Hyphal Posted February 23, 2008 I dont want 'the stage', I am just trying to help out people with what Ive found works best for me, after trying lots of different things - and I don't want people to get put off from trying things out either, which is what I was actually accusing you of. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hillbilly32 Posted February 23, 2008 Its not that I'm incapable of performing the PF-Tek Harry, I have followed this to the 'letter' and have now tried it 3 times without success. I believe it is just something to do with my substrate, ie, as someone said before, the Sun Rice having anti-fungal in it of some sort. There is no other reason I can really come up with that would explain the lack of growth. There are no contaminations, I used up to half a syringe on one jar on my 3rd attempt out of desperation, and have constantly kept it dark and at 28°C. It's not my method thats the problem, it has to be something else. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ENtiTY Posted February 23, 2008 (edited) My appologies HB, I did not mean to imply that you were incapable of growing using the PF tek, rather that you were having trouble with it. If you want to test the spores are viable then try them in a liquid culture. EDIT: Forgot to add that I received an email back from sunrice and they said that no preservatives or anti-fungals are added to their brown rice products. However as far as I know they not organically grown. Edited February 23, 2008 by Harry Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hillbilly32 Posted February 24, 2008 Haha, sorry Harry, I know I came off a little blunt and rude there. I was just implying that it's not through improper technique that this is not working as I have taken extra pre-cautions compared to videos and tutorials, and the only real thing you have to worry about is sterilization and hydration of spores, everything else is pretty simple. I will give this a shot in the next few days again and will keep you posted. Brown Rice Flour appears to not work so I might give wild bird seed a go, or just sheep manure, whichever. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vertmorpheus Posted February 24, 2008 Maybe its not something going on the rice when its packed, maybe its residual preharvest applications still working their evil magic? Australia isn't exactly ideal for growing rice (at least not in the locations it tends to get planted) so I reckon they'd have to spray the crap out of it to stop it getting eaten alive or getting covered in smut...all that moisture around, etc, bit risky... maybe its normally not a problem but you bought the bag that came from the truckload that got a double treatment, or sprayed a week late, or whatever... standardised food isnt quite as standardised as it should be (but probably still more standardisedthan it needs to be haha). Around here, a good indicator of fungi-unfriendly conditions is the presence of little more than birds nest or cannonball fungi, and various leathery incocybes... they seem to not like competition and so aim for soil as dead as they can find...as soil life starts to return its amanitas, conocybes, chlorophyllum, stinkhorns etc. i used to work in a nursery selling very fungi prone tropical plants and they were drenched three times a week with 3 different kinds of fungicide (systemics and more instant things), and all that would pop in the pots, around the paths or near runoff was birdsnest, the odd woodlover hitching on the pinebark, and those yellow tit-headed amanita looking things (I dont know what hteyre called, but you woulda seen them). Bear in mind there was enough fungicide around that it started messing with the natural bacteria in my skin, all kinds of dodgy things. What does that have to do with growing mushrooms in a tub? I'm glad noone asked... If you don't want fungicides I'd avoid that thoroughbred shit, aim for the old nag in a quiet paddock somewhere, that lives off juicy weeds and gets more or less forgotten about... nothing in an overgrazed block as that means you get a nasty dose of salts and cumulative metals in your poo... I get it at around 2 dollar a bag. i buy bags of pasture gathered horse poo and have found all kinds of interesting things popping out of it with me doing nothing more than chucking lumps of shit around the veggies... but the times I copped out and got the cheaper, "cleaner" less weedy stuff from the Ye Olde Uptight Stud and Stable up the road, it not only didn't fruit with anything much other than birdsnest fungus, but a lot of the plants grown with it flowered ridiculously early, prone to deformities, poor seed set and my precious earthworms didn't come back til about the same time the next season... nasty shit. Corn a foot tall trying to form 7 cobs no bigger than an inch long, crystal apple cucumbers coming out with fruits that looked like they were made by a balloon artist with an Escher fetish... freakazoid Maybe cooking hell out of it gets rid of some of that action but the less "hydroponic" horse poo just feels happier and more fertile to me (and half the weeds known to science). I haven't "tried" to grow macrofungi in any of it, but I do rely on it for a fair bit of the life in my soil and the odd bonus find too... and now know theres few "natural" products as unnatural as shite from commercially managed livestock. Thats without getting into heavy metals, vermicides, salts etc. best of luck VM Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
