A few ?'s that I have

Started by K20A2, April 17, 2004, 09:50:45 AM

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anno

The reason they turn very thin and blue could be that they are too wet, meaning the cakes almost sit in water and the mushrooms suck up too much water. When this happens, the mushrooms are very soggy after harvest and they blue when drying.

K20A2

Anno, what kind of experience do you have with growing mycelium culture's in jars? Im trying to find a way to save my spores. All my mushrooms are gone, and its time to start another batch. I'm going to make some prints this time around but for the time being I want to conserve what I do have left. This seems to be the best way to produce a dozen jars or so while only using minimal spores.

Here is what im in the process of doing..

1/2 pint jar with water and a teaspoon of Karo syrup (light, clear variety).
Steamed steralized for an hour with lid on and foil loosely over lid.

To be done..

Knock up jar with 1-2 cc's of spores.
Incubate at about mid 80's.
Hope for the best.

What do you think about this? Do I have a chance of it working? Anything I should change or add?

Thanks.

K20A2

Let me just bump this back up.

anno

>Anno, what kind of experience do you have with growing mycelium cultures in jars?

I don't like it. The reason is plainly and simply: you are not able to see and distinguish contamints easily. Inoculating a liquid culture jar with spores and hoping that it will grow only mushroom mycelium, particularly without good sterile technique, is a lottery.

For expanding syringes, check  http://www.fungifun.org/mycelium/

K20A2

I thank you. I will give this a try and post back when I do it.
What I tried to do with the karo syrup has failed. As of now I am going to do another six jars with one of my last two remaining syringes. Then I am going to concentrate on making prints with some of the larger caps, and making new spore syringes from them.
I'll post my progress, thanks again.

K20A2

Anno, recently I have had two failed attempts at getting my jars to colonize. Nothing about my procedures has changed from my first successful go at it. My spore syringes have been stored in the fridge since May. Is it possible that the spores are to old and have died? I shake the syringe continuously while im knocking the jars up, and I can see the spores floating around in there. The temp of the incubator is at 86. Also, no contamination what so ever. I let my second attempt go for 2+ weeks and all I had was dry verm by then so I dont think its a matter of my sterilization procedures. Any opinions on this?
Thanks.

anno

>Is it possible that the spores are to old and have died?

While it is not common, it is entirely possible.
Did the jars show any other type of growth? Any strange smell?

K20A2

#27
After two weeks of sitting in the incubator there was no noticable growth at all on any of the jars. The verm had started to come loose and was drying out but im assuming that is just natural from the warm temps. As for smell, yes now that you mention it there was a very weird smell coming from each of the jars. I didnt really want to take my time and deeply inhale, but it was nocticeable from each jar.
I have another set of jars in the incubator. Today (Saturday) makes 9 nights of warmth for them and I have the same results, or lack of results. No smell yet though.
Im in the process of getting a print. Whether is be from a vendor or if I can make a friend on the shroomery and have someone kindly send me one.
Well, thanks for all your help thus far.

*EDIT*
I was just thinking. Could it possibly be that im using tap water as opposed to bottled water before? To much water in the substrate? Although I know im using the same amount as the first time which was successful. Incubator is at 86. To hot maybe?
Ive been reading around on the shroomery and it seems that spores in syringes can last for a long period of time so thats dosent seem to be the problem.

IndiaShroomer

The incubation temperature of 86 F, IMO is bit on the higher side, i prefer to incubate at about 82 F. Strains originating in SouthAmerica tend to do optimally at
82.

If you have any wierd smell, get rid of the jars immediately, it indicates bacterial contamination. I am sure you know how substrate smells after it has been sterilized, when colonized with PC it gradually changes into a sweet earthy odour.
Its a simple rule, Wierd Smell=Bacterial contamination

Also if you are getting bacterial contamination repeatedly, you need to improve your sterile technique.
This is how I did it right at the very beginning:)
Did a tiny batch of substrate, about two jars. Placed these in the incubator without innoculation. If the jars started to smell within a week, tried it all over again with a fresh batch and improved technique. I did this cycle several times. Though time consuming, this way I worked up to a technique which ALWAYS worked for me. Then once perfected, I could do larger batches of substrate.

