Fungifun - Forum

Mushroom cultivation => PF - Tek => Topic started by: substrate on April 29, 2010, 04:09:34 PM

Title: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: substrate on April 29, 2010, 04:09:34 PM
Seems like things have been really quiet on the forum lately, I guess the weather got nice and everyone is out enjoying the sunshine.  I thought I would throw this out and see what ideas are out there. 

For instance, on my most recent batch I inoculated with LC from a spore print.  Instead of using pure water, I diced and boiled some potatoes and used the potato water with the rice flour and verm mix.  It only took SEVENTEEN DAYS for complete colonization - way faster than any other batch of pf cakes I've done.

I boiled some water and added honey and let it cool with the lid on.  Then when I birthed my cakes I dunked them for about 20 hours in the honey water.  Just for kicks I rolled half of he cakes in verm and half of the cakes in sterilized steer manure compost.

Now, three days later, I already have PINS on the (lovingly dubbed) poo cakes.  The verm cakes look good, but are running way behind those with the poo.

These tweaks combined have gotten me to pinning in less than half the time of my previous batches.

What tek tweaks are working for you?
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: dub504 on April 29, 2010, 04:51:10 PM
Interesting, would be cool to see a pic...
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: substrate on April 29, 2010, 08:34:23 PM
this is a cake rolled in poo, 3 days in the FC:
http://s979.photobucket.com/albums/ae279/alt0182/lolie%20gaggin/?action=view&current=taylorscamera011.jpg

this is a cake from the same batch, all the same techs, but rolled in verm, 3 days in the FC:
http://s979.photobucket.com/albums/ae279/alt0182/lolie%20gaggin/?action=view&current=taylorscamera009.jpg

The verm-rolled cake is STILL better colonized and moving faster than any pf batches I've ever done, but the poo-rolled cake looks like a friggin snowball on crack. 

The three poo cakes - you can hardly see them against the white perlite base:  http://s979.photobucket.com/albums/ae279/alt0182/lolie%20gaggin/?action=view&current=taylorscamera016.jpg

The three verm cakes - on the opposite side of the FC:  http://s979.photobucket.com/albums/ae279/alt0182/lolie%20gaggin/?action=view&current=taylorscamera017.jpg

Feel free to look around the whole photo bucket, there are several other pics just uploaded today.  [sorry, tried to put the pics in the post, but couldn't figure it out]
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: ImAFungi on April 30, 2010, 07:39:07 AM
I have a couple of cakes that should be hitting the FC any day now. I think I'm going to try that poo tek man. They do look like a god damn snowball. :ph34r: Very Nice Substrate!

        -ImAFungi
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: Vandal_xx on May 01, 2010, 05:13:19 AM
Yea man, nice job. Looking foward to getting your letter.!!
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: substrate on May 03, 2010, 10:48:19 AM
vandal, Got that envelope today -thanks man, I'm looking forward to giving these a shot.

To sterilize the poo, since it was steer manure compost mix (with bits of wood and lots of other stuff in it) I put it in a half gallon jar, put plastic wrap over the top and nuked it for SIX minutes.  So far, so good.

Nice pins forming on verm and poo cakes already.  Pins on the cubesagna, and finally some pins on the big "laundry basket" (woo! Hoo!).  I'll get pics up as soon as I can.
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: bigfatmouthj on May 04, 2010, 02:54:39 PM
I did a few poo/verm/fb jars and they are looking pretty nice! they were hit up with a pan strain and im hoping for the best.  :wub:

Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: chains on May 05, 2010, 09:46:59 AM
Hey dude great suggestions there! Im deffo gonna try and make a few cakes with potato water next time! Ive also heard form somewhere using black coffee instead of just water gets good results but ive never heard of anyone trying this...
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: dub504 on May 06, 2010, 07:05:10 PM
Stick to a proven tek and you can't go wrong.  :ph34r:
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: substrate on May 07, 2010, 10:10:53 PM
I don't know why the poo cakes are working, but they are producing beyond my wildest dreams.  More, bigger, and faster than the verm cakes that came out of the same LC inoculation process.

The verm cakes are doing OK, just a little better than my other batches which didn't colonize nearly as well or as quickly.  The poo cakes look like porcupines.  I'm looking at one right now with 40 to 50 pins, and mushrooms that should be ready to pick tomorrow or so.

I'm keeping track, and so far have double the weight from the poo cakes as the verm cakes.  I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow, and will let you know what the end tally is.

