hunter465 said:

One other question

If I have 4.5lb bags of spawn how much substrate should I need preferably in grams or lbs if possible, can't quite wrap my head around qt's just yet.

If I am following the 1:2 ratio that would be roughly 10lbs of substrate but how much is that in dry ingredients like coir?

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In this wonderful hobby of ours we usually use volume as the metric. In fact, the ratio, 1:2 as weight, would leave you with hardly any substrate since most of the substrate is water and water is heavy. The recommended ratios are for volume and all you have to do is use whatever container you colonized in and fill it twice.

The only time you should be calculating with dry coir weight is when you are cypherin' how much water to add to hydrate it. Make a big container of coir so you have it on hand. It'll last quite awhile if covered. And remember...

tryptkaloids said:

I think it's just thin myc. If you think it's mold try to pour a layer of hot agar over top

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DV8DUG said:

The solution to your problem is an easy fix. Be patient and let it cool down a bit.

Solved.

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It's an easy fix if you are a patient person, which I'm not

Mychol said:

I totally hear you on this - and I'm definitely not married to using a punch. A mutual buddy here on shroomery (who's a way better mush guy) suggested I do it because it helps to see uniform growth.

He's also a lot more skilled in this area than I am - in truth I had given up on the punches for the reasons I listed. The first time I did it I ended up dunking the punch in alcohol (I know, I know!).

In fact I'm pretty damn sure I killed my transfers onto 4 plates yesterday, and I'm really annoyed with myself over it. Although the tool was not red hot when I used it, surely it was still too hot for the myc. I don't see any growth 2 days later, and usually with a transfer you start to see SOME fuzz...

In any case, I value your thoughts @kloakk, and I thank you for always being so generous with your knowledge and ideas. It's always a pleasure to learn from you.

I'll probably go back to using a scalpel after this, or even using a needle as @Cicadoidea suggested.

I'm going to work on doing very very small transfers as well, on the idea that the smaller the transfer the less the likelihood of transferring contam along with it.

Also I've experimented with CS. I have absolutely butured some plates, even the agar roofs not staying in place, but still the myc has grown,. I think my problem is trying to do 4 of them on one plate like the video in another post showed.

I do have some small glass coverslips, so I'll probably PC them when I do another round of agar. I'll individually wrap the coverslips so they should stay sterile.

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I used a punch for a short time to see if I liked it, and maybe if I could get a punch that wasn't as thick as the one I have I might have kept using it as the cool down time would be less.

I do agree with DV8 though, this is a me problem, I have this small jar of 95% iso sitting in front of the FFU, after I sterilize my scalpel I rest it on the jar rim, working with more then one tool it easily gets crowded. I've been trying to find a small rack or something to hold several tools, but no luck yet.

My point being that using a punch has very different movement and work flow and in the end I just didn't feel it was worth it, the punch is also a one trick pony while my scalpel can do several. I am trying to do more aerial transfers these days and so far the scalpel is the best tools for that.

Growth is pretty uniform doing triangel wedge as well.






I do like what marxcelium is pointing out though, it's a good way to easily get consistent sized wedges for storage and sharing.

Using a tool even though it's not red hot anymore does not mean it's cool and that is another problem, like I said, one second in the induction heater does not make my tools red, but they are certainly sterile and hot enough to kill whatever comes near it, but for how long?

I believe I have killed a couple of aerial transfers because my blade was still hot so tools take some time to cool down.

Yeah, even though it is possible to do multiple cabins on one plate I don't do it, I'm a small scale grower and don't need to maximize everything. I have been doing glass slides for a long time, mostly because it's faster and easier to do, cover slips are usually very thin so I avoid those.

I might go back to doing agar roofs though as it seems the absolut best when it comes to taking aerial transfers, but I often fumble , just have to get good I suppose

Kloakk said:

DV8DUG said:

The solution to your problem is an easy fix. Be patient and let it cool down a bit.

Solved.

---

It's an easy fix if you are a patient person, which I'm not

Mychol said:

I totally hear you on this - and I'm definitely not married to using a punch. A mutual buddy here on shroomery (who's a way better mush guy) suggested I do it because it helps to see uniform growth.

He's also a lot more skilled in this area than I am - in truth I had given up on the punches for the reasons I listed. The first time I did it I ended up dunking the punch in alcohol (I know, I know!).

In fact I'm pretty damn sure I killed my transfers onto 4 plates yesterday, and I'm really annoyed with myself over it. Although the tool was not red hot when I used it, surely it was still too hot for the myc. I don't see any growth 2 days later, and usually with a transfer you start to see SOME fuzz...

In any case, I value your thoughts @kloakk, and I thank you for always being so generous with your knowledge and ideas. It's always a pleasure to learn from you.

I'll probably go back to using a scalpel after this, or even using a needle as @Cicadoidea suggested.

I'm going to work on doing very very small transfers as well, on the idea that the smaller the transfer the less the likelihood of transferring contam along with it.

Also I've experimented with CS. I have absolutely butured some plates, even the agar roofs not staying in place, but still the myc has grown,. I think my problem is trying to do 4 of them on one plate like the video in another post showed.

I do have some small glass coverslips, so I'll probably PC them when I do another round of agar. I'll individually wrap the coverslips so they should stay sterile.

---

I used a punch for a short time to see if I liked it, and maybe if I could get a punch that wasn't as thick as the one I have I might have kept using it as the cool down time would be less.

I do agree with DV8 though, this is a me problem, I have this small jar of 95% iso sitting in front of the FFU, after I sterilize my scalpel I rest it on the jar rim, working with more then one tool it easily gets crowded. I've been trying to find a small rack or something to hold several tools, but no luck yet.

