59 replies to this topic

[MLBjammer]

Most of y'all remember my simplified version of the Chronic Tek. The Chronic Tek used quart size glass canning jars to fruit half-pint PF cakes, usually setting the jars on a grid to allow airflow through the four inoculation-sized holes, thus giving the cakes much more room to grow, allowing clean prints and producing fruits that look much more like terrarium-grown crops. The Chronic Tek is not what you want to use for large-scale production; it is for personal harvests and is stealthy and very low, low maintenance.

Well, I came up with the notion to make it even easier, so I use quart-size plastic storage containers (you can buy them at places like The Dollar Tree or find them in delis at grocery stores) for fruiting my PF cakes. You simply cut out four nail-sized holes in the lid of the container, place the cake on the lid, and cover both with the container. You now have a self-contained micro-climate, as the cake holds adequate moisture if dunked after birth and between flushes, produces enough humidity to maintain acceptable levels in such a vessel, and air is exchanged through the holes in the lid. You do not need a grid to ensure air exchange because the plastic jars are very light. So you can simply put them on a shelf and wait to harvest.

I have found that once in while you might have to wipe up a little moisture on the lids with a paper towel (pooling water invites competitors), and you can double end case if you so choose, but I would recommend taking the containers off and fanning them manually maybe once a day if you double-end case, as it can tend to get a little too wet inside, with the additional moisture and humidity from the casings. But the casings will help produce better flushes, so it is not a bad trade-off: a little more work for more shrooms.

I must note that my cakes are sterilized in a PC for 30 minutes at 15 PSI and colonized in traditional half-pint glass canning jars. The short, fat ones colonize faster and birth easier--if you can find them.

The pictures I have included are the Falbino strain, which has leucistic tendencies, meaning the pigmentation can be very light, and could produce an albino fruit every now and again. These cakes were inoculated from a multispore print that was at least 4 years old, so I was not sure if they would even germinate.

I have also noted that many of the pins begin with normal pigmentation and appear to bleach out as they mature. I had forgotten what strain I was growing and left these jars for a week in fruiting mode; when I looked in on them, I honestly thought the whole batch was horribly ruined by disease. Then I remembered that they were Falbinos. Sometimes I should really write things down, lol.

And the trip from these fruits is pretty strong as well, as I recall.

Thanks for taking a look, and just remember that you only need a small shelf space to pull off a rather nice harvest with this method.

Jammer

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[BlackPeter17]

Looking good! Making me hungry :)

[MLBjammer]

Thanks, man. Most of those have a few more days before harvesting. I am going to get some prints off this batch and maybe a clone or five.

Let me know if any of that writeup was vague or confusing. I am aiming it for new growers and would stress the fact that growing mushrooms successfully and repeatedly is not that hard. Many folks make the process sound more complicated than it ever really is.

I would also note in using this method, one could place a small fan indirectly pointed at the containers, and that will speed up the fruiting cycle a little.

One could also use pint-size storage containers for this method, by the way.

[Midnight_Mycologist]

Nice, I love the simplicity. I have used 3 liter pop bottles, this is getting smaller yet, and still works fine. 

[3S1]

Very nice. I might have to get into cakes after all. Seems like a quick, effective way to test prints & isolates & do generation selection, ect.. before going bulk.

 

Jammer, the air holes are on the lid under the cake? Does it make a difference if its directly under or more of to the edge do you think?

[MLBjammer]

Thanks, MM and 3S1 for the nice comments. Yes, it is better to place the air exchange holes closer to the edge of the lid, especially if you want to add casings, to allow plenty of area for the casing material and not blocking holes.

This is a wonderful method to get very clean prints, tissue, and to test LCs and whatnot. Once you have a nice isolate going, this approach can produce a surprisingly large amount of fruits with almost no effort, which is the real beauty of it.

[Awakening7]

Looking good. Huge bonus not having to load a tub with perlite. I officially hate the stuff now!

[hyphaenation]

You can have you're cake... and eat it to! Nice cakes bro.

