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Messages - TommyTutone

#1
Cultivation / Re: help / stopped fruiting ?
March 02, 2007, 01:58:55 PM
The temp around the case needs to be 95% humid or higher. For something small like that you can use a plastic bag like in the pf tek for simple minds Fruiting section.

http://www.fungifun.org/English/Pftek
#2
Cultivation / Re: Starting to see results :)
March 02, 2007, 01:52:37 PM
I haven't had any where they are all harvested at the same time.
#3
PF - Tek / Re: Poor Growth
March 02, 2007, 01:21:24 PM
I have a few ideas,

1. If it took a long time (over 10 seconds) to have water come out of the substrate, it might be too dry.

2. The Pf tek is best used in half pint jars. Although I haven't tried using pint jars, I have read there are more difficulties using them for this tek.

3. Are the jars kept in complete darkness while they incubate?

Those are my first, and at the moment, only ideas. I get signs of growth at about 5 days, and complete colonization at around 18 days, but that is with half pint jars.

Best of luck

Keep us updated.

#4
PF - Tek / Re: My Little Army
February 24, 2007, 09:24:49 AM
It took a while for the pins of the third flush to appear. That's why it has taken so long to post new pics. This is as of today, three minutes ago.



LewisCarroll, I apologise for my post, that is why I deleted it. I appreciate your correction.

After not getting any pins for a third flush for what seemed like a long time, I added water to the case. I also sprayed the tops of the case with water until the top coat was wet. I am not using a cool mist humidifier that allows water to come down on the cases, which is why most of my cases dried out. After a little water, most of them sprung back to life.

A note for those that live in the states about spraying cakes:

Let the water that you are going to use on  your cake stay out uncovered for at least a day. It gives the chlorine that's added to the water time to remove itself. After a day you will notice bubbles along the side of the container, that is the chlorine and other junk removing itself from the water. After the bubbles have formed, stir the water, and remove those bubbles. I sprayed a case without doing that as an experiment to see if it mattered. Within 2 days the entire top layer was green. I should have taken a picture, but I didn't.

For those of you outside the states:

I have no idea about your water quality and treatment standards, but maybe anno could lend some advise on that.
#5
PF - Tek / Re: My Little Army
February 15, 2007, 05:12:26 PM
Can some Brown rice flower be added to the casing material for more nutrients? Or can one use a plant fertilizer with nutes, or mulch, or something in it to keep it going and not contaminate so I don't have to keep making more jars, and cases? While I do find the making of them to be relaxing, I would rather spend the time doing something else.

Thanks again.
#6
PF - Tek / Re: My Little Army
February 13, 2007, 11:49:35 AM
Second flush not nearly as pretty as the first.





Is there any way to maintain the same output of mushies throughout the life of the case?
#7
PF - Tek / Re: My Little Army
February 05, 2007, 06:06:06 AM

This is my casing update. As you can see things went very well. I don't think I'll go back to individual cakes. They are definately too much hassle for such little return.






I wasn't expecting such quick growth. They seem to grow faster in casing than as individual cakes. Any idea as to why that might be?
#8
PF - Tek / Re: My Little Army
February 01, 2007, 09:03:43 PM
Some pins broke through on my casing. Not bad for my first shot at this. I have 3 other cases that will hopefully be as pretty as this one. I'll keep you posted.

#9
PF - Tek / WTF is happening here?
January 27, 2007, 01:16:43 PM


Shortly after relocating my cakes, I noticed this. Two have split at the seams on this side and 2 more on the back are doing the same thing. What is happening, and what did I do to make this happen?
#10
PF - Tek / Re: My Little Army
January 27, 2007, 10:50:40 AM
Here's my latest addition.




It's a 4 tier mini greenhouse I got at a local garden store for $40. I got really tired really quick with the other methods I tried. I built a styrafoam platform for the greenhouse to stand on with a hole in the bottom to collect any runoff in a pan. It's able to maintain the needed humidity and is currently holding 30 cakes, and 4 casings. In order to get it humid inside, I put a heating mat on the bottom tier with pans of water on the mat. I control the inside greenhouse temp by altering the room temp up or down. The room temp is 68 f and inside greenhouse it is 75 f. Most of the jars that hadn't pinned yet, did start. I still have 4 jars that have no pins yet, but i'm sure patience will take care of that. Just thought I'd share.
#11
PF - Tek / Re: My Little Army
January 22, 2007, 12:30:09 PM
I have 16 jars that have been fully colonized since late December, but for some reason they just won't start pinning. It's a mix of P.C. – Z, Treasure Coast, B+, Malabar Coast, and Ecuador. There is no sign of mold on these and they do not smell like they are contaminated. So what do I do with them? I tried casing with 12 of my jars and this is where they are right now.



