Mushroom thread

1diesel1 · Dec 8, 2020

1986 I was in the middle of the tillimook forest coast range in Oregon.
It was august 70F we were in the middle of a 3 year old clear cut.
we took 2 squares a piece earlier that evening.
Drove out there in a 1975 dodge picture window 3/4 ton van.
Pink Floyd umaguma on the cassette.
All the sudden out of no where a light flew over the top of us and hovered there, seamed like it was there forever.
No noise, no smell, no heat.
Then it was gone.
We all saw it..................I think?
Or maybe it was just me:)
I remember that night vividly.
(Window pane?)

Dirtbag · Dec 9, 2020

So close, there are a few that appear fully colonized now and a few that are almost full. Only one that is way behind is the one i didnt shake.
They seem to be doing some heavy breathing in the jars. the two that look fully colonized have some moisture building up on the glass in the jar, and the grains have sort of contracted away from the edge of the jar and become a clump that moves around easily if i tilt the jar.

beluga · Dec 9, 2020

Dirtbag said:
So close, there are a few that appear fully colonized now and a few that are almost full. Only one that is way behind is the one i didnt shake.
They seem to be doing some heavy breathing in the jars. the two that look fully colonized have some moisture building up on the glass in the jar, and the grains have sort of contracted away from the edge of the jar and become a clump that moves around easily if i tilt the jar.View attachment 1065686

Could have some bacteria on there, but they look pretty good from here!

How's your room temp that they live in?
They'll pump out at least a few degrees F warmer while metabolizing, but I've heard up to 10ºF.. so it could just be normal condensation.

Dirtbag · Dec 9, 2020

beluga said:
Could have some bacteria on there, but they look pretty good from here!

How's your room temp that they live in?
They'll pump out at least a few degrees F warmer while metabolizing, but I've heard up to 10ºF.. so it could just be normal condensation.

temps are about 70f outside the jars. And it certainly looks like condensation, its well above the grain on bare glass and looks just like it was misted with a sprayer. Could be bacteria too i suppose, i dont really know enough to tell the difference.

beluga · Dec 9, 2020

Dirtbag said:
temps are about 70f outside the jars. And it certainly looks like condensation, its well above the grain on bare glass and looks just like it was misted with a sprayer. Could be bacteria too i suppose, i dont really know enough to tell the difference.

The only way to know for sure is to take a bit to agar and see what grows.
Otherwise, it's just knowing the characteristics of the mycelium growth.. which can vary from variety to variety and even strain to strain. But, in general, marshmallowy growth is pretty indicative of bacterial infections.. yours don't look marshmallowy from what I can see. Fluffy, yeah, but that can be totally normal.

Dirtbag · Dec 9, 2020

beluga said:
The only way to know for sure is to take a bit to agar and see what grows.
Otherwise, it's just knowing the characteristics of the mycelium growth.. which can vary from variety to variety and even strain to strain. But, in general, marshmallowy growth is pretty indicative of bacterial infections.. yours don't look marshmallowy from what I can see. Fluffy, yeah, but that can be totally normal.

Lol I spent the last 20 mins trying to find examples of marshmallowy Bacteria infected spawn... to no avail.

Im way TF out of my element here. It's all white fuzz man.. Its all white fuzz

Fwiw the grain itself looks very dry and loose, not wet or clumpy at all.

Anyway, ill be tossing it into coir to see what happens one way or another.

beluga · Dec 9, 2020

Dirtbag said:
Lol I spent the last 20 mins trying to find examples of marshmallowy Bacteria infected spawn... to no avail.

Im way TF out of my element here. It's all white fuzz man.. Its all white fuzz

Fwiw the grain itself looks very dry and loose, not wet or clumpy at all.

Anyway, ill be tossing it into coir to see what happens one way or another.

See how it's a thick mat? Whereas yours is like a pom pom on a hat.

Dirtbag · Dec 9, 2020

beluga said:
See how it's a thick mat? Whereas yours is like a pom pom on a hat.

