Grow time draws Ever Nearer :)

[niemandgeist]

Grow time is getting ever and ever closer. My spore syringes should arrive today. If not today, surely tomorrow.

I have almost everything I need already here at home. Just need to get two plastic clear snap/secure lid totes of appropriate size: One for fruiting chamber, one for inoculation chamber. Need a pack of latex gloves, some 70%+ (will try to find 90%+) isopropyl alcohol, spring water, brown rice flour, and perlite. My grandmother had a full case of 1/2 pint wide-mouth Kerr glass jars for canning with metal lids to give me. My uncle gave me a big thing of vermiculite. Just need perlite. Should be able to get everything else I need from friends having stuff laying around or other neighbors/family. I already have a good light source to stimulate in vitro pinning of the colonized jars from the Dollar Store. They have these $1 LED push lights that have 3 super bright "daylight" wavelength LEDs on them. Can be attached to the fruiting chamber and/or a shelf above the jars, only need 3AAA batteries and last forever on even cheapo batteries. Have lots of cheap AAA batteries from dollar store, too, as well as Energizer rechargeables. Mushrooms only need a small amount of light for a few minutes each day minimum, but for in vitro pinning the goal is to expose those 6 jars to constant light.

I plan to do 2 methods for my first attempt. I have 12 jars, so I plan to prepare substrate, sterilize, and inoculate all 12 with one syringe, grow 6 purely in vitro with Hippie's "Neglect TEK", and them move the other 6 into the fruiting chamber after dunk and roll and birthing. This way, I should have SOME success one way or another. The in vitro grow jars will be left alone after I fully clean and sterilize the closet. The fruiting chamber will be placed somewhere else with better environment for free air exchanged (FAE). In vitro grow will have a lower yield, but that half will be ultra low maintenance and they will never be removed from the in vitro chamber apart from fanning jars after full colonization and pinning to provide for FAE, so there is much lower risk of contamination. Fruiting chamber may grow larger fruits with higher yield, but greater chance of contamination, so I feel splitting them 1/2 way will help the most. I'm only growing for personal use and for the enjoyment and the challenge, though, so whatever I get I will be happy with.

If I fail, I have another spore syringe to try again, and getting more is easy and cheap. I can also reuse everything I failed with after full sterilization for another try in the future. Until syringes get here I only know that one strain is B+: Famed for large fruits, tolerates nearly all climates, is very forgiving, and can grow successfully in vitro as well as in fruiting chamber. No idea what the other syringe will be just yet until it arrives.

For the last month I've been reading books, going to the library, doing research, watching videos, reading and searching online, and I am 95% certain I know what I'm about to get myself into.

Glass jars should arrive here before the month is out. This leaves me the full month of September with perfect temperatures for colonization and fruiting. Even October here, in the area I plan to grow in, will yield perfect stable temperatures for colonization and fruiting.

I'm excited. Within 2 weeks I will have everything I need to begin. It also helps that I have always been a huge geek/book nerd and had a big mycology kick I went on in my younger days where I was obsessed with mycology. Even identified and picked and cooked some local edible mushrooms around here and took spore prints to help identify them, so I have a head start on a lot of this stuff.

Only trickier thing I may not do this time is to take spore prints from mature caps in sterile environment to make my own spore syringes to inocolate new cakes, but since I can wash cakes from fruiting chamber and in vitro to get at least 2 to 4 more crops I should be good to go.

The amount of research and prep I've put into this... Man. At least I feel prepared.

[GrindCandy]

No pressure cooker? I would still get a real light then leds super week and batteries are going to die in the middle of grow.

[niemandgeist]

No pressure cooker? I would still get a real light then leds super week and batteries are going to die in the middle of grow.

A pressure cooker is unnecessary, and these days in the USA you have to, in most places, sign a sheet with lots of identifying information to even purchase one. Steaming glass jars in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid is all that is necessary, provided that you steam it for long enough.

These LEDs are daylight wavelength, so they are not "weak". Also, in a dark large room, at night, this sucker lights up the large room nicely enough for me to see well. That's more than enough for the shrooms. Mushrooms only NEED a very, very small amount of light to stimulate pinning in the proper direction and they only really NEED a few MINUTES a day of this. I also have a brighter LED clamp lamp and an extension cord that I plan to run into the closet, as my computer desk with all the cables is right next to the closet in my office. Nobody would notice it.

