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KlUe

'Edible' Fungi Grow Log :)

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Hi all,

I am preparing for another "EDIBLE" fungi grow - my first grow log on this forum :)

Now, for all the ppl who have never grown before and have been thinking about it, I hope to show you how easy it is to get some nice lookin (edible) shrooms!

Ok, everything I'm going to use is listed:

- Syringe with some spores (hopefully sterilized ok!).

- Bag of brown rice flour from supermarket.

- Bag of Brunnings Vermiculite from local nursery.

- 4 x Standard whiskey glasses from a homeware shop. I chose this type of glass due to: A) Couldn't find any wide mouthed jars, & B) They have a thick base to withstand high temperatures while sterilizing

- Roll of aluminium foil.

- Kitchen saucepan with a lid. Just a saucepan large enough to fit in approx. 4 glasses. I don't have a pressure cooker - you can use this if you have one.

- Humidity dome from local hydroponics store (2 trays, base for water, other on top with holes, and the plastic lid)

- Small jar of isopropyl alcohol I picked up from work. You can buy this online (Google it) or at some hardware stores.

- Water mister/sprayer from nursery.

- Bedside lamp with a 15w fluoro bulb.

- Large cardboard box with white plastic on sides (previously used for clones) that everything will fit into during growing stage. I guess this isn't really necessary but can help keep out contamination and maintains a more stable temperature.

- Surgeons mask (Not really necessary, but helps with overall sterilized environment)

- You may also want to use a humidity/temperature gauge, mine broke so i'll have to do without.

Well, I think thats about it for the things i'm going to be using.

I've taken a couple of photos to help explain the dome and whiskey glasses better.

Will post progress tonight after kitchen is free :)

KlUe

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Edited by KlUe

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Next steps...

- Cleaned kitchen, sprayed all surfaces with a cleaning spray.

- Used mister with isopropyl inside which was sprayed over the working area after cleaned..

These steps aren't AS necessary because the glasses and medium are going to be sterilized, but it always helps to be extra careful.

- Cut 8 pieces of double folded foil up - enough to fit over the top of each cup and down the sides.

- In CLEAN mixing bowl, mix 1/4 cup of brown rice powder, 1/2 cup of vermiculite, and roughly over 1/4 cup boiled -> cooled water PER glass. So times those figures by 4.

- It will vary as to how much water is required, due to the sizes of the vermiculite chunks. Mine is a medium size which I have found works well.

- When the rice flour has stuck to the vermiculite evenly, and the mixture is slightly moist, you should be ready to fill the glasses.

- Fill them around 3/4 up to the top with the mixture. I top them up a few times each, to evenly size the amount in each glass.

- Rub tissue wet with isopropyl around the tops of the glasses to make sure there is nothing going to contaminate them during incubation stage. Allow alcohol to evaporate.

- Fill the glasses up almost the rest of the way with dry vermiculite to avoid any contam getting in from the tops. Make sure there is at least 2-3cm of vermiculite on top.

Now it is ready to put foil (lids) over the tops.

- Take a piece of foil and tightly put it over the top of each glass. Try to make the foil even, you can fold it up if necessary.

- Now put layer two over the top, so you can define which is layer one and which is layer two - this layer should be longer.

This is so you can easily take off layer two when glasses are ready to innoculate!

- Have saucepan ready with a few cm of water in the bottom, put on LOW heat.

- Steam (Not boil.. You can crack the glass) glasses for at least 1.5hrs with the lid on, checking every now and then. On one of mine, I noticed I didn't put enough foil over one of the glasses (not airtight enough), so it sunk in a slight bit - This should be ok to fix afterwards, unless it gets steam/water inside.

- After 1.5+ hrs is up, turn heat off and let the inside cool down overnight.

I've tried to upload pics in order of the steps.

KlUe

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Next steps..

Overnight the glasses have cooled enough to inoculate.

- Take saucepan with lid on into a clean, sterilized area (i'm using bathroom) - Spray isopropyl everywhere around your area.

- Have spore syringe ready and a jet lighter with some isopropyl spray also.

- Heat the needle with the lighter to sterilize.

- Take the second layer of foil off the top of each jar, carefully making sure layer one is still intact and seemingly airtight.

- Innoculate each glass with 4 shots of spores - around the glass evenly. Do this BELOW the fresh vermiculite on top.

- Quickly as you finish each one, put the foil back on so no contam can get in the new holes. Do it tightly as you can without the foil breaking.

- Put them in a safe place for incubation - room temp is fine. Less humidity the better for this stage.

KlUe

Edit: In the last pic you will notice the glasses are in the humidity dome. There is no water in here and the vents are open - As i said humidity is detrimental to the cakes at this stage - can cause contam!!

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Edited by KlUe

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Great work KlUe - I wish you the best of luck! Very well written too :)

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Great work KlUe - I wish you the best of luck! Very well written too :)

Thanks mate, fingers crossed :)

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Very nice KlUe, very organised and tidy; will be interesting to see how it all turns out, wish you the best of luck!

