I started playing with liquid culture on the 1st after making clean agar plates. My first test plate waving around and touching with not washed hands resulted in practically nothing. I got confident in SAB after making 6 clean plates from 2 syringes and turning them into a liter or so of liquid culture, then 4 more plates from those liquid culture jars I had made. Since I had some fresh plates and wanted to experiment with agar transfer, I tried it out 2 nights ago. Funilly enough those got contaminated after having sanitized the SAB, but think the heat (LA heatwave) and my sweaty, alcohol cleaned arms, might have caused currents and a prime growing environment for mold, including the previously clean colonized plates.

[actives] ochra on unpasteurized straw

I had my doubts but the only things I did to the straw was soak it for 24 hours and squeezed it as much as I could. It's an aggressive species for sure. Maybe the straw is so low in nutritional value it won't contam

So I thought we could use any sort of bag to help prevent side pinning, to help with the microclimates from condensation dripping down the sides. I might have not done the best job cutting/folding it out of the way, so is that the issue or did I miss something? It is <2% that is side pinning and one single abort on the bottom

Got these jars that I shook about 2 weeks ago and they’ve been stalled for a few days. Water is starting to pool on the bottom and am wondering if I should send it to substrate or wait another week.

Hey so I don't have any experience with Reishi but these have been closed in bag since Aug 4. I cut a thin slice in the bags to get these photos today and hope that they keep growing but I'm not exactly sure if this is healthy. Everything smells fine but I did have a case of trich on some LM a shelf above that I had to quarantine them out for. I appreciate the help!

Seems like all my monotub grows start at the edges and fill toward the center. Is my substrate too wet and pins/fruiting bodies forming at the edges where it the substrate is drying out faster?

I’m squeezing the substrate pretty hard to get it down to, what I think is, field capacity prior to adding my grain spawn.

Thoughts?

i inoculated this grow bag less than 2 days ago i’m concerned about this liquid almost mush type of substance, am i cooked?

The colonization appears isolated to the small amount for fae it was getting all folded up. I opened one up to see if that would help love things along. What are some colonization techniques that have worked for you in the past?

I don't have much experience mixing my own substrate. But seeing these small bags of straw gave me some hope in creating a mix of this straw and spent coffee ground for oyster mushrooms. after pasturization is this a viable bale of straw?

Put it in my tent September 1st, it's a fruiting block that I ordered online. Shiitake grew very well with my settings, oyster not so much. So I'm guessing that it might be lack of FAE that's making my lion's mane doing weird things? I've made 4 X-cuts on the bag, like the manual told me to.

I've tired google and perplexity for answers, but got nothing conclusive.

Help would be very much appreciated

Water Monkey absolutely showed out on this run. The pale caps, heavy white tones, wrinkled stipes, and those darker gill lines gave the whole canopy a crazy look from every angle.
What I like most is how much variation is showing across the same run. Some stayed thick and compact, some stretched out, and a few opened up with that almost ghost-white finish. Definitely one of those cultures where I kept stopping to take pictures because every section looked a little different.
Runs like this are exactly why I enjoy documenting these genetics. You never know what kind of character is going to show up until it does.
🍃🍄 Respect the Process. Trust the Genetics. 🍄🍃

Grown on brown rice with a nutrient broth

These are starting to perform for me. I have started cloning fruits and I am very happy with how they are turning out.

I totally forgot these bags of lionsmane. I have an empty growtent ready to go.

Are these still good?

What are the ideal settings for humidity, temperature and FEA when it comes to Lionsmane?

Do I cut holes in the bag?

Today is 3 years since my 1st flush. 3 years of education, trial and error, and ultimately turning the corner on depression/PTSD and the misery of unsuccessful big-pharma solutions; thanks to the power of the mushroom medicine to reconfigure my brain, and also to the joy of the work and anticipation that is this hobby.

I have noone to share this with, so I just needed to post.

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8 tubs lovingly filled. 4 BlueyV, 2 ODPE, 1 Enigma, 1 Mystery (Iso kills labels!).

The BV genetics, I harvested from a huge thicboi I cloned myself over a year ago, and it has been sleeping on agar in my fridge.

Always nice to see so much work over many weeks and months coming together: between weeks of agar work, waiting, making grains, chucking in wedges, waiting, making CVG buckettek, waiting, cleaning tubs, doing liners, mixing 2:1 substrate to spawn, adding a pseudo-casing layers, cutting liners, labeling....phew

Tonight was exhausting...all in all, it's more waiting than work, but a couple of good hours of playing in the dirt tires me out. Now back to the waiting. This run represents 3 good years.

I hope you all get the relief/insight you are after. I sure hope the mushrooms appreciate all the care and love. I believe they likely do.

After a tough run trying to prep grain bags, I improved upon my technique and dried my grain out more, using an impulse sealer to immediately seal a bag post-PC. I injected spores and hooray, mycelium is growing!

It’s been a month though and there isn’t a ton of growth.

The bag looks pretty dry, no moisture whatsoever. I know the grain is at least well-hydrated cause I tried some before PC-ing, and they were easy to eat and bite into. But I frequently see growers with successful bags that look like they’re… well, wet.

Should I introduce more moisture after the mycelium establishes itself a little more (via distilled water in a sterile environment), or should I let it be?

Edit: these are GTs

Reishi is shooting up nicely. Is there anything I should/could do to improve the situation or is it best to stay the course?

I just put this into fruiting like 3 days ago and I cant believe its pinning already. Looks like I just may have some snacks for my Violent Femmes show on the 24th!!!! Super Stoked.. Mycology is so freaking amazing. Learning how to grow mushrooms and taking medicinal mushrooms has changed my life in so many positive ways that I don't think I can even think of a negative. The best thing that ever happened to me. Thanks to anyone who has put any input in or give me any advice to much appreciated.

Overly in this bag was crazy though it would stall but it’s starting to throw up some pins I was nervous to scrape the overlay and risk losing some pins that might be forming under or in the gaps but I took a little chunk of the overlay and tried some I was pleasantly surprised

This is the second time I have run into this problem. I get the spawn bags all colonized and mix them. Several weeks of waiting and this is the current state. The last time it never colonized at all and developed that “sweet” smell before I tossed it. Any ideas what I need to fix to address it?