Hey im also growing mushrooms! Im pretty new at it yet.

I set up a martha in my balcony and so far im only doing oyster spawn i buy from the local mushroom farm and bulk it in woodshavings in buckets. Im not really getting much yield though. But they are the tastiest ever.

Next step will be pressure cooker and the whole shebang so i can make sterilized blocks with more substance with less contamination. Will get there slowly.

Got a Lion's Mane mushroom kit to try to see if we like them. Excited to try this out and consider growing some on logs/other mediums later.

How has everyone else's mushrooms come along?

It's been awhile since I had a harvest but I'm learning lots! Like not to jump the gun on casing my monotub or inoculate it while the substrate is too hot. Believe it or not, I had to learn the hard way to bleach out my Martha tent regularly! I ended up tossing, literally, four batches (ten) of bags due to contamination. The Stamets book suggested putting an uninoculated Petri dish in there to see if mold formed, which would tell me that the problem is endemic. It was. Some cleaning later, I've got both tiger sawgills and white elm oysters pinning, and my third try at the monotub is humming along successfully. I'm also going to use coco coir rather than Miracle Gro potting soil to case when the time comes. MG puts additives in its products that aren't good for exotics. My carnivores don't like their sphagnum moss either.

I'm also making my own master cultures, so I don't have to buy liquid culture every time I want to inject a block. It's a bit of an investment that will pay off in the long run! I have 19 cultures in house. LOL I'm probably the only woman in a ten mile radius that has a Martha in my living room and fungal cultures in my fridge!

JayneR13 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 7:54 am Believe it or not, I had to learn the hard way to bleach out my Martha tent regularly! I ended up tossing, literally, four batches (ten) of bags due to contamination. The Stamets book suggested putting an uninoculated Petri dish in there to see if mold formed, which would tell me that the problem is endemic. It was.

Huh, I thought once you are in fruiting conditions contamination is not a concern? I have mine outside in my balcony.
Since having a martha I got mold in my established micelium but they were in their 3rd or 4rth flush and I assumed it was just old and weak.

Moth1992 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 10:49 am

JayneR13 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 7:54 am Believe it or not, I had to learn the hard way to bleach out my Martha tent regularly! I ended up tossing, literally, four batches (ten) of bags due to contamination. The Stamets book suggested putting an uninoculated Petri dish in there to see if mold formed, which would tell me that the problem is endemic. It was.

Huh, I thought once you are in fruiting conditions contamination is not a concern? I have mine outside in my balcony.
Since having a martha I got mold in my established micelium but they were in their 3rd or 4rth flush and I assumed it was just old and weak.

We're talking two different things here. The mold was endemic to the environment, so new, freshly inoculated bags were susceptible. Once the bags are colonized they can out-compete the mold, but I've also seen older bags become contaminated. Excess humidity in the tent can also give mold an edge, as the Stamets book says. But in my case, it was an environment in need of some bleach. The new bags got infected at a rate that made me consider the theory of spontaneous generation, long-debunked! A bit of applied cleanliness and I'm doing much better, thanks!

JayneR13 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 7:54 am LOL I'm probably the only woman in a ten mile radius that has a Martha in my living room and fungal cultures in my fridge!

Maybe in ten miles. I've had a Martha in my living room and kitchen, but she did go after later. I also have some molds and fungi ( maybe) on things that get "lost" in the far reaches of the fridge at times.

Going to start two mushroom kits this next week, but ya'll sound so far advanced from my little puttering along. Best of luck to ya'll, maybe we can all enjoy some yummy mushrooms !

JayneR13 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:52 am

Moth1992 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 10:49 am

JayneR13 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 7:54 am Believe it or not, I had to learn the hard way to bleach out my Martha tent regularly! I ended up tossing, literally, four batches (ten) of bags due to contamination. The Stamets book suggested putting an uninoculated Petri dish in there to see if mold formed, which would tell me that the problem is endemic. It was.

Huh, I thought once you are in fruiting conditions contamination is not a concern? I have mine outside in my balcony.
Since having a martha I got mold in my established micelium but they were in their 3rd or 4rth flush and I assumed it was just old and weak.

