colonization

Started by jshroomer, July 03, 2008, 12:08:18 PM

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jshroomer

It has been about two weeks, maybe more, since I injected my jars with spores.  Only one of my jars seems to be producing a respectable amount of mycelium, but even that one seems to be slowing down.  The other jars were producing some mold, not much, but now I can find little or no mold (it has become really hard to tell).  One jar seems to be producing a pink mold, so I have separated that from the other jars.  I am using bird seed as the substrate, and the contents of the jars seems to be a little runny because when I shake up the jars every other day, it leaves streaks on the inside of the jar.  Also, I am not using an incubator, but the house never gets above about 82 degrees F.  Most of the time its around 75 to 78 degrees F. 

Can anyone give me some advice?  Am I screwed for the most part, except for one jar?  If I am, what can I do to save this one jar?

Baphom3t

try posting a few pics if you can.
Pics always help in determining.

Baph


psilocybin warrior

are they in a completely dark area the whole time? It sounds like you diddn't steralize long enough. Because with WBS they should be almost done.

jshroomer

Well I don't have the equipment to post any pictures, but I'm gonna try and borrow my friend's digital camera.

My quart jars are being kept in a partially see-through plastic container that is covered with a blanket, shielding them from most of the light. 

As for the sterilization, I don't exactly have the money to blow on a pressure cooker, so I did the alternative:  I placed the jars in a large pot that had jar lids on the bottom to prevent direct contact between the jars and the pot.  I filled the pot about half way to the jars with water.  With the water boiling I placed the lid on top of the pot enclosing, though not sealing, the jars inside.  I let the jars sit in a light boil for an hour.  Is this sufficient?

I also used polyfil filters on each jar.  I injected each jar through the polyfil...is this wrong?

To help visualize what the jars look like, there is a milky, somewhat yellow liquid on the walls of the jar(mostly from when I shake the birdseed up) and liquid that accumulates on the bottom.  This is a very small amount of liquid, not even enough to create a small puddle in the jar.  I strained the birdseed for about 30 min. after simmering for 25 min.  I believe the milky substance is just excess water and maybe the liquid from the syringes, which has accumulated particles and juices from the birdseed.  Am I wrong?  And is this too saturated?

Only one of my jars has produced any noticeably large amount of mold, and if I'm not just being paranoid, the amount of this mold seems to be diminishing.  From looking at the jar, it seems about 20% of the contents is covered in white mold.  What can I do to successfully colonize the rest of this jar and the others, if there is any hope left.  If I can only save this one jar, then what can I do to save it?  Please help.

Thanks,
jshroomer

psilocybin warrior

-My quart jars are being kept in a partially see-through plastic container that is covered with a blanket, shielding them from most of the light. 

>  I wrapped the outside of my incubator in tinfoil and taped it together and throw a blanket over it, every other couple of days I take the blanket off at night to let them breath a little better.

-I placed the jars in a large pot that had jar lids on the bottom to prevent direct contact between the jars and the pot.  I filled the pot about half way to the jars with water.  With the water boiling I placed the lid on top of the pot enclosing, though not sealing, the jars inside.  I let the jars sit in a light boil for an hour.  Is this sufficient?

> I wouldnt think so, If anything you should have boiled them for 1 1/2 -2 hrs.  Im sure that you can find a cheaper pressure cooker, my first one was 35$.

> try and get a camera

- What can I do to successfully colonize the rest of this jar and the others, if there is any hope left.  If I can only save this one jar, then what can I do to save it?  Please help.

>  Leave it in a completely dark place that will allow gas exchange during colonization.  This white "mold" is mycelium. If your other jars are not molding you can try to re-steralize them and try doing a grain-to-grain after your colonizing jar grows more mycelium but its risky.

Baphom3t

"As for the sterilization, I don't exactly have the money to blow on a pressure cooker, so I did the alternative"

Sry bro but there is problem 1
BRF is the best for the alternative form of sterility which I'm assuming was boiling x amount of water in a pot with a lid and the jars inside.
There is a tek for that but I have never tried it, and have read some that say it works and some that don't.
The way you sterilized won't work for grains.
Invest in a pc before you use grains.

Your best bet since you don't have a pc is this http://www.fungifun.org/English/Pftek

If you are having any luck on any jar take the foil off if it's still there.

" I injected each jar through the polyfil...is this wrong?"

No

" I strained the birdseed for about 30 min. after simmering for 25 min"

That's not right.
Here is a good WBS prep tek  http://www.shroomery.org/9030/Docs-Wild-Bird-Seed-Tek

I don't think your gonna have much luck on this grow.
Try the pf tek I gave a link to in this post until your invest in a pc.

Baph




jshroomer

I actually didn't use any foil at all.  I just used the lid with a polyfil filter.  Are you saying that I should remove the lid?  Should I go ahead and case them?

Also, is it possible to see a couple of mushrooms growing inside the jar, even though the jar is not fully colonized?  Because there are a couple of bulb like structures that resemble small mushrooms, but it is hard to see.  I still don't have any pictures to show, unfortunately.  The jar I am curious about is Orissa India. 

And thanks for those links, by the way.  I will be using that WBS tek for my third remaining syringe, Cambodian.

Thanks,
jshroomer

psilocybin warrior

Sorry I meant that I wrapped the outside of my incubator in tinfoil to prevent any light from getting in.

Don't remove the lids.

Don't case them until they are fully colonized, maybe in 4-5 days make a new batch of jars, steralize them properly according to the Tek listed on this site and try a grain-to-grain.  When everything is ready I'll tell you what you need to do because that one jar you have can re-spawn another 4-5 atleast.

If your still in the colonization process its highly unlikely that they will be fruiting, different strains of mycelium have varying rizomorphic growth patterns. (rizomorphic<--- grows in layers)