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kluey

thanks for taking the time to explain your process, and in great detail, much appreciated. looks like a dandy set up.

one question if i may be a pain in the upper thigh area, you mention that the foil on one glass was not air tight, is this an aim? does getting steam into the substrate effect the moisture content in a negative manner?

thanks mate, may your attention to detail bring the rewards it deserves.

go edibles!

Edited by endogenous

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kluey

thanks for taking the time to explain your process, and in great detail, much appreciated. looks like a dandy set up.

one question if i may be a pain in the upper thigh area, you mention that the foil on one glass was not air tight, is this an aim? does getting steam into the substrate effect the moisture content in a negative manner?

thanks mate, may your attention to detail bring the rewards it deserves.

go edibles!

Thanks endo :)

Good question, I probably should've explained better.

The aim is to get the foil on (most importantly the first layer to start with) as airtight as possible. Sometimes if the heat is too high during sterilization, the bubbles and steam (try to get as little bubbles as possible, the steam is hot enough!) can make the foil looser and a small amount moisture can slowly seep inside. This shouldn't be too much of a problem if only a tiny bit gets in - but make sure you try and stop it from continuing. Heat makes the foil more brittle (sounds weird, but it does), so it can actually be moulded better around the tops of the glass during the sterilization, but just try to spend as little time looking in there though and let the steam do its job :)

The reason moisture has negative effect for the cake is A) You want the dry layer of vermiculite as free from moisture as possible and B) Excess moisture in any part of the cake can cause contam and too much water is not good for growing conditions.

Hope this helps a little :)

KlUe

edit: spelling... i'm still asleep :P

Edited by KlUe

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Good work mate. Excellent contribution here and I'm sure I'm not the only one who is looking forward to seeing the results :)

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ahh haa! of course that makes complete sense. (not often i get clarity without it being beaten into me)

thanks klue, would love to hear how it go's and what you learn along the way.

will be sending out all the plant love to get those babies Con the fruitering!

thanks again, all the best.

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I tried the PF Brown Rice Flour and Vermiculite technique last night and must say the preparation of the substrate was actually very problematic in terms of volumes.

I used 500 mL containers. Measures out 3/4 full container three times for each of the 3 - ie. 375 mL x 3 = 1125 mL of Brunnings vermiculite.

Then I soaked this with about 400 mL of water and strained off.

Then I added the brown rice flour in bits just coating the surface of the top of the vermiculite and folding it in and repeating. After several spoon fulls the mixture was taking the consistency of dough! Some areas were beginning to get together like a bread almost. So i just kept mixing till it was sticky but still coming apart fairly easily.

I think I must have added about 250-300 mL of BRF and any more would have turned it into a bread :)

Spooning this stuff out had a bit of a sticky feel to it. I fear that I might have used too much water or too much BRF but it all spooned out nicely into the containers and there's plenty of air space. After sterilising in the microwave there was quite a bit of moisture on walls of the containers but I didn't worry so much about this.

The leftover material was put into a shouldered jar with tyvek filter and drilled lid ala proper PF style (except no tapered jar). I am planning to case that particular jar by breaking up the contents in the jar and pouring out.

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I tried the PF Brown Rice Flour and Vermiculite technique last night and must say the preparation of the substrate was actually very problematic in terms of volumes.

Spooning this stuff out had a bit of a sticky feel to it. I fear that I might have used too much water or too much BRF but it all spooned out nicely into the containers and there's plenty of air space. After sterilising in the microwave there was quite a bit of moisture on walls of the containers but I didn't worry so much about this.

Sounds like way too much water! The method my foaf used was to measure out the verm and only add enough water till once it was thoroughly mixed, that when the bowl was tipped to one side only the tiniest bit of water seperated from the verm. This excess was absorbed with paper towel and the BRF was then added to the moist verm. I cant remember what measurements he used, but the consisteny was somewhat dry-ish but enough for each and every verm particle to be covered in BRF. This was then used to fill the jars.

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Sounds like way too much water! The method my foaf used was to measure out the verm and only add enough water till once it was thoroughly mixed, that when the bowl was tipped to one side only the tiniest bit of water seperated from the verm. This excess was absorbed with paper towel and the BRF was then added to the moist verm. I cant remember what measurements he used, but the consisteny was somewhat dry-ish but enough for each and every verm particle to be covered in BRF. This was then used to fill the jars.

Thats what I'd recommend too, Ace.

Usually its just a bit less than the amount of vermiculite you use, but again it depends on the type as to how much water is required.

It shouldn't have a soggy or sticky feel to it, just wet enough to attach the BRP to the verm. The verm can also absorb the remainder of water if you have a little extra.. But yeah, it should have a more 'dry' consistency rather than wet.

Once the substrate is in the cups/jars, you shouldn't be able to see any wetness pretty much at all.

Trial and error my friend, but let me know how it goes!

KlUe

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Nice answers Klue / Ace.

