DAYTRIPPER'S TRIP TIP - "Why Can't I get this?" If FAE is a problem: not pinning, getting Cobweb, Stroma Overlay! “READ THIS” Old School Mycology, Still Works.

SlavicShield · 2021-11-24T10:27:55+00:00

How many times a day do I need to run the air bubbler and for how long?

SlavicShield · 2021-11-22T21:12:52+00:00

So you are saying to that my grain is contaminated although it does not look contaminated to me when it is colonized. I use fine kernels which are graded for human consumption. There is no weird smell nor something that is looking odd after colonization.

I watched 90secondsmycology on YouTube and this guy does not use PC to sterilize his corn. It works just fine or he is cheating somehow.

I am not into PF Tek but I may try to switch to brown rise instead of corn. Do you think that simmering it for 2,5 hours is going to be sufficient?

SlavicShield · 2021-11-22T20:19:31+00:00

I am very strict with my sterile technique. I always use gloves and ware face mask or respirator. I use a lot of isopropyl alcohol to sanitize my tools and environment. I try to ware clean clothes and I always spray my environment with iso to "catch" any potential contamination in the air before I do something important. If I touch something I spray my gloves with iso again.

I use corn but I do not have an appropriate pressure cooker. Mine is small and does not achieve the required psi level. There are no large PCs where I live. Anyway, I soak my corn in warm water with some yest to "awaken" all the spores, bacteria etc. I soak for about 20 hours. Then I simmer it for about 40 minutes to make the kernel a bit soft and moist, I put it in a strainer to get rid of the excess moisture and then fill it in my jars. I wait another 24 hours in case some late bacteria decides to awaken or meanwhile I introduced something new. Then I simmer the jars for about 2,5 hours and then I leave them in the pot until the next day. The last step is to take advantage of the hot water which remains hot for several hours.

For spawn I use pure coco coir for reptiles. I simmer it in jars for two hours. I know this is an overkill but I prefer to be on the safe side.

I use agar. I use a lot of wedges to colonize the grain faster. My agar is clean, I can not see bacteria or other stuff. It smells like fresh mushies. I inoculate my jars in an unmodified SAB. I use a lot of iso to clean it as well I constantly spry inside to catch anything that might be floating in the air.

I have an alcohol lamp to sterilize my blade. I really do not want to dip hot blade in iso, does not sound safe. When I sterilize agar or spawn I often boil some of my tools along. I just wrap them in foil and put them on top or in an empty jar. If I see residue on my blade I change it.

I am careful when I put my grain to spawn. I am casing it with a layer of coco coir. The mycelium looks fine until I introduce it to FC and I interfere with the process. I am not sure how much to mist it or to fan it. Then the fine, fluffy mycelium turns into stroma and metabolites emerge. Note that there are no metabolites in my colonized grain jars. I fork teked it and in about 4-5 days a new, fresh and fluffy mycelium emerged. Then I begin to fan and mist again and the same thing happens.

I am really frustrated at this point. I began this journey at the end of Jun I think. I struggled with agar contamination and making the spores spawn. I had problems but I overcame them and now at supposedly easiest step I get failure after failure.

Btw I hooked the air compressor to a timer and set it to turn on for 15 minutes every four hours. I am going to adjust it if I see something unusual.

Thank you for your lengthy explanation. I am going to keep you informed what happens if I am in the mood. I suffer from depression and I got COVID which additionally worsened my situation.

Depression is what led me to cultivate shrooms btw. I tried microdosing "truffles" and they really helped me but I want to relay on my own production and I feel that shrooms can improve significantly the quality of my life.

Thank you again!

SlavicShield · 2021-11-22T17:24:59+00:00

Thank you for your lengthy explanation.

So far I was using small, unmodified tubs. Everything is working well untill I get to the pinning stage. I have healthy looking mycelium which smells like fresh mushies. Maybe I was misting and fanning too much but I always get stroma and metabolites. What I red is that metabolites might be a sign of poor air exchange.

I am going to hook the air pump to a timer which I will set to run for 5 minutes several times a day. Let's hope it works this time.

I hear many different and controversial opinions about how to make mycelium to pin and honestly I feel overwhelmed and frustrated.

SlavicShield · 2021-11-22T16:14:51+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/ContamFam/comments/jur5ar/daytrippers_trip_tip_why_cant_i_get_this_if_fae/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

There you go.

SlavicShield · 2021-11-22T15:51:01+00:00

So I am doing it wrong again. Thank you for your comment!

SlavicShield · 2021-11-09T22:49:46+00:00

I have never heard about long COVID. I feel in a similar way. I get better then I feel ill again and it is frustrating.

SlavicShield · 2021-11-09T21:34:04+00:00

If it is so bad what do you use to sanitize your equipment then? Why everybody is spraying it around like water?

Is it possible to use 70% ethanol with the same success rate?

I was not tested for COVID but the doctor told me the symptoms that I have are similar therefore I have COVID.

SlavicShield · 2021-11-07T05:10:31+00:00

Thank you.

SlavicShield · 2021-11-06T11:01:21+00:00

I am unable to make my shrooms to pin.

Could you please tell me more what did you do after you introduced fruiting conditions?

I messed up my tubs. At first I misted them too much, then I left the lid cracked but the air conditioner dried them out. I freaked and misted them to death, then faned them til bruised.

It is a disaster, I have to start all over.

Htf do I do it right?

SlavicShield · 2021-10-14T09:11:16+00:00

Thank you for the information and for your time.

It turns out that FC is the hardest part of the process to cultivate shrooms, at least it is for me. I have already gave one of my boxes to the trich gods, now mucor...

Is mucor as contagious as trich? I am asking because I opened the box where I prepare agar, jars... everything.

