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Growing on a boat
    #29507441 -

Hi,

I'm just getting started out. I live on a small sailboat in a temperate climate so have some unique challenges. I have very limited heating, limited space, and limited electricity. A pressure cooker is totally out of the question. So I have to tailor my approach with these constraints in mind. One potential advantage is that the air is always humid here. But of course this means mildew does sometimes appear. No doubt there are spores in this damp air.

I bought pe6 and z strain syringes and inoculated two aio bag kits with the z strain. Aio kits obviously have the advantage of being pre sterilized and sealed so there's less risk of contamination from the air. This was about 20 days ago and there's no sign of mycelium yet. But that's unsurprising given the temperatures. Daytime temps are currently averaging around 10c. From what I gather at this sort of temperature colonization will be very slow. But I'm expecting it so speed up as we head through spring and into summer. Obviously I'm going to be a seasonal grower. I read that inoculating in cold like this helps against any contamination in the spore syringe.

But I've been reading around and now think monotubs might be a better option. You can get them as kits that come with a sterilized and sealed substrate pack that you inject just as with an aio kit. So they have that same advantage. I could transfer the contents of my two z strain kits to one tub when it's colonized and could get a full kit with substrate for the pe6 syringe.

So what do you think? Is this a good approach? Is there any other tek that you think would better fit within my limitations? Any tweaks to my plan or potential problems that I'm not foreseeing?

Edited by hiredgoons (03/06/26 06:40 AM)

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: hiredgoons] * 1
    #29507497 -

There are no predictable shortcuts unfortunately. You can absolutely operate a pressure cooker on a sailboat. Welcome to the Shroomery! :mushroom2:

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: phytophthora] * 1
    #29507503 -

Can you boil water in a large pot for a few hours without it being a problem on your resources?

If so you could do PF Tek which is more forgiving to spore syringes then AIO bags.

If you have some place below deck that's a bit warmer than 10° Celsius it would help.


--------------------
I've got skills, they don't know where to use me
I'm like the best dressed guy at the nude beach
Nice to meet you!

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: phytophthora]
    #29507507 -

phytophthora said:
There are no predictable shortcuts unfortunately. You can absolutely operate a pressure cooker on a sailboat. Welcome to the Shroomery! :mushroom2:



Thanks. I don't have the voltage to run a pressure cooker and even if I did it would use all the power that I need for other things.

Edited by hiredgoons (03/06/26 08:59 AM)

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: PuffM4gicDr4gon]
    #29507513 -

[]PuffM4gicDr4gon said:
Can you boil water in a large pot for a few hours without it being a problem on your resources?

If so you could do PF Tek which is more forgiving to spore syringes then AIO bags.

If you have some place below deck that's a bit warmer than 10° Celsius it would help.


I could. But it would add quite a bit to the cost and fill my cabin with condensation. My thinking is that I can effectively outsource the sterilisation side of things by buying pre sterilised grains and substrate.

I gather that growing the spores on agar is a good way to weed out contamination. Perhaps I could do this, make live culture and inject that.

It's a long term project. I'm thinking I'll start each spring, have fruiting each summer, and then preserve in honey.

Edited by hiredgoons (03/06/26 09:09 AM)

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: hiredgoons] * 2
    #29507522 -

Have you looked into solar cookers for boiling water?

If you can't boil water, you are stuck buying everything. Which sounds cool but is mostly untraceable, expensive failure.


--------------------
It takes guts to be
gentle and kind

Another way to live

Your ego is your nemesis.
Seek the truth tirelessly,
Even at the cost of your own sanity.
-fiddle_head

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: LadysKnight]
    #29507541 -

LadysKnight said:
Have you looked into solar cookers for boiling water?

If you can't boil water, you are stuck buying everything. Which sounds cool but is mostly untraceable, expensive failure.


I hadn't. They look pretty interesting. Though I want to get things started in spring each year when there isn't so much sun.

