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whythewho
outdoor mushroomfarmer


Registered: 12/19/05
Posts: 253
Loc: .inside a t.hundercloud.
Last seen: 1 year, 2 months
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help with birdseed!!?!?
#5554298 - 04/25/06 08:48 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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ok, so ive tried now three times to grow the magic mushroom, each time perfecting the previous flaws in my methodology. the first attempt at cultivation was with rice flour and resulted in contamination. The second attempt was with birdseed, but once the jars appeared to be colonizing (after about 4 days) the mycelial growth stopped altogether. after waiting for one month and seeing no further growth i opened the jars and found the substrate to be too dry, and i figured that this was the vector of failure. so on my third attempt i took a bunch of the birdseed and washed it thoroughly in plain water. next i cooked it on low for about an hour, until the seeds had fully absorbed the water and had become expanded and soft, harder than cooked rice, but soft enough to be mushy in my mouth. i put this seed into the jars and pressure cooked them at 10 psi for an hour. i inocculated the jars on my homemade flow hood which is an oven with the door open, this procedure was successful in my last attempt to elminate contams, and it worked this time as well. but, after inocculating 5 jars with a regular spore syringe, its been two weeks and there are no signs of mycelial growth. the temperature in my house ranges from 60-85 degrees and on the colder nights ive been warming them with an electric blanket on low. they are constantly in the dark, wrapped in the blanket in a box with a lid, yet there is no growth at all. i am pretty disappointed, but eager to try once again to foster the magic mushroom, only this time i have no idea where i failed, could anyone please assist me? thank you.
-------------------- Spiral out.... keep going... spiral out!
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Sinthetic
Stranger


Registered: 12/05/05
Posts: 812
Last seen: 15 years, 6 months
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Re: help with birdseed!!?!? [Re: whythewho]
#5554350 - 04/25/06 09:15 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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Questions like this are hard to answer because there are alot of things that can go wrong. You have to go through your procedure and make sure you are following every step exactly. i would also suggest trying to setup a better incubator and look into LC's.
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figment
Apothecary


Registered: 01/04/06
Posts: 522
Loc: Quidity
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Re: help with birdseed!!?!? [Re: Sinthetic]
#5554359 - 04/25/06 09:22 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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First of all, a heating blanket will fry those bad boys...DO NOT DO THAT...trust me. I did. On low, heating blankets reach about 100+ degrees (from my experience with two) Get a cheap digi. therm.
Also, you need some sort of small port in your lid for FAE. I just use a piece of tyvek with a dab of silicone (injection port) instead of the disk that comes with the jar.
Other than that...WBS should be rinsed thoroughly, all floaters removed and soaked at least 12 hours. Then simmered. Then PC'ed.
Thats all I know to tell you man.
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musher_420
Stranger

Registered: 08/01/05
Posts: 2,691
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Re: help with birdseed!!?!? [Re: whythewho]
#5554382 - 04/25/06 09:41 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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I can see places to make many improvements with your method. And offer my personal preferences.
I like to do a simple soak of my WBS for 24+ hours, then rinse and drain until not a drop will drip from the colander when you shake it vigorously.
Follow this to a T and you will have the perfect moisture content of your grain, I promise. http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/3982155#Post3982155
Now for the sterilization. If your pressure cooking at 10 P.S.I you should do it for 2 hours minimum. This will ensure you kill all the bacteria which can sometimes be hard to spot as a contam but will stop growth all together.
Shake the jars immediately after your done pressure cooking (DON'T open the PC till the pressure has drooped by it's self, don't force it either.) Shaking them when hot helps break apart the WBS.
Now put them back into the PC to cool over night.
When you inoculate, don't use the oven method. It simply does not improve open air inoculations. In fact it's far riskier. I always do open air inoculations in an uncleaned kitchen and never have problems. The key is keeping your syringe needle wrapped in an alcohol soaked paper towel whenever exposed to the open air. http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/3982155#Post3982155
As for incubating your jars, I also do not suggest a heat blanket. Because it can dry out your jars and also might cause a fire if used continuously. A TiT incubator is the best method of incubation, although as long as your room is comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt it really isn't needed. http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/2921939/an/0/page/0
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beyondsisxth
Title?


Registered: 04/08/05
Posts: 232
Last seen: 12 years, 6 months
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Re: help with birdseed!!?!? [Re: musher_420]
#5554434 - 04/25/06 10:09 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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When preparing bird seed I have had tremendous success with Doc's Wild Birdseed tek. Its simply awesome, I dunno why, but it is.
http://www.shroomery.org/index.php/par/26004
I've had jars keep for 8 months using this Tek and still colonize 100% in roughly two weeks.
Other then that, don't use the OvenTek, its no good, that upflow of hot air is always carrying whatever was underneath, behind or around the base of the oven. That could mean a lot of things.
-------------------- The sun was pulling cheap shots doing commercial body tricks, Behind the back, Under the leg, I think he even did a headspin, On a crossfader that sounded whack, But looked excellent, All of the sudden it gets dim, The crater face steps in, Puts mexican drumbreaks on the Technics, He's like "Let's begin", He conducted an orchestra so dope the sun started sweatin' him, I guess he'd expected to win on pure artistic merit, Composing complex plays with nothin but soundbytes, Burned out the lights, Made MCs too self conscious quit the master mics, For a thousand nights, It continued without a single slip up, Except once the record skipped, But it kinda sounded cool.
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coda
Banjo Goiter


Registered: 03/20/01
Posts: 8,750
Last seen: 10 months, 3 days
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Re: help with birdseed!!?!? [Re: beyondsisxth]
#5554470 - 04/25/06 10:25 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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As stated, oven tek has been debunked and is no longer considered a good method at preventing contams. Simply having a clean work area washed with some alcohol while having used an air sanitizer such as lysol or oust will do just fine.
There are lots of birdseed teks, most of them conflict their info. Here are the two most popular methods.
1.) Just soak the grains you want to use for 24 hrs. After the soak simply wash the grains off, let them drip off the excess water through a strainer, and then load into your jars and PC for 1 1/2 hrs.
2.) Skip the soaking step, dump all your grain in a large pot, and simmer the grains (simmer not boil) for a 1/2 hr. Then wash the grains with some cold water (to remove excess bacteria and to wash off starch to prevent clumping). Make sure to let this drain until there is no water coming from the strainer and there is no steam rising from the grain. Load into jars and PC for 1 1/2 hrs.
Method two has never failed me, lots of people have had success with method one, IME these are the most popular WBS teks.
-------------------- To get really high is to forget yourself. And to forget yourself is to see everything else. And to see everything else is to become an understanding molecule in evolution, a conscious tool of the universe. And I think every human being should be a conscious tool of the universe. . . . -JG i really am glad you came back to us instead of taking the other path. *hug* -A_S (RIP your final words to me will never be forgotten)
 Don't fuck with the laughing jesus.
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HSIHd
ProfessionalHamburgler


Registered: 08/14/02
Posts: 1,719
Loc: IOWA
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Re: help with birdseed!!?!? [Re: whythewho]
#5554585 - 04/25/06 11:01 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
whythewho said: but soft enough to be mushy in my mouth.
You put them in your mouth???
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FooMan



Registered: 02/02/05
Posts: 8,957
Loc: Earth
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Re: help with birdseed!!?!? [Re: whythewho]
#5554710 - 04/25/06 11:57 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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Low incubation temps will lead to very slow growth and the heat blanket may be frying your spores. As far as prepping the seeds goes, I've never had a problem with the method I use in my sig and there's no need to wait for soaking.
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Quick WBS Prep
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