I also know basic electronics so I could always just take apart the 3 LED push light and hook it up to a larger battery. The push light can run continuously for a LOOOOOOONG time before even risking running out of battery. You really just don't need that much light. Honestly, the 3 LED cheapo thing puts out more than I really need. Also, if you really want to go with lots of light, you only need the light on 12 hours and off 12 hours to simulate natural day/light cycles, so I'd notice right away if the batteries would be an issue and I could replace them regularly. EVEN IF the push lights fail, just a few minutes a day of light is all they really need. The cheapo solution will work just fine, as many others have used the same thing to great effect lately. I'd rather not run a cord into the closet if I don't have to, and really, I don't have to. I have several more reliable LED light sources as well. So long as the LED is in the proper wavelength there's nothing to really worry about.

Besides, even on cheapo AAA batteries I've had this little 3 LED daylight push light on for over a week continuous use and it's still bright.

I guess you haven't grown in a long while? People stopped considering pressure cookers as a necessity a long while ago. Same with bright lights. Believe me... I've been doing LOTS of reading and research, online and in books from libraries, and I learned a lot when I was younger about how fungi grow and develop. So as far as a PC and brighter lights... that's unnecessary expenses right there, and as I said with the battery issue... You only need a few minutes at a time, and a small cheapo LED light in the proper daylight wavelength (which comes pretty much standard in all bright white LEDs you see these days anyway) is all that is really needed, so if batteries go out it's no biggie: They can be replaced/recharged regularly and cycled out.



Of course, if it doesn't work out, I can say that you can tell me that you told me so, and I have an additional spore syringe and can easily get more spores and learn from my mistakes.

[GrindCandy]

I dont grow mushrooms and yes 3 tiny ass leds are week what is that 3 watts lol. Yes you can get away without using a pressure cooker if done right but never with bulk. I just dont half ass shit. Good luck

[Galaxy Admin]

A pressure cooker is unnecessary, and these days in the USA you have to, in most places, sign a sheet with lots of identifying information to even purchase one. Steaming glass jars in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid is all that is necessary, provided that you steam it for long enough.

These LEDs are daylight wavelength, so they are not "weak". Also, in a dark large room, at night, this sucker lights up the large room nicely enough for me to see well. That's more than enough for the shrooms. Mushrooms only NEED a very, very small amount of light to stimulate pinning in the proper direction and they only really NEED a few MINUTES a day of this. I also have a brighter LED clamp lamp and an extension cord that I plan to run into the closet, as my computer desk with all the cables is right next to the closet in my office. Nobody would notice it.

Teach us old wise one



http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=pressure+cooker
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?_dyncharset=UTF-8&_dynSessConf=&id=pcat17071&type=page&sc=Global&cp=1&nrp=15&sp=&qp=&list=n&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960&st=pressure+cooker
http://www.sears.com/search=pressure%20cooker


BTW, how many pressure cookers do you see here needing special paperwork to buy?

Live and learn.   Good luck. I mean that wholeheartedly 

[niemandgeist]

Aww haw hawwwww! Didn't EVER even think to purchase a PC online, mainly because steaming, when done properly, should work out well. I stand corrected. Still not going to pay the money for a PC when I'd only use it for this purpose when proper steaming guidelines are followed.

Don't plan on half-assing anything. Only reason I will go with the LEDs is because I've seen that this should work A-OK with mushrooms according to research. Of course, I will be taking them out of the closet and putting them under brighter light, and also for allowance of free gas exchange, a few hours in the evening before I go to bed. Same thing with the fruiting chamber.

Only thing I still feel sure about is that a few bright LEDs for 12 hours on/12 hours off should be more than enough in a dark enclosed space if they are at the proper "daylight" rated wavelength. You also use less electricity, CAN get away with batteries (Since 12 on/12 off just have to check brightness/recharge batteries to ensure no failure). Don't think I mentioned that the environment these will be in, for most of the time, will be completely dark, pitch black apart from the light source.

AAAND... Since I do have time to rethink things... An alternate plan is to use a brighter light source with a cord going into the closet, or a larger battery reserve. So I've planned for that. Still sure that the LED light source will work since they are daylight wavelength.

I have permission to grow from the dude I live with, provided that I keep it out of sight most of the time, hence the closet, under lock and key.

So yeah. Only thing I still feel comfortable about is the LED light source. Apart from that, nobody has led me astray here, and I doubt that anyone would.

