• Members of the previous forum can retrieve their temporary password here, (login and check your PM).

I need help..I suck at growing mushrooms.

Migrated topic.
jamie

jamie

Esteemed member
Senior Member
OG Pioneer
Senior member
I dont know what it is..I can grow salvia..I got caapi going from seed..my mimosa I started from seed and got it thriving..Ive grown all kinds of entheogenic plants but I cant grow cubensis.

I read everything I could find..I bought 2 types of spores..golden teachers and equadorians. I got the jars and sterilized them..I used vermiculite and organic brown rice flour..I dont have a pressure cooker so I used a big pot with a glass lid, and did multiple sterilizations like I read baout for fractal sterilization. I did as many as required and then like 2 more just to be sure. I got a big clear grow chamber and sterilized the whole thing..I made sure my hands and everything were sterile when I innoculated..I did 6 jar with the equadorian spores..and then stuck them in the chamber and closed the lid and left it.

One jar started to colonize after about a week..one big spot..but then a few days later I noticed green contamination-threw that one out. Then anther colonized and got some contam as well so I took that one out and another one had some green so I took that one out as well..

Now the other 3 jars have sat in there for like 6 weeks..with no cubensis mycelium showing up and also no contam at all..just nothing. It cant be the spores can it? I used only one syringe and some others did start to colonize so the spores were not all bunk. I dont know what to do. I really want to get this to work. I still have the golden teacher spores here.

Should I just get rid of the other 3 jars and start again?..or should I try to raise the temps and see if they colonize?

I have stamets book here and read everything I could find..I just dont know what else to do. I dont want to waste my other spores until I know what is going on here.
 
It could have been a contaminated syringe, could be you need a pressure cooker, as the temps don't get high enough in boiling water to kill everything. Normally with ground brown rice, it will work, but in some cases, where high spore loads are normal during the season, it can be more difficult to sterilize. The fractional sterilization and old PF tek work in many cases, but sometimes, an investment in a cheap pressure cooker will make all the difference in the world.
 
My advice would be, if at all possible, get a pc.

I never did brf jars or pf-teks...I just got a pc and went straight to grain. Any contam problems I've had have been either do to assembling my jars wrong (putting tyvek inside the lid instead of outside cuz I was stoned) or natural contams after a flush or two.
 
I cant afford a pressure cooker right now I have way too many other things to pay for..but when I can I am going to get one..until then I will just keep tryiong fractal sterilization-it should work..the microspores will germinate in the time between sterilizations and once they do the heat is enough to kill them. Other people seem to have success doing it so I will try again. I would rather use a pc though if I had one.

I really dont understand whats going on with the 3 jars I still have though. Since there is neither contam or myc growing all I cant think of is that I need to raise the temps..but it is summer and warm here as it is..and the other jars did start to colonize. I could have contaminated the other 3 when innoculating or something I guess, becasue if they had not fully sterilized I would assume that I would see contam in all the jars and not just those 3 by now.
 
SnozzleBerry said:
My advice would be, if at all possible, get a pc.

I never did brf jars or pf-teks...I just got a pc and went straight to grain. Any contam problems I've had have been either do to assembling my jars wrong (putting tyvek inside the lid instead of outside cuz I was stoned) or natural contams after a flush or two.
Click to expand...

I always had the tyvek inside my lids and never had any contams...

but yeah frac, a PC is worth a lot and even the big ones aren't THAT expensive unless you have to get them shipped over to Europe...

I'm not sure how you prepared your substrate, but if it doesn't have the right moisture content this can also prove troublesome for the spores. did you flame sterilize your syrringe? Your spores could have been contammed, too. I've also had spores that wouldn't germinate at all - who knows what was wrong with them.
 
Enoon said:
SnozzleBerry said:
My advice would be, if at all possible, get a pc.

I never did brf jars or pf-teks...I just got a pc and went straight to grain. Any contam problems I've had have been either do to assembling my jars wrong (putting tyvek inside the lid instead of outside cuz I was stoned) or natural contams after a flush or two.
Click to expand...

I always had the tyvek inside my lids and never had any contams...
Click to expand...
Did you shake your jars at any point?
 
Another thing, just because you don't see anything in the jar growing, doesn't mean it's not contamination. Many bacterial infections can be invisible to the naked eye, and will prevent jars from starting or completing. Bacterial infections you can usually smell, however, I wouldn't open the jar and take a big whiff. If it's been weeks with no growth, I'd guess they aren't going to work..

The whole fractional sterilization works for some, not for others. So much depends on your precise climate, that little tweaks are often needed to any method, like when you move to a new area. Fractional sterilization works much of the time, but some bacterias and fungi need to hit that higher temp to really destroy them. That is why a pressure cooker is necessary if you really want to be sure you are sterilizing properly.

It is also possible that the syringe was contaminated from the beginning, but it's hard to know for sure. When all the jars go bad from a single syringe, I generally think syringe, but I have a lot of experience with growing, and know my techniques are generally very good.
 
Yes I did flame sterilize the syringe before innoculation..not sure about water content..I followed instructions online, but calculated the ammounts for more jars..I guess I could have messed it up but it looks like pictures I have looked at. I will try again and be even more careful and maybe wear gloves this time and see how that goes.

Another issue is the spores-I got them in person at a shop here..and who knows how long they sat around for..and I also paid way too much for them..so I am going to get more online but I still have the golden teachers left so I might as well try them. Spores are cheap and by the time I try again and either fail or succeed I should be able to get a pc anyway..
 
