Ban Lipa Yai shrooms first timer popcorn tek

Blackhash · Aug 8, 2012

Very nice dude. Definitely looks like mycelium to me. When are you going to shake your jars? (that is if you shake them with popcorn tek, never done it) Also, what are your thoughts on your spawn run?

canndo · Aug 8, 2012

Your corn is a bit on the dry side, you can tell by the lack of density of your mycelium, next time soak or boil your corn just a bit more. Other than that, shake those suckers the day after you see evidence of growth, then do it again when you see evidence again, at about the third or fourth time you will find that your corn is fully colonized.

atidd11 · Aug 8, 2012

So when the mycelium is thicker the moisture in the substrate is good

monkeybones · Aug 8, 2012

Blackhash said:
Very nice dude. Definitely looks like mycelium to me. When are you going to shake your jars? (that is if you shake them with popcorn tek, never done it) Also, what are your thoughts on your spawn run?

thanks Blackhash! nice to hear someone say that it looks like mycelium. i swear it happened on accident

i was thinking of shaking the jars tonight or tomorrow sometime, since they look about 25% colonized now

thoughts on the spawn run? do you mean like, inoculating the jars? the whole process?

it was scary and i thought i was messing up the whole time i was doing it!

first time... but i already feel more confident for my next one

canndo said:
Your corn is a bit on the dry side, you can tell by the lack of density of your mycelium, next time soak or boil your corn just a bit more. Other than that, shake those suckers the day after you see evidence of growth, then do it again when you see evidence again, at about the third or fourth time you will find that your corn is fully colonized.

thank you very much canndo. i never would have been able to tell that the corn was too dry.

besides the thin mycelium, is the moisture level going to cause problems for the fruiting process? i planned on putting them on a bed of soaked perlite in a slightly vented tote

when you say evidence of growth are you talking like as a rule of thumb, as in i should shake now?

Blackhash · Aug 8, 2012

Spawn run - The vegetative growth period of the mycelium after spawning the substrate to bulk.

Are you planning on spawning to bulk? If so, what substrate will you be using?

monkeybones · Aug 8, 2012

Blackhash said:
Spawn run - The vegetative growth period of the mycelium after spawning the substrate to bulk.

Are you planning on spawning to bulk? If so, what substrate will you be using?

thanks for clearing that up for me

i bought some cooking trays with plastic lids from the dollar store, but i was going to go grab some different sized totes to try

i was thinking of doing the bed of perlite thing, and going with a closed lid

but then i thought, will the corn stay together? i always see people break the birthed corn apart and put on a casing

if i should do a casing, i was gonna just PC some coir and vermiculite

any additives i should be considering?

Blackhash · Aug 8, 2012

This is a really good casing here https://www.shroomology.com/topic/658-5050-mushroom-casing-technique/
But it needs extra materials and stuff etc etc.

This is also a nice casing, just using jiffy starter mix which you can get at a variety of places. http://www.shroomtalk.com/forum/index.php?/topic/43964-easy-casing-layer/
I'm sure the coir casing would work too, just never used it. As long as you follow a tek you should be OK.

Edit: Forgot, you need a ST account to view their threads

monkeybones · Aug 8, 2012

Blackhash said:
This is a really good casing here https://www.shroomology.com/topic/658-5050-mushroom-casing-technique/
But it needs extra materials and stuff etc etc.

This is also a nice casing, just using jiffy starter mix which you can get at a variety of places. http://www.shroomtalk.com/forum/index.php?/topic/43964-easy-casing-layer/
I'm sure the coir casing would work too, just never used it. As long as you follow a tek you should be OK.

Edit: Forgot, you need a ST account to view their threads

i like the idea of a nice blend of coco/peat/verm/lime

not sure where i would find oyster shells.

Blackhash · Aug 8, 2012

monkeybones said:
i like the idea of a nice blend of coco/peat/verm/lime

not sure where i would find oyster shells.

I believe the oysters are just there for a pH buffer. I'm sure you could use lime instead. As MZ said in that thread, that it would work probably work fine with just regular cubes, but some differnet psilocybe species require a more alkaline casing layer, hence the oyster shells. He did also say that the oyster shells will add structure to the casing, allowing for better G/E.

