38 replies to this topic

[Mycol]

I want to branch out and see if I can become a producer of oyster mushrooms and and a few others like shiitake and stropharia as well as cioppino/chestnut. I have all of these on agar and they seem to Be doing well . The shiitake was from a store bought specimen . All the others are from SW.

I have a few jars of oats in the pc right now for oysters and I think the cioppino will spawn on grain too .

I have to go get some hardwood pellets to turn into sawdust. Anything to watch out for when buying those pellets ? Any brands to buy or NOT buy ?

Edited by Mycol, 04 October 2021 - 02:09 PM.

[MushLuvR]

You are looking for Hardwood Fuel Pellets, I've used Traeger(too expensive, but works in a pinch), and Pit mainly(13 bucks 40lbs), but Still River Pellets are cheaper(less quality), 5 bucks a bag.  I just ordered some Pit Oak(Currently using the Competition Pit) and cheaper Pellets to mix and match(Winters coming and harder to find and or get on the Cheap).  20 bucks for 80lbs and I can pull roughly 20  5 - 6lb blocks per bag depending on my measuring(plus or minus).  So 40-45 blocks for 20 bucks plus Bran(Bulk Cheap).  I use Unicorn 3T .2 Micron Bags with a Zip tie.  

 

 

Edited by MushLuvR, 05 October 2021 - 04:31 PM.

[Mycol]

Thank you for the input I will check all that out .

[MushLuvR]

If you do oysters, you don't even have to supplement and sterilize.  Food for thought.  

[Mycol]

King oysters too ?

Definitely going after oysters .

I have space and plenty of wood around me to do Shitake . I’d like to get into chicken if the woods too ,

[Arathu]

I have found log and other outdoor culture methods to be very rewarding in the culinary department without even selling them......

 

Just eats......so far.....but I have plans too.....

 

Good vibes to the grows.......

 

A

[Mycol]

So I’ve got every type as posted above on agar that was put in pint jars as agar plates . Should I just add some grain spawn or saw dust over them ? Let them colonize that and expand from there onto either more grain spawn or onto sawdust or straw.

[rockyfungus]

That's the route I've taken lately as the pure laziness has overtaken me. I have lost a few grains to what appeared to be beautiful myc. Probably my normal contam rate, but I wonder if those plates should have been expanded to not lose a full plate. 

I've gone agar then dropped master's mix, grain, or naturscapes on top and expanded out to more wood. My recent work with Lions Mane is almost showing agar with grain on top in a thin layer and then as soon as you know that's colonized pouring all the grain on top. It appears it's kicking ass compared to a traditional jar. Only issue is lions mane seems to "colonize" and fruit at same time. So a lot of times the jars look behind and then boom fruits. I'll need to repeat with an oyster (cubes of edible world I guess)

 

Top to bottom (sorry bad photo): grain jar, agar with thin layer of grain, agar with thin layer of grain that colonized and then had more grain dumped on top (fastest). 

Edited by rockyfungus, 16 October 2021 - 08:33 AM.

[Mycol]

Anyone got a good saw dust pellet sub recipe or link for a brother ?

Also I checked on my grain jars and saw that I have myc spreading burn it appears whispy and not dense . Could this be from my grain being too dry ? Or is oyster, and chestnut mushroom myc just like that ?

Edited by Mycol, 17 October 2021 - 01:30 PM.

[rockyfungus]

Sorry dude...but what? Maybe a picture.

Sawdust is a bitch and changes depending on moisture. No batch has been anywhere near standard for me. So 6 cups sawdust to 5-7 cups water.

[MushLuvR]

Don't worry about the Wispy growth, that's normal for edibles(in general.... NOT overall) and isn't "Thick" like Cube mycelium.  Lions Mane is the sneakiest of them all, looks like it's GONE and your jar stalled and BAM... fully colonized and sometimes little puff balls already forming in the jar and or bag.  Chestnut will look a bit Reddish Orange after full colonization, they all have there differences, Turkey Tail gets a bit yellow or Shiitakes blocks are Messy with the Browning and when removed from the bag(drips).  They all have their quirks and nuances, I enjoy them ALL.  

 

I use BBQ fuel pellets(or mix in cheaper pellets for certain blocks) and I use20 cups of pellets to a gallon and a half of water(4 blocks at a time).  

 

The easiest Math is as follows:

 

5 Cups of Pellets to 1.4liters of water or if its easiest 1400ml(which is 5.9 cups... rounded to 6).  

 

Rocky hit it just about right, 6 cups(I do 5 full cups and blocks end up 5.6-5.8 lbs) would be at the higher end of 7 cups of water... then add your wheat bran or Rice Bran.  It will seem too wet(Let pellets sit and absorb water and expand), don't worry about that, I've done MANY blocks this way, NO issues.  I add the dry bran at the end once the pellets have absorbed up all or most of the water.  Then mix in the bran and it's perfect.  Sterilize for 2.5 hours.  

 

Edited by MushLuvR, 18 October 2021 - 10:15 AM.

[MushLuvR]

Here is an Example of Chicken of the Woods...

 

Beautiful Wispiness... 

Edited by MushLuvR, 18 October 2021 - 03:54 PM.

[Mycol]

Oh man MushLuvR I found a very past it’s prime COTW yesterday didn’t look like a tissue culture whoever been feasible .

You have to sterilize them longer because they’re so much bigger than a grain jar ?

I think I’ve got hardwood fuel pellets and not bbq pellets . I’ll have to see how these do and maybe I need to change.

[MushLuvR]

I fill my jars pretty full that's for sure, but NO... I sterilize Oats and Rye at 90 minutes, same with WBS way back when(it seems).  

[Mycol]

Sorry I meant you spend the extra time with sterilizing the wood pellets because they are bigger .

[rockyfungus]

Wood without bran, soy, etc only needs pasteurization. If you want to be extra careful, nutritious wood bags I run for 2-3 hours

[MushLuvR]

It's a ton of material to sterilize and with my cooker it's 4 bags at 5.5-6 lbs (almost 24lbs of pellets and bran), I could probably shave 30 minutes, from 2.5 to 2 hrs, but at that point, this has always worked for me and I would rather error on the side of more rather than Less.

Edited by MushLuvR, 22 October 2021 - 09:43 PM.

[Mycol]

Word gotcha, thanks for expanding guys .

My oyster and stropharia are doing well . My chestnut mushroom is coming along at a slower wispier pace . I’m probably going to expand the spawn with some grain to grain action soon .

[Arathu]

Yeah edibles are super fun to do too.....very cool stuff....

 

A

[Mycol]

What bags should you get from unicorn ? .2 micron ? I thought I had some notes on them .
Is there a bag I can use for fruiting oysters and shiitake as well as making spawn for stropharia ?