55 replies to this topic

[BuckarooBanzai]

Pretty much. LCs take longer to finish, they need daily shaking and there is no way to know if they are clean until they are tested. And the nutritional value of popcorn is infinitely better than that of sugar water.

Popcorn slurry jars finish faster, they only need to be shaken twice and the shaking proves they are clean. You can see any nasties growing before you inoculate anything.

Finally, you can get about 3 pints of slurry from pint of jar of popcorn. Ya can't get 3 pints of LC from a pint jar without using a pocket dimension generator...

The only down side is that slurries need to be used quickly whereas you can store an LC in the fridge.

Of course, you can also store a popcorn jar in the fridge longer/safer than an LC because of the more complete nutritional profile.

So yah, I haven't played with the LCs heavily in quite a while.

[MLBjammer]

Gosh, thanks for the thorough response.

Two more question: Have you done long-term storage of the pint popcorn jars? I am guessing you let the grains dry out (as in Fahtster's tek) and then put the jar/s in the refrigerator? Honestly I am just wondering if the pint jar lasts as long as the half-pint with a small amount of grain in them (which I have kept for up to a year).

[Faithjuice]

I think this is a great Tec and strategy for growing mushrooms. it could be the default method. I'm trying it myself at the moment, as well as the benefits outlined, I am using this method as a means to isolate contamination from a dodgy syringe.

I'm using small 150 mL jars, experimenting with grain to grain transfer from contaminated jars, these should be quick to fully colonise. I only need one of these small jars to grow clean and to produce 20ml of slurry. to my mind a hugely better strategy than waiting two weeks for very old spores to germinate. Thanks Bucka

[hyphaenation]

Just came across a variant of this tek using BRF jars. Its not quite a slurry , but is a form of mycelium syringe.

http://archives.myco...html?1077458711

[BuckarooBanzai]

I have never stored a grain master longer than six months, so I couldn't say for certain. But it should store the same as the smaller jars you have worked with.

Six-eight months has been kind of my default established "this culture has gone long enough" point. I have had a couple that slowed down before that, but only a couple. Most are still quite robust at six months.

[BuckarooBanzai]

Just keep going back and expanding from the original master.

If you clone from a clone from a clone...slowdown and contams set it.

Always work from 3-5 original masters (sometimes they contaminate) and you can't go wrong.

[Buzztea]

great writeup--


love your easy to do total overkill style..

specially your spawn and substrate in a sterile bag tek..love it..

I used destilled water with a little peroxide for years and stored it long time too...they worked great..


small idea you can fill the jar only half way BUT add some broken glass to it..try it...you all overkill so more overkill maes it just better

then the glass helps to get more mycellium into the slurry..


(i did it similar, but with more steps (passed the grain master into a jar with water and glass)


but no reason not to do it all at once..

[peakster]

Gonna have to try this one out. Hope it works as good with rye.. Never had much luck with p-corn.

I always wanted to try that slurry tek that used a blender that had the same threads as pint jars... but i had no such blender.

This is much simpler, and everyone can do it.

[Buzztea]

hhi I never used a blender and used Rye grain..(as described with broken glass in a jar (sterile)..worked really good

[MLBjammer]

Gonna have to try this one out. Hope it works as good with rye.. Never had much luck with p-corn.

I always wanted to try that slurry tek that used a blender that had the same threads as pint jars... but i had no such blender.

This is much simpler, and everyone can do it.

Rye is too small and will clog your syringe. The advantage of popcorn is that the kernels are large.

There's no need for broken glass with this tek. Just a vigorous shake of the jar after water is injected will result in a very blue slurry. The slurry takes off fast, too.

[peakster]

After you have made the slurry and have a syringe full, how much slurry do you inject per jar? Let's say we are using 500ml (1 pint) jars.

With pint sized jars using rye, if i was innoculating them with LC I would use about 5CC per jar.. less if they looked a little wet to begin with, more if they looked dry.

I'm guessing it would be around the same amount with slurry?

[MLBjammer]

I would not inject more than 1 or 2 CCs per pint jar. The slurry is very dense with mycelium, and clean tissue will quickly grow in a sterile substrate. If you are inoculating grain jars, you most definitely want to be careful not to use too much slurry; the moisture content of each jar can easily be shifted to the wet side by using excess slurry. And wet generally results in bacterial contamination.

[5-hydroxytryptamine]

Slurry tek is the shit!!. I've had litre jars be nearly colonized in 4 days!!!

I use the simplified slury tek: 1. In a glovebox pour sterile water into grain master, shake, use table spoon to transfer 2 or 3 spoons of water and grain into blank substrate, shake like hell. 100% success so far. a little easier.

5htp

[peakster]

Anyone try it with rye grain yet?

[hyphaenation]

Peakster , yes it has been done. Tried it myself , seen others. Works great.

Edited by hyphaenation, 15 March 2010 - 08:57 PM.

[peakster]

I ask because there was an initial hesitancey towards using this slurry tek with rye grain instead of popcorn kernels.

Hyphaenation the community would love some pictures as reassurance, or atleast a quantitatilve report... amount of water added per jar size of rye grain.. something along those lines.

[hyphaenation]

I guess it depends on your defintion of slurry. Nothing is cast in stone. This thread is about mycelium syringes which Buckaroo calls slurry. Then there is TV's BRF slurry which blends the mass to a sludgey slurry.

When you ask "has anyone done this" do you mean ...

A: Injecting water into a jar of colonized Rye grain and sucking it back up. As done with popcorn in this thread.

or

B: Blending the colonized rye to a thick slurry like TV's.

I've tried both and as I mentioned Rye seeds float making it difficult , but not impossible to grind them to a paste. It is easy however to get water-born mycelium by shaking the Rye kernels in water.

[kcmoxtractor]

Yeah the oldest instance of this TEK on the internet that I have seen was done with rye grains.

[mushmonkey]

Very nice write-up, BB! :bow::love:

I've been meaning to try Fahtster's Tek. Read it a few months ago and was inspired by the results.

@BB: Question on your Popcorn Tek. What do you have at the bottom of your popcorn bags, just coir? Can you explain why you have them in separate layers like that? Thanks!

[akoutdoors]

Hey quick Q! All my colonized jars have polly filters for lids will adding the water be ok as long as I dont get the polly wet?
Can I do the slurry tex with poly lid jars?
thanks