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Mushroom cultivation => PF - Tek => Topic started by: fattrout on November 11, 2008, 05:39:11 PM

Title: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on November 11, 2008, 05:39:11 PM
Hi, I have been looking for a new hobby and decided that studying mushrooms would be a fun one.  Back in Aug. 08 I bought a kit from Universal Scientific. The kit came with three pre-sterilized and pasturized substrate jars. I inoculated them and now I am on my way. Since then I have done a lot of studying and reading and found this site, and think this site is awesome from what I have read.  I will post some pictures soon of my progress as I am well on my way.  My biggest concern is contamination and I am hoping that when I am able to send the pics someone can give me some insight.  Mostly I noticed as my substrate jars were colonizing every now and then I would see very light blueing streaks and they would go away. I also noticed sometimes what look like little yellowish water spots trapped inside the glass.  I will be sending pics soon.
Fattrout
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on November 11, 2008, 05:43:02 PM
Me again ... also I want to say I have used the PF-Tek verm and brown rice flour and made my own substrate jars and have inoculated them and they seem to be doing better than the jars I received from U.S.    Like I said, pics will be coming soon and all input I can get will be helpful.
Thanks.
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on November 11, 2008, 06:32:58 PM
How do you put up pictures?  Everything I do does not work. Thanks.
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: sin2win on November 11, 2008, 08:19:37 PM
Quote from: fattrout on November 11, 2008, 06:32:58 PM
How do you put up pictures?  Everything I do does not work. Thanks.

upload ure photo to photobucket (or whatever u use) then get the direct link.  In ure post, click the input image button then put the link in between the img's.

(http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg274/sin2win1/hhhhheeeelp.jpg)
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on November 12, 2008, 05:51:00 AM
hey Sin thanks a lot .. I am off to work now but will try it later.
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on November 12, 2008, 03:51:24 PM
(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/shrooms019.jpg)
Cake right out of dunking
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on November 12, 2008, 04:03:14 PM
(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/shrooms017-1.jpg)
Cake being dunked for 24 hrs.
(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/shrooms007-1.jpg)
First flush
(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/shrooms023-1.jpg)
Second Flush growing on first cake.  This cake was one of three cakes that I recieved from University Scientific.  I tossed the other two because of something black growing in the jars.
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on November 12, 2008, 04:06:37 PM
(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/shrooms025-1.jpg)
these are cakes in the fruiting chamber that I made myself using the PF-TEK verm brown rice substrate I learned about on this site.  Any input would be appreciated. My main concerns are the blueing because of what I have heard about contamination has me worried.  do you think these have signs of contamination?
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: psilocybin warrior on November 13, 2008, 05:41:30 PM
The yellow drops or spots you saw in the jars is probably mycelium piss, and that blueing that you are seeing are most likely bruises.
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on November 13, 2008, 08:29:13 PM
Thanks PWarrior.  I thought that may be the case but it is nice to get some input about it from someone with expierience.  Actually a friend and I researched a few and had a lot of fun doing so.  If only my high school teacher could see me now~! LOL
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: psilocybin warrior on November 15, 2008, 05:16:57 AM
Yeah np, I take it by your name you like trout fishing? I caught a 5 1/2lb golden a week or 2 ago.
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on November 19, 2008, 05:11:48 PM
Yes I love to trout fish. I actually only caught one golden but where I fish it is mostly brookies, browns, and rainbows.  And some cutthroats too.  As I continue my new hobby I am sure I will have more questions. Thanks.
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: Baphom3t on November 19, 2008, 09:07:06 PM
Wonder where I was when this was first posted  :huh:
Congrats fattrout.
Those look pretty :)

Baph
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on November 21, 2008, 05:58:45 PM
Baph - thanks ... this new hobby has been a whole lot of fun and am still making adjustments to the way I am doing things.  I have a cake getting ready to fruit now and it looks like my best one yet. Thanks for your input and look forward to my next fishing TRIP~!  ^_^
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on December 01, 2008, 07:52:14 PM
Hey I am back.  Just wanted to keep you posted - been busy in the lab.  But I am wondering my mushies don't seem to be growing more than about 3-4" tall and the biggest cap I've had so far is roughly 1-1 1/2" in diameter.  And then of course each flush seems to be getting smaller here is a picture of the third flush from original cake in this thread
(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/shrooms026.jpg)

oh by the way I am working with treasure coast is this a characteristic for this strain?

I try my best to search through this site before I start to ask questions and bother anyone.  Just want to make sure this is normal.
and here is a pic of a flush I dried but still they are not getting cracker hard but are spongy.  Some friends of mine and I have eaten them and had a good time on last camping trip. (http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/shrooms015.jpg)

Included here is a picture of a stump at our campgrounds with a lot of shrooms growing out of it, which I thought was cool. I know they are not cubbies but thought it looked cool.

(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/allsanbenito006-1.jpg)


Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: sin2win on December 02, 2008, 12:09:32 AM
hehe, yea dude mine were around the same size, check out my thread...
i just ate couple of em raw, couldnt wait for the weekend lol.
only ate like 20 somthing grams but alot were aborts (remember raw)
Good shit tho, im going to eat the rest of my batch w/ a buddy this weekend, i dont think its going to be enough  :angry:
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on December 04, 2008, 06:55:26 PM
thanks for the info, I cured my drying problem, went out and bought a dehydrater, now they are coming out cracker hard .. LOL  Also just took my first spore print and I was amazed at the pretty dark purple color of the print and how thick it was.  Which brings me to my next question - do you know how many syringes I can get out of a quarter to fifty cent size spore print?  Can't wait for tomorrow night, so I can see how well my drying process worked~!   ^_^
And right now I am making cakes in 3 gallon buckets on perilite and it seems to be working well for me.  I also have one bucket that I am using a reptile aquarium humidfier and that seems to be working really good. 
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: sin2win on December 04, 2008, 07:00:35 PM
what kind of dehydrator did u purchase? and where at?
i was looking around for one (stores) and couldnt find one where u can set dif temps.
i want 1 with a very low temp, like 95 or somthing.
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on December 04, 2008, 07:22:05 PM
I got it at Bed, Bath, and Beyond..it is a Nesco .. it has the temp. settings from 95-155 and has 4 trays.  Cost about 59 bucks and we had 20% coupon.  It was worth it.  I'll put a pick up of the batch I just dried.  I checked on them after about 12 hours but they probably were dry before that.
(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/029.jpg)

I have 8 grams there and I think the wife and I are going to throw them on our salad tomorrow night.  Should be fun.
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: sin2win on December 04, 2008, 07:28:32 PM
lol thx man, im going to bb and beyond morrow lol. i have mine under a fan and their getting dry but for the future id like somthing faster and more effiant.
Oh yea BTW, hope u guys enjoy the mushie salad -_- im enjoiing mine saturday, gotta work friday  :angry:
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on December 09, 2008, 05:25:29 PM
Hi .... Made another set of jars a couple of days ago and noticed that some of the jars look like water seeped in while in the pressure cooker.   Should these be tossed or should I try to inoculate them..??  Here's a couple pics .. how they looked out of the pressure cooker.....


(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/shrooms0053.jpg)

(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/shrooms003.jpg)

BTW ... here are a couple pics of spore prints.  Just wondering if you guys know roughly how many syringes I can get per print?

(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/shrooms002.jpg)

(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/shrooms001.jpg)

Oh yeah .. mushie salad was excelllllant~! Thanks..
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: Baphom3t on December 09, 2008, 05:37:44 PM
Hard to tell from those pics if they are to wet.
A good rule of thumb is,if in doubt throw it out.
It's better to waste sub, than waste sub and spores.

Those prints will give you alot of syringes.
It's hard to determine a number but,you will get plenty.
I'll guess maybe 25 - 40 syringes if done properly,but that's just a guess.

Baph
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on December 09, 2008, 05:42:59 PM
Thanks for the info.  Wish I had started this a long time ago, I am having a lot of fun with it.
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on December 15, 2008, 06:45:47 PM
Hello I am back with a few questions.  I been doing BRF cakes.  Usually do 6-8 jars in a batch and am working with treasure coast.  Now I am doing b+ and making my jars the same way I have been.  But it looks to me like my first flush is plentiful but small, barely  growing an inch tall, fat stems and small caps.  Here's a couple pics...any thoughts or input would be greatly appreciated.

(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/01.jpg)
Cake in the back (left )was fullly colinized two weeks ago.  I let it stay in the jar a week, then did the dunk and roll and this is what it looks like a week later.

(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/02.jpg)
Cake in front same thing but just put into fruiting chamber today.  It seems when I do a batch of 6-8 jars they do not colonize the same speed, this must be normal.

(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/03.jpg)

(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/06.jpg)

This is the first flush, shrooms are very small  and the  veils have broken and I feel I should pick and re-dunk the cake and the next the flush will be bigger???

In the mean time the spore prints I took I scraped about half a print into a jar of sterilized water, and filled 6 syringes.  Inoculated a few jars and they seem to be moving (colonizing) 10 times faster than the original syringes I got.  I am thinking I have too many spores in each syringe.  Does this make a difference in the potency or does it just colonize faster?  I appreciate any and all input.

Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: psilocybin warrior on December 15, 2008, 07:01:16 PM
 I am thinking I have too many spores in each syringe.  Does this make a difference in the potency or does it just colonize faster?

>Colonization speed only.



I feel I should pick and re-dunk the cake and the next the flush will be bigger???

>Its def a possibility.

PW
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on December 15, 2008, 08:14:06 PM
Thanks for the info PW, cruzzin' right along~!!! :mellow:
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on December 15, 2008, 08:18:02 PM
OH BTW are the small ones keepers ... or should I 'throw them back'??  LOL
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: sin2win on December 16, 2008, 09:49:09 AM
keep em all dude, at least i do!
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: psilocybin warrior on December 16, 2008, 12:56:05 PM
I just had a thought, what kind of water did you dunk them in?