[MycoDani]

Luv them cakes very nice my friend!

 

Simplicity and awesomness at its best!

[the_chosen_one]

good to see a Falbino grow i like those containers. right up my alley when i don't have time to maintain a GH. bet you could get some exotics to grow using this method.

[MLBjammer]

Thank you Awakening, Dani, Hyph and TCO. Yes, not having to use perlite is my not-so secret goal in life, lol,

TCO, I wonder how Zap or Semperviva would do in the plastic containers? As long as it has a casing, it would shift into fruiting mode, right? Man, you just gave me a few ideas. Bless that big brain of yours!

[BlackPeter17]

I really want to grow some pans but don't have the experience it seems necessary to be successful. I looked at the simple innoculate, case an fruit from the same container a few times. The problem is making an environment to fruit the container in for me not mixing ingredients (however I'm still unclear as to how much MS to use per container) I'm trying to think of a way that you could use a smaller PP5 inside a plastic quart or maybe even 2 plastic quarts taped together. Has this been done successfully before?

-edit-
After putting more thought into this I'm thinking a major set back would be standing water. I noticed drops on my cakes with the plastic container grow. Maybe if one could develope a mini water shield to protect the sub from water droplets this could work.

Edited by Direwolf13, 06 March 2014 - 09:24 AM.

[MLBjammer]

Waylitjim's pan jars; very simple, very effective: https://mycotopia.ne...s-pan-cyan-tek/

Edited by MLBjammer, 08 March 2014 - 01:17 PM.
Providing a link to a tek

[PsyBearknot]

So only 30 min at 15 psi vs the old standby of 90 min at 15 pis??? That's awesome and makes several runs of jars possible in a day.

Would a hole in the top (actual bottom of the container) assist in air flow??

I bet that would be a perfect set up for fruiting the sclorita producers since they tend to be a lot smaller of a mushie.! Wishi I had one of those Chico nindo prints that was running round a while back.

[MLBjammer]

Yes, I have done 30 minutes at 15 PSI for cakes for a lot of years. I have very few contamination issues, mostly when cakes are spent and I forget about them.

I don't know if a hole in the top would be helpful or not. I never tried it. I think that it would allow too much air exchange and make the micro-climate less effective, but that is only an educated guess.

Yes, these jars are good for sclerotia; I know that as a fact.

The biggest attraction to this method is the lack of maintenance involved. It is almost complete neglect, and it works.

I will post more pics in the next day or two as the first flush proceeds on the Falbinos, which are weird and fascinating cubies.

[the_chosen_one]

 

 

 

all grown in similar containers psilocybe zapotecorum. 

[MLBjammer]

Those are incredible pics. I think I got a little high just looking at those. I am going to see what this method can accomplish with Semperviva, and I expect the results will be at least decent.

[BlackPeter17]

Must try fruiting exotics in containers, must try :)

On a side note I wonder if it is important to the newb to weigh the costs to make a decision of what their first grow will consist of. If dollar values are not discussed at least allude to:

Cost of pre-made jars, spores from mycro, SGFC, and perlite, tub, And hygrometer/thermometer
Vs
Cost of PC, spores from mycro, ingredients for cakes, jars, and plastic containers.

The difference may be negligible, however the second option will yield better results, stress free, and recyclable/reusable materials. Just a thought but I think that's an issue that was on my mind at one point.

Edited by Direwolf13, 07 March 2014 - 07:20 AM.

[3S1]

There is a persistent mysteriousness. To the art of the shroom. Like alchemists of old. The steps themselves feel sacred. Making them too simple almost feels like blasphemy. Don't mind me... This is a good thread.

[MLBjammer]

No blasphemy intended here.  I have a deep spiritual respect for mycelium.  There is still a bit of work involved, but the fruiting stage is a neglect phase, which is part of my obsession with invitro growing.  I have also run some grows that I could not check on every day, and that plays into to this in a very large way.

 

Thanks for the responses.  I will update some pics tonight, I promise.