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I got three jars our of 5 contaminated... Thats a real punch to my confidence with growing...

Thanks

I see PF-tek quite often and hear about it from some people. I can safely assume tek = technique but whats PF stand for? Most of the acronyms I see around here I eventually figure out or assume what is appropriate but I cannot figure out what PF means.

Well I got a 5L bag of vermiculite and I don't really enjoy doing the cakes because the small yield, and time it takes. I also have 10L of perlite unopened that I intended to use. I found some wild bird seed in my grocery store. It's 15KG and the ingredients were as followed... "A quality blend of fine cut corn, wheat, milo, red millet, white millet,  and black oil sunflower seeds." Would I be able to use this for casing? and if so is there a chance I could actually still use my vermiculite and perlite for some cultivating? I don't want to have 3 bags of nutritious dirt sitting in my coat closet.

heh well there is a pretty good chance from what I am seeing on my best jar that it is contaminated.  But what ever 1/5 contamination seems like a good amount of successful attempts. I plan on doing casing next time so I could possibly get a much better yield.
EDIT:
Just checked again... Another jar looks contaminated... I'm not even gunna bother checking again for a few days. Hopefully something is successful...

Well mycellium has finally shown(or mold...) check my first post to see if it is mycellium or not. I got another jar that is doing better this one isn't doing as good compared to others.

hehe I will be able to post pictures of my very first batch for this contest

ermm... So I'm guessing then using grains is faster from what your stance behind them is. Which grain would you say is best to use?

What would be the fastest way to grow something then?

Its been a few days now and I still don't see any mycellium growth on any of the jars, they just looks like jars of dirt... No mold growth though so thats a positive.. How long should I usually wait until I know for sure I foobared on something and the jars aren't going to colonize?

hmm... i will try to slightly increase the temp then

If I was incubating at around 22-25 would I be able to fruit in there as well? The lighting isn't an issue for me I could just open the closet door.  The temperature is though cause i'm not so sure about how to lower it.

Alright then once the managers leave my apartment I will move them to some where that is about 27 or a little higher but not 30C My room temperature I think is around 27 maybe... Thats not good for when I want to fruit(it needs a cooler temperature if I'm not mistake to grow nicely) how do I manage to make a cooler temperature for the fruiting chamber.
edit;
Well I found a place that is lower temp. than on top of the fridge. This spot it around 22-25C, though now I have no clue where I am going to put these when they are supposed to fruit cause thats the coldest place, besides in my fridge  , that I can find in my apartment that has optional indirect light for 12 hours... Any help guys I've only got roughly $30-$40 left for spending money this month so I would really like to have a inexpensive way to do this now.

Hmm maybe if I hope the cabinet door a bit to let outside air in, I will find the thermometer and see where else is a nice temperature for these then. Thanks for the word on the lid.
EDIT;
I found a 25c area in my apartment. Would that do? better yet... What would even happen if I put them at the 30 Celsius area?
edit 2;
I might';ve screwed up and use about 1cc for each 250ml jar, don't want to reopen them and chance contams unless its wisest to just put in the other 5cc I got. I have 5 jars right now in storage.

Alright well this could be my thread for information pertaining to my first batch now I got all my materials and even some questions The temperature where I wanted to put my jars for incubation is around 30 Celsius is that alright for incubation?
Pictures and Dates. My phone is crappy so pictures might be bad. Will try different picture resolutions later and see what works best.
December 07 2009:


December 15 2009:
Jar 1:


Jar 2:

Well I found a dozen wide mouth 250mL mason jars at Canadian Tire, a 52 Quart clear container(The lid isn't very air tight on top is that a problem?), a thermostat, and hydrometer for 10$, and a much of other things I needed for a decent price I think I spent 41$ there  I am going to start making vermiculite and rice flour cakes now
EDIT:
I got a 10mL syringe, how much of the liquid should I put in each 250mL jar?

(hey the captchas are gone for me ) Here is a link to some jars I found online from Canadian Tire, I will be around there tomorrow picking up supplies I might as well go there to) http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/8/KitchenBath/KitchenStorage/Canning/PRDOVR~0422523P/Preserve%2B%2527N%2527%2BServe%2BWidemouth%2BJar%252C%2B250%2BmL.jsp They look fine to me from the picture there. Will check back here later  tonight if I stay up any longer, and when I wake up before I leave for school...
EDIT: Bored while eating cereal.... I checked Canadian Tire for other supplies and I can get vermiculite and perlite there as well, just search for them and they will be the first result on Canadian Tire. Canadian Tire... A shroom cultivators friend right now LOL 

Thanks, I'm still having a bit of trouble finding some jars locally(don't want to do any ordering on-line right now) that will do, most have lips that would prevent the rice cakes from falling out nicely. I plan on posting some pictures when I get my first flush, 2nd et cetera. Only got the camera on my phone though so don't expect no high quality pictures

I am hoping to maybe grow from 6-8 rice cakes, I am not sure though how high the mushrooms actually can grow, I wouldn't want to have them hit the stop and be stunted.

Alright =P Whats a good sized terrarium to use, I'm not really sure how big(or small) I should get tomorrow while I'm out picking up supplies.