Awesome thank you. Ive seen a lot of pics that look like that, didnt know it was related to bacteria. Yeah none of mine look like that. The mycellium in mine is very clear and defined. Stringy looking if anything up close. And nowhere near that much moisture, or any moisture visible in the grains themselves, only on the glass above the more colonized grains.

I just, you know.. first time jitters. Im being reminded what it feels like to be a total noob at something that is fairly complicated.
Thanks for the tips..

So is that marshmallow looking shit mycellium still or whats going on there? Is it just piling up on itself because it cant spread out or what?

beluga · Dec 9, 2020

Dirtbag said:
Awesome thank you. Ive seen a lot of pics that look like that, didnt know it was related to bacteria. Yeah none of mine look like that. The mycellium in mine is very clear and defined. Stringy looking if anything up close. And nowhere near that much moisture, or any moisture visible in the grains themselves, only on the glass above the more colonized grains.

I just, you know.. first time jitters. Im being reminded what it feels like to be a total noob at something that is fairly complicated.
Thanks for the tips..

So is that marshmallow looking shit mycellium still or whats going on there? Is it just piling up on itself because it cant spread out or what?

Yeah, those bags are super fucked for a variety of reasons.. bacterial inhibition, poorly prepped grain, and those bags are probably too full (at least for that poorly prepped grain) - causing anaerobic conditions... and that's just from my visual observation.. I nabbed this image off google.

But, yeah, you got it right as far as I know/have observed. The marshmallowyness is the mycelium growing a certain way either to try to spread and then being inhibited by bacteria; or by trying to isolate the bacteria itself by kind of encapsulating it. Most bacteria, in my experience, are invisible when growing on mycelium and all you see is the change in growth character.

Jimster · Dec 9, 2020

Dirtbag said:
Lol I spent the last 20 mins trying to find examples of marshmallowy Bacteria infected spawn... to no avail.

Im way TF out of my element here. It's all white fuzz man.. Its all white fuzz

Fwiw the grain itself looks very dry and loose, not wet or clumpy at all.

Anyway, ill be tossing it into coir to see what happens one way or another.

I'm going to become a new proud papa and birth my first ever jars, maybe tonight. Birthing, Fruiting... a lot different than popping a pill into the dirt and waiting 6 months!

1diesel1 · Dec 10, 2020

Progress

beluga · Dec 10, 2020

1diesel1 said:
ProgressView attachment 1065938 View attachment 1065939

Nice man!
I'm still a little scared of that jar.. but I've seen some rough stuff top fruit like that pretty well.
Tub looks like it should produce for you, but time will tell if something beats it to the chase.
How did it smell when spawning? Any sweetness?

1diesel1 · Dec 10, 2020

beluga said:
Nice man!
I'm still a little scared of that jar.. but I've seen some rough stuff top fruit like that pretty well.
Tub looks like it should produce for you, but time will tell if something beats it to the chase.
How did it smell when spawning? Any sweetness?

Can you explain to me what scares you about the jar?
I did not smell, what smell characteristics am I looking for when the jar is spawning?
Good? Bad?

beluga · Dec 10, 2020

1diesel1 said:
Can you explain to me what scares you about the jar?
I did not smell, what smell characteristics am I looking for when the jar is spawning?
Good? Bad?

Mostly the shade and growth characteristics of it. It's got a kind of grey tinge.. which could just be lighting, picture, or some other benign factor.. but coud also easily mean mold. Likewise with the growth - it's got a lot of inconsistent wispiness going on which is often due to mold. Inconsistencies, in general, are usually a good indication of numerous things growing on the substrate... again... many factors going into that, but, in my experience it's usually indicative of mold. What you're looking for is a consistent vibrant white all throughout. Cubensis mycelium can be kind of wispy... but in a different way... more fluffy than wispy.

As far as smell... it's just that good mushroom smell. Like walking through a forest or a nice rich soil alive with mycorrhizae.
Bad ones are sweet, musty, or sour. If it smells like beer wort or mash... there's bacteria. If it smells like old basement or a rotting farmhouse... there's mold.

Dirtbag · Dec 12, 2020

I've got a few contaminated jars at the least... 3 of them haven't advanced in several days, mycelium just came to a screeching halt. I'm guessing bacteria since I see nothing unusual otherwise. My local grower buddy figures it could be from the grain prep... too many burst grains making too easy of a food source for contams. Recommended not cooking them as much before canning next time.