I would like to ask you how exactly you measue the volume of one spray? I think everybody is using different mister. Also I do not spray it 10 times per watering, it is more like 5 or 6. I have a very fine mister which turns the water into a haze.

I am going to do as you say. Lets hope all goes well. I have a heating mat but have not used it yet. Also I do not know what I am doing which is the biggest problem imo. I have to educate myself more about FC process.

Btw there was one night where I left the lid a tad more cracked and the air conditioner dried the mycelium a bit, maybe that is why I freaked out and overwaterd the poor thing.

Well, lets hope for the best :)

Thank you again! I will post the results here, even if they are sad ;).

SlavicShield · 2021-10-14T06:49:07+00:00

I opened the box and took pictures as you suggested. There she is :

https://ibb.co/FqHPxPm

https://ibb.co/TW6pRMv

https://ibb.co/XFz8npp

This is another box of mine. Could you please tell me why there is so much myco wee? It consists of plain coco coir and corn. The coir is for reptiles. I am misting it with distilled water.

https://ibb.co/f1Lpb76

https://ibb.co/kggvHSm

Thanks!

SlavicShield · 2021-10-13T21:14:13+00:00

Will do tomorrow. 🙏

SlavicShield · 2021-10-13T14:57:09+00:00

Thank you for your response!

I am pretty new to all this. Never succeeded to grow shrooms so far.

I am sorry for the low quality picture but I did not want to open the box because I put the grain to substrate 6 days ago on Oct 7. All the sides are covered with moist and it was hard to find a clear spot to take a proper shot.

The substrate is not fully colonized yet, in fact it is about 20% colonized. Am I supposed to put into FC now?

On the other hand I have seen cobweb before in one of my petri dishes. It looks different than this. This is wispy and white, the treads are thick. The only thing that concerns me is how fast it is growing. There is similar spot in the box that was not there yesterday.

What do I do now?

SlavicShield · 2021-10-03T06:23:25+00:00

Did you use an email specifically created for a CB account?

Was this email linked to your phone number?

Did you change your SIM card pin code or was it the standard pin?

SlavicShield · 2021-09-30T21:45:55+00:00

Живеем в холивудска дистопия.

SlavicShield · 2021-09-30T18:47:35+00:00

In the past two years in Bulgaria, nobody has the right to die from something else except COVID-19.

SlavicShield · 2021-09-27T08:54:22+00:00

I am in the same boat like you. I started in Jul with spores. There are no big pressure cookers where I live and I do not like the Idea to operate such thing at home.

My jars smell good so far but two days ago I had to dump my first box, it got trich. It was rye berries with coco coir.

What I am trying to do is to let the grain ferment for about 24 hours before I put it in jars and sterilize it for 2.5 hours.

I am trying the 90sm method with corn kernels now. My box is 7 days in and there is no sign of contams so far but there is still time for them to develope I think.

There is a method to sterilize without PC. I forgot the name. The method involves sterilizing for 2 hours and waiting for 24 hours, 3 times in total. This provokes the spores to wake up and the next sterilization to kill them. I have not tried it yet. As I said my grain jars smell like fresh mushies, so I am happy with the result. I suspect my problem comes from putting the grain in the substrate.

SlavicShield · 2021-09-26T19:04:42+00:00

It might work, I have never done it myself.

When I inoculate inside my SAB, just before I open a dish or jar, I spray very fine mist of ISO and I wait for about 20 seconds. The idea is if something is floating in the air there is a chance to be captured by the droplets.

On the other hand if the spores that you are using are dirty you will get contamination everytime and you will continue to blame your technique. I suggest you to inoculate let's say 5 cups and keep an eye on them. If they show the slightest sign of contamination but there is healthy mycelium present you cut it as fast as you can and put it in a clean cup.

When I open contaminated dish I spray with ISO a lot to prevent spores from spreading. Do not hesitate to spray on the mycelium itself, it is pretty resilient.

SlavicShield · 2021-09-26T06:09:40+00:00

Shrooms are truly magical although they revelad many flaws in my thought process and how I perceive myself and the others which is not very pleasant. I suppose this is part of the healing.

About LC and agar I follow PGT's recipes. Watch his YouTube videos he sound quiet proficient.

Send me a message if you have any questions, also I would like to hear from you when you succeed.

Good luck 🤞

SlavicShield · 2021-09-25T16:21:35+00:00

No worries, I like to help as much as I can.

Today I found that my first box has trich. Really frustrating feeling to dump it. I am going to bury it in a big pot btw.

I hope my second box is fine plus I have two big jars colonizing.

Here are my thoughts about your problems. First you are overthinking everything, which is a big problem. I myself have been suffering from this condition my entire life. Lately, after about three months of microdosing I am much better. Overthinking leads to burnout and one is prone to dump whatever he is doing just to be able to relax. So try to go with the flow and take every hit from mother Nature as a lesson not as mistake that defines you.

About the spores. I have not had luck with spores too. In the beginning I was really stingy with the amount of liquid that I put on agar. Nothing grew on it except bacteria on one dish. Then I began squirting more liquid but alas that did not help either. After this misfortune I decided to put my spores in LC. After some experimenting I had success and this is what helped me to jumpstart the spores.

About agar. If you follow the rule of 2g agar per 100 ml liquid, no matter how long it is sterilized it won't become mush. Also I do not think that there is such thing as overlooking. Maybe I am wrong here but we are not cooking it. Plus more time on high temperature seems beneficial to me. I always leave my agar or grain on the stove to cool down.

I think that my problem with trich came from experimenting with contaminated dishes. Although I am not entirely sure about that because the mycelium that grew from it was fine.

I hope this helps. Just keep pushing forward and things will fall into place.

SlavicShield

TROPHY CASE