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dl46
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Registered: 02/01/08
Posts: 19
Last seen: 15 years, 10 months
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Non-Germination
#7963330 - 02/01/08 03:10 AM (16 years, 23 hours ago) |
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Hi there
I'm a first-time grower and I'm having absolutely no success at growing shrooms. I have read all the FAQs carefully, I have followed the PF-Tek recipe to the letter, and I just can't understand where I'm going wrong. I figured that if I described exactly what I'm doing, perhaps one of you might be able to spot where the mistake is?
Here's what I've done twice now, with the same results each time:
1) Used a good spore print to make a spore syringe under sterile conditions. I put half a large print in one 10cc syringe and it was purple with tiny spore clusters. I am certain the spores are fresh and good (they were given to me by a friend and are from a very recent crop).
2) I mixed up PF-Tek cakes exactly according to the recipe on this site. I used fine-grade vermiculite from my local garden centre, regular brown rice from my local supermarket which I ground into flour, and bottled mineral water. The consistency of the mix was light and loose and moist, but not wet or clingy. Looked exactly like it did on the videos I've seen.
3) I put the mixture in jars without packing it down, cleaned the rims carefully, put in a protective layer of vermiculite, covered the jars, sterilised them by boiling them for an hour, then waited overnight for them to cool completely.
4) I inoculated the cakes using standard sterile procedures in four places and put them in my incubator. It is a thermostat-controlled incubator at 27 degrees Celsius (80F). I also have a thermometer inside to verify that it is definitely working at this temp. The cakes are raised off the bottom to avoid overheating through conduction and there is water inside to maintain humidity. The incubator is covered to keep it dark.
5) Two weeks later I have nothing to show for it. No germination whatsoever, but also no contamination either. The jars do not smell of anything, they are not discoloured in any way and they are clearly still moist inside. I opened one cake up to check that there was definitely nothing growing in it, and it honestly looks and smells as sterile as the day I made it.
Please can somebody tell me why is nothing growing?
Thanks for any help you can give.
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Crasher
αἱρετίζω




Registered: 03/13/01
Posts: 6,220
Loc: Tardy to the Party
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Re: Non-Germination [Re: dl46]
#7963338 - 02/01/08 03:25 AM (16 years, 23 hours ago) |
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How did you inoculate? standard being flamed syringe...alcohol? How many cc's per jar? how hot was the sterile water you used to create your syringe? do you have any secondary filters over the lid?
-------------------- Give me silence, water, hope; Give me struggle, iron, volcanoes...
Edited by Crasher (02/01/08 03:26 AM)
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shaggydogman
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Registered: 04/20/07
Posts: 672
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Re: Non-Germination [Re: dl46]
#7963341 - 02/01/08 03:28 AM (16 years, 23 hours ago) |
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the only other thing I can think of is...
When making the syringe how long did you leave it before inoculation? I have read that helps if you give it a day for the spores to hydrate before inoculation.
That is also a lot of spores to go into one syringe. I find less is more. I prefer syringes that look clear. If you have a dark print you should be able to make up to 10 syringes from it fairly easily.
-------------------- Rye -- WBS | Grain LC -- G2G | Bulk -- Monotub | 50/50 -- Late Casing -- A Pinning Strategy Disclaimer: My opinion is subject to change at short notice subject to but not limited by new information and knowledge being made available.
Edited by shaggydogman (02/01/08 03:29 AM)
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dl46
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Registered: 02/01/08
Posts: 19
Last seen: 15 years, 10 months
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Re: Non-Germination [Re: Crasher]
#7963343 - 02/01/08 03:31 AM (16 years, 23 hours ago) |
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When inoculating, I torched the end of the syringe, waited maybe 15 seconds and then inoculated. Did not use alcohol at this stage.
When making the spore syringe, I used cold water. I boiled water to sterilise it, put it in the syringe, then put the syringe in the fridge overnight because I didn't have time to finish the procedure on the same day.
After making the spore syringe, I let it hydrate for 12 hours and then inoculated each half-pint cake with about 1.5cc of solution.
One thing that has occurred to me is this: could there be some kind of preservative in the rice which is stopping the spores from germinating? It says on the ingredients "100% brown rice", but it's not organic...
Edited by dl46 (02/01/08 03:33 AM)
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dl46
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Registered: 02/01/08
Posts: 19
Last seen: 15 years, 10 months
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I let the spore syringe hydrate in a cool, dark place for 12 hours before inoculating the cakes.
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shaggydogman
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Registered: 04/20/07
Posts: 672
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Re: Non-Germination [Re: dl46]
#7963353 - 02/01/08 03:36 AM (16 years, 23 hours ago) |
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The possibles are spore death through heat, either in the process of making the syringe or innoculating into hot sub, which I don't think is the case here.
I have never used anything but organic brown rice or organic brown rice flour. I have read that there is a strong possibility of pesticides and fungicides in non organic.
-------------------- Rye -- WBS | Grain LC -- G2G | Bulk -- Monotub | 50/50 -- Late Casing -- A Pinning Strategy Disclaimer: My opinion is subject to change at short notice subject to but not limited by new information and knowledge being made available.
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shaggydogman
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Registered: 04/20/07
Posts: 672
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Yeah, have a google for 'rice fungicide'...
-------------------- Rye -- WBS | Grain LC -- G2G | Bulk -- Monotub | 50/50 -- Late Casing -- A Pinning Strategy Disclaimer: My opinion is subject to change at short notice subject to but not limited by new information and knowledge being made available.
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shaggydogman
Stranger


Registered: 04/20/07
Posts: 672
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You could always test your spores by knocking up a quick LC and shooting a couple of cc's in there to prove they are viable. That'll narrow it down to the substrate.
-------------------- Rye -- WBS | Grain LC -- G2G | Bulk -- Monotub | 50/50 -- Late Casing -- A Pinning Strategy Disclaimer: My opinion is subject to change at short notice subject to but not limited by new information and knowledge being made available.
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Crasher
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Registered: 03/13/01
Posts: 6,220
Loc: Tardy to the Party
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Since your spores seem to be a weak link, try again with a shroomery vendor instead of a buddy.
-------------------- Give me silence, water, hope; Give me struggle, iron, volcanoes...
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