48 replies to this topic

[Micogi]

Heidy Ho Myco Community!

 

So I'm a first time grower and chose a grow bag as my medium.

 

I started with a mini-bag from Out Grow and a Super Strain Koh Samui syringe from PS.

 

I inoculated the bag using the recommended 4-5cc's of spore juice.

 - I may have not shaken the syringe hard enough, I noticed numerous specks in the cap unscrewing it.

 

After a couple weeks the bag was colonizing, per the instructions, I mixed the rye layer in at what looked to be 50% colonization.

 - However, after I started mixing the layers, I noticed what looked like 50% colonization was much less as it seemed to all be up against the side. So I'm thinking I maybe mixed to soon, which probably just lengthens the process, but maybe I also should have used more spore juice and tried to spread it more evenly in the bag.

 

After a couple more weeks, the bag was colonizing nicely, I cut the top of, spritzed it a couple times with water, folded the top over and clipped it. Shortly after I started seeing white fuzz in spots on the top. Starting to worry it was mold, I frantically started searching, even joining here.

 - Think I cut the bag too soon, but fairly certain it's not contaminated as from searching it appears to be the colonization.

 

The colonizing is continuing, and I check it every morning, and every couple days I've opened it to air and give it a spritz.

 

Sorry for the long post, but from here, should I just leave it be until I see pinning? Do I need to spritz pre-pinning? Will it pin prior to being fully colonized?

 

Overall I'm pleased so far with the bag, but as a first time being uncertain, not very confident things are going well.

Thanks for any help or insight offered!

[MushLuvR]

You shouldn't need to mist pre-pinning unless your humidity is like Mine here and there and a LIGHT misting just to form beads is all.  Otherwise, if you see beads of water on the surface(walls have condensation), leave it alone, misting will only slow down pinning if it's already wet(overly wet equals Trich Heaven).  A picture would help out, but if it's contaminated, YOU will know... happens fast and that's all she wrote.  I doubt it is, sounds like a leave it be until pinning situation My Fungus Fella.  

Edited by MushLuvR, 18 October 2021 - 03:01 PM.

[Micogi]

You shouldn't need to mist pre-pinning unless your humidity is like Mine here and there and a LIGHT misting just to form beads is all.  Otherwise, if you see beads of water on the surface(walls have condensation), leave it alone, misting will only slow down pinning if it's already wet(overly wet equals Trich Heaven).  A picture would help out, but if it's contaminated, YOU will know... happens fast and that's all she wrote.  I doubt it is, sounds like a leave it be until pinning situation My Fungus Fella.  

 

Awesome, muchas gracias! I tried taking a picture, but really hard to get one that showed much of anything between the plastic and craptacular camera on my phone. 

So the pinning will start when it's ready, I don't have to do anything to induce it, yes?

I LOL'd at Fungus Fella...

[MushLuvR]

You said it's a bag, are you putting it in a tote or something, or how are you going to fruit it.  Does it look all the way colonized?

[MushLuvR]

Double Post

 

DETAILS(surface conditions.. Sounds like the All in One bags?)... can you DESCRIBE What Marsellus Wallace LOOKS Like...

Edited by MushLuvR, 18 October 2021 - 07:22 PM.

[Micogi]

Well, I can tell you what he doesn't look like!

 

Yeah, it's a grow bag, it's no where near fully colonized. I just pulled it out to try and take a pic and decided to try and mix it up a bit more in hopes of spreading what's there and saw just how little it's colonized. It looked more than what it was due to most of it being up against the plastic but very little beyond.

I'm thinking at this point I may just toss it and buy another bag, or grow it alongside this one.

Is there any point in trying to add some more spore juice to this bag? Maybe half the bag content so less to colonize? Is it possible what's there will die off before complete colonization?

Thinking maybe I'll get a small tub and scrape off the top layer of the bag and try letting it colonize then hopefully fruit.

 

Edit: Well, if I hadn't ruined it before, I may just have. I mixed it up some more, and noticed medium was looking pretty dry so I shot a couple sprays of water in and ordered another bag.

Edited by Micogi, 18 October 2021 - 09:29 PM.

[rockyfungus]

After a couple weeks the bag was colonizing, per the instructions, I mixed the rye layer in at what looked to be 50% colonization.

 - However, after I started mixing the layers, I noticed what looked like 50% colonization was much less as it seemed to all be up against the side. So I'm thinking I maybe mixed to soon, which probably just lengthens the process, but maybe I also should have used more spore juice and tried to spread it more evenly in the bag.

Didn't you have a picture of a bag in a bucket with LEDs? 

What was the initial stuff this bag was colonizing? Did you mix rye into it? Most of aren't fans of "growkits"

Best of luck and maybe consider cakes instead of bags. Bags are I'd say a bit trickier and not the typical progression for those learning the process. 

Edited by rockyfungus, 19 October 2021 - 01:23 AM.

[Micogi]

 

After a couple weeks the bag was colonizing, per the instructions, I mixed the rye layer in at what looked to be 50% colonization.

