new paper tek?

[smogs]

i just thought of an idea and thought i would let some people know for input ideas etc etc

what ive done is gotten a whole bunch of junk mail... put it in the blender to pulp it and pressure cooked it for about 15mins to soften fibers and hydrate it

i think grained and squeeze out as much water as humanly possible and it ended up resembling the stuff they use as insulation

anyways then i used this and packed it into empty toilet rolls (like just the cardboard inner bit) but putting some in... packing it down then a layer of spawn then anotehr layer of paper etc etc.

forms a mini log which i guess a whole bunch could be burried to fruit or woteva

Tryed it with king stroph and luminescent panellus.

ill let you know how it goes

[Rev]

You using grain spawn?

A tek siimlar to this has been done at the shroomery - at least similar n materials - the log thing is new

I think youll find pressure cooking and blending wont be required and thatll save time and yuour poor blender

I think tearing paper to strips or running through a shredder will do just as good a trick

What I do is soak whole newspapers or phonebooks in boiling water then when cool spawn between the pages and roll into logs which are colonised indoors then planted outdoors to fruit

works well

heres a washing machine tek im keen to try in Autumn for Pleurotus eryngii

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.p...cffabc7620a53ba

[smogs]

yeah well i pressure cooked 1 batch and blended 1 batch to compare i think from memory

PC much easier and dont have to cut into chunks

i presumed something simular was already done.

and yes using grain spawn

ill have a read up of that later

cheers

[Vanda]

I strongly agree with Rev. pressure cooking is a waste of time in my opinion. never had any contam problems with paper. If you're a bit paranoid increase spawning rate.

[Ed Dunkel]

What I do is soak whole newspapers or phonebooks in boiling water then when cool spawn between the pages and roll into logs which are colonised indoors then planted outdoors to fruit

The cultivation bit, just stick them in ziplocks to keep humid or is there some other method? Any contamination problems?

Do you seal the roll ends?

I like the toilet/poster roll idea, handy to carry, cut to size (poster roll) and dig under.

Lends itself very well to "commando style" plantings.

E D

[ 21. October 2004, 17:52: Message edited by: Ed Dunkel ]

[Rev]

No i dont seal the ends - smogs do you?

the whole thing is very unsterile after the production of spawn

i treat the newspapers then i lay out on a plastic bag on the kitchen bench (newsprint stains benches!)

and start sprinkling handfuls of sorghum spawn on the paper

Im using oyster mushroom spawn which is very vigorous. Some mulch munchers might prefer cardboard

When im done i roll them up tight and i lighly squeeze the ends so the indent, i may or may not tie them up with cord/or whatever, as soon as the myc cuts it it binds pretty well anyway, and then i slip them into a plastic shopping bag that is loosely tied at the top- not sealed just closed over to slow loss of moisture

I want air exchange to be easy

I put several rolls per bag and just put somewhere that doesnt get exremes of temp to colonise. In the dark is better

In a few weeks take a look

should be colonised. evidenced by discolouration of the paper and mycelium doing its thing

it may be pinning too. dont worry about these , more will form when its ready and in place to fruit

Fruiting these indoors can be done but i dont bother. Better i think to plant them outddors and get on with some more. Good spots are in the veggie garden or along pathways where yull likely see them after rain and before they overmature or get eaten by bugs

when it rains and the temps are right the shrooms will just push their way up through the mulch anyway in nice clusters

cut the bouqet, eat the good bits and bur the stubs near tree stumps, at the cut face of bured short logs or wherever else they might re-activate and infect

So far all Oyster mushrooms worked this way

as does the elm oyster ('shimeji')

I have my doubts for shiitake but there may be other easy ways.

I love buried teks because they over-summer so well and spring back to life when it rains. If i could get it to work in Perth, and here in drought years itll work anywhere.

[ 21. October 2004, 22:57: Message edited by: reville ]

[smogs]

no didnt seal ends... when i pushed paper into 1 end it forms a sort of solid wall

then simular thing i put them in sandwhich bags and just fold them up in that (not ziplock)

i havnt looked at them yet

i try not to or else i check them twice a day and it seems to take forever!

like ym oyster mushrooms that are fruiting at the moment

except there are big differences... even when u check twice a day!

they are a nice sickly pink looking colour too

(grew them off a straw log)

[Vanda]

I even managed to 'resurect' dry, old and partly contaminated wheat straw cakes using newspapers. I pull colonised/seemingly spent straw apart and then wrap it up in wet newspaper. put in shopping bags and tie a loose knot(like Rev). I wait till newspaper discolours(orangy irregular stains) and then bury papery 'logs'. Not very productive but I can squeeze a few extra shrooms out of something which would otherwise end up in a bin.

By the way ED, your plants are almost ready...

Cheers,

Vanda

[Ed Dunkel]

I pressume one boils the cardboard toilet roll as well?

Or is this kept dry and stuffed with wet boiled-drained paper?

[smogs]

i kept it dry a just stuffed it in

it gets dampened by paper... ill check out progress 2morrow and post

[Rev]

My pink oyster newspaper log tek popped up today - knew it would - just a formality to test it - but forgot to take a pic. will do tomorrow before i eat it

[spiders]

I got some great results from some plain oysters on shredded paper - not as good as straw, but worth a shot...

[smogs]

my toilet rolls got attacked by bread mould... i didnt pasterise the outer tube tho... which i should have on retrospect or used peroxide

[worowa]

Very interesting! I realise this topics a bit old, well the thread at least, but it's sparked my interest.

Does anyone know which newspapers are safe to use? Which ones in Australia use soy based print? Are there any studies on other potential toxins in newspaper such as dioxins?

If there's a good newspaper, I might start buying some again, as this would be perfect in my permaculture guild.

Love your work mycophilles

[apothecary]

Personally I don't trust the inks and stuff in junk mail/newspaper/phone books.

You could probably achieve same/better results using cardboard box cardboard and butchers paper.

[AndyAmine.]

Personally I don't trust the inks and stuff in junk mail/newspaper/phone books.

You could probably achieve same/better results using cardboard box cardboard and butchers paper.

Agreed.

[worowa]

Yeah, cardboard seems good, I've done a few transfers onto cereal boxes to keep strains alive, but I'm not to sure what goes into cardboard these days-just try burning some. Maybe it's harmless waxes, but there's more to it than cellulose.

I definitely wouldn't use junk mail or magazines, but some newspapers might be ok. I was hoping someone else might have done the research, as I'm a bit lazy, but if no one else has the answers, then I'll do some research and share it. Jeez, it'ld bloody awesome if most of our newspapers are cool to use. Apparently in the USA they've switched to soy-based inks.

[watertrade]

Its funny this came up I was thinking about doing something like this recently. It came about for much the same reason smog’s started it (having too much junk mail)

Paper is one of my favorite substrates for edible mushrooms. So easy to use with high success rates.

For re cycling junk mail my idea was to basically have a box (I'm big on boxes at the moment) next to my recycle bin and a tub of water next to that.

I would start by laying wet newspaper with spawn for a few inches in the box.

Then everyday when I collect the mail dump it in the tub of water.

The next day while collecting the mail take the paper out of the water and lay it on top of the newspaper in the box. And add the new paper to the water. Basically do this everyday. If you picked your species I'm sure it would work.

I probably wouldn't be too keen to eat mushrooms but like the idea of starting the breakdown of the paper with fungi. Once the box is full, remove it to the garden and maybe use it as mulch or bury the box.

I *probably* wouldn't eat the mushrooms but would be happy to let my garden eat them.