Lo-Z said:

fahtster said:

Not kloakk but this is probably the cleanest pan culture I’ve produced… at least the only one I’ve been completely sure about and thought, “that’s gonna do really well.”



Went on to produce this tray


I’ve had plenty that I was unsure about do well tho.  You want fast, even, wispy growth that looks unencumbered.  Watch out for myc that doesn’t grow aerial above the plate surface and lays down.  Too thick myc that’s slow usually means there’s a biofilm under it ime

I also don’t think it’s a stretch to think that some ride along bacteria can be in a symbiotic relationship with mycelium.  These organisms aren’t in anywhere close to sterile conditions out in the wild so maybe some bacteria are welcomed by the myc to help break food down (nichrome has said as much as a possibility). 

Could be that the bacteria hitches a ride helping them spread.  Could also be a way for the mycelium to keep their lineage in check… millions of spores are released and the weaker ones lose the battle of symbiotic balance being taken over by the bacteria whereas, the strong, fast and aggressive offspring stay in balance with the relationship and live long enough to spore.

Just spitballing but with that being said, if you’ve done everything you can to get a culture clean and it still seems slightly dirty but aggressive, maybe you just need to send it and see how it goes.  I have a lot of borderline cultures where Ive done that and they turn out well.  Maybe the first flush is a bit rough but get better in the conservative flushes.

When I do send cultures to grain that I’m not sure of, I’ll pay close attention to what the jar looks like fully colonized.  I let my jar go for 2-3 days after colonization to see how they act.  You really can’t tell much from a colonizing jar.  They can be very deceiving.  The growth in that 2-3 days after 100% tells me if I should even send the jar to bulk. 

This is what I look for in those jars.. again, even growth without signs of stress


That myc growing up the jar says a lot.  The myc in the grains is also even.  There’s no thick matted clumps or bruising or yellowing/gray colors.

This jar has all the things I don’t want to see.  Along with, metabolites


I won’t even waste the materials to send that because 9 out of 10 times, it won’t even make it past colonizing and if it does, it probably won’t flush out.  Metabolites and heavy bruising are the big ones for me.  I see those and it’s a definite no send. 

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Alright Professor Faht (Baba, Kloakk, and Puff. Feel free to chime in here)

This is a clone I took of the bacterial tub that stuck I out long enough to give me fruits.

Faht, you stated "Watch out for myc that doesn’t grow aerial above the plate surface and lays down"

So with the way this Myc is starting, I should take this as a good sign yeah?  This is on water agar. about 2 days old so growth is going fairly fast (relative to the original plate/ culture it came from) Light, wispy, fast, and aerial.

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Baba Yaga said:

Taking inner stem samples gives you better starting material but you can drop a pan pin to agar no problem, or any part of the mushroom like stem
sections. Water agar will reduce bacterial growth. I used to wash samples in a very mild bleach solution before dropping them to WA but
stopped because the sample took longer to recover. They usually bounce back pretty fast.

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SignedinStranger said:

First flush of the unmodified worm castings tub is about finished. I still haven't been able to dial in a nice even canopy or uniform, straight growth, but this is probably the best they have looked so far. I really just want to see larger caps, although I am not at all disappointed with how these turned out, considering the low airflow and temperature.

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Nice!

Baba Yaga said:

SignedinStranger said:

First flush of the unmodified worm castings tub is about finished. I still haven't been able to dial in a nice even canopy or uniform, straight growth, but this is probably the best they have looked so far. I really just want to see larger caps, although I am not at all disappointed with how these turned out, considering the low airflow and temperature.

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Nice!

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What spawn ratio did you use?  How well do you mix your grains.. do you do it by just mixing the grains around in the substrate in the tub with your hand?

I ask because I’ve found that pinning tends to happen where there’s grains in the substrate.  That fruiting pattern looks like there’s a bunch of “veins” of grains running through the substrate and that’s where the majority of pinning is taking place. 

If you want more coverage, use more spawn.  If you want more evenly spaced pins and the entire substrate utilized, mix very well.  I put my spawn and sub in a 2.5 gallon bag and shake the shit out of it until all the grains are evenly mixed and then pour it into the tray/tub.  You can use a lidded SB as well if you don’t want to use a bag

fahtster said:

I put my spawn and sub in a 2.5 gallon bag and shake the shit out of it until all the grains are evenly mixed and then pour it into the tray/tub.  You can use a lidded SB as well if you don’t want to use a bag

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I have to do this as well, can't count how often I spawned, leveled and finished off the sub with a top layer just to see nests of grain sitting on the bottom of the tub.

