Anybody growing mushrooms willing to talk???

canndo

canndo

Well-Known Member
HydoDan said:
I don't get it! Why do people have to be like that??
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I wish I knew. I approach posts as honest people sharing their experiences. They have to overtly indicate that they are "internet experts" before I begin to believe they are not in earnest. Seems like this guy never continued our "conversation" after I posted evidence of my real life experience. I assure you all that I would never ever presume to tell you experienced pot growers what is and is not proper as my growing chops suck (save of course for my tissue culture work cut short by thieves who put out a book based on my work who had the Gaul to actually use my photos).
 
canndo

canndo

Well-Known Member
keifcake said:
This looks like a good discussion to get in on, imma have to start at the beginning.

But here's what I have going on.

So I grew some orangeglo watermelons this year, and finished racking 5 gallons of watermelon wine on 10/31, that I added 4 lbs of strawberries to, after primary fermentation. I don't really like drinking, but I'm working on a Psychedelic Wine project I've been thinking about for a while. I started the mushroom culture by using spore swabs on agar on 10/5, and made water darts that I inoculated sterilized popcorn with on 10/25. Man is the Z strain very aggressive, and it will take another 2 months for secondary fermentation of the wine to finish. Once I get the mushrooms, I want to add no less than 25 wet grams of fresh mushrooms per serving (which is about 3 grams dry), which I think about a wine glass equivalent of about 6 ozs is a good target. I'll add a little ascorbic acid when putting the shrooms in the wine for extraction to protect the unstable psilocin, and allow the water to extract both the psilocybin and psilocin for 2 days, and I will probably have to rack the wine one last time and be sure fermentation has stopped before bottling. I'm thinking it should have long shelf life with 14% alcohol and vitamin-c acting as a preservative. I have some frozen infused kool-aid in the freezer, but something I feel more confident in staying shelf stable would be pretty awesome.
The 2 mycelium pics are 10 days difference, no break n shake has been, and I don't believe I'm gonna bother disrupting the colony

I'm actually hoping for about 50 wet grams per serving
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Let's talk about longevity and storage and drying and such.

I recently broke out some of my mushrooms, they had been dried in a warm oven for a day, placed in a plastic bag and stored in a jar in my freezer...for 7 years. If they lost potency I didn't notice. In my opinion all this tincture (at least for potency), desiccant, and even dehydration is much to do over nothing. This us not like curing pot.

Light and heat are indeed your enemy but consider that the melt point of the chemicals you seek to preserve are way higher than a 140 degree oven. Your mushrooms will rot before you destroy the active ingredients.
 
canndo

canndo

Well-Known Member
Drop That Sound said:
About the induction coil sterilizers. They sell the core of the units right on amazon for cheap, even a 1000w flyback version for only $15, just need the power supply, foot pedal, and the coil. Works good for scalpels, but from my understanding, some people couldn't get the needles to heat up. Like, some are made from cheaper alloys, so you might have to buy separate needle tips that work. Not exactly the greatest idea, but cool for a fun project down the road.
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And here is another interesting thing. I dumped my entire instant sterilization system many years ago. I now use disposable scalpel only. I tried the disposable blades but they just don't do it for me. I use a single scalpel for each "strain". (I don't grow Hallucinogenic shrooms any more...nothing left for me there). And for needless, a box of the sterile needles is five or six bucks, I just change them out or even reuse them after autoclaves until they get dull.
 
canndo

canndo

Well-Known Member
One more thing... about sterility in growing chambers. It's brute force. The point is finesse. If you can match the growing requirements of your target without overlapping those conditions that your "weed" organisms require then you neednt ever have to manage air sterility.

Keep your casing ( yes, case, you'll thank me later) at the most basic level you can and your bad molds will never gain a foot hold. Ensure there is sufficient and persistant air flow at all times, keep your temperatures stable regardless of what those temperatures are. Inoculate your substrate with bacteria that is compatible with your target and predatory for "weeds" and even the most persistent bad guys will find more productive places to grow.

If you cant innoculate then at least try to do a good job of pasteurization.

Work in harmony with the organism, understand it and marvelous things begin to happen.

Now ph is a whole other conversation.
 
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Drop That Sound

Drop That Sound

Well-Known Member
Hey guys

So I snagged a mint looking 6qt instant pot at the second hand store last night for a good deal. LUX model v3, probably from 2016.

