518 replies to this topic

[YoshiTrainer]

I make 3lb bags of grain. :)

[DonShadow]

If I do end up getting a freeze dryer though, I will definitely try it on a batch of myceliated grain and report the results.

I’d love to hear of the results. It may be difficult to objectively measure a difference in potency though. At the end of the day it’s a water extraction from mycelium grown on cheap kernels of grain. If you want to get fancy, filter it and simmer it down into a gob of honey or chocolate and it’ll be well-preserved, concentrated and pleasant-tasting.

[dantisocial]

I have a question, as this is my first time growing semp, and also first time growing for the myceliated grain itself. When growing out the semp grain, is it typical to have it start showing areas of discoloration? I'm about 2 and a half months in and I have some spots that are starting to look dusky. When I look close with a bright light, they don't look like contam, at least not like a mold. Still fairly smooth mostly white mycelium, no fuzz or visible spore transfer. Just kind of gray and the mycelium not nearly as bright white as they were, jars were uniformly white and well consolidated. Also getting some yellow/orange discoloration from metabolites, I did expect that. I also have 4 half gallon jars that I inoculated G2G from one of the jars from this generation, and they all look great, dense white mycelium, no signs of contam, though they are about 6 weeks behind these:

Edited by dantisocial, 27 May 2022 - 07:14 PM.

[DonShadow]

It’s quite typical to see even extreme discolouration. I’ve seen almost every colour of the rainbow in jars that are 2-4 months old. Most common is brown, yellow, amber, blue and even black. It will often start to look like something from a low-budget Cronenberg movie, and that’s totally normal, and actually a sign that you’ve got everything right. As long as it starts nice and densely white after the initial consolidation you are most likely in the clear. Feel free to post pics here and I’ll let you know if it’s a contamination or normal growth. I wish I could show you some of my jars that got particularly ambitious… very creepy looking! But those jars usually end up being the most potent. The grey in your photos will likely soon become blue.

[Severian]

Ahhhh! Excitement! Found a local source of semperviva in LC form no less! On the way! I get to start playing with this super soon

[Severian]

Question on semperviva mycellium growth in liquid culture- I inoculated three jars of liquid culture on 10/10- of. 4% karo solution , one with semperviva, one with Thai(can't remember rest of the name right now) one with pleurotus- citro...

Already the pleurotus LC is showing lots of growth, whereas both sv and the Thai no where near as much

I'm of the belief that pleurotus is just in general a far more vigorous culture, but I feel I should be seeing a bit more growth in the other lc jars.

I've been swirling 3-5 times a day since inoculation, at room temp here so around 65-82.

[DonShadow]

The semperviva could just be in a state of reduced vigour or dormancy due to being stored for too long. It’ll likely pick up and start growing more quickly, just give it time and keep shaking it to break up the mycelium and create exponential growth.

[dantisocial]

I think I may have tinkered too much before really establishing a successful baseline. The first jar I processed (pictured above), I didn't follow the tested process. My very inexperienced bioassay found it to be active but weak. Where I varied was briefly rinsing the myceliated grain in lemon juice before dehydration. The thought was that it would prevent a lot of the oxidation inherent in the drying process. I believe that prevented oxidation as intended, but it also had the unintended consequence of either degrading the active alkaloids or binding/changing polarity such that they don't extract nearly as easily in water. I have a couple other jars from the same batch that I will keep it simple with and see if it was just me overthinking things and screwing it up. 

[Severian]

Figured I'd post this here- as it's concerning a Semperviva Culture

 

 

I checked on an SV liquid culture the other day- (sitting in my fridge since I last inoculated my grain jars, 2 months ago) and the culture have.... Consolidated? If this is contamination I've never seen LC jars contam this way before.

 

First photo is the culture at rest- Second photo is a motion shot of the blobs (Which appear quite solid) swirling around. 

 

 

Edited by Severian, 14 December 2022 - 04:08 PM.

[YoshiTrainer]

Dantisocial, I'd save the lemon until extraction time not before dehydration. Hopefully your next jars are stronger! :)

Severian, some people grow aged semperviva/subtropicalis mycelium in LC. It forms a solid layer at the top of the LC that you can harvest. Other species will do it too. So most likely that is Subtropicalis myc clumping in there.

Edited by YoshiTrainer, 15 December 2022 - 01:45 AM.

[YoshiTrainer]

A 6 month old bag of Natalensis on WBR and pearled barley. The overlay is active, I'll be curious if aging increases that.

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[Severian]

You make it sound like 'aging' is a process initiated intentionally... Why would this be desirable?

[Severian]

/ for what purpose?

[YoshiTrainer]

Certain mushrooms have active mycelium like Subtropicalis and aging them seems to increase the amount of actives. Natalensis gets active overlay, hopefully that translates to all Natal mycelium being active. Secondly, hopefully aging will increase the strength. I'm also curious how long the mycelium will last before throwing a fruit or rotting.

[Severian]

Ahhh so the sv mycellium even in the lc is active your saying... Interesting.

I dehydrated my first round of sv a week ago- I was seeing some contamination in a few of the jars and pulled the plug 2 days under 2 months.

I've only had the chance to test it twice, and only with 1tbsp in tea both times, but it seems definitely less potent than 1g of cubensis ... Perhaps a longer run next time.

Sounds like I have to get me a natalensis culture!

Edited by Severian, 17 December 2022 - 09:27 PM.

[YoshiTrainer]

Yes, for certain mush like subtrop/semp, even the myc in the LC is active. I think Don recommended 3+ months if possible but in your case, just use more. You could lemon juice/water extract from your grain or mycelium puck (LC) then drink or make ice cubes, gummies, honey. I think pseudoaztecorum, natalensis and possibly caerulescens might work too. Cube myc is supposed to have MAOI and there might be something with azurescens but haven't gotten to it yet.

[Severian]

When aging the SC lc , should it be done in the fridge or Ambient temps? My room temperature here is around 84- highs of 90 lows of maybe 70

And for clarity, when you say 'lemon juice/water' extraction , you are referring to TWO SEPARate extraction methods , correct? Or is there a hybrid version of which I am unaware?

Edited by Severian, 18 December 2022 - 11:28 AM.

[YoshiTrainer]

Hopefully @Nichrome will see this, he has firsthand experience. When I would make jars of LC, I'd let them colonize then put them in the fridge. Over time they'd form dense floating islands of mycelium.

Water with lemon juice/citric or ascorbic acid (acetic in a pinch). You could follow the first part of the TEK then make ice cubes, gummies, honey or just consume it.


https://mycotopia.ne...k-for-cubensis/

[DonShadow]

Having tried all sorts of different grains and techniques, I’ve had greatest success using whole oats (with husk) incubated for 3-4 months and then dehydrated. Once dehydrated just simmer the grains with plain water (4 tbsp or 1/4 cup is a good starting point) for about 20 minutes and then strain. I use an aeropress without a paper filter to really squeeze all the liquid out. You can then do a second rinse or simply run it through the aeropress again with the paper filter to get rid of any gunk. I don’t usually bother with a second rinse. At this point you could freeze the material, make candies or add an herbal teabag for flavour if you plan so consume it right away. If done correctly this will result in a trip roughly equivalent to 3-4g cubensis. Works every time for me.