And if I fail... I learn from my mistakes.

[Galaxy Admin]

fuck a closet. you need to control the outside environment for many reasons too. http://www.amazon.com/Lighthouse-Hydro-Hydroponics-Grow-36-Inch/dp/B00725X7I8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408657437&sr=8-1&keywords=mini+grow+tent  this will do. along with a little stand inside for a growing table.

[niemandgeist]

Well, only time will tell what happens, what works, and what does not. I'll figure it out along the way. That's all I can say. I can't really purchase any more nifty things because we either don't have the space or I can't spare the expense. As you well know, Acid, I have a debt or two to pay, and thankfully since we are now picking up more jobs that debt will be paid soon. Wink wink.

I'm still not 100% decided on the exact plan of action. I have a few plans, trying to narrow it down to just 2: One for fruiting chamber and one for in vitro. In vitro I have down pact. For the fruiting chamber, its location, etc... Now that's in limbo. I know it needs to get a lot of air into it. Some TEKs suggest airing it out once or twice a day, taking it out from an enclosure, and venting it and misting should be more than enough. Some say NO NO NO. Some say this, some say that, different people have had success with many things. A lot of people have had great success with very minimal TEK in closets, keeping them under lock and key, then taking them out to vent and mist once or twice a day. Some have had no success with that. Some people have had ultra high-tech setups and have had no luck.

It seems that the sterilization and cleanliness during the colonization phase is the most important thing. It also seems that, once a colony is well-established, and pins have set in, it becomes extremely tolerant to contamination. Some others disagree.

Nobody agrees on anything when it comes to this mushroom stuff, so ultimately everybody has to try something, log it carefully, and learn from it.

I do have one or two spots I could keep the fruiting chamber in that are better than the closet. For jar in vitro, however, closet will be fine. Just will take longer and yield a smaller crop, and the environment never changes so there is far less chance of contamination. Since I'm going half and half... I can either totally fail, or have some success from one method, the other, or both. Time will tell. It's a learning game and I'm cool with that.

I really do appreciate all of the advice, though. I definitely don't know everything, especially since this will be my first foray into this. If anything, the major issue is trying to boil down all of the information I've soaked into my head and pick a plan of action and stick to it through to the end and see what happens.

I'm no stranger to knowing that sometimes something will seem to make sense to me, and I may believe it to be correct, but then new information comes along and I have to say "Hmm. I was wrong."

So thanks for the tips!

I can't spare $60 for that enclosure... However... now that I think about it... we do have something that would do the trick if I sterilize it properly... Hmm...

Oh well. It's gonna be fun trying and either having some success, absolutely no success, or true success. I will learn along the way. I guess that's he way it goes when you try anything new! Worse come to worst: I still have a spare syringe of sterile cubensis spores so I can try again... And if that fails... It's not much money through my guy to get more spores so... I'll keep knocking at it until I find something that works for me.

Like I said: Nobody agrees on everything. Even the standard, gold PF Tek method is hotly contested and there have been many modifications to it where people have had success doing other things. Nobody seems to grow in the same way.

Again: Always appreciative of the information and suggestions. If I can't implement them now, if things don't work out too well... I've got this to look back on and learn from. Very helpful, both of you have been.

AS FOR LIGHTING:

Apart from LED lighting, either battery operated or using a power cord with a much brighter light source... Any recommendations or suggestions? Hell.. ANY suggestions or advice AT ALL would be most appreciated. I know that I'm not the only one who wants to see me succeed here!

[Galaxy Admin]

my best suggestion is to go to shroomery.org and read read read before doing anything.

[niemandgeist]

my best suggestion is to go to shroomery.org and read read read before doing anything.

Already a member, and have already been combing their site via their own search as well as advanced Google site: specific search operators for about one full month now. Same thing with Mycotopia. I've also watched all of the (full versions) of the recommended videos, found that my library has some good books, got lots of nice PDF books (read them all), and have done even more research, comparing, and cross-referencing. I've been soaking up the knowledge like you don't even KNOW good sir.

I think I'm off to a good start. Got to remember I have a background in programming, scripting, and web dev so I ALWAYS READ THE FUCKING MANUAL before even starting to THINK about doing something new.

Even so, apart form a few basics, everyone still seems to grow in their own little way, so I accept that I have to try some stuff and see how it plays out.