The "real" pressure cookers were all gone off the shelf, (and the duo instant pot model that actually said "pressure cook" on a function key, not as clean though) and I was hoping they would still be there on 50% of tag sale day, but nope!

Anyway, I grabbed it anyway before it was gone too, and i'm sure its been used once. I'm finding out it only goes a bit more than 11 psi, but that I can just increase the time a bit.

I was just thinking it would be good enough to sterilize small jars of agar, for my first few batches. Or even dedicate it just for that purpose. I was gonna get a 23qt stove top pot for cooking grains sometime in the future, and figured this instant pot would be good for now.

Just wondering if that sounds about right, to just cook longer. IP says add 7-15% more time to make up for not being 14-15 psi.

Just want to do little jars of agar, should be good right? How long would I go being that its only 11-12 psi?

I could get my money back on store credit, and wait for a better cooker to show up again, but it was cheap!

Thanks!
 
canndo

canndo

Well-Known Member
Drop That Sound said:
Hey guys

So I snagged a mint looking 6qt instant pot at the second hand store last night for a good deal. LUX model v3, probably from 2016.

The "real" pressure cookers were all gone off the shelf, (and the duo instant pot model that actually said "pressure cook" on a function key, not as clean though) and I was hoping they would still be there on 50% of tag sale day, but nope!

Anyway, I grabbed it anyway before it was gone too, and i'm sure its been used once. I'm finding out it only goes a bit more than 11 psi, but that I can just increase the time a bit.

I was just thinking it would be good enough to sterilize small jars of agar, for my first few batches. Or even dedicate it just for that purpose. I was gonna get a 23qt stove top pot for cooking grains sometime in the future, and figured this instant pot would be good for now.

Just wondering if that sounds about right, to just cook longer. IP says add 7-15% more time to make up for not being 14-15 psi.

Just want to do little jars of agar, should be good right? How long would I go being that its only 11-12 psi?

I could get my money back on store credit, and wait for a better cooker to show up again, but it was cheap!

Thanks!
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Yep. You can also sterilize your instruments. Clean them well, wrap in foil and cook them for 45 minutes or so.

11 lbs will work for anything but large batches of grain. Even then, however, you can soak the grain in water for 24 hours or so and then cook that up. It will work for most all but the dirtiest grain.


I got some organic rye that wouldn't sterilize even at 15 lbs for an hour and 45 min.
 
Drop That Sound

Drop That Sound

Well-Known Member
Would you just keep them wrapped in the same foil after cooking them? Until your ready to unwrap them in SAB or flow hood that is? Or is it better to dry them out after, and clean with iso and then flame sterilize again?
 
Drop That Sound

Drop That Sound

Well-Known Member
I got the unit looking spic and span, and ran a few test runs with ACVinegar and water. Runs great! The inner pot has a mirror finish inside again after a baking soda scrub. Like new. The only thing though, is the silicone sealing ring kinda smells like chili, or whatever the last person cooked.. probably the one time it was ever used too, and won't go away, lol.

Not sure if I can live with that, and probably buy a new set of rings anyway. The steaming rack was missing too, but i'll find something to work. I might have to cook some good food while i'm at this as well!

Oh, and I heard the warming function is good for pasteurizing substrates. Helping with pours, etc.
 
canndo

canndo

Well-Known Member
Drop That Sound said:
Would you just keep them wrapped in the same foil after cooking them? Until your ready to unwrap them in SAB or flow hood that is? Or is it better to dry them out after, and clean with iso and then flame sterilize again?
Click to expand...

Just keep them in the foil. I don't use flame. I just use several of each sort of instrument, replacing them every so often with a clean one.
 
7L!fTeD24

7L!fTeD24

Well-Known Member
Drop That Sound said:
Hey guys

So I snagged a mint looking 6qt instant pot at the second hand store last night for a good deal. LUX model v3, probably from 2016.

The "real" pressure cookers were all gone off the shelf, (and the duo instant pot model that actually said "pressure cook" on a function key, not as clean though) and I was hoping they would still be there on 50% of tag sale day, but nope!

Anyway, I grabbed it anyway before it was gone too, and i'm sure its been used once. I'm finding out it only goes a bit more than 11 psi, but that I can just increase the time a bit.

I was just thinking it would be good enough to sterilize small jars of agar, for my first few batches. Or even dedicate it just for that purpose. I was gonna get a 23qt stove top pot for cooking grains sometime in the future, and figured this instant pot would be good for now.

