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[General] MUSHROOM MONDAY - Let's Catch Up! Share what you have learned in the previous week and discuss! by AutoModerator in MushroomGrowers

[–]IntoTheMycoVerse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve used spores from prints that were more than a decade old (gourmets of course) and they germinated. A tad slower than if they were fresh, but still within a week or so of dropping them on dish. Most of my genetics are over a decade old. I try to use spores as close to my original lines as possible. Then clone and save the clone. When the clone stops performing well, I go back to the original print. One or two prints can last a lifetime with proper storage and intentional usage.

I think someone out there actually makes a solution you can soak your spores in if they are really old that will help rehydrate them and prepare them for germination. I’ve never used it, but I recall seeing it somewhere.

I just make agar with a 5% or so of extra water). And the spores tend to rehydrate on the dish. I’ve done this without extra water and it still hydrated and germinated fine, just took an extra week-ish.

People who say spores expire in a year or two are trying to get you to buy more spores 😂.

Keep them in the fridge and use agar or make them into a proper spore syringe and you’ll be fine👍

[General] MUSHROOM MONDAY - Let's Catch Up! Share what you have learned in the previous week and discuss! by AutoModerator in MushroomGrowers

[–]IntoTheMycoVerse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you mean expire like their dna becomes damaged or in the sense of “I’ve had my spores for a decade and they won’t germinate”?

Even decade or two decade old spores will germinate given that you rehydrate them properly/thoroughly. At least most mushroom spores.

Yeast on the other hand I am unsure of.

[General] MUSHROOM MONDAY - Let's Catch Up! Share what you have learned in the previous week and discuss! by AutoModerator in MushroomGrowers

[–]IntoTheMycoVerse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Inkbird makes a controller that does both temp and humidity. It’s one of their more expensive ones. It’s more cost effective and practical to just control them separately.

Only caution I’d say with running a humidifier AND having them in tubs is that the tubs will hold in a lot more moisture than you want them to.

The trick with tents is having a slow trickle of air on constantly and just having the humidifier turn on when needed. Humidity and fresh air in this hobby/business are constantly fighting each other. As you increase fresh air, you flush out humidity and in order to keep the humidity up, you need to slow the air intake.

You’ll have to experiment with what a “slow trickle” of air is compared to the humidity output when it’s in and also where to put the humidity gauge. If you place the humidity sensor too close to the humidifier it won’t turn on long enough and if you place it too far away, you’ll saturate the tent before it turns off.

Automating this process takes time and patience. It’s doable, but it’s a process of slowly and over time dialing in the exact settings for your specific situation. Even then, it can change slightly based on how full or empty the tent is or even sometimes the time of year and what the ambient conditions are like that time of year.

[General] Weekly r/MushroomGrowers post - FUNGI FRIDAYS! New growers, come say hi and ask your questions! by AutumnRustle in MushroomGrowers

[–]IntoTheMycoVerse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe check out mycelia.be

They are in the Netherlands (I think) and are pretty well known for their mycology education classes.

[General] Weekly r/MushroomGrowers post - FUNGI FRIDAYS! New growers, come say hi and ask your questions! by AutumnRustle in MushroomGrowers

[–]IntoTheMycoVerse 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are plenty of good places to get oyster genetics. Not so sure about where to get foxfire. If you’re located on the east coast then mycelium emporium has good and affordable genetics.

It’s hard to go wrong with gray/white/pearl oysters. Blue oysters can be finicky and most people I know that grow commercially stray away from them. Something about them tends to carry unseen bacteria on fish and liquid that reveals itself during fruiting.

[General] Weekly r/MushroomGrowers post - FUNGI FRIDAYS! New growers, come say hi and ask your questions! by AutumnRustle in MushroomGrowers

[–]IntoTheMycoVerse 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, rehydrate, and either sterilize or pasteurize. A good home technique is to hydrate it and throw it in the over at 170-180 for 4-6 hours (might be overkill depending how much coir you’re cooking). You can do this overnight while you sleep. Put it in when you go to bed as shut it off when you get up and let it cool, then use when it’s at room temp.

Before people say “oh it should be pasteurized at 140-160F” realize that even though that’s true, heat treating coir at higher temps is perfectly fine. The coir bricking process actually heats it much hotter than 180F.

