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zeegos
Shroomagator


Registered: 04/03/06
Posts: 827
Loc: bat country
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Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw
#5745021 - 06/13/06 07:22 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Well this is really my first proper grow log so here it goes. I bought a packet of these Grey 'Pleurotus ostreatus' oyster mushrooms dowels from ebay which im using for as the spawn for my straw substrate.

I managed to go to a nearby farm and get myself a bag full of straw for this small scale grow.

I chopped up this straw into reasonable sized lengths and threw it all into a large pot which i used for pasturization. Not having a cooker at the mo is a bit of a pain in the ass so i just poured boiling water over it with the kettle and submerged the straw using my set of weights. I left it to pasturize for around 1 hour, drained and left to cool. I had about 10 plugs left over from an oak log i had plugged earlier for my garden. These were mixed in betweed 2 seperate batched of straw and packed into oven roasting bags which hold about 6-8 litres of straw.

I cut the bottom corners off to allow air exchange and so that any excess water can drip off during incubation. I tied off the tops and hung these up in my dark boiler room which holds around 20-24*C.
Thses should take up to 4 weeks to colonise nicely but i'll see how things go and keep yous posted 
----------- 6 July -----------
Just wondering if these are ready to fruit yet or if i should give them a while longer? Here are my two bags. You can see iv managed to realy compact the straw together by tieing the bags.


All of the substrte does have mycelium on it but some parts its just thin strands and others heavily colonised. I look forward to fruiting these 
----------- 23 July -----------
Not updated in a while so heres the current situation. I coldshocked both bags for 24 hours in the fridge and constructed 2 fruiting chambers, 1 for each bag. I lined the inside with aluminium foil to increase the amount of light the mycelium recieves (probably not nescesary). The bottom of the FC's were lined with wet perlite (with h2o2) and the bags were placed inside. I made about 50 holes with a screwdriver before hand for the mushrooms to grow out of but i now realise that the bag isnt tight enough on the substrate and the mushrooms are growing indide the bag, therefor i just took the bag off and put the straw blocks on a plate inside the FC. Im not sure if this is sucha good idea but seems like the only one at this point. I do see lots of grey/black dots formight everywhere which may be primordias (can be seen in 3rd pic)

Forgot to mention, bags were fruited on the 11th.
Edited by zeegos (07/23/06 09:55 AM)
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shirley knott
not my real name

Registered: 11/11/02
Posts: 9,105
Loc: London
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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: zeegos]
#5745407 - 06/13/06 11:16 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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good luck zeegos, we'll all be rooting for you
-------------------- buh
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zeegos
Shroomagator


Registered: 04/03/06
Posts: 827
Loc: bat country
Last seen: 3 years, 1 month
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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: shirley knott]
#5745619 - 06/13/06 12:40 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Thanks man. God this forum is dead
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Feelers
Anti-Myth-Rhythm-Rock-Shocker


Registered: 06/18/02
Posts: 1,806
Loc: Land of Oz
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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: zeegos]
#5747245 - 06/13/06 08:27 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Yeah things do seem a little slow in the gourmet forum. I'm interested - So keep us posted. There seem to be a few more people getting flow hoods etc and asking about gourmets (like myself), slow and steady.  I bought the first part of my flow hood today - the fan, got it out of a car - its the fan from the heating system inside the dashboard.
Looking good so far. How much experience do you have with this sort of thing? Does pasteurization as you have doen it generally work well?
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FreeSporePrints

Registered: 03/06/05
Posts: 1,139
Loc: Rome, Italy
Last seen: 2 months, 14 days
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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: Feelers]
#5747997 - 06/14/06 12:14 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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good zeegos!!! 
never thought to cut off the bottom for the air exchange.
we hope those bags walk the line!! 
keep us updated with pics! ^_^
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RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure


Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 42,214
Loc: Seattle
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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: FreeSporePrints]
#5748127 - 06/14/06 12:54 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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I'd strongly suggest you pack the straw down much tighter than that. Some farms even colonize straw with a weight on top to keep it compressed. 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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FreeSporePrints

