First time idiot's Q

Started by grib, March 18, 2008, 11:46:48 PM

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grib

It's been 3 weeks since the inoculation, 2 jars out of 5 showed signs of something a bit weird...
Does it look ok? It's B+ strain.
I tried to post the pictures here, but it doesn't seem to work, so I placed them in the gallery. There are several pics titled "3 weeks"
I seem to have made 2 main mistakes: 1) too much water in the beginning preparing BRF+vermi+water mix; 2) when inoculating, I pointed the needle towards the center of the jar, not towards its side, plus perhaps didn't stick the needle deep enough.
So what can be done now?

anno

>1) too much water in the beginning preparing BRF+vermi+water mix;

Yes, they look a bit on the wet side, which can also be seen by the fact that at the bottom of the jr there is a wet layer of BRF.

> 2) when inoculating, I pointed the needle towards the center of the jar, not towards its side, plus perhaps didn't stick the needle deep enough.

Yes, this is also not good, since in this case it can happen that you either inoculate the cake only on a few points since the spore water doesn't run down the jar's wall, or even worse, you inoculate the dry vermiculite layer which is without nutrients and doesn't support mycelium growth.

>So what can be done now?

With the jars that are showing growth, just leave them grow longer, they will eventually colonize.

And the others, just dump them and for next time you have learned what not to do  which will make your next grow likely to suceed

Those 2 jars are looking good:
http://www.fungifun.org/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=20
http://www.fungifun.org/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=21

grib

Thank you for such prompt and articulate answer!
Should I try taking the foil away for a few hours to reduce the level of humidity? Do you think the rest of my jars are hopeless?
It seems shroom growing is a pretty precise procedure. Now I know. Had to sacrifice a syringe of B+.  :rolleyes:

anno

Taking the foil away completely would compromise the steility of the jar. Taking the upper layer of foil for a few hous will hardly have any effect, probably none at all.

>Do you think the rest of my jars are hopeless?

As long they are not contaminated, either by mold or bacteria, you can leave them, perhaps they will jump to life.

dumbfounded1600

Take off the foil, you'll stall the jar as it needs Gas Exchange to grow. The top dry layer of vermiculite is what's preventing it from contaminants.