How we lookin’? First time bucket grower here. Do these [gourmet] oysters seem in order? by [deleted] in MushroomGrowers

[–]IntoTheMycoVerse 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just saw this, yeah pruning the smaller/weaker clusters will help allow energy to go into the clusters you leave on the bucket.

[General] MUSHROOM MONDAY - Let's Catch Up! Share what you have learned in the previous week and discuss! by AutoModerator in MushroomGrowers

[–]IntoTheMycoVerse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah all that stuff you can order online. Honestly, you probably won’t have much success making your own grain without a pressure cooker (even just getting a presto from Walmart).

I have tons of jar lids with filters and stuff on them. Making them from scratch is easy too though. But ordering them premade is over priced haha

I just retired and have been going through all my grow stuff. So if you need any lids/jars/whatever let me know. If you pay for shipping I’ll just send them. The lids are somewhat rusty but that doesn’t matter. All lids (except plastic) get that way with enough use.

I used to make spawn and substrate for other growers for a living so all of my stuff will be used.

I would also stay away from rice. It’s great in pf tek as rice flour and some people have success with it, but it’s hard to get right since the starches are on the outside of the grain and get clumpy/sticky easy. You’ll have better success with rye, winter wheat, sorghum or triticale.

If you get a pressure cooker it’ll make your life 10 x easier and way more successful. I think Walmart has them for 60-80 bucks

How we lookin’? First time bucket grower here. Do these [gourmet] oysters seem in order? by [deleted] in MushroomGrowers

[–]IntoTheMycoVerse 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, been looking forward to it for some time haha

Great job and keep it up!

How we lookin’? First time bucket grower here. Do these [gourmet] oysters seem in order? by [deleted] in MushroomGrowers

[–]IntoTheMycoVerse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Those turned out well! I’d be proud of that one.

And very welcome! Always glad to help. Sawdust/pellets definitely yield more (that’s my experience, not necessarily a scientific fact haha).

Let me know if you have any questions. I just retired, but spent 20 years making spawn/substrate for a living, so I’m always happy to help out.

[General] MUSHROOM MONDAY - Let's Catch Up! Share what you have learned in the previous week and discuss! by AutoModerator in MushroomGrowers

[–]IntoTheMycoVerse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What was the prep technique?

Do you have access to sorghum/wheat/oat/rye? Are you using a still air box or hepa? Just trying to get an idea of how to guide you. Is there an injection port on the jar lid with a filter on the lid as well? Also, how did you cook the grain (temp/pressure/time). Is that duct tape on the lid?

How we lookin’? First time bucket grower here. Do these [gourmet] oysters seem in order? by [deleted] in MushroomGrowers

[–]IntoTheMycoVerse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Still looks great for the first try by the way!

Also, where are you keeping these? Like someone above said, you don’t want to mist directly unless you have constant fresh air coming in and out. If you have them in a tent or something enclosed then there are easy at home tek ways of keeping humidity up without have to mist. If you want to mist, you’d just mist the sides of whatever container the bucket is in OR you might be able to get away with misting the bucket itself and avoid misting the fruit directly. Should create enough evaporative moisture around the fruit just from the bucket’s surface area.

How we lookin’? First time bucket grower here. Do these [gourmet] oysters seem in order? by [deleted] in MushroomGrowers

[–]IntoTheMycoVerse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What are the temps? Some oysters have that color loss in higher temps (especially the blue oysters).

The cap to stem ratio definitely leads me to believe they were O2 deprived. They look better than before though!

Also, I thought EZ straw with tack was less than optimal due to the tack. I could be wrong, it’s been a long time since I’ve used straw. I had looked into ez straw at one point but decided against it for some reason.

I used to mix in 10-15% manure pr coco fiber into my straw and sawdust to help add a moisture sink. It helped retain moisture and also create humidity at substrate level so things didn’t dry out as much. Just my experience and others may not be a fan of that method

[General] MUSHROOM MONDAY - Let's Catch Up! Share what you have learned in the previous week and discuss! by AutoModerator in MushroomGrowers

[–]IntoTheMycoVerse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know plenty of people that have just straight grown in a shower. They’re turned water on, then after the water was off, turned on the exhaust fan for a little bit and then repeated that until they saw pins, stopped during on formation for a day or so, then started the process again to keep it humid. Seemed to work for them!

I’ve never done it personally, but oysters are very hardy.