noob mushroom grower seeking help

prospect.joe

prospect.joe

Member
hi all! I recently picked up this new hobby with very little experience and I have no friends with this experience either, so I have no where else to look. I have read multiple websites and so far so good, but I have a few questions.
First I will briefly describe my operation. I have 1 cup colonizing at the moment. It is a mixture of vermiculite, organic brown rice flour, and Mexican cubinous. I had to boil it because I do not have a pressure cooker. I originally had 4 jars at first, but I boiled them dry, and when I noticed I had done this I quickly added water, which cracked all my jars. So I used a small glass cup and tin foil.
Now my mix is colonizing. I would say its 60% covered in white. There is a little grey, but I'm not too worried just yet. The temps have been perfect, ranging from 76 to 84 at all times. I did however have a little scare.. I accidentally locked my dumb cat in the same closet all night, but the cup was too high up for the cat to tamper with, but I was worried about cat dander and shit like that.
Once my cup is fully colonized, I plan to wait 1 more week, than put it in a clear plastic container about 6 inches tall and 12 inches wide. I plan to put 1 inch of wet perlite, and put a small square of tin foil between the perlite and mixture.
So the questions I have are: should I worry about the grey? Is my container big enough for them to fruit? What type of light should I use on a limited budget? How do I determine aborts? Should I put holes in my terranium for air or is that too high of a risk of contam? Any advice?
I would love any type of feedback! And I can post pics upon request.
Thanks!
 
D

DaSprout

Well-Known Member
First off. You're a pretty f'ing funny guy joe. Your initial post is perfect for the high guy on the net man. LOL. Hot jars, water, jars break. Doh! Cracked me up. Then locking the cat in the closet with your stuff. More laughs. And the grey? I can never judge those pics unless they are green or some other color of the rainbow anyways. Maybe you make the same mistake alot of us do as noobs. maybe they are not contaminated. And your aren't looking at the thick myc and they seem to be grey. Who knows? I'm an optimist. And your post made me crack up. Post some more of your misadventures tomorrow morning so that I can have something funny to read while tripping. Good luck man. Later.
 
prospect.joe

prospect.joe

Member
DaSprout said:
First off. You're a pretty f'ing funny guy joe. Your initial post is perfect for the high guy on the net man. LOL. Hot jars, water, jars break. Doh! Cracked me up. Then locking the cat in the closet with your stuff. More laughs. And the grey? I can never judge those pics unless they are green or some other color of the rainbow anyways. Maybe you make the same mistake alot of us do as noobs. maybe they are not contaminated. And your aren't looking at the thick myc and they seem to be grey. Who knows? I'm an optimist. And your post made me crack up. Post some more of your misadventures tomorrow morning so that I can have something funny to read while tripping. Good luck man. Later.
Click to expand...
lol thanx for seeing the humor in my seriousness
 
prospect.joe

prospect.joe

Member
And by the way, definately not tossing it. I just took a peek and the greyness just looks a little damp amenities isn't as thick in that spot as opposed to other spots. Not tossing til I see atleast one shade of the rainbow. Especially after building all that courage to even purchase spores in the first place. I will definately keep you posted tho
 
canndo

canndo

Well-Known Member
prospect.joe said:
The one side is almost to the bottom of the cup :) the temps here are bad tho over 90. Is that ok?
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Anything above about 85 slows growth. Anything in the high 90's will cause the mycelium to exude metabolite. You will have permanetly damaged the mushroom in the mid 90's. What is worse is the exudate collects at the bottom of the jar and tends to drown the mushroom - it also will contaminate very quickly. I think thermal death is a bit over 100.

I don't see any problem with what is in the picture though
 
K

Kaypay

Member
Lol , bu reading the initial post i think i did a good job starting my first grow. I actually bought a 16 qt cooker, jars, verm, br rice, dest. Water, rub alcohol, gloves.

I hope i did a good job. Its been 3 days now my 6 jars are sitting in a dark place at about 78 degrees, very humid. Hoping to see white proper stuff in the jars after 5 days. To experiment i left 3 jars with holes open and 3 jars with tape on (tape for skin, i hope its breathable). Just to see how one portion will turn out and the other.

By the way.. Is it ok to look at jars quickly at light and then put them in darkness again? Or is it going to mess up the process??
 
K

Kaypay

Member
That kind of makes sence your whole story. Coz people do crack and other horrible things while they are pregnant, but in most cases babies STILL born alive and live well. Thanks to Mother Nature full of grace.
 
K

Kaypay

Member
Just checked mine, its been 3 days and a half, no signs at all..:/ kind of disappointed maybe i did something wrong. Im using pint jars, although everyone is using half pint ones. I injected about 1.5 cc into each jar. Maybe its too early for seeing any growth yet.. Ill check again in couple days.
 
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