I'm sure you could find some online with relative ease. If you do go this route, remember to get the chunky kind, and not the finely ground kind!

DaSprout · Aug 8, 2012

Nice work your your grow thus far. It appears that your pcorn jars are healthy and going nicely. Good work. I would like to see how things go from here. I'm about to transfer into some pcorn jars on friday.

canndo · Aug 9, 2012

atidd11 said:
So when the mycelium is thicker the moisture in the substrate is good

the mycelium will be more lush. The balance is that if it is too wet the kernels burst and you invite contamination. If you intend to fruit from your spawn, water content is critical. The major limit to your final yield is not nutrient but water content (and finally PH). This water content is why folks "dunk" their cakes. This is also why casing is such a good idea, one can continualy bring the casing layer back to the correct moisture content which lets the mycelium continue to produce until finally the PH changes enough to make the substrate or the casing hospitable to green or forest mold - and then good bye.

canndo · Aug 9, 2012

monkeybones said:
thanks for clearing that up for me

i bought some cooking trays with plastic lids from the dollar store, but i was going to go grab some different sized totes to try

i was thinking of doing the bed of perlite thing, and going with a closed lid

but then i thought, will the corn stay together? i always see people break the birthed corn apart and put on a casing

if i should do a casing, i was gonna just PC some coir and vermiculite

any additives i should be considering?

You have two things confused.

Firstly, your corn will "knit" and become a solid block (if your moisture content is high enough).
Secondly, what you now have is spawn, these are individualy mycelium coated pellets (corn) that you can break up and spread into high nutrient substrate in order to continue the process of spreading mycelium. This material is not casing.

You can put your corn in a tray, wait for it to knit (a little), then case the surface with LOW nutrietive value material or you can place your broken up corn in HIGH mutriative material, allow that to grow out and then put your casing (the low nutrietive material) on top and let that colonize. Then go through your fruiting sequence and you are done.

DaSprout · Aug 9, 2012

Bam! The choice is yours kid!

monkeybones · Aug 9, 2012

DaSprout said:
Nice work your your grow thus far. It appears that your pcorn jars are healthy and going nicely. Good work. I would like to see how things go from here. I'm about to transfer into some pcorn jars on friday.

thanks Sprout. Here's hoping things go well for you too

Blackhash said:
I believe the oysters are just there for a pH buffer. I'm sure you could use lime instead. As MZ said in that thread, that it would work probably work fine with just regular cubes, but some differnet psilocybe species require a more alkaline casing layer, hence the oyster shells. He did also say that the oyster shells will add structure to the casing, allowing for better G/E.

I'm sure you could find some online with relative ease. If you do go this route, remember to get the chunky kind, and not the finely ground kind!

sounds like they are a good addition to look into adding. i like the idea of a physically structuring PH balancer

canndo said:
the mycelium will be more lush. The balance is that if it is too wet the kernels burst and you invite contamination. If you intend to fruit from your spawn, water content is critical. The major limit to your final yield is not nutrient but water content (and finally PH). This water content is why folks "dunk" their cakes. This is also why casing is such a good idea, one can continualy bring the casing layer back to the correct moisture content which lets the mycelium continue to produce until finally the PH changes enough to make the substrate or the casing hospitable to green or forest mold - and then good bye.

canndo said:
You have two things confused.

Firstly, your corn will "knit" and become a solid block (if your moisture content is high enough).
Secondly, what you now have is spawn, these are individualy mycelium coated pellets (corn) that you can break up and spread into high nutrient substrate in order to continue the process of spreading mycelium. This material is not casing.