I can boil water on a hob. Though its something I generally try to avoid because of the condensation which causes mildew and mould. It would be hard to make a sterile space in here. It's too damp. Even books, clothes etc will get contaminated with mould if I leave them exposed to the air. I'm always wiping surfaces down but there's nooks and crannies that I can't get to. With buying sealed bags of pre sterilised stuff with self sealing injection ports I'm ensuring that nothing is exposed to the air prior to the mycelium being robust enough to defend it's self. Then perhaps the environment will be an advantage since it's so suited to fungal growth.

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: hiredgoons]
    #29507596 -

Something like this?

I feel your pain.


--------------------
It takes guts to be
gentle and kind

Another way to live

Your ego is your nemesis.
Seek the truth tirelessly,
Even at the cost of your own sanity.
-fiddle_head

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: hiredgoons] * 4
    #29507619 -

The trick with Outsourcing your sterilization is that you don't know whether or not the person selling the stuff actually knows what they're doing. If you get supplies from someone who doesn't really care about quality control, at the temperatures you're working with, you might not find out there's a problem until months later.


Cleaning up a culture yourself is worth the effort.

You might be able to make an incubator using two tubs with water between them and an aquarium heater. The heater wouldn't need to be very powerful and you might be able to run it off of a solar power bank. I would look into the specs before you buy anything I'm really just spitballing here. If it worked it would allow you to have a small space around 15 to 20° which would help.

Edit: happy 2k to me


--------------------
I've got skills, they don't know where to use me
I'm like the best dressed guy at the nude beach
Nice to meet you!

Edited by PuffM4gicDr4gon (03/06/26 10:53 AM)

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: LadysKnight]
    #29507631 -

I
LadysKnight said:
Something like this?

I feel your pain.


It's not so bad. The neighbours (seals) are pretty nice. I've never been healthier. Carrying water home and having your body adapt to the seasons is how people lived for thousands of years prior to the recent invention of central heating. It comes with it challenges though.

The kits I'm thinking of getting are like this.



So it's not like an aio kit. It has separate grain and substrate.

I'm starting to like the idea of using agar and making live culture. Because spore prints I make might not be sterile it will be a good way of avoiding putting contamination into expensive bags of sterilised grain.

Edited by hiredgoons (03/06/26 11:18 AM)

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: PuffM4gicDr4gon]
    #29507643 -

PuffM4gicDr4gon said:
The trick with Outsourcing your sterilization is that you don't know whether or not the person selling the stuff actually knows what they're doing. If you get supplies from someone who doesn't really care about quality control, at the temperatures you're working with, you might not find out there's a problem until months later.


Cleaning up a culture yourself is worth the effort.

You might be able to make an incubator using two tubs with water between them and an aquarium heater. The heater wouldn't need to be very powerful and you might be able to run it off of a solar power bank. I would look into the specs before you buy anything I'm really just spitballing here. If it worked it would allow you to have a small space around 15 to 20° which would help.

Edit: happy 2k to me


Yeah I could make a small incubator. I could maybe get a heated propagator or something like that. If I start using agar to make live culture I'll probably have to do that as I'll be wanting to do it in spring. I don't really mind being a seasonal grower. The summer temps should be sufficient and from what I understand innoculating in colder temperatures reduces the chances of contamination.

I think I've found some reliable vendors for the sterilisation. One of them offers a full refund if mushrooms don't grow. The reviews are positive. I think I'll end up buying three as Natal Super Strength looks interesting and I'd like to try that alongside my z strain and pe6. I'll buy from three different vendors. I'm kinda planning with contingency in mind. It's unlikely three different kits and three different spore syringes will all go wrong simultaneously.

Edited by hiredgoons (03/06/26 11:24 AM)

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: hiredgoons]
    #29507774 -

Great news! You can definitely boil water and do Pf tek. The other great news is you do not need electricity to run a pressure cooker. Furthermore, other very nice news is you can run it on the deck, so no need to steam up the cabin. Buying grain and aio bags and generally being resistant to what it takes to reliably cultivate says to me maybe the best course of action is to just buy a couple 1/8ths of dealer shrooms? Something to consider anyway.