reshroomED Posted February 24, 2008 Maybe its not something going on the rice when its packed, maybe its residual preharvest applications still working their evil magic? Australia isn't exactly ideal for growing rice (at least not in the locations it tends to get planted) so I reckon they'd have to spray the crap out of it to stop it getting eaten alive or getting covered in smut...all that moisture around, etc, bit risky... maybe its normally not a problem but you bought the bag that came from the truckload that got a double treatment, or sprayed a week late, or whatever... standardised food isnt quite as standardised as it should be (but probably still more standardisedthan it needs to be haha). As I stated earlier, I'm pretty sure that the 'Sun' rice is perfectly acceptable. Been a while, and my memory's not the best these days, but I've definitely ground Australian supermarket-bought brown rice and successfully grown mycellium. Never had an issue with it in any respect at all. If you don't want fungicides I'd avoid that thoroughbred shit, aim for the old nag in a quiet paddock somewhere, that lives off juicy weeds and gets more or less forgotten about... nothing in an overgrazed block as that means you get a nasty dose of salts and cumulative metals in your poo... I get it at around 2 dollar a bag. i buy bags of pasture gathered horse poo and have found all kinds of interesting things popping out of it with me doing nothing more than chucking lumps of shit around the veggies... but the times I copped out and got the cheaper, "cleaner" less weedy stuff from the Ye Olde Uptight Stud and Stable up the road, it not only didn't fruit with anything much other than birdsnest fungus, but a lot of the plants grown with it flowered ridiculously early, prone to deformities, poor seed set and my precious earthworms didn't come back til about the same time the next season... nasty shit. Corn a foot tall trying to form 7 cobs no bigger than an inch long, crystal apple cucumbers coming out with fruits that looked like they were made by a balloon artist with an Escher fetish... freakazoid Fresh manure (and by this I mean less than 6months old after it's bagged) has fucked a fair few people's gardens I reckon. For general plant applications, I either leave it sit for 8 months or longer (but under cover so it dries out without being leeched by rain) for mixing with soil, or hung in hessian-bags inside drums of water for about the same time and the tea used as liquid fertiliser. But for casings and outdoor grows my personal experience has been that 'free-range' horse-shit is *far* inferior to horses fed a variety of grain with molasses additives etc. I've bought, carted, and fed horses enough of this stuff myself that I should be able to quote the label, but really can't remember much bar the mollasses ( FWIW chooks love the stuff). There's an enormous difference in fungal growth and yield between the two when used as sustrate in the above applications. Just my observations. Hillbilly, I know it means knocking up more jars, but I'd strongly suggest that you re-try following the PF tek 'to the-letter' (which you really haven't done so far). Seriously, pick one of the common PF-style teks technique and follow the instructions *exactly* and you shouldn't have a problem. As Gerbil pointed out very early on, your substrate seems on the dry side. I worked on the principle of grabbing a handfull and gently squeezing , only enough to make it 'clump'. If more than a dribble of water came out it was too wet, less and it needed more water. A lot of teks use even more. Another (cutching at straws here) possibility is density. How tightly were the jars packed? Are you using a vermiculite barrier, if so is your sharp longer than the depth of the barrier? How and where are you measuring temperature? I'd expect an electric blanket to have a lot of dead-band (ie temp between switch-on and switch-off). Again, general idea as to your location would help in this regard Have you tried Harry's suggestion of starting a small liquid culture? This would verify the integrity of the spores. I'd still be putting my money on firstly "too dry", then "dud spores", though only by a head. Good luck. ed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hillbilly32 Posted February 25, 2008 Another (cutching at straws here) possibility is density. How tightly were the jars packed? I left it as aerated as possible as thats what the PF Tek said to do. I just let all of the mix to fall into the cup, lightly tapped it and then put on the vermiculite layer. Are you using a vermiculite barrier, if so is your sharp longer than the depth of the barrier? Yes, about 1cm deep at the top. And yes, the needle I used to innoculate the jar was pushed in as far as it would go and i was able to see the liquid slide down the jar. How and where are you measuring temperature? I'd expect an electric blanket to have a lot of dead-band (ie temp between switch-on and switch-off). Again, general idea as to your location would help in this regard. I have a thermometer in the 50lt container which stays around 28, and the garage it is in is constantly 24. The electric blanket also never turns off, it is constantly on setting 1. Don't worry about it catching alight, there is nothing around it which is flammable and it is on a concrete floor. Have you tried Harry's suggestion of starting a small liquid culture? This would verify the integrity of the spores. I have no idea how to make a liquid culture Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hyphal Posted February 25, 2008 Another question - has every attempt been from the same print? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hillbilly32 Posted February 26, 2008 No, I have had 3 attempts from 2 different prints. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Teljkon Posted March 5, 2008 (edited) dfg Edited December 19, 2021 by Teljkon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