GratefulDad said:
Another thing, just because you don't see anything in the jar growing, doesn't mean it's not contamination. Many bacterial infections can be invisible to the naked eye, and will prevent jars from starting or completing. Bacterial infections you can usually smell, however, I wouldn't open the jar and take a big whiff. If it's been weeks with no growth, I'd guess they aren't going to work..

The whole fractional sterilization works for some, not for others. So much depends on your precise climate, that little tweaks are often needed to any method, like when you move to a new area. Fractional sterilization works much of the time, but some bacterias and fungi need to hit that higher temp to really destroy them. That is why a pressure cooker is necessary if you really want to be sure you are sterilizing properly.

It is also possible that the syringe was contaminated from the beginning, but it's hard to know for sure. When all the jars go bad from a single syringe, I generally think syringe, but I have a lot of experience with growing, and know my techniques are generally very good.
Click to expand...

Ya I had hoped you would see this thread because I know you know what you are doing. I will just get rid of the 3 jars I have left and start again. Reguarding my climate, it is humid here in the PNW due to it being a rainforest..not sure what effects that could have on my tek but maybe it makes contam more possible?..
 
high humidity supports a lot more microbes, so the probability of contamination in ur area is probably higher. i don't think the problem is in your growing methods/techniques; sounds like a contaminated syringe.
you should make your spore syringes (if you're making them from prints) super concentrated for faster/successful colonization.
 
I got spores from fsre.nl , they were free. The last company I sent an MO never received it and never responded so I figured free was the way to go.

I bought pre-sterilized rye bags (1lb each) from ebay, for pretty cheap.

Haven't got the time/space to try it out yet, but if the print is good, hopefully all goes well.

Good luck.
 
I've had similar problems, fractal, and the two things that helped were switching to grain (brf never worked for me) and getting different spores. Even just different strains from the same supplier changed it up... buy something you KNOW others have had success with.

Have you checked out getting a used pressure cooker? I got mine for about $10 at a thrift store.
 
And if it's any consolation, I too once thought there was no hope, that some horrible god had cursed me with the inability to birth fungus. Mycological barreness is a terrible thing to think about... but there IS hope! It's sooo worth it in the end.
 
I found a pressure cooker for like 5 bucks at a local junk shop. keep your eyes open you may get lucky.
it took a while with alot of failures along the way to finally get the hang of growing mushrooms. Its very tricky,
I remember increasing the odds by inoculating alot of jars. You have to be insane with steralization.

Tyvek paper on the lids, also using silicon on the inoculation hole was a good tip. Also a layer of dry vermiculite at the top of the jar. I remember using lysol and oust like crazy on everything. I think you can't be too careful when dealing with potential contaminates. I would double check your procedures, including where you are inoculating the jars. I remember doing it in front of the oven set to warm. I was obsessed with it for a few years until i finally scored. what a thrill it was to finally get a real flush of mushrooms after so many discouraging failures . Good luck to you
 
One of my sons that lives out of state grows cubensis from the pf tek method. (My other sons live here in Florida and we dont even bother growing them here, just hunt them ourselves.) I'm not sure which exact pf tek it is but it never fails for him. He also doesn't use a pressure cooker, just boils them on the stove.

I'll try to find out his exact tek and maybe you can compare it to yours?

Could be any number of things. Hope you get it right soon. :d

Regards,

SA
 
I am still on probation from PM or else I would PM you. So here is the scoop. All spore syringes are CONTAMINATED, spore vending is an unregulated business and it is hard (very hard) to take a clean print.., so you ain't getting a clean print nor a clean syringe. What you are getting is an non-sterile spore syringe with a guarantee that it is sterile. So if you don't order from any other vendor and you don't order any other syringe (other than the 2 I just mentioned) then you will have a chance.

Moving on to problem number 2. So you cant afford a Pressure Cooker. Those things cost $30 on craigslist. If you don't have $30 you might want to just quit now. Or if you want to continue sell the old Plasma. Next you will have to order the syringes. That will be another $45. Now you may have to pawn your IPOD.

Moving on to problem number 3. You are innoculating from syringe to jar in a non-sterile environment. Just because you cant see all the millions of spores, viruses, mold and bacteria in the air doesn't mean they are not present at 10,000 ppm. So when you open your jar lid to put the needle down there and spore in; you will let them all in as well. And that top layer of vermiculite that protects you.., It wont.


The best advice I can offer you is to trade you 42" Plasma for a HEPA Filter.
 
SnozzleBerry said:
Enoon said:
SnozzleBerry said:
My advice would be, if at all possible, get a pc.

I never did brf jars or pf-teks...I just got a pc and went straight to grain. Any contam problems I've had have been either do to assembling my jars wrong (putting tyvek inside the lid instead of outside cuz I was stoned) or natural contams after a flush or two.
Click to expand...

I always had the tyvek inside my lids and never had any contams...
Click to expand...
Did you shake your jars at any point?
Click to expand...

yes repeatedly... I used several layers of protection though, tyvek inside, then polyfill, then two coffee filters on top. maybe that helped...

fractal yes wear gloves!!!!
before working with mushrooms I always put on fresh clothes, washed my hands with anti-bacterial soap, then sprayed myself down with disinfectant stuff for textiles that I found in a drugstore, then used ipa on my arms and hands, put gloves on, used ipa on them too. wore a hair net and a mask, and did everything in front of a HEPA flow hood. Maybe you can ommit the flow hood but the rest I would def. recommend, since it just takes a little time, not 400$ worth of equipment, and must know that you are a walking host for all kinds of micro-organisms!
 
Back
Top Bottom