Psylo Posted April 29, 2011 hi everybody I want to try growing mushrooms indoors. After one failed attempt a couple of years ago, I think its time to give it another shot. Have a PC, ball jars and a temp controlled fridge. Where do I go from here ? Can anyone tell me what species I might try that's appropriate for the cooler season ? By mid winter I should be able to maintain a steady 15ºc. What I cant do is control or measure humidity levels accurately, apart from using a water sprayer. What do the mycofile members do for humidity ? Also, where can I buy spore prints in Australia ? Not (necessarily) talking about the fun types, just something edible that will get me started as a beginner. I have nothing to offer on the trade thread cheers, Psy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
obtuse Posted April 29, 2011 if your new to growing go with growing oysters, ie pleurotis sp. they are really easy. any number of people here may be able to supply you with a culture. i use bird seed mix for my spawn, pressure cooked innoculated, and then when ready spread onto pasteurised straw. too easy. within a week or two your have some yummy mushroom for your stir fry etc. i grow mine outdoors, as the humidity / free air exchange issues resulting from gowing indoors can be annoying. humidity was not a problem for me, i found free air exchange to the big issue. good luck, and have fun. its so so nice to be able to eat home growns. cheers, Obtuse. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psylo Posted April 29, 2011 Thanks for the reply obtuse. So with oysters you are growing outside in winter? must be cold in Tassie, so I should have no problems in NSW. Can one of the million or so teks for psilo varieties be used for oysters, these teks seem to outweigh legit growing webpages at a rate of 100 to 1 The ball jar innoculation, followed by casing seems pretty straighforward, and I can rustle up good ingredients for the innoculation around my house, with brown rice, barley grains. No idea where to get straw though ! Just saw Watertrade's pinned article on oysetsr too so I should get reading ! Alternatively I could try and tissue culture a store bought one onto agar, but that's probably a bit too advanced for me right now. Dont have a flowhood so contamination is probably a real possibility. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tripsis Posted April 29, 2011 Some oyster species are winter fruiters, others are summer fruiters. There's species for any season. Depending on the oyster species you want to attempt, some of the teks for growing psychoactive species could work. The principles are the same at any rate. Nothing like jumping in the deep end to learn! If you decide to clone a store bought mushroom, keep in mind that peroxide can help with contamination. It's not an answer for improper sterile procedure, but it definitely has its place. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psylo Posted April 29, 2011 Where would a city-slicker get a small amount of straw? I don't have the space for a full bale, and that's all I can find online. Otherwise, is there a good alternative, apart from perlite & vermicultie which is too expensive. Also, just a quick shout out - ca anyone be kind enough to share some prints of winter growers? I'll give the agar plates a go with tissue sample, but don't feel confident it will work! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tripsis Posted April 29, 2011 Straw, perlite and vermiculite all serve different purposes. If you want only small amounts of straw, a pet shop should stock it. Perlite and vermiculite can be bought in larger amoounts from hydro shops and is much more economical than from Bunnings and the like. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
punkin Posted April 29, 2011 Do plenty more research over the next week or two and come up with a reasonable plan. The info is out there. Some grain or other method to expand the culture then a substrate is whats required. A bucket with some holes drilled in or a basket and a plastic bag over the top filled with pastuerised substrate is a great start. Post the plan and gather the materials to expand a dish then PM me with your address. I'll send you a petrie dish of a suitable species for nicks if you figure out how to grow. We don't generally use prints for edibles. Figure it out before you start spending money, reading is free. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psylo Posted April 29, 2011 Cool, thanks punkin. I already have the dishes and the agar, so I might get into it Sunday, see if I can get a few tissue samples off and running. I have a series of videos somewhere also that details the process. I can get 1kg bags of 'straw hay' from a local produce suppler for $2.50. Quite expensive, buy if I need two-three bags for a bucket grow, its still a cheap way to go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
satyr Posted April 29, 2011 hi everybody I want to try growing mushrooms indoors. After one failed attempt a couple of years ago, I think its time to give it another shot. Have a PC, ball jars and a temp controlled fridge. Where do I go from here ? Can anyone tell me what species I might try that's appropriate for the cooler season ? By mid winter I should be able to maintain a steady 15ºc. What I cant do is control or measure humidity levels accurately, apart from using a water sprayer. What do the mycofile members do for humidity ? Also, where can I buy spore prints in Australia ? Not (necessarily) talking about the fun types, just something edible that will get me started as a beginner. I have nothing to offer on the trade thread cheers, Psy Hi psylo, Re humidity....I have got my oysters outside in a mini green house which sits on a baby-pool clamshell type basin filled with water. Inside the greenhouse are some ferns (for evaporation surface ). Misting a couple of times per day seems so keep humidity up around 70% easily...and this in the dry south.... Hope that helps Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NSF Posted April 30, 2011 Cool, thanks punkin. I already have the dishes and the agar, so I might get into it Sunday, see if I can get a few tissue samples off and running. I have a series of videos somewhere also that details the process. I can get 1kg bags of 'straw hay' from a local produce suppler for $2.50. Quite expensive, buy if I need two-three bags for a bucket grow, its still a cheap way to go. You don't HAVE to grow on straw, lots of other things work well, head by your nearest Shell serivce station and out the front of the shop where the cages of gas bottles are, near the firewood there's generally bags of sugar can baggasse. Oysters enjoy growing on this pretty much as much as they like straw. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