Registered: 03/06/05
Posts: 1,139
Loc: Rome, Italy
Last seen: 2 months, 14 days
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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: RogerRabbit]
#5748217 - 06/14/06 01:22 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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hi Roger, can you explain me why? more air between the substrate shouldn't help to colonize faster?
or simply because the mycelium can find an easier way to colonize?
it's a thing that i've never understood..but in nature, of course, the substrate isn't very compact.
thank you! ^_^
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Anno
Experimenter



Registered: 06/17/99
Posts: 24,166
Loc: my room
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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: FreeSporePrints]
#5748231 - 06/14/06 01:28 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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In nature, oyster mushrooms grow on wood, which is very compact.
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FreeSporePrints

Registered: 03/06/05
Posts: 1,139
Loc: Rome, Italy
Last seen: 2 months, 14 days
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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: Anno]
#5748675 - 06/14/06 05:24 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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ouch! oyster... :P
so if i should grow agaricus bisporus shouldn't use avery compact substrate?
Thanks
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zeegos
Shroomagator


Registered: 04/03/06
Posts: 827
Loc: bat country
Last seen: 3 years, 1 month
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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: FreeSporePrints]
#5749063 - 06/14/06 09:49 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Well i did pack down as much as i could by hand so i might just put a brick on top of the straw. I guess straw is airy enough itself and packing it down would most likely speed things up a bit, thanks RR. I havent had any experience with gourmet mushrooms so this is my first grow with them. Im just following the procedures on the back of the packet i got with the plugs which seem to be fairly strait forward.
Edit: I went to check on my bags and they are actually much more compressed than they look.
Edited by zeegos (06/14/06 01:24 PM)
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zeegos
Shroomagator


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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: RogerRabbit]
#5772885 - 06/20/06 03:32 PM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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Well, i decided to take your advice RR . Instead of using a brick though, i just tied the bags round with string which has decreased its volume by half so i guess it'll colonise faster now. Also im not sure if i see mycelium growth or cobweb mold  It looks more like thin strands combared to cube mycelium.
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zeegos
Shroomagator


Registered: 04/03/06
Posts: 827
Loc: bat country
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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: zeegos]
#5803638 - 06/29/06 03:17 PM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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Alright, i got strong growth on both of my bags now. It shouldent be long now till these are ready. Question: Do i need to put these in a fruiting chamber with high humidity? Or can i just mist them every day?
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Anno
Experimenter



Registered: 06/17/99
Posts: 24,166
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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: zeegos]
#5805151 - 06/29/06 11:42 PM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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The fruiting room should have 90-95% humidity.
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zeegos
Shroomagator


Registered: 04/03/06
Posts: 827
Loc: bat country
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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: Anno]
#5826942 - 07/06/06 08:45 AM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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update
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zeegos
Shroomagator


Registered: 04/03/06
Posts: 827
Loc: bat country
Last seen: 3 years, 1 month
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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: zeegos]
#5890042 - 07/23/06 09:59 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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update 23rd
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shirley knott
not my real name

Registered: 11/11/02
Posts: 9,105
Loc: London
Last seen: 7 years, 1 month
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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: zeegos]
#5890067 - 07/23/06 10:10 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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can we get a closeup in focus of those 'dots'? they're the right colour for ostreatus primordia, but something looks odd (and that's a lot of bare straw open to the air, which is a contam magnet). no funny smells, i take it?
here are some ostreatus pinning, for comparison
-------------------- buh
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zeegos
Shroomagator


Registered: 04/03/06
Posts: 827
Loc: bat country
Last seen: 3 years, 1 month
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Re: Oyster Grow - Mycelium plugs ----> Straw [Re: shirley knott]
#5890081 - 07/23/06 10:15 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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Yea, i wasent too sure weather or not they were ready for fruiting but i just went for it. There are no mouldy smells coming off it so thats good. I think i'll regularly mist with weak peroxide to avoid contams. I'll see how it goes
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