 - However, after I started mixing the layers, I noticed what looked like 50% colonization was much less as it seemed to all be up against the side. So I'm thinking I maybe mixed to soon, which probably just lengthens the process, but maybe I also should have used more spore juice and tried to spread it more evenly in the bag.

Didn't you have a picture of a bag in a bucket with LEDs? 

What was the initial stuff this bag was colonizing? Did you mix rye into it? Most of aren't fans of "growkits"

Best of luck and maybe consider cakes instead of bags. Bags are I'd say a bit trickier and not the typical progression for those learning the process. 

 

 

Yeah, that's me. I had the LEDs on based on searching around, pre-joining here, and found some people liked to have light cycles going during colonizing but  mostly didn't really seem to make a difference per the majority of what I found.

 

I'm not 100% on cakes, if you'd care to expand and/or post a link I'd appreciate it.

Having read your reply early this morning I decided to have a look around and found the Magic for the Masses tutorial, and the PF tek! I totally mistook it for a brand/product line for growers. But honestly, if not for bags I wouldn't be trying to grow at all. I'd love to learn the process via PF tek, but due to current living situation not really an option, resources, space, etc.

So I did get another bag, should be here today. Figure I'll give the bag another shot being I still have the remainder of my syringe.

Thanks, appreciate the honest candor.

 

Edit: Also, just for S&G's I'll keep the other bag going and see if anything comes of it being as far as I can tell it's not contaminated. I'm curious to see how resilient mycelium is! lol Pretty much looks like just a bag of dirt now...  

Edited by Micogi, 19 October 2021 - 11:51 AM.

[Micogi]

Part Duex: I got the second bag today and used the rest of my syringe, about 10ml. Instead of shooting it all in one spot, I moved the needle around so inoculate is more spread out. Noticing pooling on the bottom of the bag, I inverted the bag, careful not to disturb the top layer, I let the inoculate soak into the grain and gently massaged it to induce well distributed spores. I put it in my bucket, the t'stat is set to 77, and it keeps it between 76.4 and I've seen it up to 78. I also made a notation of inoculation date.

 

Differences from last attempt, I'd injected all the spores, I believe about 5ml, in one spot, and forgot to notate date and frankly I have a terrible sense of remembering past dates lol. Also, with the excessive spores and spreading, hopefully inoculation occurs more evenly in the bag vs very regional along one side of the 1st attempt.

 

As for the 1st bag, I've kept it, and I may be seeing new mycelium growth today so there may be hope for it yet.

[MushLuvR]

If it's coming back it's not contaminated and leave it be, you've mixed it more than you should of and it's still HERE.. Give it 5 days of just doing WHAT it does.  

[Micogi]

If it's coming back it's not contaminated and leave it be, you've mixed it more than you should of and it's still HERE.. Give it 5 days of just doing WHAT it does.  

 

Yeah, I was figuring this time instead of checking daily, I won't touch either for a week. No lighting this time either, complete darkness.

[MushLuvR]

Darkness OR ambient room light... doesn't matter, slightly faster colonization with SUM light, but it's not required AT all(and definitely NOT a 12/12 cycle).  I've thrown tubs in a closet(Many Moons Ago doing Mono's) and forgot all about them for a week, throw a blanket on top of it with old clothes to disguise it from my wife... back when I had to hide my sneaky projects. I can tell you from experience, don't sweat the small stuff, Light.. DARK... who cares... It's like the AGE old Liner debate, USE them or Don't, I don't these days, but I have in the past and usually do with Coco Subs.  I don't normally get side pinning with Manure subs personally, but in the grand scheme of it all...I could care less when I have a dehydrator full of beautiful fruits to Share and Share alike.  

[Micogi]

I turned the LEDs onto 40% brightness on a 12/12.

 

I didn't wait a week before checking as I'm going out of town for a few days so I checked them last night.

Bag 1 is definitely continuing to colonize, but may have some mold growth on the top. I'll let this play out a bit longer and check it when I get back and post a pic.

Bag 2 shows no indication of growth, which after just 5 days sounds to be typical.

Edited by Micogi, 25 October 2021 - 05:45 AM.

[Micogi]

So after getting back home I checked out my bags.

Bag 1 is continuing to inoculate, but not sure how good it is. Below are pics of the top, and a zoomed in pic, as well as a side shot. Around the sides I see several spots of inoculate growth but has a darker center. Not dark, but not white like its surrounding. Any input appreciated, but otherwise I plan on letting it go about it's thing.

Bag 2 is showing signs of inoculation in several spots.

Edited by Micogi, 28 October 2021 - 05:53 PM.

[TVCasualty]

 

Bag 1 is continuing to inoculate,

 

A minor point but "inoculation" is when you introduce spores or mycelium to growth media. The term for what you described is "colonize."

 

 

 

FWIW, never open a bag until it's fully colonized or you risk contaminating it to a degree that you would be very, very lucky if it didn't.

