KlosetKing
Well-Known Member
get some more pics in this tut! still calling for a sticky i think
"How to" Mushroom BRF Tek.
- Thread starter zer0ed
- Start date
lvnv
Member
Hey, so I ordered that $80 Presto PC today from Amazon. I am about to order one of the "Our Choice" syringes at sporeworks. Would that be a good choice? I figured I should just start with 1 syringe as it is only $9.50. I can't really get a bunk variety, can I? They'll all have the same active ingredients, correct? I know some are probably better suited for the cake method than others, but I will get fruits no matter what, right? Or would you suggest a variety I should get and just pay the full price?
Could I use a tub that isn't clear for my fruiting chamber? We have a few of these big green storage tubs but no clear ones. I was thinking maybe I could put a couple of those LED lights you can stick to things on the bottom of the lid. It would help me keep from arousing suspicion, but if I need to I will make a clear one work.
Out of curiosity, how long does it take to start pulling mushrooms once the cakes are in the fruiting chamber?
Also, when putting holes in the top of the fruiting chamber, do you put the polyfil in those as well? Are holes still a good idea if they aren't going in a very clean and controlled environment?
I'm sure I am going to have many more questions as I get things going. Thanks for your help.
BTW, what do 23 quarts of chili look like?
Could I use a tub that isn't clear for my fruiting chamber? We have a few of these big green storage tubs but no clear ones. I was thinking maybe I could put a couple of those LED lights you can stick to things on the bottom of the lid. It would help me keep from arousing suspicion, but if I need to I will make a clear one work.
Out of curiosity, how long does it take to start pulling mushrooms once the cakes are in the fruiting chamber?
Also, when putting holes in the top of the fruiting chamber, do you put the polyfil in those as well? Are holes still a good idea if they aren't going in a very clean and controlled environment?
I'm sure I am going to have many more questions as I get things going. Thanks for your help.
BTW, what do 23 quarts of chili look like?
CaNNaBiZ CaNucK
Well-Known Member
Wow Zero, great write up! I guess I missed this thread when originally posted. I've been pondering growing cubies for a while now and I think you just helped me decide! Love your variations on the PFTEK!
+rep my friend, +rep.
+rep my friend, +rep.
lvnv
Member
Just wanted to update you and ask for some advice.
I ordered one syringe of the "Our Choice" spores from SporeWorks for about $17 incl shipping. I got my 1/2 pint jars at Walmart for about $6 and I picked up my vermiculite and perlite at Lowe's for $4/8Qt bag. I got one bag of verm and 2 bags of perlite. I still need to pick up my brown rice flour and polyfill. Looks like I will be in about $130 for everything.
Could I make my own BRF in a blender? A google search seems to say yes, but I was wondering if you had experience blending your own. I don't have a coffee grinder.
These are questions I asked in my last post:
Could I use a tub that isn't clear for my fruiting chamber? We have a few of these big green storage tubs but no clear ones. I was at Lowe's today and they have those rope lights and also a 10" flourescent light I think would work. I could fasten the light to the lid. The florescent shouldn't put out much heat but I'm not sure about the 6' rope lights. The non-clear tubs would help me keep from arousing suspicion, but if I need to I will make a clear one work.
Out of curiosity, how long does it take to start pulling mushrooms once the cakes are in the fruiting chamber?
Also, when putting holes in the top of the fruiting chamber, do you put the polyfill in those as well? Are holes still a good idea if the FC isn't going in a very clean and controlled environment? It won't be filthy but things get dusty pretty fast.
I ordered one syringe of the "Our Choice" spores from SporeWorks for about $17 incl shipping. I got my 1/2 pint jars at Walmart for about $6 and I picked up my vermiculite and perlite at Lowe's for $4/8Qt bag. I got one bag of verm and 2 bags of perlite. I still need to pick up my brown rice flour and polyfill. Looks like I will be in about $130 for everything.
Could I make my own BRF in a blender? A google search seems to say yes, but I was wondering if you had experience blending your own. I don't have a coffee grinder.
