Jump to content
The Corroboree

migraineur

Members2
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    705

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    6

Posts posted by migraineur

  1. Posted

    The silicone injection port is handy to minimise contamination when inoculating the jar and it works fine. I've also done it without making any injection ports by scraping spores into the jar. Never had any contamination issues.

    Be careful if you stick a syringe into the silicone injection port after sterilising because the pressure difference can automatically suck up your whole spore syringe as it attempts to equalise. If this is going to be a problem then use a spore syringe that's almost empty. You can get around this by lifting to lid to let some air into the jar so it equalises but if you're going to do this then you can just stick a syringe under the lid and squirt your spores in without making a silicone injection port.

    I've also made another LC from an existing LC. When I ordered a blue oyster mushroom syringe online it came as a liquid culture. When the syringe was almost empty I made more LC by using a jar with the aforementioned silicone injection port.

    Don't forget to leave a decent pocket of air in the jar for the mycelium otherwise you risk losing your culture as it runs out of oxygen. Having too much liquid and too few spores also means that your culture will take forever to colonise too. Keep in the fridge to preserve it. I've noticed LCs are fine in the fridge for about a year but if you keep trying to use them after this you'll notice that you get poorer yields and eventually you'll get nothing.

    • Like 1

  2. Posted

    I too love watching scientific glass blowing. I think some cool art installations could be made from this stuff.

    I remember watching some friends do glass blowing. It was during an Australia Summer and they worked in a tin shed which contained multiple furnaces. It wasn't the most comfortable working environment when it was hot but I'm sure it's nice during the colder months.

  4. Posted

    http://www.redbacktrading.com.au

    I saw some Ball mason jars on the Big W website a while ago and there's an Aussie Ebay seller too.

    I've also seen mason jars sold in Coles and Woolies. I got a bunch of cheap ones from Coles ages ago but I prefer the Ball mason jars I got from Redback Trading. The Coles jars do the job but the Ball bands and lids I have don't always fit so snugly on the jars I bought from Coles many moons ago.

    Mason jars are great for storing things in the kitchen because you can see what's inside and they help keep things fresh.

    • Like 1

  5. Posted

    To quote RR

    "Gypsum is pH neutral while supplying calcium and sulfur, both of which are essential minerals the mycelium uses. It's not just about clumping grains either. You'll grow bigger and nicer mushrooms with gypsum added to bulk substrates than without."

    • Like 1

  6. Posted

    Also Liquid Culture cops some flack for some reason but it is great stuff to make and use especially if you plan on doing a lot.

    Yeah, this is another one I can't get my head around. I understand that it's easy to make a dirty liquid culture but it's also easy to make a dirty spore syringe. Making a liquid culture a good way to stretch your supplies a lot further. One small scrape from a print or a small drop from a spore syringe can give you more liquid culture than you know what to do with. If you're worried about having a dirty culture then inoculate one jar of grain with it and see if it's successful.

    Another handy thing about liquid cultures is that jars of grain spawn colonise faster.

  7. Posted

    I don't know why wheat is copping so much flak. If you overcook it when you do your soak and simmer (before pressure cooking) then you can end up with burst grains which end up gluggy. Buying poor quality grain that's already cracked would give you poor results. Not letting your grain dry properly before pressure cooking will also give you problems but you can experience the same problems when using other grains.

    I've never had overly dirty wheat but not all wheat (and other grain) is equal. It's graded for a reason and sold for different uses and at different prices as a result. The wheat that you buy from the trendy organic shop is obviously going to be cleaner and of a higher grade than the stuff used as chicken feed or wild bird seed. You get what you pay for.

    Furthermore, as previously mentioned you can add gypsum to your grain to stop it from sticking together. It's also good to add to your bulk substrate to increase your yield.

    • Like 2

  8. Posted

    I've read numerous posts from professionals which criticise the use of popcorn because of higher rates of contamination. There are numerous grains available to use though. In Australia wheat seems easy and cheap to get. You can also use barley, millet, oats, rye and milo. Supermarkets always stock bags of wild bird seed too which will contain some kind of combination of the aforementioned grains.

    • Like 1

  15. Posted

    I see!

    If they are tyvek filter discs you are speaking of.. I have used them many times and i would say i get 60% success 40% contam

    I was considering polyfil but not sure how it would go with using rye for colonizing as it would just mix in... thought maybe polyfill jammed tightly on the inside of the jar up between the lid and the rye and then to hold it in place- fix a tyvek filter disc up into the lid somehow, holding in the polyfill... hmmmmm

    40% contamination rate is insanely high. I've never really had any major contamination problems but I am very meticulous and clean when doing mycology. Could you provide us with some details on your mycology room, equipment etc?

    Have you watched the Let's Grow Mushrooms videos? They might help you improve your sterile technique. The filter discs should be fine unless you bought some dodgy substandard ones. I'm not sure what material they're made out of.

    Could you please rephrase the following? I didn't quite understand it or the part after it

    "I was considering polyfil but not sure how it would go with using rye for colonizing as it would just mix in"

    Also, you don't have to use rye. It can be hard to get in Australia and it's on the expensive side. Wheat is cheap and easy to find and it works well.

    • Like 2

  16. Posted

    Synthetic filter discs which you can get from Myco Supply, Fungi Perfecti and probably numerous other places. I vaguely remember RR saying he has some that he's used for a decade. They fit ball mason jars perfectly. They'll stop contaminates and they'll give you lots of gas exchange. 10/10 would recommend!

    • Like 4

  18. Posted

    DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!! Your kids will learn and if you are really worried then you can always clip the spines off and leave them in the back yard. I've come across multiple people who have had the displeasure of East Africans jumping their fences to get to their khat trees. My brother's mate chopped his down and even had some fucker knock on his door and abuse him for chopping down his own tree!

    I also learnt to never have a curry tree in the front yard if you live in an area with lots of Indians. It was like having a khat tree in the front yard. NEVER AGAIN!

  21. Posted

    I love insanely hot chillies but you don't always want to over power the other flavours you're using in a dish. Thai/birds eye chillies are quite spicy and they have a nice flavour. I'm using them all of the time at the moment when making tom yum. You already have habanero which has a nice smokey flavour. If you have an abundance of jalapeños then you could try making chipotles. The flavour is very nice. Cayenne are nice too.

    By the way, it's not exactly chillie growing season at the moment unless you're growing them indoors, in a greenhouse or near the equator.

  25. Posted

    Get your pressure cooker from Amazon. Even after paying for international shipping you still save a lot of money. They're way too expensive here. Presto pressure cookers are cheaper but All American are the best and they'll outlive you. The All American 921 is great. If you get a Presto then the 23 quart model is what you'd want. If you have the money then you can think about buying the bigger models but it's not necessary, especially if you're just doing it as a hobby.

    If you want to play around with tissue culture using edible mushrooms then checking your local Bunnings for mushroom grow kits can be worthwhile. I've seen them sell various edible mushrooms kits in the past for a decent price and with one of the kits you can grow a ton of edible mushrooms and take a multitude of tissue samples to put on agar.

×