My point being that using a punch has very different movement and work flow and in the end I just didn't feel it was worth it, the punch is also a one trick pony while my scalpel can do several. I am trying to do more aerial transfers these days and so far the scalpel is the best tools for that.

Growth is pretty uniform doing triangel wedge as well.






I do like what marxcelium is pointing out though, it's a good way to easily get consistent sized wedges for storage and sharing.

Using a tool even though it's not red hot anymore does not mean it's cool and that is another problem, like I said, one second in the induction heater does not make my tools red, but they are certainly sterile and hot enough to kill whatever comes near it, but for how long?

I believe I have killed a couple of aerial transfers because my blade was still hot so tools take some time to cool down.

Yeah, even though it is possible to do multiple cabins on one plate I don't do it, I'm a small scale grower and don't need to maximize everything. I have been doing glass slides for a long time, mostly because it's faster and easier to do, cover slips are usually very thin so I avoid those.

I might go back to doing agar roofs though as it seems the absolut best when it comes to taking aerial transfers, but I often fumble , just have to get good I suppose

---

Mychol said:

Many thanks for your thoughts! I'll forgo the punch unless I can think of a place to cool it without it getting contam, which I can't think of any place at the moment.

And dunking in 99% iso is definitely a no-no to cool it, right?

Thanks again man!

Mike

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I can't imagine anything living in 99% iso, so if you flame sterilize it first, maybe, but then you would have to wait while the iso evaporates and you might as well wait for it to cool.

If you really want to use a punch then cool it in the receiving plate and then do the transfer or use a plate just to cool the punch

Toe_Jam said:

Any tips for germinating old spores? Like 3-4 years.

How long should I wait before throwing in the towel?

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Soft plate--> Brf puck-->forced hydration-->Tween 20.

After a couple of months I would give up, but

DV8DUG said:

@kloakk. The suggestion of patience was aimed at Mychol.

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Oh

My bad, it was true for me too though

jonkerston said:

Cubes, wheat, coco coir. Spawned 2 weeks ago, my tubs are ~13-15l, 1:3 ratio (1l spawn, 3l sub), total sub thickness is ~4cm. My lids don't fully lock, so i've decided to start with lower fae, only have 1 extra 1/4" hole the wide sides.

The mycelium is spreading, but it seems to have stalled colonizing after a while (see pics). The colonized top layer is shiny, the beads are small, maybe perfect but might be a bit on the bigger side - but i don't yet have enough intuition to judge.

I suspect low FAE but not sure. What's the best steps forward?

Sorry that pics quality not best, couldn't make any better.

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jonkerston said:

Quoting myself from a different thread, bc maybe here is a better place.

jonkerston said:

Cubes, wheat, coco coir. Spawned 2 weeks ago, my tubs are ~13-15l, 1:3 ratio (1l spawn, 3l sub), total sub thickness is ~4cm. My lids don't fully lock, so i've decided to start with lower fae, only have 1 extra 1/4" hole the wide sides.

The mycelium is spreading, but it seems to have stalled colonizing after a while (see pics). The colonized top layer is shiny, the beads are small, maybe perfect but might be a bit on the bigger side - but i don't yet have enough intuition to judge.

I suspect low FAE but not sure. What's the best steps forward?

Sorry that pics quality not best, couldn't make any better.

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Now i wonder if surface conditions and air matter at this stage at all, would it just depend on spawn and sub composition?

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Mackload said:

looks dry as fuck

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Kloakk said:

Surface conditions comes with the mycelium breaking the surface, like look where there is mycelium you got small beads on top, which is good.

So uhm 2 weeks it should be colonized more by now, but let's go through the list.

What temperature is it in the room?
Do you have a picture of the jar?
What variety?
Is the coir dry?

Even if the tub was closed of if you open it once a day it should be fine during colonization.

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jonkerston said:

Cubensis golden teacher multispore -> agar -> wheat grain.

No pics of the jar unfortunately, but it was pretty colonized when spawned, didn't seem contaminated to my newbie eye. Room is 65-67 fahrenheit, RH around 60%. Coir doesn't feel dry, feels the same as it was 2 weeks ago. It was 1:4.25 water proportion by weight, decent field capacity (again, to my newbie eye).

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Kloakk said:

Okay, 65°F is on cold side, so longer colonization is to be expected. If the coir is still hydrated, everything smells fine, then let it ride.

Can you take a picture of how the tub is getting fresh air?

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Thanks for the replies.

Smells like soil, nothing funky. What would unhydrated feel like, how could i identify it? It should be clear when it's very dry, but i can't gauge the beginnings of "unhydrated".

Pics below. The only two holes are like the one you see, one per each long side. Two of these boxes are placed next to each other along the long side. Not in the middle of the room, but also with a decent distance to the wall. The room is one i live in, so air moves at least somewhat.

jonkerston said:

Thanks for the replies.

Smells like soil, nothing funky. What would unhydrated feel like, how could i identify it? It should be clear when it's very dry, but i can't gauge the beginnings of "unhydrated".

Pics below. The only two holes are like the one you see, one per each long side. Two of these boxes are placed next to each other along the long side. Not in the middle of the room, but also with a decent distance to the wall. The room is one i live in, so air moves at least somewhat.

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The coir will get lighter in color as it dries out, it looks fine from here though. After looking at the tub the air exchange should be fine for colonization, but it will take a little longer and you would need to increase some when it's fully colonized I believe.

So 65°F and restricted air exchange will slow things down, but shouldn't stall it completely, take a picture every day so you can compare them and determend if it is truly stalled or just slow. If you take off the lid once a day for a picture you'll also change the air, winwin

You could do as Mystikal recommend, just watch the coir and surface so it doesn't dry out.