These are questions I asked in my last post:
Could I use a tub that isn't clear for my fruiting chamber? We have a few of these big green storage tubs but no clear ones. I was at Lowe's today and they have those rope lights and also a 10" flourescent light I think would work. I could fasten the light to the lid. The florescent shouldn't put out much heat but I'm not sure about the 6' rope lights. The non-clear tubs would help me keep from arousing suspicion, but if I need to I will make a clear one work.
Out of curiosity, how long does it take to start pulling mushrooms once the cakes are in the fruiting chamber?
Also, when putting holes in the top of the fruiting chamber, do you put the polyfill in those as well? Are holes still a good idea if the FC isn't going in a very clean and controlled environment? It won't be filthy but things get dusty pretty fast.
zer0ed
Active Member
Yes, you can get Brown rice, and blend it yourself into flour. i havnt tried it myself, but i will be going that route from now on.
Yes, you can use a Fruiting chamber that isnt clear, but heat might be a issue, try to put the light on a timer, or a reptile tempature controller (the kind for a heat mat) to turn off the light would work great.
It takes about 10 days to 2 weeks to start pulling fruits. more or less.
Once the cakes are fully colonized and ready to go into the fruiting chamber, they become pretty contam resistant, and are strong enough to fight off contam themselves. But it can still happen. Just have 2 to 4 polyfilled holes about the size of a quarter, low in the chamber and that should be enough. if your worried about it. But you still need to Fan and mist the chamber 3 times a day with the lid off, so the fruiting chamber is by no means sterile. the area needs to be somewhat clean.
researchkitty
Well-Known Member
Any advice on jars that havent fully colonized after 6 weeks? I just put 36 of them into fruiting, 9 cakes per tub (56L Tub)...................... There's still about 60 jars or so that are slow colonizers though! Room temps are at 80(f) in the room. Only lost 4 jars to green mold, rest are nice and white.
zer0ed
Active Member
6 weeks? Chances are poor. u can keep them around if u dont need the jars they are in, and pray to the mushroom gods. but with every day that passes, u are loosing moisture in the jars and becomes that much more likely to never finish.
u have pretty much 3 options.
1. Leave them alone till they either finish, or contaminate. (contamination is more likely at this point)
2. dump them, and wash the jars for re-use.
3. attempt to inject a little sterile water, to see if that gets them going again. But doing so greatly increases the chance they will contaminate, but at this point, what do u have to loose?
u have pretty much 3 options.
1. Leave them alone till they either finish, or contaminate. (contamination is more likely at this point)
2. dump them, and wash the jars for re-use.
3. attempt to inject a little sterile water, to see if that gets them going again. But doing so greatly increases the chance they will contaminate, but at this point, what do u have to loose?
researchkitty
Well-Known Member
Thanks (again!)...... 36 jars good, they are on "day 3" in the fruiting chamber. For the other jars, since most of them are at least 80% colonized, what about a dunk with no roll and put em back in the jars after 12 hours in the water?
How long do I have to keep misting these things in the chamber for too? The verm is pretty well stuck on, but not sure how long to keep misting/fanning the tubs..........
How long do I have to keep misting these things in the chamber for too? The verm is pretty well stuck on, but not sure how long to keep misting/fanning the tubs..........
zer0ed
Active Member
The problem with the jars is the "uncolonized" area is at high risk for contamination. because it is basically nutes, and anything including bad things will love to eat and grow on them. so the second that the nutes are exposed to room air, the tiniest microscopic microbe will cause it to contam. if you want to go that route, was off, and scrape all the un-colonized area off the cake, and go ahead and dunk and fruit the portion that did colonize. just to get what u can from them.
And u need to fan and mist daily. the fanning is basically to get the co2 that the cakes give off out of the chamber, because if u don't fan enough the mushrooms will choke on the co2, and come out very immature looking, skinny, with tiny caps. and maybe even deformed, or mutated. it helps if u have holes low in the chamber, near the perlite line, or lower, so that the co2 can leak out, since it is heavier then air.
