Fezza

Thanks for the reponses guys, I just hope they grow in grain. I'll put more pictures up as they progress.. I was very gentle when handling them and did not touch the mushrooms, but do actives bruise naturally, even without contact? Peace

Sorry I don't have any pics to give a better view on the situation. By the way, this is only button mushrooms(thank god). But still I find this could be a good learning experience to learn from, for more "exotic" shrooms. Here is the situation and how it occurred: Under my bed (humidity: 60-70%, temp: 18-24 deg C) --------------------- Substrate fully colonised, added casing, started fruiting used hand spray every day to freshen things up I then moved it to a plastic box(quite big), while still fruiting In the plastic box, I thought i might try and increase the humidity. (humidity: 90%, temp: 23-25 deg C) -------------------------------------------- I thought this was the perfect conditions????? The mushrooms started going soft, and white/bluish fluff started growing from mushrooms and base of mushrooms. I only sprayed it every other day since there was very minimal evaporation. I really don't know what i have done that is wrong.. The only thing i can think of is CO2/O2 ratio.. but i make it a habit to open the box once a day for inspection and to let out some CO2 and let in some O2. I removed all the mushrooms and am hoping for a second flush of fruit. I have another question though, how long do mushrooms last if you leave them? I though button mushrooms could grow to enormous sizes

Yes, I figure i had better get my skill up to sratch before using the "real" thing. Well, i certainly learnt something from the exercise. Air exchange is vital. And i now know what fruit going bad looks like, so i can do something about before it gets passed the point of no return. (which it did, in my case) Peace

Thanks for the reply. I was just looking up the respiration rate of white button mushrooms and they are: 600mg CO2/kg/hour which is higher then any vegetable. I have another question then: Why is it that mushrooms need good air exchange, but the mycelium does not(it can grow in a sealed jar)?

Just something to add to that report: I have also read some research about Psilocybin used on patients with a severe obsessive compulsive disorder. With one patient who had a severe case, he/she didn't have a relapse for 2 years since the first and only dose. Pretty amazing.. Peace

Hi, For someone who doesn't want to buy a pressure cooker to sterilize grain bags and jars could I just put them in the oven at 115 deg C for a few hours instead of the pressure cooker?

So don't use your used KFC or red rooster buckets. I wonder if it works on salmonella ?

Hi, As you may have guessed I am only new to the mycology scene from my previous posts. I have been trying to source my own shroom from walks and a trip down to Nimbin. But to no avail, I still haven't got anything to start up. So what I am asking is if anyone who may have a spare print laying around, if they could donate it to me and I will in return make more prints available to the forum when I get some fruit happening. Please just PM me or email me if your interested in spreading some love . I'm not sure if this is the right way to go about it, but from reading previous posts I think I not breaking any laws. Also any advise on the most suitable and "almost"--fool proof way of starting from a spore print. -I have had good growth from my mash potato PDA with button mushrooms mycelium - But I am also keen to try starting from a sawdust substrate. Any advice would be much appreciated.. I have read quite a few books on cultivation, but I know that specific types need different types of substarte of optimum growth. Peace.

I just want to do a final reach out for anyone who may have a spare print they'd like to donate to a very enthusiastic enthusiast of mushroom cultivation, I will even donate some cash in return for the trouble of posting and time. Otherwise does anyone recommend an online store that is quite discrete when sending spores to Australia? And how much trouble will I be in if they are found? Peace

Hi Trich-Aura, This is the best I could do.. Not sure if you noticed, but my uni only has Part II of the book. so what I've done is got it out anyway. And copied the index for your veiwing pleasure. So you can tell me what you need from Part II, Please bear in mind that Part II starts at page 180, so any pre-180 pages would belong to part I of the books. http://etrio.net/Binder1.pdf Sorry this is all I can do... There is this one at the library: Author Grgurinovic, C. A. (Cheryl A.), 1958- Title Larger fungi of South Australia / by C.A. Grgurinovic Publisher Adelaide : Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and State Herbarium and Flora and Fauna of South Australia Handbooks Committee, 1997. Peace, and happy hunting

Was walking and found this on the side of the foot path: Please note: they are very gold on the tops... like gold leaf and here they are again at a different angle: here are the stems in agar, still had some mycillium on bottom (so trying to grow more., got a little plant growing though , will wait a few more days to see what happens to rest of shroom): When I found these, there were totally dried out, so god knows how long it was there for. Any chance anyone can tell what type of shroom it is from photos? I want to

I haven't read the Tek on shroomery.org yet, but am going to check it out. But I have read: -Mushroom cultivation by Peter Oei ( I highly recommend this book to anyone) -Growing wild mushrooms by Bob Harris -Psilocybin mushrooms of the world by Paul Stamets (still reading) So lots of theory, but no practice. I heard Psilocybe cubensis was probably one of the easier ones to grow, so that would be best suited. But I really don't mind. Thanks..

Dude, I have some good news for you.. This may not be SA, but its at my uni library, so i'll get it out tomorrow. Just tell me what pages you need scanned.

Thanks for all the replies. Found these today whilst taking a walk in the mini-rainforest at uni. After the rains. Any idea what it is? (they didn't bruise blue) Peace.

Thanks Devance for sharing the resource. Really appreciate it... Peace

The Link seems to be broken.

Thanks for all the useful info. I forgot to mention that I also added hyrdogen peroxide with the water, From text that i've been reading, adding 20% h2o2 with 80% h2o in substrate eliminates the need to sterilise and also provides your mycillium oxygen especially if you have sealed it from atmosphere. Unfortunately on examining the "set" agar dishes I noticed that i had not added enough water to compensate for the loss of water though evaparation, And the product was a little too hard. So I will make up another batch. But I am also very interested in trying the milo/agar combo. I'll let you all know how well they all work in comparison. agar-mash vs agar-milo. Also wouldn't mind trying gelatine in stead of agar as i heard it is also a suitable substitute. so I also add the gelatine-mash vs gelatine-milo to the comparison. FEz

Hi all, Been reading this forum for some info and decided to join and participate in all the fun. I live in SE QLD and the weather has been perfect for mushrooms, ie lots of rain and temp has been within the perfect range. Since i am only new to mushroom cultivation i will start with my very first dilema. (question 1) Can I use instant mash potato powder instead of, lets say 200g( most texts suggest this amount) of sliced potato(boiled, then strained) with 20g of dextrose and 20g of agar per litre of water? If anyone has had any experience with using mash potato powder please let me know. I think its would save a bit of time rather then sliced potato. I used 4g of powdered mash to the above recipe. I'm going to try it with button mushroom mycelium once the dishes cool down. At least if it doesn't work, I haven't lost anything important to me. (Question 2) I am currently only experimenting with Agaricus bisporus since i have nothing else to play with. So I'd just like to be pointed in the right direction for some spores that are good for research. just finished PDA (powdered mash): (note, the little jars on the bottom for another project.. Khat) my Agaricus mycelium is loving this weather and humidity: Spread the love.. FezZa