Ok, pretty much I can't get PF jars to colonize.. I'm starting to think my pressure cooker is killing the jars. I clean everything and use 1/2 cup verm 1/4 cup brf 60 cc's of water... Mixed up and made 12 jars.. Covered the 4 holes with electrical tape and the middle hole filled with polyfill. I then pressure cooked them for 40 minutes at 15 PSI. Now my pressure cooker has a weight on it that doesn't move.. I brought the heat up until steam came up then put the weight on brought the heat to a little under medium and waited. The water inside the pressure cooker was boiling I could here it splashing around. Is that right?
Anyways After the jars cooled over night I inoculated the jars 1 cc each.
I used the rubbermaid tub with a 50 watt thermo in it.. checked the jars 40% humidity and 83 degrees. Waited two weeks nothing!
I did this exact thing twice the jars don't smell so it doesn't seem like contaiminated. I just don't see anything growing.
This is very discouraging I should of odered more syringes ahead of time :(.. Any advice is appreciated.. Thanks
From what you write it looks as if you are doing everything right.
the only variation from what I do is the length of pressure cooking, I seem to get by with 20 minutes @ 15 psi (timed from after the PC reaches temperature)
well, seeing as nothing is growing in your jars (not even contamination) it looks as if the sterilisation step has worked. If you had not sterilised the jars, then you would undoubtedly get all sorts of stuff growing (unless the water is being lost from the jars during pressure cooking perhaps?).
Some people insist that organinic brown rice flour is the only one to use as others sometimes have fungicides included - I'm not sure about that though.
also, the mixing and loading of jars is an art in itself, though this only effects speed of colonisation and yield, not wether or not anything grows.
(please don't take any offence from this last comment, but if you just wrote this first post so that you could wait for someone to ask who supplied the spores, then start dissing the vendor, don't bother replying)
Apart from that I'm stumped, Anyone else got any ideas
Sounds like the syringes are not viable. Are they old?
QuoteSounds like the syringes are not viable. Are they old?
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No I just purchased them and used them the next day.
I figured it was the pressure cooker nukeing them since I figured the spores should be viable. I just need one darn jar to colonize!
The only way the PC could mess things up waould be if it didn't sterilise the substrate (obviously not the case due to no contam), or if the process dried the jars out - though this also seems unlikely.
Seems very odd that this happened to two syringes. Could yo see evidence of spores in the syringes?
When you say the jars didn't smell, have you actually opened one up fully to investigate yet?
QuoteThe only way the PC could mess things up waould be if it didn't sterilise the substrate (obviously not the case due to no contam), or if the process dried the jars out - though this also seems unlikely.
Seems very odd that this happened to two syringes. Could yo see evidence of spores in the syringes?
When you say the jars didn't smell, have you actually opened one up fully to investigate yet?
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I didn't look that cloesly but I will this time, 3 days ago I ordered a syringe and waiting for it to show up I figure this would be my last attempt and ill work at growing other stuff.
Now if I created 10 jars brf pc'd them and they have been in a box for 3 days tomorrow the syringe should be here can i still use the jars or should i toss them and make new ones?
Do they look clean? They don't have any smell?(without lifting the lid!)
Then use them.
The only caution I would add is to check that you have not boiled the substrates (BRF) dry. This should not have happened if there was still plenty of water in the PC at the end of the process.
Even so, I would still have expected some minor growth at the innoculation site. perhaps it was the spore syringes at fault?
I've been having the same problem lately. There seems to be no signs of contamination, but at the same time absolutly no growth in any of the jars.
At this point I would be satisfied to get ONE mushroom just so I can make a print and not have to order more syringes off the net.
I have to say the syringes were just pretty weak. I took the second syringe i received and made some liquid mycelium and innoculated 12 more jars none of the jars germinated but the liquid mycelium did. I then took the liquid and innoculated 4 more jars of liquid then those same 12 jars and everything is now running perfect :D My first caseing