The misting is to keep the humidity up, try your best to maintain water droplets on the walls and lid, and keep the verm moist. mushrooms are 90% water in weight. and all that water weight has to come from somewhere right? so keep them moist. u want to mist a little more before the pins and mushrooms form, and just light misting after the pins and mushrooms begin to show and grow.
and u pretty much have to fan and mist every day forever. i've built several fully automated chambers, but they arn't all that they are cracked up to be, checking your babys everyday shows love and attention, and you are much more likely to get a better harvest, or find a contaminated cake if u see them 3 times a day.
researchkitty
Well-Known Member
Thanks again for your help (now for what, the 10th time?) 
The tubs have holes drilled in them, a couple dozen holes on each side, lid, and bottom of the tubs. Basically following the "PF TEK" videos on Youtube from that soft spoken guy. Just with a small 1/8" drill bit. I've been fanning them and misting them every 3-4 hours anyway during the daytime, before bed, after bed, etc... I'll update if there's any problems/progress!
The tubs have holes drilled in them, a couple dozen holes on each side, lid, and bottom of the tubs. Basically following the "PF TEK" videos on Youtube from that soft spoken guy. Just with a small 1/8" drill bit. I've been fanning them and misting them every 3-4 hours anyway during the daytime, before bed, after bed, etc... I'll update if there's any problems/progress!
researchkitty
Well-Known Member
Here's the pics of where I'm at........... the 4 tubs now have 36 jars or so in there. The shrooms that are pictured first are ones that I picked off of a cake this morning, they looked ready anyway.
I'm still spraying the tubs with water to keep the walls wet, but not trying to spray the cakes much since a lot of them have little shrooms on them now.
They've been in tubs for about 4 days, maybe 5 now.
The others in the big jars with the herb hanging (its a bad trim, its for hash or butter, not for smoking thats why!) are all about ready to go in tubs, so I took a picture to show you too. Some of them didnt colonize properly -- I think partly because I didnt shake the syringes.
Any advice/suggestions from the mushroom gods?
I'm still spraying the tubs with water to keep the walls wet, but not trying to spray the cakes much since a lot of them have little shrooms on them now.
They've been in tubs for about 4 days, maybe 5 now.
The others in the big jars with the herb hanging (its a bad trim, its for hash or butter, not for smoking thats why!) are all about ready to go in tubs, so I took a picture to show you too. Some of them didnt colonize properly -- I think partly because I didnt shake the syringes.
Any advice/suggestions from the mushroom gods?
Attachments
ndangerspecimen101
Well-Known Member
Your utilizing a lot of tubs there! I'd expect 1 oz. from each tubHere's the pics of where I'm at........... the 4 tubs now have 36 jars or so in there. The shrooms that are pictured first are ones that I picked off of a cake this morning, they looked ready anyway.
I'm still spraying the tubs with water to keep the walls wet, but not trying to spray the cakes much since a lot of them have little shrooms on them now.
They've been in tubs for about 4 days, maybe 5 now.
The others in the big jars with the herb hanging (its a bad trim, its for hash or butter, not for smoking thats why!) are all about ready to go in tubs, so I took a picture to show you too. Some of them didnt colonize properly -- I think partly because I didnt shake the syringes.
Any advice/suggestions from the mushroom gods?
okayimreloaded
Member
great thread real throe
lvnv
Member
Way to go ReasearchKitty. I am about 1 week into colonizing my twelve 1 pint jars. I ended up going with WBS instead of BRF. All of my jars have some mycellium growing. I can't wait for them to be fully colonized and in a fruiting chamber.
So have you gotten to experiment with your product at all? Is this your first time growing mushrooms? You sure went all out; 4 fruiting chambers and a whole other set of jars colonizing in the mean time. I'll try and post some pics when mine are where yours are at but that is about 5 or 6 weeks away.
Maybe I'm mistaken, but another Tek I used to supplement this one says it is perfectly fine to get the cakes wet when you are misting. He also mixes a bit of hydrogen peroxide with the misting water to keep contams under control in the fruiting chamber. He is the reason I went with WBS over BRF. This comparison makes it a no brainer (you have to register to see the pics but it is worth it, check out post #74!!!).