We're talking two different things here. The mold was endemic to the environment, so new, freshly inoculated bags were susceptible. Once the bags are colonized they can out-compete the mold, but I've also seen older bags become contaminated. Excess humidity in the tent can also give mold an edge, as the Stamets book says. But in my case, it was an environment in need of some bleach. The new bags got infected at a rate that made me consider the theory of spontaneous generation, long-debunked! A bit of applied cleanliness and I'm doing much better, thanks!

Mmmmm so i might have caused the mold then, just like you, what humidity do you keep for oysters?

Danny wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 1:37 pm

JayneR13 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 7:54 am LOL I'm probably the only woman in a ten mile radius that has a Martha in my living room and fungal cultures in my fridge!

Maybe in ten miles. I've had a Martha in my living room and kitchen, but she did go after later. I also have some molds and fungi ( maybe) on things that get "lost" in the far reaches of the fridge at times.

Going to start two mushroom kits this next week, but ya'll sound so far advanced from my little puttering along. Best of luck to ya'll, maybe we can all enjoy some yummy mushrooms !

Be careful! That's where I started: a kit won in a local auction. The rest came later. I had a few volunteer cultures in the fridge back in college but these are deliberate. And I just received my replacement Enoki today! Yay!

Moth1992 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 4:09 pm <snip>

Mmmmm so i might have caused the mold then, just like you, what humidity do you keep for oysters?
[/quote]

Mold comes and mold goes so don't beat yourself up! Just be sure to clean on a regular basis. I have my Martha tent set to 75% humidity with a 5 degree variance. That seems to be a happy medium between the humidity necessary for fruiting but not high enough to give molds the edge. At least so far!

JayneR13 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 12:35 pm

Danny wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 1:37 pm

JayneR13 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 7:54 am LOL I'm probably the only woman in a ten mile radius that has a Martha in my living room and fungal cultures in my fridge!

Maybe in ten miles. I've had a Martha in my living room and kitchen, but she did go after later. I also have some molds and fungi ( maybe) on things that get "lost" in the far reaches of the fridge at times.

Going to start two mushroom kits this next week, but ya'll sound so far advanced from my little puttering along. Best of luck to ya'll, maybe we can all enjoy some yummy mushrooms !

Be careful! That's where I started: a kit won in a local auction. The rest came later. I had a few volunteer cultures in the fridge back in college but these are deliberate. And I just received my replacement Enoki today! Yay!

Enoki? I am so envious !! There is not even anyplace to buy any enoki mushrooms around here, to try them, dang it. What do they taste like? Are they hard to grow?

[quote=Danny post_id=81486 time=1667020668 user_id=726


(snip)

Enoki? I am so envious !! There is not even anyplace to buy any enoki mushrooms around here, to try them, dang it. What do they taste like? Are they hard to grow?
[/quote]

I don't have the answers to your questions because it's my first time trying enokis. If you want liquid cultures of interesting species, look up Liquid Fungi. I found their 10 pack to be a good deal and the THANKYOU coupon code might work for you. They have great reviews on the web so I have a certain amount of faith in them. You can make master cultures from the LC they send you, and there will be enough to inoculate bags, grain, etc as well. A person can do a lot with 10 mL of culture Another place to get LC is eBay but be careful! I've gotten contaminated culture a couple of times there. Some great stuff too though.

Thanks for the source, down another rabbit hole for me, LOL!!

Harvest! Over the past week I've been enjoying both lion's mane and white elm oysters. The former is in the process of becoming tincture and the latter was added to my lentils with Indian spices for supper. Yum!

Those are absolutely beautiful @JayneR13!

MissS wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 12:25 pm Those are absolutely beautiful @JayneR13!

Thank you so much! I've got a bunch more fruiting too. Who says I can't garden in a zone 5B winter? LOL

5b! You need to add your location to your profile so that we all know where your are.

Done! We're neighbors, it would seem. Just a bit nippy out today for outdoor gardening!

More goodies from the Martha tent. Another haul of lion's mane, along with a few oysters and a tiger sawgill:
And my coral oysters are pinning! Yay!
How are you all doing? Anything yummy to share?

Pressure cooker is coming my way!

Moth1992 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 06, 2022 4:10 pm Pressure cooker is coming my way!

Pressure COOKER or pressure CANNER? There's a huge difference. You'll likely need the canner if you plan to sterilize things, like grain for spawn, substrate, and PDA for cultures.