All things shrooms

[tobh]

this cat is a huge inspiration to me. came from a similar area as myself, operates in one of my favorite cities in the country. and he's damn good at it. built his business on cordyceps starting as a teenager.

 

[Aqua Man]

this cat is a huge inspiration to me. came from a similar area as myself, operates in one of my favorite cities in the country. and he's damn good at it. built his business on cordyceps starting as a teenager.

Cordyceps? I think that’s a species that has a subspecies that can basically mind control ants no?

 

[tobh]

Cordyceps? I think that’s a species that has a subspecies that can basically mind control ants no?

in nature it infects various insects and attacks their nervous systems, yes. it's proven to have some pretty significant medicinal benefits in humans, though. there are two major cultivars available in culture form now, and they're highly lucrative for those that have facilities to cultivate them. eg, sterile workspaces using aseptic techniques and hyper clean fruiting conditions.

After I wrap up the pan cyans, cordyceps is my next deep dive. It's the next progression in finding the more complicated shit to work on, ya know. Like growing weed. Started with dirt, moved to coco, to DWC, to RW, soon to be RDWC, then maybe aero. Think I'll stop at RDWC. Undercurrent is just sexy. It's about finding those limits, though, ya know? Find the limit, and anything before it is easier because you have the experience to avoid the major pitfalls.

 

[tobh]

will snag some pics, but finally got the starting bags propagated out to two additional bags. looking at roughly 3lbs of spawn per bag, which should make for pretty solid spawn to substrate ratios in probably another week. the amount of heat the master bags were generating was something to behold. The JMF was also starting to knot up, so barely caught it in time for the transfers. The pink buffalo is moving a little slower.

didn't end up getting the horse manure this weekend, which sucks, but i did pick up straw so i'll be using it in place of the manure in the CVG blend. i'll probably do a 1:2 ratio of straw to coir given the volume straw adds vs manure which the plan was to do 1:1 manure to coir.

also will be starting a master bag for the pink oysters this evening. the agar plate is fully colonized, and i don't want to let it go to waste. i need to get a new culture going of those as the current one is several transfer generations deep at this point, so need a fruit body to clone from ASAP.

the APE bag hasn't germinated at all so knocked up some agar plates. also need to do some additional transfers of some of the other swabs i made. lots of lab work coming in the next couple days. in other words, it's about to get real exciting up in this joint.

 

[tobh]

Pics, as promised. The little guy on the end is the pink oyster bag that I dumped the entire agar plate into. Each spawn bag less the oyster bag is just shy of three lbs.

Need to finish up some shelving I built this past weekend specifically to store these bags in a better spot. Over the next month there's probably gonna the up being 10x this amount that needs stored/organized.

 

[tobh]

Gonna run another experiment too. I'm building some compost heaps around the property. Think I'm gonna dump liquid cultures I won't run in full on those heaps. Cubensis is a beast and will grow on just about anything, so... When in Rome

 

[tobh]

That JMF doesn't screw around, man. It's already recovered and has colonized ~50% of the new grain. The pink buffalo is lagging a little, but I'm sure once it recovers from the abuse it'll take off too. So maybe by midweek next week, i'll be able to get stuff spawned.

 

[Aqua Man]

Hmmm got me thinking a bit about gourmet's

 

[tobh]

Quick lab session today. Transferring two T1 transfers is PESA, one of A+, and cleaning up the first contaminated plate I've had since I built the flow hood. Need to learn more about bacteria because I'm curious what the pink stuff is, if it's a yeast or something else.

 

[SpectrumFarms]

Update on the Drippy Popcorn Tek. Seems to work out pretty well so far, this was inoculated 10 days ago with 1/4 of an agar dish. This a test batch of Melmac Revert, I did notice over the days it does seem to start tiny inoculation points all over the medium much faster. I started to notice on day 3. Couple more days to full send.

 

[tobh]

looks like i'll be spawning the JMF tomorrow. the spawn is starting to consolidate and only about 5% of outer grains in one bag isn't fully colonized yet.

a little concerned with the pink buffalo, one bag looks like it's starting to go bacterial but can't smell that signature smell through the filter patch, yet, so letting it run until proven ok or not. if i did lose one bag to bacteria, definitely gonna be evaluating where the contam is coming from, though it very well may be I just slipped up with my aseptic technique.

the pink oyster is roaring, too. already at 20% colonization from what I can tell. will probably be ready to expand out to the next set of bags by this weekend. will plan on getting the remaining plates into bags at the same time, make for a solid sunday fun day in the lab.

in the interim i've gotta get back out there and mix up the straw+cvg, get it into bags, and get pasteurizing. the plan of matching weight to weight for the straw ain't gonna work, so going by volume instead. for this first round, gonna do 1:1 cvg:straw, and will modify from that baseline depending on how these first tubs run. should about double the volume of substrate i'm sitting on right now either way.