punkin Posted April 30, 2011 You don't HAVE to grow on straw, lots of other things work well, head by your nearest Shell serivce station and out the front of the shop where the cages of gas bottles are, near the firewood there's generally bags of sugar can baggasse. Oysters enjoy growing on this pretty much as much as they like straw. You can get it at Bunnings as well in small compressed bales for $10 or $12. I've got some large bales from over the coast and that's what my shrooms are growing on atm. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psylo Posted May 6, 2011 Do plenty more research over the next week or two and come up with a reasonable plan. Post the plan and gather the materials to expand a dish Allrighty, I am going to try my hand at making some agar media in petri dishes today or tomorrow. How do others rate the MEA media of 10g dry malt, 10g agar and 500ml water for oyster tissue culture ? I'll just run through the process and hope to be corrected if there's anything Im missing. PC dishes for 15 minutes, and set aside in a seal, sanitised container. prepare MEA as above, and pressure cook for 30 minutes in a water bath. Will use a borosilicate lab jar, should I leave the lid tightly on, or slightly loose ? pour MEA into dishes, cover with lids and wait until set - also in a santitised container When media is set - a couple of hours? , tear open oyster fruits and cut a section out with a flame sterilised blade. Repeat for remaining plates. Sound good ? I'll be working in a draft free environment and pre-sanitise the workspace and myself, maybe even use a paper mouth mask. If all goes well, I'll plan to transfer my mycelium in seven days. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
punkin Posted May 6, 2011 Allrighty, I am going to try my hand at making some agar media in petri dishes today or tomorrow. How do others rate the MEA media of 10g dry malt, 10g agar and 500ml water for oyster tissue culture ? I'll just run through the process and hope to be corrected if there's anything Im missing. PC dishes for 15 minutes, and set aside in a seal, sanitised container. prepare MEA as above, and pressure cook for 30 minutes in a water bath. Will use a borosilicate lab jar, should I leave the lid tightly on, or slightly loose ? pour MEA into dishes, cover with lids and wait until set - also in a santitised container When media is set - a couple of hours? , tear open oyster fruits and cut a section out with a flame sterilised blade. Repeat for remaining plates. Sound good ? I'll be working in a draft free environment and pre-sanitise the workspace and myself, maybe even use a paper mouth mask. If all goes well, I'll plan to transfer my mycelium in seven days. You can just throw the dishes in with the agar in the pc to save running it twice. I would definately try to setup some sort of still air box and use alchohol as a steriliser in there, or your setting yourself up for dissapointment. I found liquid culture useful when i was starting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
themushroombloke Posted May 7, 2011 You can just throw the dishes in with the agar in the pc to save running it twice. I would definately try to setup some sort of still air box and use alchohol as a steriliser in there, or your setting yourself up for dissapointment. I found liquid culture useful when i was starting. here's a crude still air box link: except I'd turn it upside down so you can see through the bottom Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
punkin Posted May 7, 2011 You can get a little fancier if you cut out a square in the lid for a piece of perspex siliconed in. Some pipe or fittings for arm holes stop the scratching too. Basic will work fine though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Magicdirt Posted May 7, 2011 Definitely make a still air box, it could be the difference between failure and success. I always used to cover mine with glad wrap, you can see through it, but it does tend to fog up if there are hot things inside the box. Just thinking about that fucking box still gets my blood pressure up, you'll see why. If you are sterilising the box with alcohol, be sure to keep flames away from the box. You'd be surprised but some people actually have put a sterilising lamp inside the box after it has been sterilised and it is full of explosive fumes. You can make a sterilising lamp out of a baby food jar with a ball of cotton wool for a wick poked through a small hole in the lid. I never used to flame sterilise my tools though, I preferred to wrap them in foil and put them in the PC. I always used dilute tea tree oil to sterilise the box and wipe anything down before it went into the box and it worked well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psylo Posted May 7, 2011 You can get a little fancier if you cut out a square in the lid for a piece of perspex siliconed in. Some pipe or fittings for arm holes stop the scratching too. You can make a sterilising lamp out of a baby food jar with a ball of cotton wool for a wick poked through a small hole in the lid. Some great ingenuity there. Will heed the advice from those who know better, and hold off on the project until I make a glove box. Got the box, but the perspex inlay and the conduit sleeves is a top idea. I might as well do this properly Magicdirt, I already have a spirit lamp. But when you guys mention alcohol, would methylated spirits suffice for surface cleaning ? I have access to a food industry grade iodine sanitiser, so it wouldnt hurt to splash that around liberally as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Magicdirt Posted May 7, 2011 (edited) * Edited May 8, 2011 by Magicdirt Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
punkin Posted May 7, 2011 Metho works fine . The idea of the box is really to create a still air environment to stop contaminants circulating & landing on your cultures, so you don't have to go overboard with sterilisation at that stage. Still give the inside a good wipe with whatever suits you best, but it's the still air that's most important. I found a $1 spary bottle works well for the alcohol (or indeed metho if you don't have a lot of high proof laying round). Disposable gloves are a must and spray often. As said, a spirit lamp needs to be kept outside the box if that's what you want to use. Sterile instruments and alcohol suffice unless you are doing multiple strains. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites