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jambee
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Registered: 04/02/06
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Last seen: 13 years, 8 months
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When to case, is this popcorn substrate ready?
#5884740 - 07/21/06 02:45 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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I have grown mycellium in about 6 pint jars of popcorn, they were a little wet in the jars, and I think that slowed mycellium growth, especially in the bottom of the jars where water gathered. So, I dumped them into trays where they will eventually be cased, with holes in the bottom to drain excess water. However, I do not know if these are ready to be cased, should I continue to incubate at 86 degrees and let the mycellium continue to grow before casing. Or should I case soon. I plan to use a 50/50 vermiculite and peat moss mix to case. Please give me some advice on timing. I'm including pictures so you can tell me what you think. Please note that each picture is a separate tray. Thanks in advance.



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splifner180
Student


Registered: 03/24/06
Posts: 1,288
Loc: USA, East Coast
Last seen: 1 year, 3 months
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Re: When to case, is this popcorn substrate ready? [Re: jambee]
#5884813 - 07/21/06 03:15 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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I've never done popcorn before so I don't know BUT an easy way to tell is by waiting 24-36 hours. If it looks "more colonized" then it isn't done.
splif
-------------------- First Grow: Ecuador -> LC -> HPoo/Straw -> Monotub Build a Do-It-Yourself Magnetic Stirrer in thirty minutes with no money.
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creamcorn
mad scientist


Registered: 03/13/06
Posts: 2,962
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Re: When to case, is this popcorn substrate ready? [Re: jambee]
#5884831 - 07/21/06 03:21 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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1. those look nowhere near close to colonized. you can try to continue incubating them. they should be white all over. there's unfortunately a real good chance they're going to contaminate now. they might recover now that they're spread out. i wouldn't bank on it.
2. how deep are your trays? why can i see the bottom of the tray in the first picture? a bare minimum is an inch to an inch and a half of substrate. and that's nowhere near ideal, 3 or 4 is what you want.
3. popcorn makes an ok spawn, to add to a bulk substrate. its not going to fruit well on its own, especially spread out so thinly in those trays. it doesn't hold much readily-available moisture. the closest thing to a chance in hell that its going to yield well without a bulk sub would be to mix some vermiculite in to retain some additional moisture. if it fruits as it is, you're going to get some very small mushrooms. you really want to spawn it to something bulk like poo, compost, or coir.
looks like you're missing quite a few pieces of the equation here, i'd read up some more.
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RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure


Registered: 03/26/03
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Loc: Seattle
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Re: When to case, is this popcorn substrate ready? [Re: creamcorn]
#5884865 - 07/21/06 03:39 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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Looks like it's contaminated with bacillus. I'll bet it smelled either sweet or sour when you poured out, but not like fresh mushrooms. At any rate, it's ruined. I'd recommend reading up a bit, then doing a pf tek to get your feet wet. Toss that stuff out. RR
-------------------- Download Let's Grow Mushrooms semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat "I've never had a failed experiment. I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work." Thomas Edison
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jambee
Stranger
Registered: 04/02/06
Posts: 23
Last seen: 13 years, 8 months
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Re: When to case, is this popcorn substrate ready? [Re: RogerRabbit]
#5886151 - 07/21/06 11:40 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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After reading your comments, I have considered restarting. If I restart with a different spawn, other than popcorn, what would be best to use, and in what quantity, I definitely used too much water with the corn. Also, where can I easily acquire a better spwan, and bulk substrate such as poo, compost, or coir. Thanks again for all the help and suggestions. Thanks
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jambee
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Registered: 04/02/06
Posts: 23
Last seen: 13 years, 8 months
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Re: When to case, is this popcorn substrate ready? [Re: jambee]
#5887151 - 07/22/06 10:34 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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I spent some time reading on various shroomery postings and informational archives and have read that Rye is much better than corn. But where can I find Rye substrate at a retail store. Also, will cow manure be a suitable bulk substrate, I know where I can get quite a bit for free. Thanks
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iamyour_messiah
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Registered: 03/07/06
Posts: 273
Last seen: 4 years, 1 month
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Re: When to case, is this popcorn substrate ready? [Re: jambee]
#5887289 - 07/22/06 11:40 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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I dunno, is that relaly contaminated? Every time I've used popcorn it always looked very similar to that, especially after shaking the jars. That first pic especially looks the right color after u shake up the mycelium/grains, in my experience.
THe other pics dont really look contaminated either, just far from done colonizing. But then again, theres always the very real possiblity of me not knowing what I'm on about....
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jambee
Stranger
Registered: 04/02/06
Posts: 23
Last seen: 13 years, 8 months
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Re: When to case, is this popcorn substrate ready? [Re: iamyour_messiah]
#5887929 - 07/22/06 03:45 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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I have taken more pics today of the trays, I haven't given up all hope on them seeing as I really only have to leave them in incubation to possibly make anything of them. I will include these pics, and I think they are starting to colonize more, so I may just continue to incubate these and then case. More info on creamcorn's question. The first tray was done with one jar, so it is a very thin layer. The other 3 trays have more corn and are smaller area, so they have a 2-3 inch layer of corn. I wonder if just continuing to incubate these at 86 will colonize them entirely so that I can case, and should i possibly combine these trays to get 2-3 trays with a 4 inch corn layer. Please let me know what you think and if anyone has good info on where to acquire bulk substrate at retail. I plan to start a new substrate soon, and have started a liquid culture using a honey method detailed in a shroomery post, it seems promising. Thanks.



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