PW
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on December 16, 2008, 07:20:57 PM
Sin -  I did keep them and the base of the stems were thick and heavy even tho the caps and upper part of the stems were skinny and small.  So I stuck them in the awesome dehydrater I bought and I was surprised by how many dried shrooms I ended up with.  Although I only picked the ones that looked like aborts and those thick looking ones to the front or right in the pictures.  Left the ones in the back cuz the veils had not broken yet and wow they are twice as big as they were yesterday. -_-


And to answer PW's question I dunk my cakes in natural spring water.  For about 12-16 hours right out of the jar. 

I'll post up more pics soon, the shrooms on the back side of the cake seem to be much bigger and I will wait for them to be done then re-dunk the cake?

Thanks guys ...
Having fun .... Fattrout
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on December 27, 2008, 08:41:34 PM
Hey.... here's a  couple pics I'd like the 'experts' to look at ......

first pic is the b+ I have been working with lately, notice long stems and small caps, could this not be enough RH? or just b+ characteristic?  The second photo those are some weird looking aborts or are they just mutants and are they still edible?  They still smell good but seem to be growing funny and came off of that same b+ cake. 
Thanks


(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/shrooms0033.jpg)

(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/shrooms0013.jpg)
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: Baphom3t on December 27, 2008, 09:05:08 PM
I've seen B+ go both ways.
If your hydrometer is calibrated right and it's not high enough then raise the RH.
Cakes demand no less than 97% RH but prefer 100%.

The aborts are fine to eat.

Baph
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on December 27, 2008, 09:19:09 PM
Thanks for info, been having a hard time keeping the RH up lately.  I believe its because of the drastically cold weather we have had causeing dryer air.  Anyways, I'll test my hydrometer and keep working at it. 
Shit maybe tomorrow I'll buy a new hydrometer to see if they read the same.  And I just got done inoculating a few jars with some golden teacher.  see how that goes.  Like always haveing fun!  Can't wait for new years..wife and I are having a nice shroom salad!
Thanks
Fattrout
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: psilocybin warrior on December 28, 2008, 10:31:30 AM
After looking at your hygrometer I think its time to invest in a digi hygro, Walmart has them for 8$ thats both temp/hygro.  I used to use the ones like u got and for me they were real easy to phuck up the calibration.  Do u know how to check if its calibrated right?

PW
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on December 28, 2008, 08:28:11 PM
Thanks for the reply, went out today and bought one of them there fancy digital meters =) and stuck it in one of my fruiting chambers .. check this out, these are some treasure coast I started from scratch.   Actually from the spore prints I posted earlier.  Think they are moving along pretty good.  Still working on getting the RH a little higher.   Oh btw I roughly know how to calibrate, I read it in another thread you wrote, a tsp. of salt in a bottle cap,,, couple drops of water in a sealed container right?  Hope you like the pics.  thanks....

(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/shrooms001-1.jpg)

(http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k256/Fancygrl91/shrooms002-1.jpg)
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: psilocybin warrior on December 29, 2008, 02:56:00 PM
yup, you got it.

Pw
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on December 29, 2008, 06:53:56 PM
hey
i harvested those two cakes today and i couldn't believe it.  55 g wet.   stuck them in the dehydrator and hope they are ready for new years eve!!  i am!! ^_^
thanks for all your help and input.
FT
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: psilocybin warrior on December 31, 2008, 04:24:17 PM
Hell yeah man, I just got some Ban Hau Thannon's ready to bring in the new year.  I was looking at ur first flush again, now im sure their probably wasn't enough moisture in the cakes.  You can tell by when the veils break while their still small(it's a defense mechanism) they have when they are threatend by death and they drop their shit.

PW
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on December 31, 2008, 05:50:50 PM
Cool ... I think I got it.  Working on getting the moisture up in the chambers, its coming up I have it up about 95 now.  One other thing, when making substrate should I add more water to the batch?  will that help add moisture to the cakes and/or maybe dunk a little longer? 
OK happy new year ... time to trip  :mellow:
FT
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: psilocybin warrior on January 02, 2009, 10:14:43 AM
One other thing, when making substrate should I add more water to the batch?

What kind of substrate are you talking about? Usually too much water before and during colonization = Bad, the mycelium needs to breathe.  But if im using casings ill gently pour some clean water in the sub when ever It needs it.  Usually dunking anymore than 16 hours is overkill and too long will kill the mycelium.

PW
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: Baphom3t on January 02, 2009, 10:47:40 AM
Dunk anywhere from 8 - 12 hrs. :)

Baph
Title: Re: New hobby
Post by: fattrout on January 04, 2009, 06:06:04 PM
WOW .. those B+'s I harvested the other day were awesome.  They may have come out on the small side but were plentiful and potent.  I and a buddy munched them the other night and had a blast! Thanks for all the help.  My next venture I am going to work with golden teacher and hope they are ase good. 

PW - btw my sub that I have been working with is BRF cakes and I am going to stick with the original recipe.  I have my humidity up now in the FC lets see if they get any bigger with the next batch, if not does it even matter?  They have been doing the job for me.
Thanks,
Fattrout