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FreakShow
3n+hu$|@$+
Registered: 11/14/01
Posts: 439
Last seen: 21 years, 10 months
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1st Successful Substrate Jars& Terrarium Questions
#463477 - 11/19/01 02:00 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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Well guys/gals, seems as if my first innoculations of three substrate jars with cambo's was successful. So far, no signs of any contams. I woke up this morning and checked on my jars and noticed a slight bit of white "fuzzy" right where i innoculated in the jar. (I only innoculated one hole per jar). This is such great news.
I had originally obtained the spores from a local head shop, and they came on a cotton swab. I was a bit concerned how I was going to innoculate the jars. I ended up being able to find a 3cc syringe and an 18g needle at a local pharmacy. (My first attempt failed- they wouldn't sell me one, but try try again) :) I made a sterile syringe full of water and followed the pf tek method to make the syringe. Although, it was a bit different with the cotton swab. Just put the water in and swirled around for a bit. Seems to have worked ok. Lucky me.! So it's been 4 days now and am just noticing the first signs of growth. :)
Ok, so now for a few questions... I've read the pf tek on some recommended terrariums and some other reading on message boards adn such on casing techniques. I'm a bit confused wiht all the different choices.
What should I do for my first terrarium setup once the jars fill white? Should I just grow from the substrate itself or should i scatter in a casing? Also, I'd like to possibly build an inexpensive terrarium (< $50 preferred) while they're growing. Any suggestions? Again, I'm just a newb here.
Thanks!!
-FreakShow
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HARRY
journeyman
Registered: 09/23/01
Posts: 50
Last seen: 22 years, 7 months
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Re: 1st Successful Substrate Jars& Terrarium Questions *DELETED* [Re: FreakShow]
#463536 - 11/19/01 02:55 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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Post deleted by HARRY
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HARRY
journeyman
Registered: 09/23/01
Posts: 50
Last seen: 22 years, 7 months
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Re: 1st Successful Substrate Jars& Terrarium Questions [Re: FreakShow]
#463541 - 11/19/01 02:59 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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For your first time just use the cakes and dont bother with casing, check out "Magic Mushroom Growing Guide" on this site for extra help!
for a terrarium: just get a large plastic box with transparent (at least semi-transparent) lid. Put a layer of perlite about 2" in the bottom, put some water in (around 1/2"). Buy a heating pad, (you'll be able to find it next to the electric blankets in a departament store, or one in a pet store) put it under your box and try and regulate the temp. to it's optimum, you should also use a timer so your pad doesn't burn out too soon. Buy a cheap thermometer and fire up your setup 3-4 days before u plan to put your cakes in there, check that the walls and lid get a lot of condensation on them. The temp should be around 75-78 (when you first put your cakes in turn the heat off for 2-3 days). Air your box twice daily by falpping the lid over the top.
By the way a good way to keep your box sterile is to stick it in a bath with a bleach and water solution for a few hours, then wash away all the bleach very thoroughly, (you can also put everything else u want steralised in the bath including the lids that u're going to put your cakes on any spray bottles etc....) I bleach my jars for three hour before I put any substarte in them, this greatly cuts down on contams!
hope this helps!
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BeppoMarx
old hand
Registered: 09/01/01
Posts: 1,126
Last seen: 19 years, 7 months
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Re: 1st Successful Substrate Jars& Terrarium Questions [Re: HARRY]
#463547 - 11/19/01 03:08 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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i was just at Ames a few minutes ago on lunch and picked up a few rubbermaid containers. the one for fruiting was about 2feet long by 1.5 feet deep (front to back) and about 8 to 9 inches high. i plan on setting it upside down and filling the lid 1" w/ perlite. that way when i open the terrarium the CO2 will get oout easier being just a 'tray' (the actual lid) will remain and teh whole tub can be lifted off. i also got 2 larger ones , the largest being a 1.5' by 1' by about a foot tall which i will fill with 6" of water or so. the third tub is just a tad smaller than the large one, and will be placed inside the larger tub and be in the water. in the water wil be a submersible heater to keep the water warm and the jars will be warm and not floating in the water but in the inside tub. that inside one will hve no lid, to circulate air better and keep it humid as i use MM filter disks. i also bought weatherstripping for windows to go between the lid and the bins for all of this. total bill was like $35-40 but i had the 1 smaller tub and the weatherstripping inside the bigger tub (to carry it) and the cashier only scanned the 2 visible items so it only cost me like $22. either way that gets you an incubation chamber and a fruiting chamber for 40 bux. and the heater i got to use with it was only like $15. its a 50 watt water heater that i got at a local pet shop which is fully submersible.
-------------------- Holy shit people; COMMON SENSE! we were all born with it where did it go?
maybe theres a tek out there to explain how to use it!
BUCKETS BRIGADE left hand man!!!
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FreakShow
3n+hu$|@$+
Registered: 11/14/01
Posts: 439
Last seen: 21 years, 10 months
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Re: 1st Successful Substrate Jars& Terrarium Questions [Re: HARRY]
#463666 - 11/19/01 05:25 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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Ok, just got back from the pet store. I was able to find temperature and humidity guages...
As for the heater.. The closest thing I could find was a T-REX heat mat.. sais on the box it will keep things at a fixed 100 F. It's a 6x11", 7watt and was $26.99. :( Not sure if this is going to work or not.. ? Ideas? Someone said 50 watts? They said a the pet store... "w/ 50 watts, you'd fry your pet...LOL"
I'm still a bit confused as to which type of plastic box, or tupperware container(s) to get. Do i need to install some sort of spray shield so I can squirt water in? Or will the water in the perlite be ample?
