Mushroom thread

[Dirtbag]

Skip the horse poo for now. Thank me later.
Also, you said you're looking to keep expenses down, so I'd say just supplement the verm to reach field capacity and use primarily coir... reckon you might have some around anyway? Multipurpose.
I know it may sound intimidating, but definitely look into working on agar to make a clean culture... it saves you from so much contamination and headache and it really is accessible to anyone... even those with shaky hands. This will keep you from having to worry about using fundamentally dirty spore syringes and injection ports, etc.
Monotubs/shoeboxes are also a much more self contained and set and forget method than greenhouses/"marthas" (vivariums). I know, I know... you want to control and monitor every little thing, but wait to do that until you've got the hang of it and want to try different species like pans.
Uhh... maybe there's more.. I'm a little drunk and wildly tapping at my phone.

Oh, bags are more advanced and necessitate a larger sterile working area, more equipment, and, unlike jars, they are disposable and wasteful. Great for oysters and massive psychoactive grows, not really for small grows. By 'small', I mean easily pounds per month with just a dozen or two quart mason jars.

Ok, ill take your advise. I have easy access to really well composted hose poo and was reading it was superior to coir. But I have a bag of canna coco here I can use for sure.

Honestly I really like the idea of using cloning trays with a tall dome! Didnt even think of that..

 

[Dirtbag]

I just want to taste some haha and i am a bit drunk myself.
Yall got me talking to a local homie about some shrooms so i can at least try some for the first time

Make sure you have a comfortable spot and nothing planned lol. Its an experience man, I'd recommend starting with 1 gram.

 

[Dirtbag]

I would have zero idea where to even find them.

Not sure about the US but in Canada there are TONS of online dispensaries selling them. Safe and reliable, reasonably priced and shipped to your door.

 

[beluga]

Ok, ill take your advise. I have easy access to really well composted hose poo and was reading it was superior to coir. But I have a bag of canna coco here I can use for sure.

Honestly I really like the idea of using cloning trays with a tall dome! Didnt even think of that..

Horse poo requires proper pasteurization whereas coir you just hydrate properly.
Because you use clean spawn (fully colonized grain), and because coir is only very slightly nutritious, you don't have to worry about contaminants outcompeting your mycelium for the substrate (all of your highly nutritious stuff that microbes thrive on is already colonized by the mushroom culture.)

Sorry if I'm going a little overboard here guys... the cider got me a'tappin'...

 

[Dirtbag]

Horse poo requires proper pasteurization whereas coir you just hydrate properly.
Because you use clean spawn (fully colonized grain), and because coir is only very slightly nutritious, you don't have to worry about contaminants outcompeting your mycelium for the substrate (all of your highly nutritious stuff that microbes thrive on is already colonized by the mushroom culture.)

Sorry if I'm going a little overboard here guys... the cider got me a'tappin'...

Nah dude keep tapping! lol
So coir does not get pressure canned before use? I had planned on pressure cooking the bulk substrate anyways. Or would that break it down? Im obsessive about sanitization, a carry over from brewing. And I'm just figuring this all out here..

Would it be worth adding a small amount of worm castings to the coir to up the nutrition slightly if I was pasteurizing it anyway? Or would it not make enough difference to risk contamination.

 

[beluga]

They have everything they need and more from their spawn substrate (grain)... at least in the case of P. cubensis.

Think of the coir as just the stable environment to foster the mycelium to grow out onto... once the mycelium reaches a terminal point (full coir colonization) it is then triggered to reproduce and you get your trippy mushrooms soon thereafter.

Other things, like contamination, can also signal that terminus... which is what you get from a lot of PF Tek cakes... not to say that that's the mechanism of PF Tek... just that it is often the case and the reason for getting such small yields. I've definitely seen people pull off pretty huge yields from PF cakes, but I believe they were usually pressure sterilized and inoculated with clean cultures.

And, correct, any nutritious additives are just exponential vectors for contamination.

...until you get into pasteurized bulk substrates, which have been found to be completely unnecessary for P. cubensis

Oof. Which leads to another point, in that...

By sterilizing many nutritious bulk substrates (poo, straw, etc). You're actually leaving room for more contamination by killing off the beneficial microbes that create a favorable microbiome for your culture.
Things like thermophilic bacteria will be left to thrive and wreak havoc.

 

[Dirtbag]

They have everything they need and more from their spawn substrate (grain)... at least in the case of P. cubensis.

Think of the coir as just the stable environment to foster the mycelium to grow out onto... once the mycelium reaches a terminal point (full coir colonization) it is then triggered to reproduce and you get your trippy mushrooms soon thereafter.

Other things, like contamination, can also signal that terminus... which is what you get from a lot of PF Tek cakes... not to say that that's the mechanism of PF Tek... just that it is often the case and the reason for getting such small yields. I've definitely seen people pull off pretty huge yields from PF cakes, but I believe they were usually pressure sterilized and inoculated with clean cultures.