The 4 other jars look about fully colonized, but I'm suspicious of them as well. I'll probably bulk them to 2 shoeboxes anyway to see what happens. But I'll just do a simple bucket tek to pasteurize with no compost. See what happens.

1diesel1 · Dec 13, 2020

On the rite track?

Jimster · Dec 13, 2020

beluga said:
As far as smell... it's just that good mushroom smell. Like walking through a forest or a nice rich soil alive with mycorrhizae.
Bad ones are sweet, musty, or sour. If it smells like beer wort or mash... there's bacteria. If it smells like old basement or a rotting farmhouse... there's mold.

I'm a proud Papa! I birthed 5 jars yesterday as the 6th jar never reallygot going and appears to be contaminated, so the 5 remaining were birthed into a yub of water for a day then off to their fresh perlite bed, sitting on a piece of aluminum foil to keep the cakes and perlite separate. I was a bit worried after reading about the different appearance of the mycelium... puffy, stringy, etc. @beluga mentioned the smell and when I birthed the babies yesterday and today, there was a very distinct "mushroom" smell, nothing sour or grainy. I left the lid on the tub slightly loose... it should be loose enough to allow some gases to exchange but tight enough to keep humidity near 100. The cakes were pretty solid... I was surprised how solid they became. I expected them to absorb a lot of water during the soak, but it actually seemed almost waterproof and I had to weigh them down a bit.
I appreciate everyone's advice in this great project. I tried once before in the 70s but never got more than a 1/4" square of mycelium (please forgive my ignorance of the proper spelling and terminiology... I don't know the difference between a mycelium and a mycorrhizae!). An mostly a big thank you to @beluga, who helped to shine a light thru the haze.

beluga · Dec 13, 2020

Jimster said:
I'm a proud Papa! I birthed 5 jars yesterday as the 6th jar never reallygot going and appears to be contaminated, so the 5 remaining were birthed into a yub of water for a day then off to their fresh perlite bed, sitting on a piece of aluminum foil to keep the cakes and perlite separate. I was a bit worried after reading about the different appearance of the mycelium... puffy, stringy, etc. @beluga mentioned the smell and when I birthed the babies yesterday and today, there was a very distinct "mushroom" smell, nothing sour or grainy. I left the lid on the tub slightly loose... it should be loose enough to allow some gases to exchange but tight enough to keep humidity near 100. The cakes were pretty solid... I was surprised how solid they became. I expected them to absorb a lot of water during the soak, but it actually seemed almost waterproof and I had to weigh them down a bit.
I appreciate everyone's advice in this great project. I tried once before in the 70s but never got more than a 1/4" square of mycelium (please forgive my ignorance of the proper spelling and terminiology... I don't know the difference between a mycelium and a mycorrhizae!). An mostly a big thank you to @beluga, who helped to shine a light thru the haze.

Awesome man!
Just keep that fresh air exchange going - would be beneficial to make some small holes in that tub about two or so inches above the perlite level, but a loose-fitting lid will likely be alright.

You got your terminology straight.. it's a little confusing with all the myc's.
Mycelium/mycelia are pretty much the roots of most fungi.
Mycorrhiza are certain fungi that grow on/with plant roots... with their mycelium.

Dirtbag · Dec 13, 2020

Pasteurizing some bulk sub... Got a couple fruiting chambers made up... Im going to bulk these 4 jars to coir tonight and see what happens over the next couple weeks.
2 jars of sub are for sure contaminated and stalled out completely... one is still progressing, and 4 "appear" to be fully colonized to my inexperienced eye...

Each shoebox will get 2 quarts sub and 2 jars of spawn.

1diesel1 · Dec 13, 2020

beluga said:
Nice man!
I'm still a little scared of that jar.. but I've seen some rough stuff top fruit like that pretty well.
Tub looks like it should produce for you, but time will tell if something beats it to the chase.
How did it smell when spawning? Any sweetness?

No sweetness smells like dirt/deep forest next to the cedar tree rotting away.

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