Well, just checked the jars again, the white stuff seems to be growing pretty quick now. I notice a little more than just this morning. I'm keeping the room at 76F. The room humidity is about 60,... it's pretty damp here today.. ;( yuck.
Thanks again!
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BeppoMarx
old hand
Registered: 09/01/01
Posts: 1,126
Last seen: 19 years, 7 months
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Re: 1st Successful Substrate Jars& Terrarium Questions [Re: FreakShow]
#463678 - 11/19/01 05:47 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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the type of container you want is one of those plastic sterlite (i think its called) that you put clothes and shit in and cover up and store under your bed. kinda looks like a big tupperware container and it even has a snap-on lid but theyre usually not airtight so thats why i bought my weatherstripping. the 50 watt heater was a submirsable water heater used to heat the water between my 2 tubs. yes a 7 watt heating pad will heat it up ok but thats dry heat, but a higher wattage is required to heat a liquid rather than the air. if you set you jars on that they will evaporate quickly. now if you put them in a sealed container and the pad under that it should help keep moisture in but in my setup the water is heated and teh whole incubation chamber will have humidity (i estimate) around 80% anyway, so my jars wont dry out [hopefully].
-------------------- Holy shit people; COMMON SENSE! we were all born with it where did it go?
maybe theres a tek out there to explain how to use it!
BUCKETS BRIGADE left hand man!!!
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FreakShow
3n+hu$|@$+
Registered: 11/14/01
Posts: 439
Last seen: 21 years, 10 months
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Re: 1st Successful Substrate Jars& Terrarium Questions [Re: BeppoMarx]
#463691 - 11/19/01 06:04 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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Gotcha!
I think I actually have an extra container now that i think of it. I was thinking originally something smaller. You're right though, it doesn't seal completely, just snaps on the sides. I think it was designed for cltohing or for filing papers in vertical sleeves.
Hmm, so do you think this heater will work, or should i get a water heater type? The only water type heaters they had were these little tubes, but they need to be submerged all the time or else they'll blow up.
Sorry, but i'm still confused on this setup. I can't seem to find any illustrations or pictures of a setup. ;(
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flaw
enthusiast
Registered: 01/29/99
Posts: 169
Last seen: 22 years, 6 months
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Re: 1st Successful Substrate Jars& Terrarium Questions [Re: FreakShow]
#463694 - 11/19/01 06:06 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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I wish you all the luck in the world and can hardly blame you for being excited but it should be pointed out that a lot can go wrong from the time of first sight of mycellium to full colonisation. Maybe you should focus your money first on expanding your chances of success by purchasing some more spores and innoculating more jars.
Injecting into only one spot will guarantee you that there is going to be a reasonable wait on getting full colonisation.
Anyway.. like I said, break a leg :)
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FreakShow
3n+hu$|@$+
Registered: 11/14/01
Posts: 439
Last seen: 21 years, 10 months
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Re: 1st Successful Substrate Jars& Terrarium Questions [Re: flaw]
#463709 - 11/19/01 06:24 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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Thanks, I'm sure I'll need all the luck I can muster to get these things to grow correctly. There's so many things to consider here. I really do appreciate all the help I've recieved so far. W/o you guys, I'm not sure I'd be very successful here! There are so many tek's and updates to teks, it's almost mind boggling for a little newb shroom cultivater such as myself.
On the one spot inooculations, i was following a tip that the multiple innoculations could introduce contams as the needle went in/out of the jar. I was trying to be as safe as possible. Think it was an update to the pf tek on the pf tek site on the main page. Don't quote me on that though, i've read so much at this point.
The mycelium seems to be growing fairly rapidly so far. The syringe was pretty dark w/ spores. I believe i had roughly a full prints' worth of spores in a 3cc syringe. Hard to tell exactly how many spores he had on the swab, but the water was fairly dark, and a little hazy from the cotton chunks from the sterile swab. The swab was originally intended for a custom grow kit this guy makes but hte store was out and only had the swabs. I did my best.. At the least, this is all good practice. Also, looks like my sterilization methods worked out ok, the jars were prepared over a week ago and no contams still. ;)
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geokills
∙∙∙∙☼ º¿° ☼∙∙∙∙
Registered: 05/08/01
Posts: 24,058
Loc: city of angels
Last seen: 11 hours, 19 minutes
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Re: 1st Successful Substrate Jars& Terrarium Questions [Re: FreakShow]
#463728 - 11/19/01 06:50 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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edit: in retrospect, this wasn't great advice.
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┼ ··∙ long live the shroomery ∙·· ┼
...╬π╥ ╥π╬...
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FreakShow
3n+hu$|@$+
Registered: 11/14/01
Posts: 439
Last seen: 21 years, 10 months
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Re: 1st Successful Substrate Jars& Terrarium Questions [Re: geokills]
#463986 - 11/19/01 10:15 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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Ok, I'm still just a bit confused. I drew a quick illustration (really quick) of what I understand thus far about how to make a proper fruiting terrarium:
Where to from here? Comments please!
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geokills
∙∙∙∙☼ º¿° ☼∙∙∙∙
Registered: 05/08/01
Posts: 24,058
Loc: city of angels
Last seen: 11 hours, 19 minutes
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Re: 1st Successful Substrate Jars& Terrarium Questions [Re: FreakShow]
#464119 - 11/20/01 01:08 AM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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just use a heating pad under your terrarium if you want to heat it.
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┼ ··∙ long live the shroomery ∙·· ┼
...╬π╥ ╥π╬...
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