That is stunning. 
I shouldâve picked it when I took this pic, the veil had broken already but I waited 24hrs for some reason
24hr later
Man, initial pinset is my favorite moment in the whole process!
Kudos my guy!
Thanks.
I do love the seeing the first pins.
Getting close to game time here. Going to try taking a few spore prints from this batch for future use. Will also be using a dehydrator for the first time on my fruits.
A couple quick questions:
-
@420noob, how strong are these McKennaii? I was thinking of taking 4-5 grams once I get some fruits.
-
Can you make a spore syringe from a fresh spore print (i.e., not letting it dry out first)? If so, and I assume itâs ok to do, anything you have to do differently? Iâm assuming you could just skip the step of letting the syringe sit for a day or two to rehydrate the spores.
Fresh spore prints are often how spore syringes are made, but the challenge is sterility, as it always is with fungus. I did it with a fresh print (~24h) once succesfully. My theory at the time was the more time it was sitting around, the more contaminants it picked up, whether that was true or not.
Thatâs the same theory Iâm going off of. I figure fresh would be just as good, or better, than letting them dry and then using them.
Any other input on this from other members?
Waiting to hear the answers myself.
Been reading and thinking about trying to make spore syringes.
I did my first with a print from @420noob and it was super simple.
If youâre working with agar at all, just take straight from the print to agar. If youâre going to make BRF cakes, then yea make a syringe. Use the same cap to make several prints, but donât use the first one since thatâs where most of the contamination should have fallen. Do it all in a SAB and you should be fine. If youâre not going to store the prints long term, and putting them into syringes, then thereâs really no need to dry them out first. Sterile water would be key. Heck, if you stick a hook/pin/wire through the cap so you cans suspend it inside a jar (attached to lid/cover), let it hang in one empty jar for a couple hours, then transfer it over to a jar of sterile water to let it continue to drop spores directly into the water. Just need to be careful and not let anything touch the water or the insides of the jar. Even better if you have it on a stir plate to keep it mixing while the spores are dropping.
Hereâs a whole write up
Yeah, thatâs the tek I used to make my syringe.
Another in between step (edit:not directly from spore prints) that can be fun/useful is the slurry, canât remember the name of the tek, but using a sugary syrup like Karo in a jar, instead of substrate, it colonizes quickly, then you can inject syringes full of what is basically liquid mycelium into your actual substrate, and it colonizes very quickly. Also a good way to check for sterility without wasting substrate/as much time waiting- you usually know in 2-3 days instead of a week+
Spores to LC is a horrible idea, unless you grew the mushrooms invitro, there will be some contamination.
Yep or a plate pin. @randar another way instead of hook and string is use a cooling rack for cookies set on top of jar and let spores drop in that way you donât have an oops. The mckennai arenât super strong just a regular cube they seemed kinda heavy. Not in a bad way was just unmotivated kinda stuck in the couch. It really depends on you if you normally take 3-5 grams go for it they arent as strong as or so you should be fine.
hey all - hope you are all doing well! Seeing some beautiful mushrooms coming along, which is always nice to see and most certainly gives me hope 
So once again - thanks to @420noob for the prints but w have lift off with the Natalensis and the Texas Yellow Caps, the TYC are a bit behind so no pics today, but here are the nats as of this morning.
I have marked where I see contam, and also where I cut a bit out from another contam plate and put it to new - the one on the top right is clean and once it has filled the dish I will do a couple of transfer and see if I can get an LC started - woop woop
On another note - the oysters are fruiting, the Red Reishi is started to produce antlers which I will open the bag with a view to getting conks and the Shiitake are popcorning - I love this mycology stuff
With the weather warming up slightly I am hoping I have more luck with the Nats and TYC than I have thus far with the Cabodians and GTâs - they worked but good most certainly have been a lot better
have a good one 
Looking good Iâm glad to see that! The nats are perfect for summertime they seem to love the heat.
I suppose I forgot to explicitly mention I didnât mean directly from spore, hence the âanother in-between stepâ part of the post. Was replying what was above, regarding plates. The multi-quote system here is way over my head.
Does anyone know where to get pre sterilized grain bags in Canada? I think I failed again, havenât been able to grow anything since I started doing my own grain. Canât seam to get this part right lol