My first class with the golden teacher

oaky some pics to brink togather what bulk is and what corn can do, first pic is clonized corn that was spawned into verm inside a gallon ziplock bad. then a close up of the mushrooms, the second is a pic of a corn cake, fruiting directly from the corn second is close up again



okay forst pic is bulb into adapter, adapter goes thru a hole to outside tub, to extention cord, which i can plug both my air pump and the next extension cord for the tub underneath. last pic so you can see everything,also mushrooms missing just harvested....



to the left of my fruiting chambers is my incubation chamber which sits on top of my glove box, which has a velcro flap to cover glove holes when not in use and a see thru top made of plexiglass. oh, and theres the mushrooms again and a fresh seed harvest, purpx(kushxbubblegum) i believe
(canndo i know you said i use a 9w in fact i use a 13w not on purpose just what was availble i would prefer it was less bright hess the plastic sheet in the tub)

RetiredMatthebrute said:

im prety sure theres no need for bleach water spray, from my understanding once the mycilium from the fungi your cultivating is fully formed it creates almost a barrier from other contams from setting up shop so to say. I may be wrong on this. but inoculation is the toughest part because if contams get in then they can overcome your mycilium, if your mycilium sets up shop and is allowed to fully establish its pretty difficult for other fungi (contams) to get in.

like i said i may be wrong so anyone feel free to correct me if im misunderstood.

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correct for the most part this is another advantage bulk has over PF, substrate doesn't have to be sterile. PF tek and fruiting straight from grain tends to comtaminate quikly even with mycelium because in some cases the mycelium will encourage mold and other fungi to germinate on a pasteurized surface there is more than the mycelium there is the microbes too, which can also benefit the mycelium nutritionally.

Killua said:

I made this account just to say thanks to Matt and everyone that has contributed to his journal. I am a beginner as well and WAS going to attempt PF tek(I haven't bought anything yet, luckily). I have a feeling this thread is going to lead a lot of beginners in the right direction.

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well your welcome my friend. im just learning myself so i cant say i have contibuted much. but the others on here have definatly done thier part!!

polyarcturus said:

View attachment 2526722View attachment 2526723View attachment 2526724View attachment 2526725
oaky some pics to brink togather what bulk is and what corn can do, first pic is clonized corn that was spawned into verm inside a gallon ziplock bad. then a close up of the mushrooms, the second is a pic of a corn cake, fruiting directly from the corn second is close up again

View attachment 2526728View attachment 2526729View attachment 2526730View attachment 2526731View attachment 2526732

okay forst pic is bulb into adapter, adapter goes thru a hole to outside tub, to extention cord, which i can plug both my air pump and the next extension cord for the tub underneath. last pic so you can see everything,also mushrooms missing just harvested....

View attachment 2526735View attachment 2526737

to the left of my fruiting chambers is my incubation chamber which sits on top of my glove box, which has a velcro flap to cover glove holes when not in use and a see thru top made of plexiglass. oh, and theres the mushrooms again and a fresh seed harvest, purpx(kushxbubblegum) i believe
(canndo i know you said i use a 9w in fact i use a 13w not on purpose just what was availble i would prefer it was less bright hess the plastic sheet in the tub)

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poly, correct me if im wrong but looks like you have some contamination going on?? in the pics i see green and blue in with your mycilium.

good eye! asshole, haha jk.

yeah ive got comtams!!!! jk im pretty fucking lazy, had a pretty good run that last attempt now i just keep it around for fun. im sure i could clean up and get shit straight again, but alas no time, and dont care enough to do it

He'll yeah man, I'll be staring my shroom op next pay check, spores are on their way

polyarcturus said:

good eye! asshole, haha jk.

yeah ive got comtams!!!! jk im pretty fucking lazy, had a pretty good run that last attempt now i just keep it around for fun. im sure i could clean up and get shit straight again, but alas no time, and dont care enough to do it

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i wasnt trying to be a douche just wasnt sure if it was contams or if it was something else.

Xrangex said:

He'll yeah man, I'll be staring my shroom op next pay check, spores are on their way

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nice stick around m8 and post up a link to your journal or just post here if you dont want to start your own.

ok so i think im going to take a mini fridge i have had outside on the porch for 2 years now and convert it into a simple DIY incubator.

supply list

fridge (check)
incandecent light bulb (check)
plywood (check)
thermostat

so looks like ill just have to get a decent thermostat and i should be able to get er done.

nah i was just playing its a good thing you saw it at least you are looking which when dealing with growing mushrooms is important.

RetiredMatthebrute said:

so something like this?

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set the time to run 4x a day for 30 min?

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Hell, if your humidity is right - go 24 hour hours a day, why let the co2 build up? now this is only for fruit, when you are still running (that is the term for colonizing substrate or casing) then you want the moisture but not the air exchange - just keep everything covered and your moisture level will remain stable.

unsterile substrate, I like the sound of that

I'm gonna go figure out how to subscribe, unsterile substrate! thats awesome!