You can put your corn in a tray, wait for it to knit (a little), then case the surface with LOW nutrietive value material or you can place your broken up corn in HIGH mutriative material, allow that to grow out and then put your casing (the low nutrietive material) on top and let that colonize. Then go through your fruiting sequence and you are done.

i do understand the difference between the spawn and the casing, but the process of deciding how to fruit the spawn is where i am stuck. so from what you say i can maximize my fruiting potential by going with a method that utilizes a PH regulating casing layer. it also seems like this method is more convenient and leads to less problems.

i have been looking at grow journals at places like shroomery.org and the grows which have the spawn cake placed whole on a moisture retaining bed of hydroton or perlite, they seem prone to green growth (as you mentioned arises from PH issues)

alright, so i am thinking that perhaps i will try both of the models you suggest for the sake of getting the most out of this learning experience

a tray of spawn mixed in high nut. matieral, allowed to knit and then cased, and a simpler tray with just the spawn and a low nut. casing. this might maximize my chances of getting at least some successful fruiting

i'm saying this based on the assumption that mixing the spawn with high nutritive material can produce higher yields than the spawn alone. but also that the spawn alone is simpler and less prone to fail.

my next questions are, what is a good source of nutrients for the casing and the stuff underneath it?

also, can i carefully take some kernels from a birthed cake, place them into a jar which is ready to inoculate, and continue the growth of mycelium while i fruit the rest of the spawn?

and i have a mix of perlite, vermiculite, peat, and dolomite lime. if i added vermiculite so that the verm was about 50% of the content would this make a good casing?

DaSprout · Aug 9, 2012

I'm gonna sit back and wait for canndo to give you the detailed answers to your questions bc I am to lazy. Basically yes to all you asked. I wouldn't do perlite in the casing. And taking ready pcorn and transferring it to a fresh source, yes (g2g transfer, grain 2 grain). I am lazy. Go get high. Later.

monkeybones · Aug 9, 2012

i gave them a good shake earlier today

monkeybones · Aug 9, 2012

i found a list of the 6 species of magic mushroom that grow in my area. tomorrow i am going to go out into some fields and forests, hunt for some mushrooms that resemble the ones that are supposed to grow in my area.... make some spore prints (if you're reading this, will a 200x microscope see a spore?), and see if i can get some ID's on some shroom forums. it just rained heavily so who knows.

i will also post that shit on here in a different thread if anybody who uses these boards has the mycological knowledge and experience to do an ID with enough pictures and info and a spore print

monkeybones · Aug 10, 2012

each jar, so far

this one is doing the best... coincidently(?) the only one which i accidentally put two coffee filters on so maybe that works better. but i read that i wasn't supposed to use those anyway

this one looks contaminated to me. i guess i will just leave it for now until someone confirms that

these two are slower but don't appear contaminated

canndo · Aug 10, 2012

monkeybones said:
thanks Sprout. Here's hoping things go well for you too

sounds like they are a good addition to look into adding. i like the idea of a physically structuring PH balancer

i do understand the difference between the spawn and the casing, but the process of deciding how to fruit the spawn is where i am stuck. so from what you say i can maximize my fruiting potential by going with a method that utilizes a PH regulating casing layer. it also seems like this method is more convenient and leads to less problems.

i have been looking at grow journals at places like shroomery.org and the grows which have the spawn cake placed whole on a moisture retaining bed of hydroton or perlite, they seem prone to green growth (as you mentioned arises from PH issues)

alright, so i am thinking that perhaps i will try both of the models you suggest for the sake of getting the most out of this learning experience

a tray of spawn mixed in high nut. matieral, allowed to knit and then cased, and a simpler tray with just the spawn and a low nut. casing. this might maximize my chances of getting at least some successful fruiting

i'm saying this based on the assumption that mixing the spawn with high nutritive material can produce higher yields than the spawn alone. but also that the spawn alone is simpler and less prone to fail.

my next questions are, what is a good source of nutrients for the casing and the stuff underneath it?

also, can i carefully take some kernels from a birthed cake, place them into a jar which is ready to inoculate, and continue the growth of mycelium while i fruit the rest of the spawn?
]Dol

and i have a mix of perlite, vermiculite, peat, and dolomite lime. if i added vermiculite so that the verm was about 50% of the content would this make a good casing?

Dolomitic lime has high amounts of magnesium in it, mushrooms dn't like magnesium.I don't under stnad your other questions.

monkeybones · Aug 10, 2012

canndo said:
Dolomitic lime has high amounts of magnesium in it, mushrooms dn't like magnesium.I don't under stnad your other questions.

didn't know that. thanks.

Ban Lipa Yai shrooms first timer popcorn tek

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