Some kinda mushroom... (Cubensis cake/poor mans terrarium)

I have two cultures going right now. Both of them are made up of;

potting soil
wheat noodles
cracked corn
coffee grounds
Old chex mix I had laying around

The white "fuzz" mycelium attacked the wheat noodles and chex mix first and is slowly starting to move onto the corn and coffee ground. I'm gonna be gone for two days so i should see a vast difference when I get back.

My sanitation barrier is only a sheet of plastic wrap with pinholes over the inoculation sites. So far as I can tell there are no offensive odors (other than old soggy corn) and I dont see any contamination (molds, bruising, etc.)

The temperature constant falls between 68-80* fahrenheit.

I decided to make a grow log.

It has been two days and the mycelium has effected the entire top surface of the substrate. I think I will introduce light when it starts to get thick.

ive been wanting to grow some mushrooms for a long time now, i went and got everything for my (mushroom) grow then with the money i had for my spores, i went and used it for a bong lol, ill be looking forward to your grow log. just woundering did you use a spore print or syring??

scraped spores off of dried shrooms. The innoculation wasn't done with many sanitation measures but somehow there is no contamination as of yet.

thats good, good luck on your grow

I'm hoping

i dont know why people are worried about contamination......... dude they grow on shit!

im just about to start a cubensis grow myself, though i was always told to use only distilled water, brown rice powder, and fine grade vermiculite sterilized in jars to avoid contamination, is it really that easy that you can innoculate checks mix and get decent mycellial growth? wouldn't the salt dry them out???well whenever i get my lazy ass to starilize the substrate ill start a log as well.

Obviously you've never grown mushrooms. Try it than come back with how easy it is to not contaminate them.
Peace

datboyc said:

i dont know why people are worried about contamination......... dude they grow on shit!

Click to expand...

Dude, I believe this would be too early to introduce light. The myc has to grow out completely, than you switch to fruiting, by changing your temps, the light is just to show the mushrooms in what direction to grow.
Also your temp is varying way too much. The temp needs to be a constant.
Try placing a heating pad under your grow.
Peace

Godkas said:

I decided to make a grow log.

It has been two days and the mycelium has effected the entire top surface of the substrate. I think I will introduce light when it starts to get thick.

Click to expand...

do u have any pics???

Very true videoman. I dont plan on introducing light until at least another week possibly two.

Not suprisingly, yes mushrooms are as easy as inoculating a bag of chex mix. Contamination is also a huge worry. Many common molds and fungi such as the dreaded cobweb mold (which is actually a fungus its self) prey on mushroom mycelium.

This having been said Im pretty sure you can take most of those contamination controls and throw them out the window because in the end most of the sterilization methods are nothing more than a waste of time.

All you need is hot water and antibacterial soap to sterilize a container for propagation. I personally use a powdered food services sanitizer I use for cleaning by homebrew carboys. and you may want to wash or boil your substrate before inoculating I didnt but I like doing things wrong and making them work. And take a shower because if anything is going to contaminate your mushies i can say with 99% certainty it was probably you.

There are many teks for growing mushrooms I decided to try it old school. I basically made a compost heap in a container and threw some dried spores in there tightened plastic wrap over the top and put pinholes in it for better air exchange. Most teks will tell you not to do this because when the mycelium is growing it needs very little air and the holes do add a greater chance of contamination (This is why I keep them in a still air enviornment) ie. my desk drawer.


Pictures coming soon. You guys are gonna laugh at the ghetto'ness

This video should have some useful tips and info for you:
Mushroom Growing Made Easy - Google Video

I saw that video the other day actually. I found it informative but it only shows the preferred method of cultivation. These were just some bag spores so I wanted to try a bit of a dirty grow to see how strong the strain is. From what I hear cubensis are tough. and I just need one cap to get more spores than I began with.

Good luck dude, I've had one success with shrooms, and about 4 failures! So go figure that one out. I also bought a kit too. Complete with the humidity addition. It's kinda cool, but I've put it on hold for now, maybe in a month or so, I'll try again. I did however "plant" somne myc outside last fall, I can't wait to see if it works.
This is what I bought.....

wow thats a snazzy little grower lol. My room is temperature controlled already in the right range for the ladies and the pinholes in the plastic wrap seem to make the terrariums rain with humidity.

Looking at my substrate ingredients does anyone see something that might be inhibiting the mold?

I've had a few speculations. One is the soil that is mixed in. Fungus has a much easier time penetrating soil than mold. also the corn smells as though it might be minorly fermenting perhaps from wild yeast that may have been on the kernels. I know trace amounts of alcohol can also serve to inhibit mold growth.

Anyways I'm not out of the woods yet the mat hasn't taken over all of the substrate and probably wont for anther week.

pics:

i was jokeing, but that's ok. i shoulda added a smily.

I am pretty sure these will contaminate but nothing says i cant try to get a cap to make more spores I really wanted to use a lot more than i did.

Heres the newest pic of the tupperware. the 2-litre is growing back from a healthy stir.



definitely fungus