13hr work day, weed, beer, phone camera, nothing good can come from that.
Sorry bout that. Hopefully this is better. Put the phone on a stand😋

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Only 2 or so months till harvest

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Yep that’s what I thought😞. Thankfully I got other faster things going


🥳🥳🥳

Kloakk said:

AZ Starman2112 said:

Most hobbies tend to be expensive. And we all probably have too many of them. I know I do. Been down the rabbit hole too many times. Here I am on the Shroomery, like Alice in Wonderland, right down another rabbit hole. I keep saying I want to give some hobbies up so I have more time for the others. However that’s really hard. As humans we have attachment issues to things and we don’t want to give up. Especially things we feel define us as who we are as an individual. I know that’s a thing I definitely suffer with. I know for some it is even tougher because they become hoarders, which thankfully I’m not and never will be.

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Well said and I am just the same, fortunately what defines me and my hobbies the most, is deep diving and obsessing over whatever is my main hobby at the time, until I feel I master it or get stuck to the point where I give up(sorry Dala) and move on

I've also been lucky in that my hobbies has changed with me, so I'm not actually missing or neglecting other hobbies, or almost, I do miss having a cannabis plant flowering(but I don't really smoke weed anymore), I still feel like writing lyrics from time to time(but I've said what I wanted to say) and I should brew enough beer so I don't need to buy it(but the fermentation fridge is now incubator for spawn and will soon be a cold fruiting chamber).

It can be real exhausting though, deep diving I mean, hard to believe I'm not even a year in with this hobby, but I'm really enjoying the ride so far.

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GenesisCorrupted said:

I'm assuming that stands for liquid inoculant?
We usually call it liquid culture around here.

It is technically possible with a pot and a very tight fitting lid. But it is hard to do.
You shouldn't be trying to avoid the sterilizing process. That's the best part.

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AZ Starman2112 said:

Amazing that you are not even in a year and growing the stuff you do with such amazing results. That truly incredible! Be proud of yourself man!  I'm doing this around 3 years. But didn't really deep diving until earlier this year. I was a lurker here for a while and then finally joined in December last year and quickly realized I was not going about things the right way.

I've still got a long way to go, but I know I've come a long way. I'm very hard on myself when I have failures and it makes me feel like a failure. It's kinda like the character Brian Johnson in The Breakfast Club. However failures tend to drive me further into getting things right the next time. Try, try, try again, until you succeed is what they say right?

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Hey wait, except for the 3 year part, are you me?
I mean I am proud of most of my grows, but I kind of give a lot of the credit for my good results to all the people in the community that has helped me get there, and then there is, as you said, the failures. See, the good results last a couple of days after harvesting, but the failures stay until I get it right, so weeks to months, even though I agree that I have done alright for a only a year in, most of the time I feel like a failure

Not going to lie though, I came for the knowledge of mushroom cultivation, but with all the kind words, the positive feedback, the help with the failures and the overall kindness you people show a weirdo like me, I am also learning to appreciate the good results and get back on my feet from my failures faster

So even though this is the wrong thread for it, thank you guys and gals.

Kloakk said:

AZ Starman2112 said:

Amazing that you are not even in a year and growing the stuff you do with such amazing results. That truly incredible! Be proud of yourself man!  I'm doing this around 3 years. But didn't really deep diving until earlier this year. I was a lurker here for a while and then finally joined in December last year and quickly realized I was not going about things the right way.

I've still got a long way to go, but I know I've come a long way. I'm very hard on myself when I have failures and it makes me feel like a failure. It's kinda like the character Brian Johnson in The Breakfast Club. However failures tend to drive me further into getting things right the next time. Try, try, try again, until you succeed is what they say right?

---

Hey wait, except for the 3 year part, are you me?
I mean I am proud of most of my grows, but I kind of give a lot of the credit for my good results to all the people in the community that has helped me get there, and then there is, as you said, the failures. See, the good results last a couple of days after harvesting, but the failures stay until I get it right, so weeks to months, even though I agree that I have done alright for a only a year in, most of the time I feel like a failure

Not going to lie though, I came for the knowledge of mushroom cultivation, but with all the kind words, the positive feedback, the help with the failures and the overall kindness you people show a weirdo like me, I am also learning to appreciate the good results and get back on my feet from my failures faster

So even though this is the wrong thread for it, thank you guys and gals.

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Henry Swanson said:

Not a bad idea, when you put the culture on your plate place it off to the side and then follow this pattern with your loop. Try not to put too much liquid on the plate.



A lot of good info and tips in this thread.
c10's Agar Guide + Tips & Tricks

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BeefSupremeJr said:

callmehippie said:

Just finished my plates. They came out perfect. set up perfectly within minutes. I think the problem was I just didn't bring the agar in the pot to a full boil and for long enough.

This time I let it really boil and start to foam up and then. took it off. Stirred. And repeated twice. then I could tell it was nice and thick and ready.


Lesson learned. Make sure it gets hot enough when preparing.

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kinda thought that might be it.  did you notice how you can see little congealed bits on the walls of the pot until you hit a certain temp? 

anyway nicely done.  you asked for help. you took some advice, you fixed your issue.  thats whats up.

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The Tao said:

Bacterial streaking is different. Streaking, flaming, and repeating thins the sample out and allows you to isolate individual bacterial colonies. You then touch those colonies to new plates with various ingredients to see what grows or is suppressed to help identify the bacteria.
I stay near the middle of plates when I work with mycelium. The edges tend to get contamination if it’s going to show up.

