My cakes have been sitting for about 5 days and there has been no sign of any mycellium. i have them in complete darkness. do they need any light? the temp is perfect what should i do or what am i doing wrong
If the spores were rather old, it can take longer to germinate.
Did you take care to inoculate in a way that the spore drops ran down the side of glass?
what do you mean by odd
the spores ran down the side of the glass
what if i dont see anything after 7-9 days then should i try again
Old spores would be more than 2 years old if on print, or more than 6 months if in syringe.
>if i dont see anything after 7-9 days then should i try again
Well, using the same spores wouldn't make much sense in that case, but give it at least 14 days before calling it quits.
You say the temperature is perfect, how warm is it?
the tempature is about 80 degrees
i used the spores the day after i got them in the mail
what usually kills the spores, too hot too cold, ?
i know if the verm-brown rice is still hot from the steralization but i let it set for at least 6 hours and 3 set more more then 9 hours
where do recomend the best place to get spores is?
i was thinking about using rye seed next dry if this doesnt work
do you have to use a pressure cooker or can you use a pot like you steralize the brown rice cakes
if i want to use rye can i use pint isze jars or do i have to use quart can i just make the measurement equal to pint or is quart the way to go with rye
"where do recomend the best place to get spores is?"
I have used ralphsters twice and they are very good
"i was thinking about using rye seed next dry if this doesnt work. do you have to use a pressure cooker or can you use a pot like you steralize the brown rice cakes"
For grains a pressure cooker is a must
"if i want to use rye can i use pint isze jars or do i have to use quart can i just make the measurement equal to pint or is quart the way to go with rye"
Quart jars is the way to go
Quote from: anno on February 18, 2008, 11:06:45 PM
Old spores would be more than 2 years old if on print, or more than 6 months if in syringe.
>if i dont see anything after 7-9 days then should i try again
Well, using the same spores wouldn't make much sense in that case, but give it at least 14 days before calling it quits.
You say the temperature is perfect, how warm is it?
That's nonsence...I've had spores for longer then 3 years in a syringe at room temperature and had no trouble with them...keeping them in the fridge would be better...freezer would kill the cell walls of the spores because of it freezing.
Quote from: Skavenger55 on February 19, 2008, 09:17:47 AM
the tempature is about 80 degrees
i used the spores the day after i got them in the mail
what usually kills the spores, too hot too cold, ?
i know if the verm-brown rice is still hot from the steralization but i let it set for at least 6 hours and 3 set more more then 9 hours
where do recomend the best place to get spores is?
was it still HOT to the touch when you inoculated?
Quote from: Skavenger55 on February 19, 2008, 09:22:14 AM
i was thinking about using rye seed next dry if this doesnt work
do you have to use a pressure cooker or can you use a pot like you steralize the brown rice cakes
You NEED a pressure cooker for grains.
i didn't see the spores running on the side of the jar.. did that ruin my shrooms?
No. how long has it been?
Quote from: lagartixa88 on February 22, 2008, 09:04:52 AM
i didn't see the spores running on the side of the jar.. did that ruin my shrooms?
The reason you want to have the spores running down the jar is to inoculate the substrate from top to bottom, so the mycelium starts to grow uniformly.
If you don't see the spore suspension run down, chances are that you didn't stick the needle deep enough and that you inoculated the dry vermiculite layer. In this case you won't get any growth.
i did care to inoculate only the rice cake and not the dry vermilculite but i did stick the needle a little closer to the middle than to the side of the jar... but i already figured that the problem may no be it but too high temperature. i already took off the reptile pad i used do heat the jars and the alluminium foil i used to cover them.. i'll wait now.
thank you :mellow:
another thing.. lol.. the one jar that's getting white started from the top.. over the dry vermiculite.. is this usual?
Quote from: lagartixa88 on February 23, 2008, 01:48:04 AM
i did care to inoculate only the rice cake and not the dry vermilculite but i did stick the needle a little closer to the middle than to the side of the jar... but i already figured that the problem may no be it but too high temperature. i already took off the reptile pad i used do heat the jars and the alluminium foil i used to cover them.. i'll wait now.
thank you :mellow:
They'll colonize slower because you didn't inoculate and have the spores lay down. Now all that spores are growing from the inside out.
Don't use a reptile pad as this is a fire hazard. If you do put it on the top of the jars not on the bottom. It will sweat the jar and incubate to high. You'll end up frying your entire jar. REMOVE THE ALUMINUM FOIL mycelium needs gas exchange to breathe or it will stall...How long has it been??
For the record, light has no effect on colonizing mycelium, good or bad. The old advice of "incubate in total darkness" is bunk. Those words were written by Stamets in TMC 20 years ago, and he disavows that advice today.
RR
We hear of ten times as many problems with incubators going south on people as we hear of people complaining that a jar took an extra two or three days to colonize due to being at room temperature. If it's winter in your area, just run a small space heater in your room. If you're comfortable in a t-shirt, your mycelium will be quite happy sitting on a shelf in that same room. If you're a polar bear and keep your AC at a very low temperature, just find a closet or other out of the way place to keep your jars at 75F or so and they'll do just fine. You also don't need to worry about normal indoor lighting. It has little to no effect on colonizing mycelium. Light only becomes a pinning trigger when the other pinning triggers are also induced.
RR
Condensation is the enemy of mushroom cultivation. It breeds bacteria and any moisture that is stuck to the walls is moisture that is NOT in the air any more, making your crop suffer. Condensation is in no way a reflection of humidity. You get condensation on your can of beer in Arizona in the summer time.
RR
*Let me tell you guys a story. My fellow moderator Roadkill and I were filming a video segment on pf jars over at my brother's house a month or two ago. Later that day, my non-mycologist brother moved everything we left behind out to his garage, jars included, just to get them out of the way. I told him it didn't really matter as I just wanted to film the process of making/inoculating the jars. Three weeks later, I went over there and guess what? All of the jars were fully colonized. The temperature of his garage during this time varied from the mid 30's to the low 50's.(He lives about 50 miles from the Canadian border) So, if properly made pf jars can colonize in three weeks at those low temps, why bother with silly incubators?
RR
80F is optimum for growth of mycelium, NOT 86F. The guy Stamets quoted in his book found 86F to give the fastest linear growth on a petri dish where no heat was produced by the mycelium. In the three dimensional space of a substrate or jar, the mycelium produces heat on its own. Mycelial growth declines rapidly at 86F and above.
RR
RR, Agar, Roadkill are some of the best and smartest mycologists I've come across. Listen to his advice and your success will grant your wishes