Interesting that you mention this mate, because if you look at this price list from my spore Guy, you’ll see Bluemeanies listed in the cubensis strains in the 1st column 4th row down, and you’ll also see a separate box at the bottom of the 2nd column listing the available Panaeolus strains… proper Blue Meanies!!!
And without getting too political… I dunno how you haven’t gone completely mental with that nutcase in charge… 1st time it was kinda funny (Covfefe anyone?), but this time it’s mindblowing what he gets away with pretty much every single day.
Anyway… (slow deep breaths)
So you might remember that I inoculated 2 bags of Red Sorghum (AKA Red Milo) about 2 weeks ago, one with KSSS and the other with Apetar.
The Apetar went bad on day 4, so the Grainbag Guy sent me a replacement bag. I bought a couple more spare grainbags, plus a few other bits and pieces.
I don’t know why the Apetar went bad, the Spore Guy is taking no responsibility… he tests his stock regularly for contamination.
It was nice of the Grainbag Guy to send me a free replacement bag, but was it his fault???
I doubt it.
It was probably something I did wrong, and even though I thought I was good with my disinfection, I remember being quick about it, getting the job done and taped up with micropore, just like I did with the KSSS
BUT…
I did the inoculation on the floor of my weed growing tent with the fans on, so I’m sure there was plenty of airbourne contaminants floating about in there!
Lesson learned, now back on track.
Here’s the underside of the KSSS bag on day 12…
The grain has taken the KSSS really nicely, and I could see the mycelium spreading up to the top side of he bag now…
Once the mycelium have taken about 20% of the bag, it’s time to mix it all up to spread the developing mycelium evenly throughout the grain, so that it colonises quicker.
The big rule when growing any kind of mushroom is sterility… contamination is our enemy, so you need 70% Isopropyl Alcohol in a spray bottle to spray copious amounts over everything, all the time.
It’s better to use 70% rather than 100%, because 100% evaporates too quickly, not enough time to kill everything, while 70% stays around longer and kills a lot more bugs.
As well as Alcohol. it’s a good idea to use a Still Air Box (SAB), and these can be bought or made DIY. You don’t have to get one, but the success rate drastically improves if you use one.
The idea is that in a SAB, the contaminants in the air fall to the bottom, so slow methodical work is done to avoid moving the air around in it too much, and you have a small shelf or rack in it to keep your work off the floor level where all the contaminated air is.
So strictly, the Dude in the above pic is still taking some risks keeping his syringes on the box floor. Tut tut!!
What’s good though is the jars he’s using… I might get into inoculating jars of popcorn kernels, rather than bags of Red Milo (AKA Popcorn Tek). That will save money, and eliminate the risk of bag breakage.
Here’s my SAB, ready to get to work. crucially there’s a little wire rack to put everything on after I disinfect them, and a couple of paper towels that I used to wipe everything down…
Basically you put everything you might need inside the SAB which has been previously been sprayed with Iso, and left for a few mins for the air to settle.
Glove up and stick your hands into the armholes, then spray your gloved hands and everything you put inside, then once each item is disinfected, put it on the shelf (which you will have sprayed with ISO a number of times already).
After touching anything, spray your gloved hands before and afterwards, and do this each time before moving onto the next item!!!
I also bought fresh sterile needles… some people re-use their needles, and flame them before use… not a great idea in a SAB full of Alcohol fumes…
Just to ram the point home… (for fucks sake…)
NEVER LIGHT A FLAME IN A STILL AIR BOX !!!
Again, wait a couple of minutes to let the air settle, and then get to work, nice and slowly.
I sprayed everything again, and inoculated a new bag of Red Sorghum with Apetar live culture.
I then gave the KSSS bag a good mixing up, being careful not to perforate the bag. Again, I had sprayed the bag all over beforehand, along with my gloved hands… if anything had burst, I could have repaired any damage with micropore tape in a safer environment.
Yesterday, 2 days after mixing, here’s the underside of the KSSS bag showing the mycelium growing all through the grain…
This is the top front…
… and this is the top, rear end…
I’m hoping the bag will be solid white mycelium in a couple more weeks.
In the meantime, next week I’m gonna set up a ‘Martha Tent’… wait and see!
Thanks for following, hope you get some inspiration… and again… I’m completely new to growing any kind of mushroom… I’m no expert, I’m merely passing on what I have only just learned myself.
I have 2.5g of some Lizard King mushrooms to take in about an hour or so… I’m gonna break on through to the other side!
See you next time!