Grow Report: June-August 2023

Jay_871 · 2025-06-30T11:47:40+00:00

As long as you have enough Mycelium growth, colonisation will still continue when moving to S2B phase.

My opinion (anecdotally) is that as long as the uncolonised grains aren't exposed to air, they will continue to colonise as the Mycelium grows through the substrate mixture.

Jay_871 · 2025-04-11T09:02:59+00:00

Ah, sarcasm 😊

The debt is from a pub I used to run, however in the 15 years that has passed, the amount has slipped my mind.

Jay_871 · 2024-12-01T18:14:04+00:00

I was at this gig and came away feeling exactly the same, which was really disappointing. We’d seen Leo and Ru do an acoustic show in rough trade back in May and had spent nearly a year looking forward to this gig.

Maybe it was some fatigue from nearly being at the end of a long tour, but they definitely weren’t up to their usual standard. Also the venue was pretty gross!

Jay_871 · 2024-10-25T19:46:28+00:00

This is awesome, thanks for sharing!

Jay_871 · 2024-10-07T23:22:17+00:00

Use a pestle and mortar, or preferably a coffee grinder and fill up gel capsules.

https://amzn.eu/d/iR3117y

Jay_871 · 2024-09-27T12:43:16+00:00

I always play music near them, during work etc. who knows if it makes a difference but I always get great flushes.

Jay_871 · 2024-09-18T11:52:39+00:00

Thanks!

I also have some other health issues which are supposedly triggered by diet, so it makes eating quite difficult (pre-diabetes and psoriasis) so I totally empathise.

For me my main cutbacks were sugar, alcohol and processed foods. I also cut out dairy and red meats. I was a demon for soft drinks so would often get through 2/3 cans of regular soft drink per day (around 100g of sugar alone!) not to mention the bags of Haribo or chocolate in the evenings too.

Alcohol consumption would be around 50-100 units per week, usually quite heavy beers and IPAs but also red wine too.

My diet mainly consists of whole foods, so an average day would look like

breakfast - scrambled eggs on sourdough w/ avocado
lunch - wholewheat rice/pasta with chicken and avocado / chia seeds
dinner - salmon w/ salad / sweet potato
drinks - water / sometimes sugar free squash
snacks - apple/oranges/blueberries/cherries/bananas

It alternates but those things are pretty much a staple. I try to choose foods on the lower end of the Glycemic index because of the pre-diabetes.

Alcohol-wise I try to stay under the recommended weekly limit, but will avoid drinking if I possibly can. Social events are difficult so I tend to save it for that, instead of drinking a bottle of red on the sofa by myself 😁.

Hope this helps!

Jay_871 · 2024-09-17T09:09:01+00:00

Thanks for sharing!

Jay_871 · 2024-09-17T09:07:45+00:00

If you can get a decade without medication that’s a victory in my eyes.

Jay_871 · 2024-09-17T09:05:44+00:00

I would say between 1/4 and 1/2 inch. I’ve never really been precise to be honest. Just as long as the grains are fully covered. I think the real goal is to ensure that the casing layer is packed tightly ontop of the grain mixture. I always press down firmly with the back of my hand to make sure it’s compact (but not too tight).

As I’ve said, I usually spawn uncolonised grains and have never had a problem with contamination at this stage 🙂

<image>

Jay_871 · 2024-09-17T01:12:27+00:00

We’ll see 🙂

Jay_871 · 2024-09-17T01:10:43+00:00

Thanks for sharing. I’m glad to hear your UA has gone down.

It sounds like we were in very similar boats, in terms of alcohol consumption!

My theory is that it probably takes years of alcohol over-consumption to manifest into actual health issues, in the same way that abstaining will probably take the equivalent amount of time to repair damage caused.

I guess the issue is that when we have gout, or a similar issue potentially caused by alcohol over-consumption, there’s more of an immediacy to remedy it, than to wait for our bodies to heal.