 

Same goes for adding water to it. The mycelium really doesn't need grain spawn to be "fully" hydrated to colonize it and work as spawn, and not being too wet helps prevent bacterial contamination so I advocate prepping grain on the dry side when making spawn. But for fruiting, maximizing the moisture content of the bulk substrate (coir, straw, manure) is key to maximizing yield. It's a tricky balancing act since if it's too wet it goes anaerobic and fails, but if it's get too dry the results are disappointing.

 

If a bag gets contaminated you might still get some mushrooms off it if you dump it outside (temperature permitting, and not if it's too nasty/far gone) and let it get rained on or soak it with the hose if it's not raining much. It also helps to mulch it with some straw or leaves. I do this with all my trays whether they contaminate or are just spent since I can usually get a few more ounces from them after chucking them in the yard (or any at all from the contaminated subs).

 

Good luck!

Edited by TVCasualty, 28 October 2021 - 06:38 PM.

[Arathu]

^^^^^^^^^ Follow what TV is saying.....it's absolutely spot on........I'll add....

 

Inoculate a sterile substrate in bag and knead/distribute the inoculant and then you can leave it alone until 100% colonized if you want.....you'll learn when the bags are running and to what percent by doing them IME.... 

 

Vigorous mycelium doesn't seem to care if it's broke up small it takes off anyway....

 

A

Edited by Arathu, 28 October 2021 - 06:53 PM.

[Micogi]

Thanks guys. It's been a learning curve, 2nd bag is definitely not getting opened until I see pinning! lol

The 1st bag I was just taking another quick peak at, there are several small shrooms up against the plastic with the longest being about 1/2". They are further down in the bag where it's fairly well colonized while the upper portion of the bag isn't.

 

I'll give the 1st bag another week and see how it's looking then may try dumping it out in to a fruiting chamber/Tupperware and see what happens.

 

2nd bag I'll let colonize well beyond the 1st one before I mix it.

 

Edited by Micogi, 31 October 2021 - 09:12 PM.

[Micogi]

So here's what I ended up doing with the 1st bag. I bought a 20qt & 10qt bin at Walmart, inverted the 10qt on top of the 20qt and made a couple holes along a long side. I threaded nylon line through these and it acts as a hinge to ease opening to air and water. Initially I cut the top off the bag, inverted it in the container and pulled the bag off. This was somewhat unstable so I broke it in half.

I got some LED strips and hot glued them top the top and then covered with foil to keep light in and reflect down. After further thought I decided to break down what I had and spread it out to better dampen the medium. As it was, even constant spritzing would only wet the outer of the medium, but breaking it down would be easier to ensure medium is moist enough to promote growth. I added the LEDs as where the FC is located, it doesn't get any natural light, and room light would be severely one sided. Plus TVC's post above led me to the determination to crumble it down to layer the bottom. I think I'll leave the LEDs on for a couple days to encourage what growth had started to grow towards the light. I also put a small hole in the bottom so excessive moisture isn't trapped, I used a bottled water/peroxide mixture to initially dampen it w/o soaking and will spritz it over the next few days or so until the medium looks to have a good moisture presence. The peroxide hopefully should help with any minor contamination that may be trying to get on my shroom train.

Edited by Micogi, 02 November 2021 - 07:27 PM.

[Micogi]

Woot, 1st "bag" is coming along. While not really a bag in the purist sense any more, I'm seeing some growth! I posted a pic in culti-vation pic of the day.

 

I'm feeling my way through this ever changing grow experience experiment. Not being sure how to keep humidity high enough, or what I interpret as essentially keeping medium moist enough to support growth, I have the FC sitting on a lid as a dish and I bore a hole in one of the corners so any excessive moisture will drain out. This morning I noticed a minor amount of standing water in the opposite corner and thinking I'll put a hole in each corner.

 

Each morning, all 2 or 3 so far, I've been giving the FC several spritzes of water, a couple to the bottom and a couple around the sides/lid. I saw somewhere for keeping humidity high it said as long as you can see moisture on the sides you're probably good. 

https://mycotopia.ne...10#entry1494222

 

Edit: So while I am seeing some growth, it primarily seems to be on the one side so I have no idea how flushes will go. And that's given it goes beyond where it's at now. Kind of fumbling in the dark here as I don't think it'll flush in the typical way but maybe one long flush. Thinking I'll keep the medium moist and pluck as they're ready.

Edited by Micogi, 04 November 2021 - 07:51 AM.

[Micogi]

While growth is continuing, looks like I need to spray it a little more frequently than once a day as the substrate(?) still appears dry beyond the surface.

I'm kinda wishing now that I'd dunked the whole enchilada prior to putting it in the FC.

It doesn't readily absorb water, it more runs off. I'll probably seal the drain holes I'd made, allowing some water to collect in hopes of better absorption.

 

Any suggestions on keeping it better moisturized appreciated. Before moving into FC, I'd looked for perlite locally but could only find the Miracle-Gro variant.

Edited by Micogi, 05 November 2021 - 09:20 AM.