Since innoculation also introduces an element of contamination (you dont want anything except PC spores in there), practising sterile technique is important. You cant really experiment much here, since spores and the costs associated with innoculation are substantially higher. Practice the best possible sterile technique.
This is what I do:
cover my hair *very important - theres thousands of spores falling off one's hair at any given time
Clip your nails, wash your hands (for at least 120 secs :)with disinfectant, I use soft surgical spirit
If possible use surgical gloves, i make sure I wear longsleeved shirts with cuffs tucked into the gloves at the wrist.
Always use sterile/distilled water to hydrate the spores and create the syringe. Even if you use fresh spring/rain/mineral water, sterilize it.
Use disposable syringes, and always throw them away after use (never reuse)
Always flame sterilize the needle before and after each innoculation point.

Ensure that the jars are handled in a clean environment from the point they leave your pressure cooker/autoclave.
damp & humid or dusty environments are not good, all it takes is a single viable contaminant spore to destroy your efforts. There are millions out there.
Along the same lines, ensure that you have a relatively sterile incubation chamber.

Getting a clean sterile print, and then a sterile syringe is extremely important. If your syringe is contaminated, you will end up directly injecting the contaminants with the PC spores. It is important to note that most bacterial contaminants will outgrow PC in the initial week. So your PC culture wont stand a chance.

From your description of the verm coming loose, it seemed to me like you used less water, rather than more. You can safely use any pH nuetral water. Sterility is not a concern because you are going to sterilize the substrate after mixing it up anyway.
I would suggest you get a print from a reputed vendor, most vendors are very careful to maintain sterility. Since it is a business, they can 'afford' the equipment required to maintain sterility.
Of course a print and firsthand advice, sent by a friend, who grows with love, care and sterility works better than anything in the world!

Hoping your next grow fruits and rewards!

QuoteAfter two weeks of sitting in the incubator there was no noticable growth at all on any of the jars. The verm had started to come loose and was drying out but im assuming that is just natural from the warm temps. As for smell, yes now that you mention it there was a very weird smell coming from each of the jars. I didnt really want to take my time and deeply inhale, but it was nocticeable from each jar.
I have another set of jars in the incubator. Today (Saturday) makes 9 nights of warmth for them and I have the same results, or lack of results. No smell yet though.
Im in the process of getting a print. Whether is be from a vendor or if I can make a friend on the shroomery and have someone kindly send me one.
Well, thanks for all your help thus far.

*EDIT*
I was just thinking. Could it possibly be that im using tap water as opposed to bottled water before? To much water in the substrate? Although I know im using the same amount as the first time which was successful. Incubator is at 86. To hot maybe?
Ive been reading around on the shroomery and it seems that spores in syringes can last for a long period of time so thats dosent seem to be the problem.
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K20A2

#29
Thanks for the reply. I guess I am screwing it up somewhere along the line. Im just simply going to have to go all out on keeping things very very clean from now on. The hard part is that all of my work is not done where I live for certain reasons. Therefore, I realy dont have 'total' control of the working environment. I try to clean it as best as I can each time I prepare my mix.
Let me just say that certain individuals that I work on this with dont feel as strongly about it as I do and dont think everything I want to do is necessary for success.
Its going to come down to my way or failure!! They will give in and let me do it how I see fit. They love to trip and they know Im the only one with the knowledge on how to grow their precious mushrooms.
Well, 1 success and 2 failures. Moving on to attempt 3 this week hopefully.

Anyone want to donate a thai print?  :rolleyes:

K20A2

I wanna bring this back up.

I need some opinions on a decent technique to do a grow that is as stealth as possible.  Incubation of the jars is not the issue, its the birthing phase that poses a problem. Using a large fruiting chamber as I previously did is completly out of the question now.
I was considering leaving the cakes in the jars and just exposing them to light and letting the mushrooms grow up along the insides of the jars. I also did some searching and saw an idea of using a large clear ziplock bag with some perlite/water along the bottom and a cake or two in there.
Im toying with some ideas and trying to work this out. Id like to have a small harvest for my brother and I before he goes back to college in the fall.
Any suggestions you guys can give would be kickass. Thanks.

anno

Yes, you can try both of the methods.