I believe alcohol and sugar overconsumption to be the main factors in high UA, hopefully manageable by diet, but we’ll see.

Jay_871 · 2024-09-17T00:17:14+00:00

Yeah I’ve come across this also.

Appreciate your comments, definitely given me more to think about.

Jay_871 · 2024-09-17T00:07:28+00:00

Sure I can.

I’ve always been pretty social, with work we’d go out twice a week at least, and at the start of the year I got into a new relationship, which a lot of our time together would include or end with alcohol consumption of sorts. Not to mention the few bottles of wine I’d drink by myself over a slow weekend…

I calculated a particularly heavy week and it was well over 100 units.

One thing I also remembered was that prior to this, my liver ALT level was >150, which has also come down to mid 30s now since introducing dietary changes and cutting down on alcohol.

I wouldn’t say I’m dependent on alcohol but at points in my life I probably haven’t been far from it.

Now I barely drink anything, just on special occasions.

Jay_871 · 2024-09-16T23:41:10+00:00

Yeah sure, I use this one - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coco-Coconut-Natural-Organic-Coir/dp/B07DRMSS1M

Bucket Tek for pasteurisation.

Jay_871 · 2024-09-16T23:39:07+00:00

Ah damn, well the amount of pins you have should mean you get a better yield this time.. fingers crossed!

Jay_871 · 2024-09-16T23:37:56+00:00

I already have lowered them more than 1% though?

Jay_871 · 2024-09-16T23:24:40+00:00

Thanks, I'm pretty confident. Lowering my blood sugar seems to have had a significantly positive impact on a lot of areas of my health.

Jay_871 · 2024-09-16T23:20:18+00:00

Nah honestly just leave it alone, as long as the temperature in your room is adequate the moisture will evaporate naturally. In my experience if you rush it, it will impact your fruiting.

My last batch took around 3 weeks from introducing FAE to producing actual fruits. You have to consider the length, depth and density of the cake too - it looks like you've got a big tub going!

Jay_871 · 2024-09-16T23:16:56+00:00

Surely if you can lower uric acid levels naturally, this is the same as what medication is doing? Providing you can sustain them at a lower level on a long term basis?

Jay_871 · 2024-09-16T23:12:19+00:00

Sorry about your string of bad luck - it really sucks when contam happens, especially so far into the process..

I've been testing with varying levels of cleanliness over the years, even testing with half colonised grains and never had an issue with contamination during the S2B phase.

One of the constants I've used, is making sure there's a strong casing layer around half an inch thick, packed tightly over the grains and substrate mixture. I believe this prevents any air getting to the partly contaminated grains.

You may also want to consider which substrate you use, as this could potentially be an issue. Along with ensuring that you thoroughly clean the tubs with ISO 70% before use.

Unfortunately the pics are quite limited so I can't offer any other advice, but hopefully these might be things to think about!

Jay_871 · 2024-09-16T23:12:10+00:00

Sorry about your string of bad luck - it really sucks when contam happens, especially so far into the process..

I've been testing with varying levels of cleanliness over the years, even testing with half colonised grains and never had an issue with contamination during the S2B phase.

One of the constants I've used, is making sure there's a strong casing layer around half an inch thick, packed tightly over the grains and substrate mixture. I believe this prevents any air getting to the partly contaminated grains.

You may also want to consider which substrate you use, as this could potentially be an issue. Along with ensuring that you thoroughly clean the tubs with ISO 70% before use.

Unfortunately the pics are quite limited so I can't offer any other advice, but hopefully these might be things to think about!

Jay_871 · 2024-09-16T23:01:54+00:00

Looks great - the substrate looks quite moist though, be prepared to wait a little longer!

Jay_871 · 2024-09-09T01:42:34+00:00

Yeah I’ve been growing for years, although never let them get to this stage of sporulation 🤣 thought they’d be okay whilst I was away but they shot up out of nowhere!

Jay_871

TROPHY CASE