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I tend to like to just do a zig zag in the center. Staying away from walls like Tao said.

I also like to use my cell spreader for liquids.





Like bod.

Auto-Summary

This post offers a detailed guide on using spore prints and syringes for cultivation, emphasizing the importance of minimizing contamination. The author recommends germinating spores on agar before applying them to grain to reduce the risk of contamination from spores or syringes. They introduce the technique of spore streaking, which involves diluting spores on agar to create colonies of varying concentrations, enabling the isolation of pure strains more efficiently than traditional methods. The post provides step-by-step instructions for the T-Streak method, highlighting its benefits for cleaning up prints, isolating strains, and refreshing liquid cultures. The author encourages feedback and further discussion, expressing gratitude for the community's support.

This is an exerpt from the post I linked. It's worked well for me, which is why I was sharing. Different strokes (no pun intended) for different folks

c10h12n2o said:

Working with Spores:
since we fruit in open air, we can assume that spores are dirty. if someone sends you a spore print, you can assume it is going to have contams on it in addition to the spores you want to cultivate. this does not mean you got a bad print, it means you got a NORMAL print. the same thing applies to syringes. for this reason, when inoculating something with spores, it is a good idea to use as little as possible, since we only need a few spores and the more solution/spores we use, the more contams will be present as well. i recommend people never putting spores directly to grain, since it is so easy to culture the contams

a sterile jar of grain is basically the microbiological jackpot for anything that can digest it (fungi, bacteria, etc), so we need to take care to reduce the chances of culturing the wrong microorganisms. basically, ALWAYS germinate your spores first on agar before applying them to grain/lc/etc.

by using streaking techniques, you can easily clean up even the dirtiest of prints or spore syringes. you basically are using a loop to spread spores VERY thin across the surface of agar, creating various zones with different concentrations of spores. this is extremely useful for cleaning up a print, since you spread the contams thin while you spread the spores. this is also a great way to obtain isolates about 100 transfers sooner than you would get from a blob of spores, since the later zones have very few strains present in each colony. by doing one of these serial dilution style streaks, you end up with hundreds of colonies to choose from, of various genetic diversity, which gives you lots of chances to select a vigorous, organized culture

Quote:

In microbiology, streaking is a technique used to isolate a pure strain from a single species of microorganism, often bacteria(fungi in our case). Samples can then be taken from the resulting colonies and a microbiological culture can be grown on a new plate so that the organism can be identified, studied, or tested.

Streaking is rapid and ideally a simple process of isolation dilution. The technique is done by diluting a comparatively large concentration of bacteria to a smaller concentration. The decrease of bacteria should show that colonies are sufficiently spread apart to effect the separation of the different types of microbes. Streaking is done using a sterile tool, such as a cotton swab or commonly an inoculation loop. Aseptic techniques are used to maintain microbiological cultures and to prevent contamination of the growth medium.There are many different types of methods used to streak a plate. Picking a technique is a matter of individual preference and can also depend on how large the number of microbes the sample contains.

The three-phase streaking pattern, known as the T-Streak, is recommended for beginners.The streaking is done using a sterile tool, such as a cotton swab or commonly an inoculation loop. The inoculation loop is first sterilized by passing it through a flame. When the loop is cool, it is dipped into an inoculum such as a broth or patient specimen containing many species of bacteria. The inoculation loop is then dragged across the surface of the agar back and forth in a zigzag motion until approximately 30% of the plate has been covered. The loop then is re-sterilized and the plate is turned 90 degrees. Starting in the previously streaked section, the loop is dragged through it two to three times continuing the zigzag pattern. The procedure is then repeated once more being cautious to not touch the previously streaked sectors. Each time the loop gathers fewer and fewer bacteria until it gathers just single bacterial cells that can grow into a colony.The plate should show the heaviest growth in the first section. The second section will have less growth and a few isolated colonies, while the final section will have the least amount of growth and many isolated colonies.

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examples of streaked plates. different labs use different standards for streaking. colonies thin as the dish rotates counter clockwise

the way i like to do it is very similar to what is described above. basically, take your loop (bod's DIY loop tek) and scrape off a small amount of spores from a print (or drip a drop from a syringe directly onto the loop) and streak a side of the plate like below. then flame the loop again, DONT SCRAPE MORE SPORES, rotate the dish, and drag the loop from the area you streaked previously to streak zone 2, then flame and repeat

this is the streaking technique i like to use. it is tremendously handy for cleaning up spore prints, isolation projects, and even cleaning up old LCs

if you are using a spore syringe as your starting point (or a LC you are trying to refresh), you want to be super careful not to add any additional liquid to the plate, otherwise it will roll around and distort the streaking pattern. so make sure you dont drip over the plate, you shouldnt be putting any more liquid into the plate than what sticks to the loop

Conclusion:

so that is pretty much it!! a bit lengthy, but i think i covered most of what i wanted to cover for my post #1000. please let me know if yall have any questions or need clarification about anything

i also welcome any additional tips & tricks, feedback, criticism, discussion, debate, haters (), or critical thinking

thanks everyone for everything yall have done to make this place such an incredible resource. im so grateful to live in an age where there is an online community to collaborate with on our hobbies

warm regards,
c10

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