 

[Observer]

Update on the Drippy Popcorn Tek. Seems to work out pretty well so far, this was inoculated 10 days ago with 1/4 of an agar dish. This a test batch of Melmac Revert, I did notice over the days it does seem to start tiny inoculation points all over the medium much faster. I started to notice on day 3. Couple more days to full send.
View attachment 67874View attachment 67875

Gonna try this when I get a PC

 

[tobh]

This is kind of comical. Pretty sure this pot is near the limit of what the glass top is rated for on my range. But, pasteurizing is gonna get done either way. Ran out of daylight waiting on the straw to hydrate and didn't want to babysit the propane burner.

 

[fungi-15]

Mycology Grow Supplies​

 

[Aqua Man]

looks like i'll be spawning the JMF tomorrow. the spawn is starting to consolidate and only about 5% of outer grains in one bag isn't fully colonized yet.

a little concerned with the pink buffalo, one bag looks like it's starting to go bacterial but can't smell that signature smell through the filter patch, yet, so letting it run until proven ok or not. if i did lose one bag to bacteria, definitely gonna be evaluating where the contam is coming from, though it very well may be I just slipped up with my aseptic technique.

the pink oyster is roaring, too. already at 20% colonization from what I can tell. will probably be ready to expand out to the next set of bags by this weekend. will plan on getting the remaining plates into bags at the same time, make for a solid sunday fun day in the lab.

in the interim i've gotta get back out there and mix up the straw+cvg, get it into bags, and get pasteurizing. the plan of matching weight to weight for the straw ain't gonna work, so going by volume instead. for this first round, gonna do 1:1 cvg:straw, and will modify from that baseline depending on how these first tubs run. should about double the volume of substrate i'm sitting on right now either way.

When in doubt throw it out bro… i have sone it to many times where i’m like hmmm not sure i will try it.

Think i am about 100% contam everytime i did that lol

 

[tobh]

When in doubt throw it out bro… i have sone it to many times where i’m like hmmm not sure i will try it.

Think i am about 100% contam everytime i did that lol

that's probably what I'm gonna end up doing. it's a setback but can't win em all. honestly, i would be pretty surprised if something hadn't contaminated at this point. too many hours have been spent in front of that hood for everything to have been done right lately haha

 

[tobh]

Inaugural trays are in the Martha. The journey to this point has taken a couple years but, we have arrived!

Going forward, I absolutely want horse manure. The volume of substrate isn't quite where I wanted it; about a half inch lower in the trays than planned. I'm hoping with having constant FAE going that fuzzy feet doesn't set in, otherwise I've considered setting up some 120mm waterproof computer fans on each shelf at substrate level to move the CO2 off the surface of the trays.

We'll see, though! Will check the trays in a week, and determine when the covers will come off and the humidifier will go on.

 

[Aqua Man]

Inaugural trays are in the Martha. The journey to this point has taken a couple years but, we have arrived!

Going forward, I absolutely want horse manure. The volume of substrate isn't quite where I wanted it; about a half inch lower in the trays than planned. I'm hoping with having constant FAE going that fuzzy feet doesn't set in, otherwise I've considered setting up some 120mm waterproof computer fans on each shelf at substrate level to move the CO2 off the surface of the trays.

We'll see, though! Will check the trays in a week, and determine when the covers will come off and the humidifier will go on.
View attachment 68062View attachment 68063

Looks great man

 

[tobh]

Looks great man

for some good cloning candidates. would be cool to get to a point of even, dense canopies. need to do more research about getting to that level of monoculture though.

 

[Aqua Man]

for some good cloning candidates. would be cool to get to a point of even, dense canopies. need to do more research about getting to that level of monoculture though.

Just have to keep going till you find those fruiting traits… luck of the spore

 

[tobh]

So, i almost threw away the APE bag I inoculated MSS. Was just checking on the agar plates, and the current grain bags, and it finally decided to show signs of germination. Was inoculated on 7/25, so 13 days to germinate. Of the agar plates, only one has shown germination but is moving predictably slow.

Definitely need to get the lion's mane plates onto some grain, and pretty much all of the pan cyans are ready to go on grain too.