Outproducing everything though is the laundry basket.  Fat-stemmed odd shaped fruit, tops look like butts with a weird "crack" on one side.  Growing right out of the straw with no casing or anything.
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: tritone on June 02, 2010, 06:28:37 PM
I don't know I've never done this or much yet but you can call this one a wannabe tweek....

I want to blend some quality horse dump to powder then nuke and use as substrate with verm, BRF,H2o

1 part verm
1 part horse dump
1 part BRF
1 part h2o

then when you dunk and roll use casing of choice like peat moss, verm, lime mix or other...basically similar to casing technique

well so much for PF for simple minds ^_^

Cheers Substrate!
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: dub504 on June 03, 2010, 02:18:49 PM
Your gonna have to sterilize that mix brother.  :ph34r:
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: substrate on June 06, 2010, 09:47:15 PM
End tally:

   3 Eq LC cakes w/verm:  19 fruits @ 18g  
   3 Eq LC cakes w/poo:     66 fruits @ 95g

The three original poo cakes kept growing at a much higher rate, even after the second dunking - when all six cakes were rolled in poo.  No idea why, just that they got such a good headstart after the first roll.
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: tritone on June 07, 2010, 04:34:47 AM
Quote from: substrate on June 06, 2010, 09:47:15 PM
End tally:

   3 Eq LC cakes w/verm:  19 fruits @ 18g 
   3 Eq LC cakes w/poo:     66 fruits @ 95g

The three original poo cakes kept growing at a much higher rate, even after the second dunking - when all six cakes were rolled in poo.  No idea why, just that they got such a good headstart after the first roll.

Awesome! thanks for sharing results keep on jamming! I wish I get same results!   

Cheers substrate!
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: dub504 on June 10, 2010, 07:21:57 PM
I've really been liking Micropore tape instead of Polyfill in air exchange holes for grains.
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: chains on June 16, 2010, 05:20:35 AM
What the fuck rajiv123? Is there an echo in here or summin??
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: dub504 on June 16, 2010, 02:59:41 PM
rajiv123, it an unofficial board rule. You must cite your quotes from now on.  :rolleyes:
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: substrate on June 17, 2010, 10:13:53 PM
Microspore tape has to be a lot easier to work with than the poly fill.  Unfortunately I'll have to use up this big-ass roll of poly fill before I can justify buying the tape.  Maybe I should take up quilting or something...
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: dub504 on June 18, 2010, 12:47:45 PM
It's only a few bucks @ walgreens
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: saddie on June 28, 2010, 04:25:17 PM
Hello substrate and other members here. I have been reading this board for a while but have now joined today just to post here and say that I am trying substrate's poo tek. This is my second attempt at the PF Tek (during the first attempt I wasn't clean enough). So far everything is going smoothly with this attempt.

I have just birthed 5 cakes, dunked them in honey water over night, and have rolled two in sterilized steer manure and three in dry verm. All now sit in my FC. Will post pics when there is something to see I guess. I just really hope that that manure is not full of disease.

Also I have been thinking that the reason that substrate's poo cakes looked like 'snowballs on crack' is because the myc just grew over the poo. So basically it's just adding nutrients and taking away a casing layer. What do you all think?

And now I also have two questions, although this might not be the right thread, but here goes:

1- is it really bad if I don't dunk between flushes? Does it make that big a difference?
2- is it really bad if my FC is humid but is kind of cold? It is at room temp - about 18-20 deg C.

Thanks for reading
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: dub504 on June 28, 2010, 04:58:50 PM
Hi saddie, welcome to the board! Cakes don't hold as much moisture as some other methods out there, casings, bulk, rez effect.  Dunking the cake after a flush is going to replace a lot of moisture used by your previous fruits and will def help the second flush produce.
    I think you'll be fine fruiting at those temps, a little warmer would be the optimal.
Another great site with lots and lots of great info and friendly people are here as well.
www.mycotopia.net (http://www.mycotopia.net)
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: saddie on June 30, 2010, 05:09:44 PM
Thanks for the reply Dub 504. Thanks for all of your replies actually, as you are quite an active member on this board. It is much appreciated. I guess I am just a little apprehensive because this is the furthest I've gotten with this process and I am having nightmares of green mold :)
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: dub504 on June 30, 2010, 05:48:28 PM
You'll do fine I'm sure. I just check in now and then, carrying the torch so to speak. It's so quiet around here and I just want to help out those who stumbled on the site, as I did.
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: saddie on July 06, 2010, 09:37:53 PM
Hello all! I am glad to report that everything is going well so far (knock on wood). Here are some pics like promised. Again two cakes are rolled in sterilized steer manure (I had to sterilise it myself in my pressure cooker) and the other three are rolled in unsterilized dry verm (as per original PF tek). One shot is on day 1 in my FC. The remaining shots are on day 8 in the FC. You can see the myc has grown like crazy over the manure and now look like snowballs on crack. Both of the poo cakes are ahead of the verm ones as you can see by the beginning of the pinning in the pics.

