tried pf tek twice with no myc. after innoc. does this method really work?

Started by thenewguy, September 12, 2012, 02:56:43 PM

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thenewguy

 I have tried the pf tek method twice and have not even reached the point of mycellium growth. I did as instructed I ordered spores from spore farmer. I bought vermiculite and BRF used pint gars and adjusted the mixture as needed. I boiled my jars for 2 hours and let cool overnight. I sterilized the needle and injected spore mixture against the side of the jars in 4 places as instructed. I set these jars on top of a cloth on top of the water heater approx.80-85 degrees and waited 2 months. Its not completely dark where the water heater in but there is no natural light keep in mind we live in fl and this is in my garage where the humidity stays around 85%. I have tried this method twice and the only action that was noticeable was the shrinking of the pf cakes with humidity still visible in the jars (fogging) I would very much like to use this pf tek method. What am I doing wrong? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! As I am a fanatic and would like to continue using this pf technique. Please help!!

Cacophonyhead

what kind of enviroment are you doing the inoc in? Are you using a flow hood, glove box, or small sterile room?
did you give the syringe a really good shake to get the majority of spores off the side of the syringe?
Im a noob too, but I have got at least mycil growing in BRF cakes. After I inoc, I place the jars in a rubbermaid and cover it with a garbage bag and stick it under the sink on a heat pad. It stays at 85 degrees. I tried once in a garage becuase I figured it was pretty humid and warm in there... but I realized with the door opening and closing and with temp drop at night, it didn't stay at a steady temp.
Other members on here may convince you to go with grain. I was convinced. I have one new batch of BRF going at the moment, and one stalled batch of BRF... Im going with grain now myself...
Good luck!

Cacophonyhead

Another thing I noticed in your description, you are using pint jars.
My stalled jars are pint jars, I switched my current jars to 1/2 pints. I figured if I can get 75% mycil growth in a pint, I should have had 100% in a 1/2 pint... Just a theory for my own failures.

thenewguy

thank you for the advice, i have just ordered a strain of equador and one of cambodian, from spore farmer.com and realized that one of the  syringes just has a huge cluster in it . is this a problem, shaking the syringe broke it down significantly, but there are still pieces that look big enough tto clog the needle, is there a better way to break this up or did i recieve a bad syringe?

thenewguy


Cacophonyhead

I've never had a syringe with a huge cluster in it. I'd say give it another shake before using and see what happens I guess. I find the needles on spore syringes I've used are really quite large so I wouldn't worry about a clog.

When you noc in your kitchen, is the area really clean? Another member I've chat with on here has a room designated for just his lab work, and he lysols the entire room and has a room hepa air filter running 24/7. I use my kitchen too, but because of contams, I use a glove box for my noc work, and even clean the surface of the table that I have the glove box on with lysol. I clean the inside of the box with lysol, and use rubbing alcohol on my gloves, the jars, and on the needle after flame sterilization.

darksyde

The cluster is just the gills from under the cap where the spores are stored, and is normal with some vendors so nothing to worry about there.. Just shake it up and inject..

Im not gonna give my final verdict on sporefarmer just yet.  I read alot of bad reviews and scam alerts on their products.

Being that they were so cheap, I decided to give them a chance and see for myself so I ordered 2 syringes.
1 is doing well after 6 days, almost completely colonized.  The other was contaminated, growing green mold in both jars. Im waiting for a response to my replacement request before I give them a good or bad review. Any company can send out an occasional bad syringe, but only the companies that make it right are worth your trust.

I have my 2 favorite vendors www.microsporetech.com/spores.htm  and  www.thehawkseye.com/spores.html
A little more expensive, but Ive NEVER had a bad syringe from either, and am still using syringes that were purchased over 3 years ago with great results.. Sometimes you get what you pay for, and the peace of mind is worth the extra few dollars



matsc

What is your water source like?

My local tap water is so high in chlorine that I've had it kill off cultures (at least with shiitake and oyster cultures). I started using bottled spring water and things took right off. Ive also had a couple problems with spawn jars and bags getting too wet or too dry and stalling. Never grown P. cubensis so not sure how susceptible it is to these things, but worth being careful about anyway.

You could also try another vendor. The spore depot has free shipping and included freebies, or you could try the free spore ring and make your own syringes. Ebay has decent sources of gourmet/edible cultures and spores if you want to go that way too.


rixxy24

Hi and thanks. Not that I've posted anything but just thanks in general, you know just for all being you. I'm at the very beginning of my pf tek adventure and seem to be getting evermore drawn to this cool site. Today i shall be buying my very last bits and Bobs and attempting to grow some great edible mushrooms for my family and i. I'm a killer of nature though so if i can get it wrong i will  it seems. I have so many questions bubbling away in my pressure cooker/mind and really look forward to this whole episode in my life. Faack I'm stoned :ph34r:...can you tell? I'm sorry i hate rambling nonsense in threads,i shall go and carry on reading here and leave you all some sanity.
Peace guys...Rix.