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: phytophthora]
    #29507777 -

phytophthora said:
Great news! You can definitely boil water and do Pf tek. The other great news is you do not need electricity to run a pressure cooker. Furthermore, other very nice news is you can run it on the deck, so no need to steam up the cabin. Buying grain and aio bags and generally being resistant to what it takes to reliably cultivate says to me maybe the best course of action is to just buy a couple 1/8ths of dealer shrooms? Something to consider anyway.


I'm not talking about buying aio bags just to be clear. I'm talking about buying bags of pre sterilised grain simply as an alternative to sterilising it myself. You're right about the pressure cooker. The only ones I've seen are the plug in ones so I thought they were all like that. I could run a pressure cooker on a hob. But it would probably cost at least as much as the pre sterilised stuff in gas. I'll read up on Pf Tek to better understand it's advantages over the monotub.

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: hiredgoons]
    #29507779 -

The point is that bags of anything that were sterilized by someone else will always be an unknown. Just because a company will let you return or exchange it does not mean they know what they are doing.

Vendors don't care if you get shrooms as long as they have your money. Don't forget that.


--------------------
"For the powerful freedom-takers who rob justice from us all, that's why I keep my pistol loaded, powder, cap, and ball..."
Read more, post less!
...turns out, I'm an amateur at everything

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: hiredgoons]
    #29507782 -

Alright.

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: phytophthora] * 1
    #29507800 -

With a pressure cooker you are in full control. Prep grains, make your own agar, when and how you feel like. You don't need huge one, just something that can fit  two or three of the jars you would like to use.


--------------------

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: KlarnEvil9]
    #29508377 -

KlarnEvil9 said:
The point is that bags of anything that were sterilized by someone else will always be an unknown. Just because a company will let you return or exchange it does not mean they know what they are doing.

Vendors don't care if you get shrooms as long as they have your money. Don't forget that.


Some of these companies do seem to care about their reputations. One in particular that I've found has glowing reviews. The vast majority report no problems and a few report that they had problems but the company made it right. They use millet and milo grains rather than the usual rye.

I might try both approaches and see what happens. Being new to it there's a chance I'll mess up the DIY pressure cooker approach and I really want some shrooms for the summer.

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: hiredgoons]
    #29509380 -

Buy some shrooms for the summer and learn to DIY at the same time. Or waste your time getting replacements from this wonderful vendor, which will teach you far less. The choice is yours.


--------------------
"For the powerful freedom-takers who rob justice from us all, that's why I keep my pistol loaded, powder, cap, and ball..."
Read more, post less!
...turns out, I'm an amateur at everything

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: hiredgoons] * 2
    #29509407 -

hiredgoons said:
Some of these companies do seem to care about their reputations. One in particular that I've found has glowing reviews. The vast majority report no problems and a few report that they had problems but the company made it right. They use millet and milo grains rather than the usual rye.


I have a friend that works for a well known gourmet mushroom vendor that also sells bins for boomers.  They also have glowing reviews.  And hearing his stoires around quality control and the misleading advice given by customer support, I assume they game their reviews somehow (removing negative ones from their website, curating a reddit sub where they can also remove negative reviews, etc.)

At the end of the day they're selling shovels.  And if their shovel doesn't work well, they'll gaslight the miner.  And if the miner is digging for illegal gold, they probably won't be inclined to leave a negative review when someone has their address and credit card info.

I'm not saying all vendors are like this.  And millet and milo suggests it's a different vendor.  But...  this is a larger vendor with glowing reviews and reputation, and neither the reviews or the reputation are deserved.

I would suggest PF Tek as others have already.


--------------------
And if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get him to swap our places
I'd be running up that road
Be running up that hill
With no problems

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Re: Growing on a boat [Re: tree frog] * 2
    #29509422 -

I'm in a camper, atm. If I can do it I think you can. Basically the same thing.


--------------------


Everything is better when it is done ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN!

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Mushrooms, Mycology and Psychedelics > Mushroom Cultivation
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