Will keep all updated re: harvest amounts, although I don't have a scale. Looks like substrate's 'poo tek' is solid. So far I consider it verified as superior. We shall see what the final tally will be!

Thanks for all the help around here people.

Actually one question - right now I am fanning and spraying my FC down about three times a day. Do you think I should leave the lid half off for a part of the day or something to increase fresh air flow too, or is fanning sufficient?

On to the pics.. Day 1 and day 8. Sorry about the image shack hosting. Any idea on what would be better/easier?

(http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/3252/dscn5836.th.jpg) (http://img809.imageshack.us/i/dscn5836.jpg/)

(http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/3519/dscn5875.th.jpg) (http://img80.imageshack.us/i/dscn5875.jpg/)

(http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/6509/dscn5878f.th.jpg) (http://img704.imageshack.us/i/dscn5878f.jpg/)

(http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/3021/dscn5879.th.jpg) (http://img690.imageshack.us/i/dscn5879.jpg/)

(http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7479/dscn5881.th.jpg) (http://img205.imageshack.us/i/dscn5881.jpg/)

Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: dub504 on July 08, 2010, 04:39:47 PM
Looks good, just keep up with fae and fruits will come.
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: shroomzer on July 08, 2010, 06:14:11 PM
Looks pretty darn good.  I use photobucket and insert the pics right into the post .. just set up an account and copy and paste the image code into your post and the pics come up.  I upload mine in a medium size so they aren't too small and not too large.  Just another way to put photos on.

P.S....yeah Dub's da man~!  =)
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: saddie on July 15, 2010, 07:39:01 PM
Hey all. So I had a bit of a contam problem - I've posted about it in another topic on this board. Long story short, I have tossed one cake and isolated the other four into their own FCs. I will keep them separated like this from the beginning if I ever do this again for sure. It is just easier and less risky. Here's a pic of a single cake 3 days after being dunked for 24 hrs. Looking good I hope! That blueing is actually blueing - it passes the q tip test and looks way different. I think you really have to get hit with some contam to really understand what to look for. At least I do. I've learned a lot and that's the best part. Thanks so much!

(http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/1093/dscn5886x.th.jpg) (http://img534.imageshack.us/i/dscn5886x.jpg/)
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: dub504 on July 17, 2010, 05:07:58 PM
Live and learn eh'. Now you know and knowing is half the battle.  :ph34r:
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: Vandal_xx on July 18, 2010, 09:14:33 AM
Nice GI Joe quote dub. he he
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: dub504 on July 19, 2010, 01:34:21 PM
 :rolleyes:  ^_^
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: tritone on July 20, 2010, 07:29:50 PM
I did a tweak! tweak!  ^_^ call this one the tritone dump

took plastic cup and punched holes in bottom
covered these holes with micro spore tape
dump 1/8'' vermiculite (bottom of cup)
dump manure half full (pasteurize)
inoculate with a cut from BFR
dump more manure
top off with 1/4" of vermiculite
cover top with micro spore tape
place cup in a paper lunch bag
dump some perlite in the lunch bag with cup
close bag and place in side a bigger PAPER bag with other cups ( I did 16)
place bag outside and wet it ( Rain or hose)
let weather dry and wet bag, this creates good air exchange
when done Fruit as normal
:wub: :wub:
This is clean, outdoor, sterile, disposable,clandestine, it kicks Royal Ars
GO Soldiers! a mind is a terrible thing to waste! cheers...

Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: tritone on July 20, 2010, 07:39:23 PM
also Portable ! :wacko:
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: tritone on July 20, 2010, 07:43:46 PM
and cheap!  ^_^
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: dub504 on July 23, 2010, 05:45:26 PM
 :ph34r:
Title: Re: What tek tweaks have worked for you?
Post by: psilocybin warrior on August 31, 2010, 03:17:35 AM
A 40/30/30 ratio of urine/feces/melatonin slurry can increase colonization times by 60% and fruiting times by 38%.