New to cultivation & mycology, where to start?

[Melange]

I have BD syringes and luer-lok needles, both state they are sterile. I assume this means that they need not be autoclaved before first use?

[goneski]

I have BD syringes and luer-lok needles, both state they are sterile. I assume this means that they need not be autoclaved before first use?

 

For first use straight out of the pack, I would imagine so, yes.. I'd say medical grade autoclaving / sterilisation is much better than home pressure cooker use..

[Melange]

I got some petri dishes that said they had been sterilised, but there was a hole in the plastic bag holding them, I wonder whether that means they need to be sterilised again. I poured some agar plates onto them, to see if I could get some field mushroom spores going, I suppose I will find out if contaminations start to grow under the agar?

[goneski]

Wasn't Aussie Mushroom Supplies by any chance, was it?

I purchased some inoculation loops from there which were supposedly 'gamma sterile'..

They came in a zip lock baggie that had a staple through one corner. I didn't even bother

Using them as they were only plastic anyway and I wanted something I could sterilise.

I ended up getting Nichrome inoculation loops. I usually flame sterilise before scraping

Spores off the print. Allow to cool first, of course.. Or dunk the loop in your sterile water

And mix a couple of drops of water around on the print to help loosen the spores.

[ayjay101]

Cool.. I've been thinking of ditching the glove box or at least making a larger more comfortable one.

I live in an older house and not too confident with how clean it is.

I think the more confident I become in my abilities, the more I'll look at cutting corners a little to make life easier.

I'm already getting a bit frustrated with how long things take, but my sterile technique is largely to blame for that.

 

I read somewhere (probably here on SAB) that turning the oven up full bore and working on the open oven door works nicely.

[ayjay101]

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Edited October 23, 2012 by ayjay101

[Melange]

Wasn't Aussie Mushroom Supplies by any chance, was it?

 

Yes, as a matter of fact. The Aussie Mushroom Supplies website said they were expecting a baby soon, so I put it down to carelessness. I got reusable innoculation loops and an erlenmeyer flask from Wiltronics, very prompt and cheap.

I've got a feeling that I'm going to be doing a lot of experimenting with agar, is there a particular kind to use, or can I get cooking agar and make my own mixture with dried malt extract?

[BentoSpawn]

I read somewhere (probably here on SAB) that turning the oven up full bore and working on the open oven door works nicely.

The oven will increase contaminants by stirring up turbulence that swirls contaminants around. The oven tek

is bogus. You'd be better off in a still room in open air than using the oven. An air temp of 150 won't do squat

to a contam spore in the two seconds it takes to swirl into your jar.

 

- Roger Rabbit

[Bigred]

what i use for a inoculation loop its called a pimple popper its made by manicare all chemists carry the line but you will have

to get one ordered in but the have a pin on one end and a loop on the other they are about 7 bucks but make a great lab tool

Aussie mushrooms supplies are not as competent as they sound but its cheap my garden store in Brisbane will be starting to

sell jars dish's etc and will work to make it a proper mushroom supply but i will keep every one posted i was talking with

another member about mycelium killing bacteria i have had a few jars and even had dishs fruit after fighting of the contam

(bacilis i think it was) sour rot it then later showed the contam when i did g2g with it

[Melange]

I ended up finding agar powder at an asian supermarket (25g for $1.90), light malt extract from k-mart in the home-brew section, and small take-away containers for petri dishes from the reject store, in case anyone else wants to do some agar work on the cheap.

[Bigred]

take away tek rocks its so cheap we should all work together on edible teks i love growing mushrooms but most of it is on cubes its a good

reference but may scare new people into starting this awesome hobby there is a wealth of info on this site

[Bigred]

if any one needs some edibles please pm me i know how hard it is to get started

[Psylo]

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Edited March 23, 2013 by Psylo

[Melange]

Things are progressing, I've been trying to get used to working with the agar so I've been testing out various procedures such as cloning from store-bought mushrooms. That had some misfires, I'm trying to work out the difference between mycelium and cobweb mould, I dropped some spores from a big field mushroom onto agar as well, and while something is definitely growing, I don't know what the hell it is! I'm going to move on to the golden oysters now, I'm convinced I would have destroyed it had I gone straight to that.