I'm just glad I have a nice isolate now on agar waiting for future attempts. I'm going to try with Finch seed again this weekend in proper Mason tapered jars I got. I'm doing everything backwards :) Going from full improvisation to the tried and true ones :)

Anyhow after 48 hours there's still no signs of colonisation at all. That's with mycelium syringe injection so it should theoretically happen quicker than the 5-10 days it would take spores to germinate. Will have to wait and see now whether the substrate works at all, or whether the syringe with mycelium even worked - its all too much of a mystery.

I've decided to just let the agar plate fully colonise and cut it up and chuck it into PC cooked Finch seed in proper jars. I'll let you know if anything changes, but I'm really looking forward to continuing to see your excellent planned grow :)

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Nice answers Klue / Ace.

I'm just glad I have a nice isolate now on agar waiting for future attempts. I'm going to try with Finch seed again this weekend in proper Mason tapered jars I got. I'm doing everything backwards :) Going from full improvisation to the tried and true ones :)

Anyhow after 48 hours there's still no signs of colonisation at all. That's with mycelium syringe injection so it should theoretically happen quicker than the 5-10 days it would take spores to germinate. Will have to wait and see now whether the substrate works at all, or whether the syringe with mycelium even worked - its all too much of a mystery.

I've decided to just let the agar plate fully colonise and cut it up and chuck it into PC cooked Finch seed in proper jars. I'll let you know if anything changes, but I'm really looking forward to continuing to see your excellent planned grow :)

Hey sobriquet,

Where did you find those mason jars man?? I remember trying to find them for hours on end with no success online when I first grew.... which is why I just use glasses now..! I found a few homeware shops from America who wanted to charge like $100 for freight... FK that!

Let me know how it all goes though mate, keep us posted :D

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Anyhow after 48 hours there's still no signs of colonisation at all. That's with mycelium syringe injection so it should theoretically happen quicker than the 5-10 days it would take spores to germinate. Will have to wait and see now whether the substrate works at all, or whether the syringe with mycelium even worked - its all too much of a mystery.

Hey Sob,

I have tried a couple jars using a Liquid Culture (i.e. mycelium) syringe - people say its much faster, but in my experience, its not all its cracked up to be... Expect a bit of action in the next day or two, but its really not that different to spores unless you use a LOT of germinated mycelium in the syringe. My first attempt at making a syringe ended up about 90% water, 10% mycelium, then I tried making another, and thought stuff it - lets do this all out or not bother, and ended up sucking about 70+% mycelium - that made a big difference in the colonisation time ;) But even still, it takes a few days before mycelial growth is visible on the jars.

All the best :P

Ace

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Hey sobriquet,

Where did you find those mason jars man?? I remember trying to find them for hours on end with no success online when I first grew.... which is why I just use glasses now..! I found a few homeware shops from America who wanted to charge like $100 for freight... FK that!

Let me know how it all goes though mate, keep us posted :D

Try Kmart KlUe, in the cookware section :wink:

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Try Kmart KlUe, in the cookware section :wink:

I was sure I replied to this but it obviously didn't go through...

Anyway I wanted to ask you dqd, were they wide mouthed ones? If so, Kmart must be the only place that stocks them, I think its the only place I haven't been in to that sells homewares!!

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I was sure I replied to this but it obviously didn't go through...

Anyway I wanted to ask you dqd, were they wide mouthed ones? If so, Kmart must be the only place that stocks them, I think its the only place I haven't been in to that sells homewares!!

They're the canning jars in the jar/container section where the cookware is, they're the 'cucinaware' brand, widemouthed and hold 250ml I remember correctly. Saw some today when I went shopping, ideal for the polyfill technique :wink:

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They're the canning jars in the jar/container section where the cookware is, they're the 'cucinaware' brand, widemouthed and hold 250ml I remember correctly. Saw some today when I went shopping, ideal for the polyfill technique :wink:

Sweet dude, thanks for the tip :D

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Yep "Cucinaware" but it's badge engineering - if you peel the sticker it's actually a "Homediscovery . Made in China.

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Yep "Cucinaware" but it's badge engineering - if you peel the sticker it's actually a "Homediscovery . Made in China.

Hm, well i've had good success with my whiskey glasses, maybe I'll keep using those....

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Hm, well i've had good success with my whiskey glasses, maybe I'll keep using those....

Yeah I can't imagine there'd be any great advantages to these jars over what you've illustrated with whiskey glasses and double wrap of foil. I still have no growth in my containers. I think I probably have too wet a mix. I'm going to give the BRF mix a try again later but I think I'll probably go back to using birdseed which I had some sort of success with :)

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Yeah I can't imagine there'd be any great advantages to these jars over what you've illustrated with whiskey glasses and double wrap of foil. I still have no growth in my containers. I think I probably have too wet a mix. I'm going to give the BRF mix a try again later but I think I'll probably go back to using birdseed which I had some sort of success with :)

True that.. But at least with jars the lids wont come off, foil isn't guaranteed to stay on, especially during sterilization.

Let me know how the birdseed mix goes mate :D

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