waixingren said:

AcidHorse all of that flaming was uncalled for. You could have easily made your point without the excessive junk. You're a great contributor to this thread and we all appreciate your efforts to advance it. However we need to keep this thread informative and focused if we want to unlock the morel secrets.

---

faffle said:

well I was about to post some pics of my jars, but I have to wait.  Anyway, the old leached potting soil, and the compost are outperforming the sand by far.  I'd say the potting soil has the biggest sclerotium.

---

The sand? If you had looked at my diagram its just a thin layer between mulch and grain which is effectively no different
than potting soil in your situation.
Sand? of course you can't do it with just sand.

faffle said:

Here is a jar with an np layer of compost mixed with sand.  My other pics are too big to upload....and I'm too lazy to take more right now.

---

Quote:

NP COMPOST contains the following ingredients:

Hen manure

Dairy manure

Hardwood shavings and sawdust

Turkey slaughter waste

Occasionally may also include:

Seaweed

Plant residues (garden waste and weeds)

Gypsum and/or elemental sulfur (to inhibit nitrogen loss from the compost)

The composting process consists of static forced air; piles are in bays under cover, and temperature and time requirements as prescribed by NOP Rule § 205.203(c)(2)(i) and(ii) are consistently exceeded. Records are kept regarding temperature and dates which verify compliance with the Rule.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


NP MIX contains the following ingredients:

Humus peat moss (fine textured, very dark brown)

Sphagnum peat moss

NP COMPOST

Horticultural perlite

Blood meal (12­0­0)

The ingredients are blended, cured, screened, and bagged. Besides our own brand name, we will also package the same material for Johnny’s Selected Seeds under their own private label.

---

faffle said:

why haven't you tried it? If I had seen any serious attempts of yours, then I would follow your advice.

---

faffle said:

i mixed the compost with sand, cause it was too goopy.  no drainage and not enough pore space.

---

Quote:

I would imagine thats its 'similar' to the soil down by the river where i find morels. That soil is so sandy/silty that it's like a sponge when you step on it, even when dry.  so that's what i was thinking--sand and humus.  If you get to preoccupied with scientific journal articles you start to forget about mimicking the natural environment. 

---

Quote:

The purpose of those experiments is to test one or a few variables.  With ten of my jars, I'm trying to simulate the natural environment.  With the other ten jars-5 potting soil and

---

Quote:

5 sand

---

Quote:

-I'm just seeing what will happen.

---

Roger Fudd said:

Hi acidhorse,
I have a question about your diagram. The process of forming morel sclerotia starts with having the mycelium growing on a low nutrient substrate, then when it reaches a high nutrient substrate (like the ryegrass seed) it transport the nutrients to the low-nutrient area and forms sclerotia, correct? If so, you would inoculate the jar from the top right? And it would just grow past the sand and the gravel with no problem? Thanks

---