I got the rectangular containers- http://www.getprice.com.au/images/uploadimg/1680/takeawaysmall2.jpg

500ml I think. Probably too large but cheap enough to learn with. They are PP5, and they lived through the pressure cooker for 75 mins. They were 5 for $2 at the reject shop.

[Psylo]

x

Edited March 23, 2013 by Psylo

[Melange]

I got some budgie mix, and some pearled barley. I'm going to experiment and see what works best. The reject shop sells different kinds and sizes of laundry baskets with holes through the sides, I was considering trying to use a mixture of straw and manure in one of those baskets for the golden oysters. I have a small pressure cooker, so I will probably try to pasteurise the straw/manure mixture instead.

The large takeaway containers I got are very large, and working with them is more of a hassle than petri dishes. I actually got them initially to try to fill with substrate, since three of them fit in my pressure cooker, I'm experimenting with as many different techniques as possible at the moment, playing the numbers game. So far I've only gotten one contamination, a nice green spot.

I transferred cuts of what I think is mycelium to other petri dishes, as well as throwing some into a budgie-mix substrate, just to see what comes of it. The initial growth on the agar was quite slow, about a week to spread to half the dish. From what I understand that is too slow for cobweb mould.

[Psylo]

x

Edited March 23, 2013 by Psylo

[LokStok]

party supply shops are good places to score small amounts of PP5 sauce containers cheap.

[Bigred]

Go the barley i have used it all wbs budgie mix organic wbs , corn and the best stuff is barley then pop corn i used wbs when i started and it was slow

growth and big contam factor the barley i get from mc flanneries has a really low contam rate must be the way it is stored.

[Melange]

Can I post a picture of what might be mycelium or cobweb mould for an ID? I have no idea what I am looking at, it appears white and has grown quite slowly (9 days), but it seems to have a hair-like structure.

Would I need to upload the pic somewhere then link to it?

[Psylo]

x

Edited March 23, 2013 by Psylo

[Melange]

Cool, thanks! I got this growth after I scraped a few spores onto the agar from a field mushroom, though I've read that these don't like malt extract agar so I'm wondering what else this might be. It does grow slowly, though it also has what appears to be little hairs. I thought to put some of the agar into a syringe with PC'd water and malt extract, to see if I could get a culture going, but now I'm wondering whether or not I would just end up with a bunch of mould in there!

[Psylo]

x

Edited March 23, 2013 by Psylo

[Pat Uri]

Drunk and bigoted as I am I must applaud Psylo Dread for having the courage to finally admit what we all had long suspected!

We all thank PD for seasons of loyal writings that have, in their way united us; but now, I mark this occasion and personal historical milestone in PD development to congratulate the realisation, the actuality, the accumulated skill structures PD brings to primary production. May the Most High Bless your endeavours. Welcome to cultivation.

It is said "You can lead a horticulture - but you can't make her think"

Your mate - Patty - Make it Grow!

[Psylo]

My dearest of friends, Mister Capricorn Coast,

The dashing and valiant wordsmith with the most,

Who taketh of praise as much as he give

Our Dear Patty Uri, our reason to live.

Let us pray that the long established & respected member PD does not take umbrage to my inadvertant initialism theft. Therefore & henceforth, I shall from this moment foreward, my handle shall be simply "Psylo". It worked for Prince (not our dear Charlie, but the diminuitive pocket rocket whom sheds a tear when doves cry).

It should be our Ginger compadre that gets the accolades for the current crop of well-versed actively-contributing mycophiles. I merely have the jump on Melange, and hope that my slightly above novice status is not misconstrued as fungal goddess, for I am merely a conduit between the expert knowedge and the newbie seeker of sporulating fruitage. It is my seeker status that has me closer to the source of active learning.

Hope youre travelling well, Pat.