And, correct, any nutritious additives are just exponential vectors for contamination.

...until you get into pasteurized bulk substrates, which have been found to be completely unnecessary for P. cubensis

Oof. Which leads to another point, in that...

By sterilizing many nutritious bulk substrates (poo, straw, etc). You're actually leaving room for more contamination by killing off the beneficial microbes that create a favorable microbiome for your culture.
Things like thermophilic bacteria will be left to thrive and wreak havoc.

I'm looking at picking up an agar culture of golden emperer, do you think that's a better way to start than buying a syringe? How does it go from the agar to the jar of grain? Do I need a still air box or does it get transferred to a syringe or?

Sorry for the thousand questions. Finding myself getting hooked on the idea of ding this.

Got one more lol. If I get a culture can I just cut that up into like 20 little pieces to add to 20 other agar filled petri dishes and make a shitload of innoculant?

 

[amekins]

Yeah i thought a pressure cooker wasnt needed. Although i have never dabbled in trying to grow them i read a bit. Actually never even had a nibble of some, would be interested to try for sure

It’s been so long for me. I’m not aware that we knew any kind of strain name just that they were magic mushrooms.

 

[amekins]

Horse poo requires proper pasteurization whereas coir you just hydrate properly.
Because you use clean spawn (fully colonized grain), and because coir is only very slightly nutritious, you don't have to worry about contaminants outcompeting your mycelium for the substrate (all of your highly nutritious stuff that microbes thrive on is already colonized by the mushroom culture.)

Sorry if I'm going a little overboard here guys... the cider got me a'tappin'...

The horse poo, unless pasteurized, would be teeming.

 

[amekins]

They have everything they need and more from their spawn substrate (grain)... at least in the case of P. cubensis.

Think of the coir as just the stable environment to foster the mycelium to grow out onto... once the mycelium reaches a terminal point (full coir colonization) it is then triggered to reproduce and you get your trippy mushrooms soon thereafter.

Other things, like contamination, can also signal that terminus... which is what you get from a lot of PF Tek cakes... not to say that that's the mechanism of PF Tek... just that it is often the case and the reason for getting such small yields. I've definitely seen people pull off pretty huge yields from PF cakes, but I believe they were usually pressure sterilized and inoculated with clean cultures.

And, correct, any nutritious additives are just exponential vectors for contamination.

...until you get into pasteurized bulk substrates, which have been found to be completely unnecessary for P. cubensis

Oof. Which leads to another point, in that...

By sterilizing many nutritious bulk substrates (poo, straw, etc). You're actually leaving room for more contamination by killing off the beneficial microbes that create a favorable microbiome for your culture.
Things like thermophilic bacteria will be left to thrive and wreak havoc.

So their value in the process is reduced and it was just unnecessary.

 

[beluga]

I'm looking at picking up an agar culture of golden emperer, do you think that's a better way to start than buying a syringe? How does it go from the agar to the jar of grain? Do I need a still air box or does it get transferred to a syringe or?

Sorry for the thousand questions. Finding myself getting hooked on the idea of ding this.

Got one more lol. If I get a culture can I just cut that up into like 20 little pieces to add to 20 other agar filled petri dishes and make a shitload of innoculant?

No worries man.

I'm in the US, so I've never even thought of the possibility of just picking up a colonized plate...

But yeah, you'll need a Still Air Box.
Seriously just as simple as a clear Sterilite tote with ~shoulder width apart ~6" arm holes cut into it. Butane torch. Scalpel or hobby knife. Isopropyl. Nitrile gloves.


For a maybe unnecessary rundown of the process:

Flip it over on a flat, clean surface > give it a light mist of isopropyl or soapy water > put your agar dish and sterilized grain jars in there > wait a minute or two for the air to settle > light up your torch > spray your hands and knife with isopropyl > remove petri dish wrap (cling wrap or parafilm) > loosen grain jar lids > torch the knife til glowing > with free hand, remove the petri dish lid > knife hand cuts the agar puck into quarters (x) > spear a quadrant with your knife > remove grain jar lid with free hand > drop agar wedge into jar > seal.

The main thing about 'Sterile Technique' is to move smoothly, without bumping into the walls or making turbulent motions... think about moving in water and not creating waves. But, Most Importantly-never let your hands or unsterilized equipment go above any of your nutritious media.

Just caught your question about expanding petri dishes, and, Yes! Absolutely!
Making transfers is how you take a dirty spore syringe and make a clean culture. You want those transfers to be about the size of a grain of rice, so, out of a 100mm plate, you can get A Lot!

 

[beluga]

It’s been so long for me. I’m not aware that we knew any kind of strain name just that they were magic mushrooms.

Similar to cannabis, there are tons of variety names.
People in the mushcult community are very adamant about hounding everyone with, "there are billions of possible strains in each mushroom's sporulation".

