powerinformation Posted October 31, 2014 (edited) Hey guys I innoculated my first batch of jars. Six jars - 5 different strains. One is colonized beautifully white ready to fruit. One was definately contaminated - I have thrown out. The other 4 seem to be weakly colonized. My friend said if I innoculated at the same time and one is good the others should be as good and that there is contam. The other 4 are definately not as white as one. Is there logic to his argument. Is greyish colonization acceptable as weak colonization after 2 weeks or does this sound like me justifying contam? Any advice would be great - can try and post photos Cheers! Edited October 31, 2014 by powerinformation Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Foo Posted October 31, 2014 (edited) Could be contam. Could be any number of other factors, if its grey im leaning towards contam. Pictures are always helpful. Ive seen a few of these threads back flip on the conclusion after a photo is posted. A picture paints a thousand spores. Edited October 31, 2014 by Foo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lindsay Posted November 1, 2014 5 different strains, can give you a variety of different growth, faster slower thicker woollier. even in the same type of mushroom. I would number the jars, keep notes, it may helpful selecting good strains of this mushroom again. maybe one just got off to better start. maybe contam, may not, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fydesvindico Posted November 1, 2014 ^yeah how fast is the growth? Grey, fast growth usually ends up being cobweb mold, but usually isn't noticed until fruiting.. If your myc growth is slow and more on the grey side you could be looking at a bacterial contam.. Do you know what it smells like? Sweet? Could be a weak strain too, how did you inoculate? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
powerinformation Posted November 3, 2014 (edited) I guess photos of this nature are not allowed... Will a contaminated 'cake' still produce shrooms that look okay but are actually toxic? Is this the risk? Edited November 3, 2014 by powerinformation 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zen Peddler Posted November 4, 2014 Some say it is a risk but its hard to believe that mushrooms grown off a substrate also being colonised by competitor molds would bioaccummulate toxins from that competitor 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Distracted Posted November 8, 2014 Identify the contam and assess the risk yourself. It's not ethical for anyone to tell you eating contaminated food is ok. You should post this up on the Shroomery with pictures, it'll be answered within 10 minutes if your pictures are good. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Massner Posted November 10, 2014 A bit of advice for you - stick to one strain / print and get that right then move forward from there. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
powerinformation Posted November 10, 2014 I've being doing some reading since and read that a little air flow will help I had the innoculation holes covered still, have removed the foil and letting them breathe which seems to have encouraged the mycelium to grow a bit more. I don't think they are contam - but they are still going a bit slow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Massner Posted November 13, 2014 If you have a hole exposed and no filter on it you are in trouble - contam City...... Put a bit of micro pore tape over the hole ASAP Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Distracted Posted November 14, 2014 Even though he hasn't specified, i'm pretty sure he's doing BRF cakes, the dry verm layer on the top is the filter. Providing you don't move the cake around too much thus allowing any spores that have potentially landed on the dry top layer from getting down to the moist cakey goodness underneath. Having said that I always have micropore tape on my jars anyway... although actually last time i did it i used 'injection ports' with a 0.2mm filter for gas exchange btw contams spread like wildfire, if the whole jar doesn't suddenly colonize within a few days as opposed to a month (using spores, not culture) you should be fine. maybe? massner raises a valid point though. Five strains? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LokStok Posted November 14, 2014 I innoculated my first batch of jars. Six jars - 5 different strains. theres a clusterfuck recipe if ever i saw one 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
migraineur Posted November 15, 2014 theres a clusterfuck recipe if ever i saw one One guy six jars ;) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites