One of the biggest points of concern amongst the newbies is, “WHAT SHOULD IT LOOK LIKE????” I got some good feedback on the last photo essay I published on PF cakes. If you haven’t seen it, take a peek:
[broken link]
Based on that, I thought a similar essay on bulk substrates might be useful. So, I took some pics of my FOAF’s latest work and collected them here.
A few things to be aware of:
1> This is an isolate (a damned good one) and grows quickly.
2> My FOAF spawns at a very high rate, usually 1:3 (spawn to substrate), so it grows very quickly. Popcorn is damned cheap, after all.
3> This project was incubated at 81F, so it grew quickly.
The point here is pretty simple: this project grew very quickly. Your results will probably be a little slower (or maybe faster, my FOAF ain’t no mycologist). This essay is not meant to show you exactly what your project will look like at a given time. The idea is to give you an impression of what your project should look like as it progresses – the time frames can vary a LOT. Don’t freak if yours goes a little slower!
The spawn (popcorn) and bulk substrate were prepared following the process outlined in my Buckaroo Bulk Nugget thread:
https://mycotopia.ne...-½-gallon-jars/
After spawning, the bulk substrate was incubated at 81F with a very loose fitting aluminum foil cover. The popcorn was prepared in a medium sized pre-sealable spawn bag from Sporeworks.com and inoculated with 60mL of liquid culture.
The strain is B+ (originally acquired from Sporeworks.com).
So, without further adieu, the essay…
Substrate just spawned:
Substrate at 1 day:
Substrate at 2 days:
Substrate at 3 days:
Substrate at 4 days:
Substrate at 5 days:
Substrate at 6 days:
Take note of the metabolites (yellow “mycelia piss”) starting to accumulate in certain spots. This is perfectly normal and nothing to be concerned about. Sometimes my FOAF pours it off (when he notices it) and sometimes it is left sitting (when he is lazy). It is probably better to pour it off but leaving it alone isn’t a guarantee of failure.
This project will be incubated for an additional 48 hours to let the mycelia penetrate the substrate as fully as possible. The additional incubation is NOT required, but my FOAF feels that it helps. He also lets cakes go 48 hours after full colonization before introducing light.
PLEASE BE AWARE: these pictures are a mixture of the best images of a couple of different projects that were run at the same time (same isolate, same substrate, but different containers). If you note a little variance, that is why.
So, there you have it. Questions?
Edited by Sidestreet, 02 October 2016 - 03:53 PM.