The other 22 jars that I have are all out and growing nicely, but for some reason these just don't want to behave like the others. What should I do?
#12
PF - Tek / Something Green?
January 22, 2007, 11:53:13 AM


The green thing about midway up the cake is new and seems to be growing. I'm assuming it's mold and have isolated it from the others. This is P.C. Z strain. Any chance that this is something other than mold? The other cakes it was with do not seem to have the same affliction.
#13
A couple of things:

>...i placed a jar of water and a fish tank heater into a cooler bag. ... the humidity has gone through the roof and stalled production

With 100% humidity it is possible that the humidity got into the jar and caused problems. Here's how and why:

1.   In the top pic you have rubber band around the top of jar – but not all the way around the foil. If the holes in the lid are not covered with tape (PF-Tek for simple minds), humidity could have entered the jar under the foil and contaminated the jar. If the holes are covered (PF-Tek) and the lid is not tight as to allow air exchange, then the humidity could have entered the jar through the not so tight lid and contaminated the jar.
2.   When you sterilize a jar – as in a pressure cooker – the jar, water, and everything else in the cooker gets to about 15 psi. The pressure is what is important because it allows the water to get past the normal 212 f (100 c). This is what does the killing of things that will contaminate your jar. (On a side note it is also why when you go and get a surgery you shouldn't have millions of infections because of the sterility of the instruments and procedures used – They use the same process) This matters because you've spent all kinds of time making sure that everything is sterile and then you did some things that might have sabotaged yourself. You put sterile things inside a non-sterile environment and possibly allowed them into your sterile environment.
3.   If the bag, tank heater, container of water and water were all sterilized properly you would have had less chance of contamination. But I'm assuming that wasn't done. When dealing with sterile things, operating room personnel have two very strong words that are very important that they use. They have "Sterile" and "Contaminated". To show the point I'll use those terms in the next few very long run-on sentences. "You put a sterile jar inside a contaminated bag with contaminated water in a contaminated jar and used a contaminated heater. Then the contaminated heater heated up the contaminated water to the point of contaminated humidity. Then the contaminated humidity got to 100% and all the walls of the contaminated bag had contaminated water running down the sides only to get heated up again and redo the cycle." Bacteria love warm and damp places, as do fungi and mold. The bag, jar, and water could have contained any of these things in them if they were not sterilized. "Sterility" is a very important word. The contents inside the jar could be at war with new and unwanted intruders hence the stalling.
4.   I am rambling about this because it looks like there's something green on the top pic in the middle. The pic isn't very clear so I could be wrong. I was super paranoid before my first innoculation so I made a jar up and didn't put it in the pressure cooker and let it sit for about a week just so I could see what a moldy contaminated jar would look like. Then just to be safe - after I cooked all my jars I waited a week before innoculating them to see if any would turn into the moldy monster that I created before. Luckily I haven't run into that problem.
5.   100% humidity + holes in jar or loose lid  = soaked innoculant
6.   When you turned the jar upside down did you get a stream of water coming out because the jar was soaked?
7.   Give it the sniff test. Does it smell like mold?
8.   If the jar is contaminated casing, or myc collection would be of no use, because you'd be contaminating anything you put them in.

I hope this was read as it was intended – as information. I don't know everything about fungi and that is why I am here too. I did want to share my knowledge of sterility as I did go to school for 2 years to become a surgical tech, and have used that knowledge in many operating rooms over the years. I hope my very long rant was useful. No charge for this info either – just send shrooms 
#14
PF - Tek / Re: My Little Army
January 20, 2007, 12:46:07 PM


This is the beginnings of a Treasure coast. I have the cakes on wet Pearlite in pot pie pans. The pans are in a plastic container with a layer of water on the bottom. The plastic containers have a lid that seals nicely so I can maintain 100% humidity. The plastic containers are on seed starting heating pads because I don't have the room heated and it stays around 60 f. Inside the containers the temp is around 78 f.



Just thought I'd check in to make sure I'm not missing anything.
#15
PF - Tek / Re: My Little Army
January 16, 2007, 02:42:48 PM
So I now have about 10 jars that have started pinning. But they only seem to be coming out around the dry vermiculite layer as in the upper pictures.

1. Why is this the only place that pins are forming?

2.How long should they stay in the jars before I should transfer them to a terrarium?

Thanks Anno, and anyone else with advice.
#16
PF - Tek / Re: My Little Army
January 12, 2007, 05:57:41 PM
Was checking up on my children and found these two - I call them Pride and Joy :)



#17
Cultivation / Has anyone tried this?
January 11, 2007, 12:00:41 PM
Found the link and just had to know if anyone has done this or if its worth trying?

http://www.fanaticus.com/mycoalki.htm

Thanks
#18
PF - Tek / Re: My Little Army
January 11, 2007, 11:57:51 AM
Here's my little army put into a different room with a heater in it so I don't have to heat the rest of the house just for my little friends. I have a few questions..

1. The container I used for casing is plastic, instead of painting I used black duct tape on the outside. I'm assuming this will work fine, but I wanted an official approval.

2. I ended up using 8 jars of B+ in this container because they fit nicely. I saw in Anno's guide that 6 were used. Will using 8 be a problem?

3. I have a feeling that I'm missing something, Does everything seem right to you?

The current temp in the room is 73.3 F (22.9C) The only light in the room is from ceiling bulbs – outside windows have black plastic over them. The strains I have growing right now are – P.C. - B+ (in jars and casing), Ecuador, Malabar Coast, Treasure Coast, and Z. The humidity is low right now just because everything is still in jars or casing waiting for pinning. The ones in the casing are very humid - lots of condensation on sides and on lid.

4. Is the lighting going to be sufficient?

5. Should the humidity be up even though everything is still in jars or casing?

6. Any other words of wisdom?
Thanks


#19
PF - Tek / Re: My Little Army
January 09, 2007, 07:07:07 PM
Sounds like fun. This may sound silly as it is the year 2007, but I do not have a microwave. Can I cover and oven cook until 200 degrees?
#20
PF - Tek / My Little Army
January 08, 2007, 07:23:46 AM
Just wanted to show some pics of my currently 47 jars out and awaiting pinning. Thanks Anno for this site. Couldn't have done it without you.





Bonus pic just for fun.