Mycelieum growin very slow... Why?

Hello,
My freinds freind is trying the vermiculight method and he is stuck on the incubation process.... It's been a little over two weeks n the jars have been kept in 80-90 degree storage in a pitch black place. He is using 450ml jars.... Does anyone know why it is taking so long? He said that less then 30% of the jars are covered in my celieum..,. Any help will b greatly appreciated.

Btw he is using the spore syringe method.

 

Does he have the top layer of dry vermiculite in the jars? Most likely yes, fo sho, he does.
Take the jars out of wherever they're being incubated. If the jars have stalled it's most likely cause of lack of FAE (Fresh Air Exchange). BRF+Vermiculite jars don't even need accurate temperatures during colonization. Higher temps mean fast metabolic rate of colonization, but can also cause mutations from too much heat. RogerRabbit(Shroomery Genius) posted one time in one of my threads that he lives up high in the mountains where it's cold, and he leaves the jars colonizing on an open shelf. PF Tek jars are survivors.

Give them Fresh Air Exchange, take them away from the incubator, and make sure the holes on the jar are not covered by anything like tyvek, micropore tape, or if your friends "special", tin foil still.


Also in summer the average colonization time is between 2-4 weeks for 250ml Jars. By the sounds of it, the jars are on track. Don't worry bout them unless they stall for over 1 week.

 

nice post kevin.. give em some AIR..

 

Lol ya, what he said

 

Thanks for all the responses.

Now there is only one concern. Wouldn't removing the foil from the jars exposing it to air for an extended period of time make contamination
more possible? surely he will sterilize the area before taking the foil off.

Also, I was also wondering how long should he keep the foil off the jars to allow fresh air exchange?

Thanks again

 

Also, he was wondering if a sterilized bathroom was a good place for air exhange.

And last question

Removing the lid exposeds the small pincture on the lid (created for syringe injection), is this sufiient or FEA or should he remove the lid completely?

 

The tin foil is supposed to be taken off right after injection of the spores. The top dry layer of vermiculite that should of been added to the jars acts as an additional barrier from all airborne contaminants. Don't remove the actual lid though at any point, that'll increase the risk of contamination by an approximate shitload. Sterilizing while taking the foil of isn't necessary either. The PF Tek is surprisingly hard to mess up lol. Sterility is only really necessary during inoculation, then a few weeks later at fruiting.

Forever and ever and ever. If you wanna be extra safe the foil can be kept on for a week after inoculation, but I recommend micropore tape instead. It allows fresh air exchange, while at the same time blocking contaminants from the holes. Walmart has it, same with any grocery store with a medical section. Look for medical tape, and BAM!

With the dry vermiculite barrier, you can leave those jars without tinfoil on a decently clean shelf and they'll be fine. As long as it's a clean shelf, it doesn't even need to be sterilized (although I'd recommend a quick alcohol wipe-down anyways). Never remove the lids though. If still stalled, flip the jars over for an hour or even a few days if still stalled. This will remove the CO2 buildup that sinks to the bottom of the jars during heavy colonization times.
I do be inoculations in my bathroom on the toilet seat lol. With the windows and door closed, and lysol sprayed everywhere in it 5 minutes before going in.

I like answering mushroom questions lol so keep 'em coming if you have any, most people here enjoy helping too

 

ive removed lids on stalled jars, moved them to another room, window sill, mist them with spring water a few times I forgot i left them in there and pow shrooms growing out of literally tossed jars.. this happened when I lost my patients for them ones and was onto better one.. I remember opening one and the whole top was thick white Mycelia, I couldnt figure out how that happened other than the spores washed up there. other areas of the jar were spotted with growth, I figured it would die, but I prayed it with water, and forgot came back weeks later and dozens of shoooms on both the jars i had there.. Oh I was happy, but this has never happened again..

 

Damn the PF Tek is unbelievable. I'm gonna do that with all my failed jars from now on, contams I'll through outside and hope for the best. But mycelium definitely seems to be a tough ass mofo in any condition.

 

Should allowing fresh air exchange speed up the mycelieum growin proccess by a good amount?

Once mycelieum grows throuout the jars.... Assuming all conditions for fruiting are there, when should he expect to see mushrooms?

At what temperatures is best to keep the spore syringe? What if it was kept in a dark shadey place at 90-100 degrees for a week or so, would that ruin it?

 

Fresh air will speed up the colonization time for sure. But the faster the colonization, the more nutrients will be absorbed from your substrate from the metabolic rate increasing. This can impact your fruits.
Like a human who runs will develop muscle faster than someone who's not, but they require more protein for the reconstruction. The mushroom substrate unfortunately can only store so much nutrients and can't intake more, so if it's used fast, their won't be much left for fruiting.

That was probably confusing but whateva, hope you understand it xD


You should see mushies around a week after full colonization. The week for the consolidation also prepares the substrate for pinning. When fruiting you should give them tons of fresh air exchange. This is a method that if mastered can give you surprising amount of shrooms growing off of a single cake.



I check temps in Celcius, but that temperature you said still sounds way too high lol. You can store spores in the fridge no prob, but at that high temperature it might even cause germination or a lot of dead spores. Dark is good though. If the temps room temp, they'll be fine. If it's over 106F, they won't be.