Mushrooms anyone?

[Delerium]

Originally Posted by RootLoops

wow that was fast! looks like you have a bit of green mold at 5 o'clock and 7 o'clock unless there is something colored green in your substrate like newspaper or something, it kinda seems too bright green for mold. if it is mold it's not a complete lost cause i've seen oysters tear through two or three kinds of mold, and some bacteria(rarely) this could just be a lighting trick too.

I took a closer look and it looks like Junk mail from the paper shredder. Doesn't smell bad or anything. Will see in a week or so if its green mold. But I to am optimistic that this is going to work out really good. It hasn't been that long and the mycelium growth is impressive.

[RootLoops]

yeah i thought the color wasn't quite right for mold then i noticed other bits of it and was hoping it was just the substrate material, you'd definitely know by the smell so i'd say you're golden on this one. i should be receiving some new cultures in the next two days with a couple very nice oysters. when my wife gets home i'll get some pics of the azul oyster on agar, it's taking off well in just a week since inoculating.

have you given any thought to making a mushroom composting area? take lattice and cut it 2x8 or 3x8 whichever and attach it to fence posts with zip ties or something to cordon off the area you want to use. toss all grass clippings, leaves, crop waste, etc, or just put a layer of hay down and spawn it with either the spore juice epsilon found upthread or fruit body slurry or what have you, pile it about a foot deep i would think and keep it watered as needed, once they reach the top of that start piling on new waste in layers and as they advance they'll fruit through the holes in the lattice whenever they can. it's a perpetual digester, just add in new spore juice or fruit slurry every so often when you notice a slowdown in fruiting. i've never done this but i will this year and will see how effective it is.

[Delerium]

Originally Posted by RootLoops

yeah i thought the color wasn't quite right for mold then i noticed other bits of it and was hoping it was just the substrate material, you'd definitely know by the smell so i'd say you're golden on this one. i should be receiving some new cultures in the next two days with a couple very nice oysters. when my wife gets home i'll get some pics of the azul oyster on agar, it's taking off well in just a week since inoculating.

have you given any thought to making a mushroom composting area? take lattice and cut it 2x8 or 3x8 whichever and attach it to fence posts with zip ties or something to cordon off the area you want to use. toss all grass clippings, leaves, crop waste, etc, or just put a layer of hay down and spawn it with either the spore juice epsilon found upthread or fruit body slurry or what have you, pile it about a foot deep i would think and keep it watered as needed, once they reach the top of that start piling on new waste in layers and as they advance they'll fruit through the holes in the lattice whenever they can. it's a perpetual digester, just add in new spore juice or fruit slurry every so often when you notice a slowdown in fruiting. i've never done this but i will this year and will see how effective it is.

Sounds like fun! You gotta stop tempting me with all these cool DIY projects. It's like a kid playing in a Candy bar. Once i get started i don't stop!

[RootLoops]

ha ha! it's definitely addictive, i'd like for us to be able to feed all our paper waste to mushrooms, our food waste to wild animals and worms, and our plastic and glass to the recycling place. used motor oil can also be consumed by oysters but i'm not sure if you can eat the fruits.

[ChrisK]

What is this a reference to?

Originally Posted by Delerium

Rootloops your mushroom Goo method worked!

[RootLoops]

just take some fresh mushrooms and blend em up in water and use that to inoculate your pasteurized substrate. it works best for outdoor growing but if everything is clean enough it can be done indoors too

the box i started hasn't done anything but it got dumped on the last two days with rain, it looks too wet but when it gets to the right moisture content it may spring to life. the mushrooms i used had dried a lot by the time i picked em so they weren't too vigorous to start with. it's interesting to note that even dry mushrooms can be restarted on agar, even powdered. there is a shelf life to that ability though i believe

[ChrisK]

Might try this with Shiitakes. Cant find Oysters fresh anywhere!

Originally Posted by RootLoops

just take some fresh mushrooms and blend em up in water and use that to inoculate your pasteurized substrate. it works best for outdoor growing but if everything is clean enough it can be done indoors too

the box i started hasn't done anything but it got dumped on the last two days with rain, it looks too wet but when it gets to the right moisture content it may spring to life. the mushrooms i used had dried a lot by the time i picked em so they weren't too vigorous to start with. it's interesting to note that even dry mushrooms can be restarted on agar, even powdered. there is a shelf life to that ability though i believe

[RootLoops]

it should work with shiitakes but i have no personal experience with them other than pre colonized blocks. i know they need wood and that most places supplement them with grain or bran.

[epsilon]

I find it interesting that both bisporus and ostreatus both Snell like some mixture of almonds. Reishi smell like gym socks

[Delerium]

I modified Rootloops blend recipe and made the slurry with coffee grounds/filters and/paper to thicken it up. I figure having those all mixed in to one will make it less wet.

[RootLoops]

have you ever found any stinkhorns? there are some that pop up here in the first part of spring. putrid is the most fitting word to describe them, or maybe fetid. my uncle would have said they'd knock a buzzard off a gut wagon lol

[RootLoops]

Originally Posted by Delerium

I modified Rootloops blend recipe and made the slurry with coffee grounds/filters and/paper to thicken it up. I figure having those all mixed in to one will make it less wet.

that's a good idea it probably helped it get such a quick start by giving it a food source to jump off of, like the grains in grain spawn do.

[ChrisK]

Just ordered 100 plugs each of shiitake and blue oyster from mushroom mountain for $27 shipped. Will plug the Maple logs next week! Very excited to try this.

I'll also use some of the plugs to inoculate some moistened shredded paper and/or hay in plastic bags.

[ChrisK]

Yes, those pop up in the mulch all the time. Foul.

Originally Posted by RootLoops

have you ever found any stinkhorns? there are some that pop up here in the first part of spring. putrid is the most fitting word to describe them, or maybe fetid. my uncle would have said they'd knock a buzzard off a gut wagon lol

[RootLoops]

Originally Posted by ChrisK

Just ordered 100 plugs each of shiitake and blue oyster from mushroom mountain for $27 shipped. Will plug the Maple logs next week! Very excited to try this.

I'll also use some of the plugs to inoculate some moistened shredded paper and/or hay in plastic bags.

awesome!!!