Just wondering if that sounds about right, to just cook longer. IP says add 7-15% more time to make up for not being 14-15 psi.

Just want to do little jars of agar, should be good right? How long would I go being that its only 11-12 psi?

I could get my money back on store credit, and wait for a better cooker to show up again, but it was cheap!

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I've used the instant pot and didn't have any issues only that it holds pint jars. Just use the canning and preserving button but set it on well/wild it's about 2 hours. Never had a jar go bad with it. I used this one, but definitely want to get a real PC.16703267988175570100621203511662.jpg
 
7L!fTeD24

7L!fTeD24

Well-Known Member
canndo said:
Let's talk about longevity and storage and drying and such.

I recently broke out some of my mushrooms, they had been dried in a warm oven for a day, placed in a plastic bag and stored in a jar in my freezer...for 7 years. If they lost potency I didn't notice. In my opinion all this tincture (at least for potency), desiccant, and even dehydration is much to do over nothing. This us not like curing pot.

Light and heat are indeed your enemy but consider that the melt point of the chemicals you seek to preserve are way higher than a 140 degree oven. Your mushrooms will rot before you destroy the active ingredients.
Click to expand...
Yeah people say that if you go too hot like over 120° that it can hurt potency but I've noticed no difference. I've dried them with a fan, in my cheap $30 dehydrator I dried them on low heat, and have dried them on 160°, noticed no difference except obviously they dry quicker on a higher temp. Now as far as storage I've always just thrown them in a plastic bag and put them in a box in the closet that stays pretty cool never had any issue so far. Keeping them away from light moisture and Air is probably the best for preserving potency. Like a jar in the freezer LOL
 
7L!fTeD24

7L!fTeD24

Well-Known Member
Drop That Sound said:
I got the unit looking spic and span, and ran a few test runs with ACVinegar and water. Runs great! The inner pot has a mirror finish inside again after a baking soda scrub. Like new. The only thing though, is the silicone sealing ring kinda smells like chili, or whatever the last person cooked.. probably the one time it was ever used too, and won't go away, lol.

Not sure if I can live with that, and probably buy a new set of rings anyway. The steaming rack was missing too, but i'll find something to work. I might have to cook some good food while i'm at this as well!

Oh, and I heard the warming function is good for pasteurizing substrates. Helping with pours, etc.
Click to expand...
For the missing rack just use the jar lid rings
 
Drop That Sound

Drop That Sound

Well-Known Member
Ya I'm not sterilizing my own grain yet, because I still got like 3 cases of 90 second rice bags, lol. I guess I could fit those unicorn bags in there, or a bigger sideways jar, but it takes a lot longer at 11.6 psi. I'll get a good pot for grains soon, ho ho ho!

I'm actually headed to the store later to buy the smallest non quilted jars I can find, for doing no pour agar tek in the instant pot, but even the 4 oz ones can barely fit just a few.

I just found an old box of empty baby food jars I saved from years ago too, probably thinking i could store nuts and bolts.. I bet i could clean them up and fit twice as many in the smallt 6qt inner pot. Just for agar anyway. I could even port the lids.. or should I just loosen them while cooking and cover with foil? I only see like 4-5 threads asking about baby jars, but will look into it more. Save me a trip to the store, and be able to fit all the jars I need in one go. Hmm, decisions!
 
Drop That Sound

Drop That Sound

Well-Known Member
I'll play around, and see how long I can go. I head the agar will caramelize if you cook it too long. Not sure, but I ordered MEA premix off amazon. I was thinking 40 minutes or so should be good, compared to 20 minutes at 15 psi. Also, I have some activated charcoal capsules, and might add it instead of food colorings, so the agar is more black in color, to see the mycelium easier.
 
canndo

canndo

Well-Known Member
Drop That Sound said:
I'll play around, and see how long I can go. I head the agar will caramelize if you cook it too long. Not sure, but I ordered MEA premix off amazon. I was thinking 40 minutes or so should be good, compared to 20 minutes at 15 psi. Also, I have some activated charcoal capsules, and might add it instead of food colorings, so the agar is more black in color, to see the mycelium easier.
Click to expand...

You can easily see any mushroom mycelium I have ever grown on mea without any other color. There are reasons to add charcoal but it is not necessary here.
 
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