The only varieties they see to be noteworthy are Penis Envy and everything else.
Penis Envy was a mutant strain that was bred to stabilization and there are offshoots and parent lineages. They're twice or more potent and grow a little differently.

Otherwise, "A cube is a cube is a cube." You'll hear over and over again.

Personally, I don't submit to it. I think, just like cannabis, there are certain cultivars that offer subtly different effects.

 

[amekins]

I'm looking at picking up an agar culture of golden emperer, do you think that's a better way to start than buying a syringe? How does it go from the agar to the jar of grain? Do I need a still air box or does it get transferred to a syringe or?

Sorry for the thousand questions. Finding myself getting hooked on the idea of ding this.

Got one more lol. If I get a culture can I just cut that up into like 20 little pieces to add to 20 other agar filled petri dishes and make a shitload of innoculant?

You must have been a handful to your mom.

Similar to cannabis, there are tons of variety names.
People in the mushcult community are very adamant about hounding everyone with, "there are billions of possible strains in each mushroom's sporulation".

The only varieties they see to be noteworthy are Penis Envy and everything else.
Penis Envy was a mutant strain that was bred to stabilization and there are offshoots and parent lineages. They're twice or more potent and grow a little differently.

Otherwise, "A cube is a cube is a cube." You'll hear over and over again.

Personally, I don't submit to it. I think, just like cannabis, there are certain cultivars that offer subtly different effects.

I imagine shape and size had something to do with the name. :-)

 

[Dirtbag]

Well I just bought a cultured petri dish of golden emperor, 5 preloaded dishes of agar, some rye kernels, micropore tape, and I grabbed a syringe of Peurto Rican cubensis to grow on an agar culture. Not going to grow that one out until I've done a few runs of the Golden Emperors.

I guess Canada has its perks.. lol

And yes, I cleared this with the wife who is stoked to do this! lol

 

[Dirtbag]

You must have been a handful to your mom.

I imagine shape and size had something to do with the name. :-)

Hahahahahaha...Ahhhhh you have no freaking idea.

I was good though. Like, I never got caught lol.

 

[beluga]

You must have been a handful to your mom.

I imagine shape and size had something to do with the name. :-)

Surprisingly enough, they're prone to being little, fat surface blobs.
But everyone has their taste, right?
I bet they get told, 'it's nice,' a lot.

 

[beluga]

Well I just bought a cultured petri dish of golden emporer, 5 preloaded dishes of agar, some rye kernels, micropore tape, and I grabbed a syringe of Peurto Rican cubensis to grow on an agar culture. Not going to grow that one out until I've done a few runs of the Golden Emperers.

I guess Canada has its perks.. lol

And yes, I cleared this with the wife who is stoked to do this! lol

Awesome!
Happy to help along the way..
Once I'm stationed at a desktop, I'll be much more useful in terms of referencing, etc.
Just watch out for youtubers with names like Willy Myco, using hydrogen peroxide, and anything that seems superfluous - it's all about keeping the process succinct.

 

[Dirtbag]

Awesome!
Happy to help along the way..
Once I'm stationed at a desktop, I'll be much more useful in terms of referencing, etc.
Just watch out for youtubers with names like Willy Myco, using hydrogen peroxide, and anything that seems superfluous - it's all about keeping the process succinct.

I think once I get past all the weird nomenclature ill be fine. I've been ranching and cryogenically storing dozens of brewing yeast varieties for years so I'm all about cleanliness and succinct processes. I've got gallons of alcohol on hand lol. Has anyone ever used something like Starsan to sanitize the still air box and culture jars etc? Seems like the perfect chemical for a job like that.

 

[beluga]

I think once I get past all the weird nomenclature ill be fine. I've been ranching and cryogenically storing dozens of brewing yeast varieties for years so I'm all about cleanliness and succinct processes. I've got gallons of alcohol on hand lol. Has anyone ever used something like Starsan to sanitize the still air box and culture jars etc? Seems like the perfect chemical for a job like that.

Not so much. I mean... I'm sure it has been tried, but chemical intervention is generally frowned upon. H2O2 can kill powdery mildew, that's about it and you shouldn't have gotten it in the first place if you made your spawn clean... is how the mentality works. And it works very well when you get used to it.

It's a lot of untraining yourself when coming from a horticulture mentality.

 

[Dirtbag]

Not so much. I mean... I'm sure it has been tried, but chemical intervention is generally frowned upon. H2O2 can kill powdery mildew, that's about it and you shouldn't have gotten it in the first place if you made your spawn clean... is how the mentality works. And it works very well when you get used to it.

It's a lot of untraining yourself when coming from a horticulture mentality.

Fascinating shit man. Can't wait to get started. Need to find a pressure cooker now lol.

I'm positive I can borrow one for the first couple runs