Are you letting your PC vent for a while before building up pressure? Jars or bags? How long are you running it?
3 Likes
@Seamonkey84 Yup, I let the pc vent then took to 15psi for 2 hours. Let pressure drop on its own then let cool.
Been using mason jars. I had a little filter in one hole in the lid and self healing injection port. The grain was heavily soaked with the filter ports because it would poke through the tinfoil so I took those out and covered the hole with micropore tape. The jars came out looking perfect. I was pretty sure I would have better luck this time.
8 Likes
Those whole oats? You can PC for 2 hrs and donāt burst? I PC my oats 45 mins in quart jars. Have you tried different grains. What do you mean havenāt been able to grow? Are your jars contaminating or just not colonizing? How are you inoculating liquid culture, agar, spore syringe? If spore syringe have you tried more than one can get duds. If spore syringe put drop in agar and see if it grows. There is a lot of different factors it could be besides the grains. Answer some of these questions will be able to give better answer.
These guys are have been around a long time. If you are in Canada just Google presterilized mushroom substrate and spawn. I think you can get on Amazon in Canada actually
6 Likes
I am really pleased with the Nats - the transfers worked and they are growing nicely on the Agar, on to grain soon 
I know the feeling, it got me so down trying to get my grains to take - keep at it and you will get it, just make sure you document your fails then it happens - when it works stick with the ratios you used and off you go 
The Shiitake bags have popcorned - its looks crazy
11 Likes
Since I been making my own grains I havenāt gotten anything to colonize. The last time I was successful was when I got pre made. I went through close to 20 lbs of rye grain and it wouldnāt colonize at all then would eventually just go funky. This round I took my time and was very careful and patient I thought i did a good job this time. After they were cooled I put the jars in ziplocks and removed all air to avoid contam while I waited for the LC. 24 hours after inoculated 2 jars had some green spots. I havenāt checked today yet but I will post some pics later. I use LC, I made a jar of my own of tidal wave and Iāve bought several other LC.
I wanted to try north spore but they are USA. I figured shipping wouldnāt be worth it.
I found a few places in Canada but no reviews. I was getting them from a place thatās shut down now
5 Likes
Those oats look too dry. Boil/simmer them for 15-20 mins, drain and air dry, then load into jars. Otherwise, use these ratios for no prep grains, but you need to shake the jars while theyāre still hot to evenly distribute the moisture after the PC
5 Likes
@Seamonkey84 Thatās what I did. Thereās humidity in the jars and I can see nastys growing. I just checked today and they are all garbage 48 hours after inoculation.
Starting to feel like a bit of a dumbass for spending money on something I have no experience with lol
8 Likes
Literally everybody has trouble with colonizing their first initial substrate. Even if you do it āperfectlyā, itās basically like the ājumpā simulation in The Matrixā¦ even Neo wonāt make it the first time.
Before my first successful bulk spawn run, I had seen Trichoderma, Lipstick mold (beautiful!), black molds, and cobweb moldā¦I was a fungal expert long before I managed to fruit cubensis!!
Youāll find the way that works for you, and itāll get easier, but the reality is: we are creating a nutrient rich environment where MANY organisms would love to grow, the trick is to figure out the best way for the one we want to get a head start.
Keep trying brother, itāll all be worth it I promise
9 Likes
BTW @Kushking902 I also used wheat berry, because thatās what āproāsā use, but the grain that ultimately gave me the most success? Cheap, untreated wild bird seed.
6 Likes
I think I should have started off making grain first instead of buying pre made. Getting a successful run of Jedi mind fuck and tidal wave right off the hop made me feel over confident I think lol this whole grain situation has definitely knocked me down a few pegs
3 Likes
Honestly Iāve had great success (only one instance of contam during my 3rd run, and then only on three jars out of 20+) using BRF jars and a no-PC tek for āsterilizingā them.
3 Likes
Iāll definitely be buying a pre made spawn bag when I do a run. My thought: Right now Iām not trying to be a great grain sterilizer, Iām trying to grow mushrooms; I want the most reliable path to the fruits!
Iāve never grown pan cyan, and Iām ultra curious about their legendary potency!
5 Likes
The place Iāve bought my genetics and grain bags that worked really well is closed now. Thatās why this disappoints me so much, I canāt find a place in Canada that has them with good reviews. Iād really like to figure out my grain issues and also find a reliable Canadian source
4 Likes
For personal runs you could always make a few pints of PF Tek brown rice flour and verm, inoculate with LC and then crumble it into your bulk substrate when colonized. With PF, the smaller quantity of substrate, and increased surface area generally allow the mycelium to colonize before contams can get a foothold.
5 Likes
Iāve never tried that stuff yet. Whatās the big difference between that and the grain?
I know it usually gets fruited from the little blocks
3 Likes
Instead of whole grain you use brown rice flour, or you can put brown rice in a mill or food processor and bust it down to a fine powder. Mix with vermiculite, hydrate and sterilize. PC is best obviously, but with PF Tek you can actually just do a hot water bath and be fine! Because the bran is separated from the endosperm, the mycelium has access to basically pure sugar immediately, rather than having to get through the grain hull
Cool and inoculate (could be from agar, multispore, or liquid culture) Instead of fruiting from the cake, you crumble it up by hand once itās colonized, and then use the crumbles to colonize a bulk substrate the same way you would use whole grains.
Usually done in wide mouth pint jars Instead of quarts
8 Likes
Those after pics do look like too much condensation. Are you using a heat source during incubation? I do see some mycelium growing, canāt tell if itās mold or just the start of colonizing yet. Did you check your LC on agar?
4 Likes
Yes, I have them on a heat mat, there was no condensation until I put them on the mat. They are in my basement and itās only about 18c. There is some mycelium, but thereās a lot of blueish/green showing up. One of the jars had plump damp looking grains then 24 hours after inoculation it looked dry and white everywhere 12 hours after that the white was starting to turn green. One jar was bad bad two more jars are just starting a little green and 3 are not showing bad signs yet
No I didnāt check the LC on agar
2 Likes
Exactly, Iāve had great success with crumbling and mixing with coir.
4 Likes
Sounds like you prepped your grains right, I would suspect your LC before the grains. 18c (64f) is on the lower side but cubes will still grow fine, just slower. heating it up will cause that condensation, but over 75 and itāll promote bacteria to grow faster than the mycelium. Bacterial spawn still produce fruit, but mold is trash.
5 Likes