The pink buffalo seems to be moving again, but I'm watching real closely given I suspect bacterial infections are present. Still smells like grain through the filter patch, not that signature sweet stink of bacteria, but I'll have to grab some pics of the suspect indicators of bacteria. I'll probably knock up a new master bag of grain with the LC either way because the time sink of uncertainty isn't worth it when a sure thing is available.

Should've grabbed some pics of the JMF bags and the pink oyster side by side before spawning yesterday. The density of the mycelium is way different. Oyster mycelium almost looks like cobweb whereas psilocybe mycelium is way more dense. I know it's not cobweb as I cloned from a fruit on a petri dish, but it's such a difference that its worth documenting digitally.

Looking at getting some test tubes to make slants. I'll need a rack to go in the PC too. Any suggestions anyone? Looking to do some long term storage of genetics, and petri dishes aren't quite ideal for that.

 

[Zen_seeker]

Looking at getting some test tubes to make slants. I'll need a rack to go in the PC too. Any suggestions anyone? Looking to do some long term storage of genetics, and petri dishes aren't quite ideal for that.

I used to use the short vials that they use to take blood samples. About 3”-4” long with a red/brown rubber top. You can push a syringe through if needed and it self seals.

 

[Observer]

 

[tobh]

I used to use the short vials that they use to take blood samples. About 3”-4” long with a red/brown rubber top. You can push a syringe through if needed and it self seals.

i was looking at those, a bit too rich for my blood right now lol at least the ones i was finding. vacutainers -- they be the bougie clandestine mycologist's choice haha. wasn't looking to spend $100+ for more test tubes than I'll likely use before i break em in the next five years. ended up with some centrifugal poly ones that will hold up in the PC.

 

[Zen_seeker]

i was looking at those, a bit too rich for my blood right now lol at least the ones i was finding. vacutainers -- they be the bougie clandestine mycologist's choice haha. wasn't looking to spend $100+ for more test tubes than I'll likely use before i break em in the next five years. ended up with some centrifugal poly ones that will hold up in the PC.

Helps when you have family that work at hospital. They toss out a lot of new items because the box was open even if not used. The waste is nuts. I get the reasons behind not using open boxes and bottles but maybe have smaller portions/containers.

 

[tobh]

Helps when you have family that work at hospital. They toss out a lot of new items because the box was open even if not used. The waste is nuts. I get the reasons behind not using open boxes and bottles but maybe have smaller portions/containers.

but then how are they gonna charge the common man $10k for a bag of saline?! we gotta think about the board of directors man. they can't go suffering due to our savings!

 

[Aqua Man]

Moved on to some big tubs. May post pics when they start to fruit.

@Zen_seeker was it you i was going to get some spawn jars to a long time ago?

I finally up and running at a decent level now that i dropped the PE. If so i have jars ready to send

 

[tobh]

Moved on to some big tubs. May post pics when they start to fruit.

@Zen_seeker was it you i was going to get some spawn jars to a long time ago?

I finally up and running at a decent level now that i dropped the PE. If so i have jars ready to send

are you doing monotubs now or what's the deal?

i'm having a real hard time not peaking at the tubs lol it's been three days but it feels like an eternity.

 

[Aqua Man]

are you doing monotubs now or what's the deal?

Yeah mid size small enough they fit my racks. Not as big as way back but decent enough. Dropped my spawn ratio on then a fair bit so will see but so far the first is looking pretty well for coming home and doing it after drinking for 12 hrs.

Lol i usually try to avoid those kinda shenanigans but you know how it goes.

I can’t count how many mishaps i have had thinking its a great idea to fuck with my stuff at the time.

 

[tobh]

Yeah mid size small enough they fit my racks. Not as big as way back but decent enough. Dropped my spawn ratio on then a fair bit so will see but so far the first is looking pretty well for coming home and doing it after drinking for 12 hrs.

Lol i usually try to avoid those kinda shenanigans but you know how it goes.

I can’t count how many mishaps i have had thinking its a great idea to fuck with my stuff at the time.

haha you're telling me. i was talking to an old friend of mine that remembers way back when i started growing about how given the equipment and methods i use now, it's amazing we ever were able to enjoy any fruits of those labors back then. so much unsanitary work in non-ideal environments, all the time. granted, i was in the high desert back then and mold counts were almost non-existent, my worst contams were bacterial, but trich would hit spent monotubs after the fifth flush almost every time.

now i just try not to fuck with anything if it doesn't need fucked with. kinda like cannabis. too much love is not a good thing. but, i'm genuinely curious because the martha is new, i've not done tubs like this before, new substrate mix, and i'm not 100% sure i had the substrate saturated quite enough so i'm just hoping when i pop those covers in four days that things look good and i didn't waste 10lbs of spawn lol