So have you gotten to experiment with your product at all? Is this your first time growing mushrooms? You sure went all out; 4 fruiting chambers and a whole other set of jars colonizing in the mean time. I'll try and post some pics when mine are where yours are at but that is about 5 or 6 weeks away.
Maybe I'm mistaken, but another Tek I used to supplement this one says it is perfectly fine to get the cakes wet when you are misting. He also mixes a bit of hydrogen peroxide with the misting water to keep contams under control in the fruiting chamber. He is the reason I went with WBS over BRF. This comparison makes it a no brainer (you have to register to see the pics but it is worth it, check out post #74!!!).
researchkitty
Well-Known Member
I started misting the tubs fully with and without shrooms growing. The other jars got sorted today, 32 or so good ones that are dunked now and will be rolled and placed in 3 more tubs tomorrow morning when I wake up.
When I pick shrooms from the cakes, do I pick the ones where the veils have popped and then put the cake back? Some of them havent had veils pop or started growing later. I'm confused on exactly how the flush process works or if I just keep picking them until they stop growing.
Overall there's about a dozen mistakes I made on this, and yea, its my first time with these ever. The jar holes were wrong, the tubs werent raised up for air to get in at first, wasnt misting enough after pins showed up, the BRF mixture was compacted in the jars not just loosely put in there, etc etc.... Sounds like when I learned to grow weed. Terrible results at first, 1/2 oz per plant, now 4oz per plant.
lvnv: I went PF TEK vanilla at first just to get an idea on how the little fuckers even worked. My ultimate goal isnt cakes, but tubs with a bulk substrate that isnt so 'jar intensive'. You guys try filling up 120 jars with all that shit and pressure cooking them 12 at a time. Its a pain in the ass!
When I pick shrooms from the cakes, do I pick the ones where the veils have popped and then put the cake back? Some of them havent had veils pop or started growing later. I'm confused on exactly how the flush process works or if I just keep picking them until they stop growing.
Overall there's about a dozen mistakes I made on this, and yea, its my first time with these ever. The jar holes were wrong, the tubs werent raised up for air to get in at first, wasnt misting enough after pins showed up, the BRF mixture was compacted in the jars not just loosely put in there, etc etc.... Sounds like when I learned to grow weed. Terrible results at first, 1/2 oz per plant, now 4oz per plant.
lvnv: I went PF TEK vanilla at first just to get an idea on how the little fuckers even worked. My ultimate goal isnt cakes, but tubs with a bulk substrate that isnt so 'jar intensive'. You guys try filling up 120 jars with all that shit and pressure cooking them 12 at a time. Its a pain in the ass!
realcrackhead
Well-Known Member
those are some fucking sexy pics... wish i wasnt to lazy to grow, i really want to, but damn im lazy lol
lvnv
Member
@researchkitty
That was an amazingly ambitious project for a first go. I would love to see some more pics. I thought it was a pain in the ass just doing 12 pints. You really went all out.
As for the bulk sub method, I would really consider reading that thread I posted. If you have your heart set on bulk sub, then I'm sure that is what you will do, but that guy makes a very good case for these WBS cakes. He claims they yield just as much as bulk sub but require fewer steps. There is nothing like a great bulk sub canopy though. You can't get that with cakes. But damnit, if I get 7 flushes from these WBS cakes, I am going to be one very happy man. And BTW, there is almost no difference from doing WBS vs BRF. Just a few more ingredients.
As for the whole "flush" concept, you actually got me thinking there. That is the kind of question you don't think to ask until you get to that point. I did a few searches and found this thread. "Your judgement comes into play because you have to decide when it's going to be more "fruitful" to pick the remaining pins/non-mature mushrooms and dunk as oppose to let them continue to grow." So it is kind of up to you. If you can keep pulling nice fruits, keep pulling them. If your cakes are drying out, pick all mushies and dunk 'em.