Baba Yaga said:

Where I am it's pretty windy and dry in summer and this got worse in the last 10 years. Makes it a real challenge to establish new trees / plants.
When I put spent or non productive pan subs on either the compost pile or bury them in a garden I either cover them with some straw or use what ever
lies around the compost like grass clippings, leaf litter, twigs and so on and it gets a spritz with the hose in the mornings. This helps to break the
wind and to prevent the substrate from drying up. The fruits do still get a beating but enough humidity is present to get something out although I
hardly pick any. I hope one day they will pop up from the compost by themselves.

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Azule said:

My first pan pins

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Second tray also started pinning. And it looks like aquarium heater/aquarium pump tek works. Although probably moisture in the middle is not high enough as pins appears mostly on the edges …

Anomalocaris said:

I have a clone culture of pan bisporus on agar but it seems no matter how many transfers or new plate I make I get these yellow/orange dots near the start of the culture everytime. Is that what bisporus is supposed to be like or its some kind of contam that doesnt want to go away.

3 different plates up close.





What do you think? Is it just some normal metabolites that they make?

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kirkeng said:

worynox said:

Has anyone kept their bisporus agar dishes longer and got these brown spots/discoloration after a while? I have some other non-bisporus strains running in parallel for the same time and none of them have these or have I ever seen it before. Or is this just plain contam?

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Mine will discolor like this when they get old, I’ve yet to see it be an issue though. Cyans and cambos will look much different when old, seems to be a bisporus specific thing.

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PuffM4gicDr4gon said:

Do you mean that you have seen it on bispos or that you have never seen it with them?

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I've seen it and a cabin removed it, never sent a pigmented plate to grains though

Baba Yaga said:

The brown discoloration does happen with bisporus and should not be a problem, below are a few quotes regarding this phenomenon.

I would go ahead and run one of these plates on grain and fruit while you keep working on the other cultures. If it all works out then you know for sure that this is not a problem.

kirkeng said:

worynox said:

Has anyone kept their bisporus agar dishes longer and got these brown spots/discoloration after a while? I have some other non-bisporus strains running in parallel for the same time and none of them have these or have I ever seen it before. Or is this just plain contam?

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Mine will discolor like this when they get old, I’ve yet to see it be an issue though. Cyans and cambos will look much different when old, seems to be a bisporus specific thing.

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kirkeng said:

Baba Yaga said:

Has anyone ever seen bisporus discolor? I have rust brown spots appear two weeks or so after full colonization. It's not the mycelium turning color but the verm/brf. Any clues?

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I have seen this in older cultures on agar, I think I have a plate where it shows somewhere in my office, I’ll look tomorrow for it and report back if I find it. My last clone I ran showed discoloration in red dots, though I think the discoloration showed up later. I’m usually running cultures before they grow out much and I don’t recall ever seeing it until the plate is mostly grown out.

All that being said I can’t recall ever seeing it outside of an agar plate… I’ll also check my older tubs tomorrow to see if that rust has shown anywhere.

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Baba Yaga said:

Thanks man, just had a look at the label on the pucks and it said inoclulated on Oct. 17 so this turned up about 18 days after full colonization. I remember seeing the rust color appear first right around the transferred agar piece. The agar plates from the same transfer session are looking all normal so far.

Your comment is reassuring as it doesn't look like any mold and bacteria wouldn't spread like that on BRF I suppose. Would like to see your plate....oh wait....I just remembered seeing a spot like this on one of the germination plates......Cool, I had it still sitting on the kitchen bench.


This one is 5 weeks old

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Kloakk said:

Anomalocaris said:

I have a clone culture of pan bisporus on agar but it seems no matter how many transfers or new plate I make I get these yellow/orange dots near the start of the culture everytime. Is that what bisporus is supposed to be like or its some kind of contam that doesnt want to go away.

3 different plates up close.





What do you think? Is it just some normal metabolites that they make?

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It doesn't have to be bacteria, but with Bisporus it's the only time I've seen it. Have you tried a cabin?

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Anomalocaris said:

didnt try a cabin yet

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It's a great tool in my opinion