RetiredMatthebrute said:

im prety sure theres no need for bleach water spray, from my understanding once the mycilium from the fungi your cultivating is fully formed it creates almost a barrier from other contams from setting up shop so to say. I may be wrong on this. but inoculation is the toughest part because if contams get in then they can overcome your mycilium, if your mycilium sets up shop and is allowed to fully establish its pretty difficult for other fungi (contams) to get in.

like i said i may be wrong so anyone feel free to correct me if im misunderstood.

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You must be merciless - NO contamination on your grain ever. It will always overcome your mycelium and even if it does not it will get in between the casing and the grain and outrun your mycelium making a mess in the process and overwhelming your trays, your tote, you room and finally your house. If you see contamination in early stages throw it out no matter what, seal it up and throw it out. The only time you can manage trich contamination is if it occurs on the top of casing soil - either because your air flow was too slow or your PH was wrong - in that case and ONLY in that case you can scoop the offending green out and treat the wound with salt or baking soda solution, it will stop the infection if you are lucky and if you are not it will delay it until you can get that flush.

I am serious here - every occurance of sporulating mold will decrease your chances the next time. You can easily change the micro-ecology of your entire house in a matter of days and it will never ever be the same again. There are ways to slow this down with HEPA air cleaning systems but even that only slows the inevitable.

right, what about an antimicrobial fog of some sort that circulates the house thru vents etc.

alright got the stuff to make my incubator....man why is it i can always find projects with my hobbies....

anyways hope this is it for now. going to do a video tutorial ill post the you tube link up here.

going to do a mini fridge with a thermostat and light bulb type incubator. wish me luck. will also do a video tutorial on the glove box as i couldnt really find much on you tube for that. i found one guy but he used cardboard tubes for the arm holes and i dont like that idea...all plastic all the way. cardboard is too easily contamanated and the contams can sink into it and be really difficult to sterilize properly...that my opinion.

Good info here. Havnt grown any in years and hoping to do some soon. Probably gonna do casings this round. Canndo might be getting plenty of questions from me lol. When i was doing it i was going off the kits so it was basicly mix and let it sit. Didnt have much luck doing cakes so im hoping the casings will be easier.

If you havn't started the incubator yet I think I can offer you another great option man. Very simple, very cheap and stable. Get 2 rubber maid totes whatever size you want put water in one with a fish tank heater in it, and set the other tote inside the first. The water will keep the top tote a very stable and perfect temp. I usually put a light blanket over the top of the lid to help hold in the warmth. I had to add a little water ever month or so but other then that it kept a perfect 82 degrees with little to no adjustment once I got it set. Just another thought for ya man it sounded like you were getting started on something already though.

I'm definitely building a glove box the next time around. I had good success without one, but I think it would help in the long run. Also the next time I set up I want it to be a bit more "correct" like a semi lab set up. Have an air scubber in the room and proper temp control, temps are what finished me last time, once summer started to hit I had no way to deal with the heat.

highfirejones said:

right, what about an antimicrobial fog of some sort that circulates the house thru vents etc.

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No, most of them don't work all that well, I've been using one of the traditional ones but I am fairly certain it is just a mental thing and does no real good - except of course for the adherence principle.


90 percent or more of all spores and bacteria are not free floating, they adhere to particles of dander, pollen, dust, hair or whathave you - and those particals are rather large. If you spray something in the air in enough profusion you will cause the tiny droplets in the air to capture those particles and bring them to the ground where they represent much less hazard. I once owned an oil distribution machine that did just that - a heating coil vaporized the oil where it condensed as a fog in the room, taking all particulates with it. Because this oil was somewhat volutile, it would eventualy dissapate. I don't know if they still make them but they worked fairly well.

Incubator? why? your mycelium will grow in a huge range of temperatures from the low 70's to the high 80's.

In the research I had done on it before I started it seemed that about 81-82 was ideal for colonizing most strains I looked at. It also seemed that it would be an easy way to get a stable controlable temp area for them. When I grew it was winter so the rest of the house fluctuated alot with the weather and when the heat would turn on. That incubator gave me a nice dark spot that was always 81-82 degrees.

Thundercat said:

In the research I had done on it before I started it seemed that about 81-82 was ideal for colonizing most strains I looked at. It also seemed that it would be an easy way to get a stable controlable temp area for them. When I grew it was winter so the rest of the house fluctuated alot with the weather and when the heat would turn on. That incubator gave me a nice dark spot that was always 81-82 degrees.

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I don't bother, I enable my room to be driven 15 degrees lower than abient and leave it at that. If it grows slower, fine, or I can simply heat the room itself. Nothing wrong with an incubator but for those with limited resources, it is lowest on the list. Now if you want to talk about an incubator for the micropropagation of marijuana that is a different story - if the cuttings stall for any length of time, they will simply hydrolize and die.