@realcrackhead
Just go for it man. Just fucking go for it. I thought it was way out of my skillset to grow these things, but so far it is smooth sailing (finding some of the supplies was a pain in the ass). It is far less intimidating the more knowledge I have. The pressure cooker is the only major investment, and once you are up and running your costs drop dramatically. That is, if cost even matters. If you are just a lazy mofo, well, you don't like mushrooms as much as I do.
Mycology is very neat. It is like a science experiment but you actually get something really awesome once you are finished. One day I'd like to grow all kinds of mushrooms.
That was an amazingly ambitious project for a first go. I would love to see some more pics. I thought it was a pain in the ass just doing 12 pints. You really went all out.
As for the bulk sub method, I would really consider reading that thread I posted. If you have your heart set on bulk sub, then I'm sure that is what you will do, but that guy makes a very good case for these WBS cakes. He claims they yield just as much as bulk sub but require fewer steps. There is nothing like a great bulk sub canopy though. You can't get that with cakes. But damnit, if I get 7 flushes from these WBS cakes, I am going to be one very happy man. And BTW, there is almost no difference from doing WBS vs BRF. Just a few more ingredients.
As for the whole "flush" concept, you actually got me thinking there. That is the kind of question you don't think to ask until you get to that point. I did a few searches and found this thread. "Your judgement comes into play because you have to decide when it's going to be more "fruitful" to pick the remaining pins/non-mature mushrooms and dunk as oppose to let them continue to grow." So it is kind of up to you. If you can keep pulling nice fruits, keep pulling them. If your cakes are drying out, pick all mushies and dunk 'em.
@realcrackhead
Just go for it man. Just fucking go for it. I thought it was way out of my skillset to grow these things, but so far it is smooth sailing (finding some of the supplies was a pain in the ass). It is far less intimidating the more knowledge I have. The pressure cooker is the only major investment, and once you are up and running your costs drop dramatically. That is, if cost even matters. If you are just a lazy mofo, well, you don't like mushrooms as much as I do.
Mycology is very neat. It is like a science experiment but you actually get something really awesome once you are finished. One day I'd like to grow all kinds of mushrooms.
realcrackhead
Well-Known Member
zer0ed
Active Member
When harvesting, wait till the first ones pop their veils, then you could pick immediately if u want, but i usually like to give them at least another 12 hours. picking only the ones with popped veils, and any that are attached to them. (because usually you cant leave them with out damaging them.) then usually give about 24 hours or so for the rest to catch up. once the majority have already popped their veils, pick the cake clean. most of the mid sized ones arnt going to grow up to be as big as the big ones anyway, so just pick them. mushrooms are naturally different sizes. once you pick the cake clean, rinse the verm off gently in the kitchen sink with cold tap water, then submerge it underwater for 24 hours then re roll in dry verm, and start over. this will be the beginning of the next flush. you will understand it more once you get over it. even if u left the cake in the chamber, it is going to have a dead in between period between flushes.
Theres alot of things i see with your pictures. not that your not doing a fantastik job keep up the good work, its obviously working for you.
but heres some positive constructive criticism
1. your work area looks hella dirty/dusty.
2. are your cakes sitting directly on the Perlite? they should be on pieces of foil, or on jar lids.
3. save yourself the pain in the ass of working with jar lid holes, and tape, and contams. Try using free tyvek envelopes from the post office, just place the envelope over the jar, press the jar ring down on the envelope, and tighten the band. cut the excess envelope off, and you have a instant, neat. double tyvek filter.
4. i pour my mixture into the jar loosely to the brim. but then i pack it down by tapping the bottom of the jar, to pack it a little. this creates a perfect quarter inch space at the top. then i fill this space with dry verm.
5. as for your possibly un-colonized jars, from what i can tell, they mostly look uncolonized from the top. this is usually ok, it might look like that because of the dry verm layer, or sometimes the dry verm layer falls down inbetween the cake and the glass, and make it look un-colonized even though it is. if the bottom underside of the cake is done, give it another 5 to 7 days, and go for it if it looks mostly ok. it might be more colonized then u think.
I hope this helps.
also check out this deal *click me*
they are $8.50 a syringe if u buy 4.