Morel and morel excited!

[Lazlo]

Yep, sclerotia will form in the agar plates.

[TheJackal]

Originally Posted by Lazlo

Yep, sclerotia will form in the agar plates.

Kewl, thanks!

Jackal, i dont at this time have a ruffobrunea specimen, if i get one youre first on my list-
re: grey morel live tissue.....i consulted a friend and i think overnight shipping you a fresh picked specimen is the best idea...pm me and we will work out the details-

re: the types of morels i sent in your prize package- i sent all three kinds, blacks , greys and yellows. I basically gave you everything i had saved from last season. If you like spread them out and take a picture, email it to me and i can point out the different types for you. if i remember correctly there should be 1/2 a dried grey in the mix thats huge....even dried. it may have been the largest grey i ever personally picked.

anything else i can do to help- just ask

[TheJackal]

Originally Posted by greysRDbest

Jackal, i dont at this time have a ruffobrunea specimen, if i get one youre first on my list-
re: grey morel live tissue.....i consulted a friend and i think overnight shipping you a fresh picked specimen is the best idea...pm me and we will work out the details-
re: the types of morels i sent in your prize package- i sent all three kinds, blacks , greys and yellows. I basically gave you everything i had saved from last season. If you like spread them out and take a picture, email it to me and i can point out the different types for you. if i remember correctly there should be 1/2 a dried grey in the mix thats huge....even dried. it may have been the largest grey i ever personally picked.
anything else i can do to help- just ask

Thanks! No need to send live tissue, since you already sent dried black, grey, and yellow morel dry tissue, which I will streak to agar to revive per Hotnuts at shroomery:

Hotnuts said:
I break a small section of the stem off in the ziploc and then I crumble it up a bit. Then you can take a sterile knife and use that to scoop out the crumbled tissue. Apply them dry across the agar. Usually within 5 days you'll start to see growth from the mushroom's tissue, or before that. Morchella is very fast! You will have mold as well, so you'll have to make a few transfers to new plates to get away from it. But it's easy to get away from because the Morchella is so fast to colonize.

As far as the IDs, I will post pictures of your dried samples for ID purposes, if needed. BTW, U DA MAN!

One open question for the morel gurus is why it is that you apparently cannot go straight to LC with the dried morel tissue and must use agar instead.


FYI, here is a helpful technique from Morelman at the shroomery regarding how to clean infected morel LC:

Morelman said:
***
Morels do very well in LC. The growth rates are phenomenal. Adding activated carbon to a Morel LC helps a lot. I've seen dessicated tissue, completely re-hydrated in peroxide, sprout mycelium within a week.
Morel LC's are very prone to contamination by yeasts and sometimes bacteria. The liquid portion of the LC should always be crystal clear.
(Just in Case)
If the LC turns the slightest bit cloudy. It's done for. You can save a contaminated LC though. It is a pain in the ass but it can be done, as I have saved a few myself. Cleaning the tissue first with peroxide or a very weak bleach solution is the best insurance you can have.
bacteria contam (Fruity Smell)
yeast contam (Alcohol Smell)
You want the mycelium to settle to the bottom of the jar. Pour off enough liquid so that you can add about half a bottle of peroxide.
Let it set for an hour or two so that the mycelium can float to the surface. In the meantime prepare another LC and when it has cooled down. Add all but 50ml of the remaining Peroxide into the new LC.
Pour a peroxide bath (50ml) in a small container. With a sterilized dental pick or similar utensil. Pluck the bits of mycelium off the surface of the contaminated LC and put in the peroxide bath. Let the mycelium bathe in the peroxide for no less than 1/2hour and no more than 1hour. After that, dump bath and mycelium into your new LC.
If the LC is still clear after a few days you're golden.

***

Below is a picture of black morel LC, where the black stuff is not contam, but rather activated charcoal that I probably used a bit too much of.

Cheers!

[TheJackal]

greysRDbest, here is the morels pic for ID purposes:

[TheJackal]

Originally Posted by TheJackal

***
One open question for the morel gurus is why it is that you apparently cannot go straight to LC with the dried morel tissue and must use agar instead.

***

Morelman's comment:

"Morels do very well in LC. The growth rates are phenomenal. Adding activated carbon to a Morel LC helps a lot. I've seen dessicated tissue, completely re-hydrated in peroxide, sprout mycelium within a week."

would seem to suggest you could go directly to LC from re-hydrated morel tissue.

[hyphaenation]

I was just inquiring about Morel LC. It doesnt take long around here for answers to come around....

best of luck

P.S: Same LC recipe as say cubes??? IE: one tablespoon of sugars for a pint jar 2/3 filled?

thx

H

use b I and c III for grey morel

a, b ,c ,and d IV are all yellows

a I is black morel

good luck. If you still want fresh tissue PM me.

[TheJackal]

Originally Posted by greysRDbest

use b I and c III for grey morel

a, b ,c ,and d IV are all yellows

a I is black morel

good luck. If you still want fresh tissue PM me.

Thanks, will do!

[TheJackal]

The morel jar seems to be getting cob web mold. The morel mycobag has growth that is off white and almost pinkish. Not sure if this is also some sort of contam.

The morel LC liquid became non-clear also indicating bacterial cotam, but then somehow seems to be recovering.

thats sucks jackal, sorry to see the mold.....any signs of rusty orange growth at all ?
hope the LC is ok.

[TheJackal]

Originally Posted by greysRDbest

thats sucks jackal, sorry to see the mold.....any signs of rusty orange growth at all ?
hope the LC is ok.

Thanks! Only used a small portion of morel culture syringe to make the LC, so that will not be a problem.

As far as the mycobag, the color maybe orange-ish, instead of pink-ish. It's not green (yet), but definitely not a bright white, which is what I was expecting.

Worst case, will try again, as I have plenty of substrate that can be prepared.

[TheJackal]

The mycelium is turning orange-ish! Of course with my luck, it's probably just rust colored mold or something.

[TheJackal]

Here is an updated pic of the morel mycobag:

i wonder if its what we HOPE it is?

how fast is it colonizing?

[crazy1]

TheJackal, no worries there. That is Morel mycelium. It sure looks to be the same color as the test tube I have of Black Morel culture. Great going.

wOOt!!!

[joey_megabucks]

great thread guys. keep it up

[TheJackal]

Thanks guys!

The bag is colonizing slowly it seems at the prescribed temp of 70F, but the prescribed incubation run is 4-6 weeks ending at 6/2-6/16, so I will remain hopeful. Of course this is the first of many more complicated steps to come, so my chances of success are still minimal.

Bad odds have never stopped me before and I will keep you posted. The next step is to prepare the "supersoil" for the spawn run.

Also, considering using the data I have captured with the computer to determine the timing for timers for running the cool mist, a/c, etc., so that during any of the critical stages I will not have to rely on the computer, which can and does take a dump every once in a while.

Cheers!

Jackal

[TheJackal]

Here is a comment received at the shroomery regarding the morel jar looking contamed:

Morelman said:
Your jar looks fine. The grain always looks "fuzzy" at this stage. The mycelium will start to turn brown soon.

I sure hope Morelman is right!

[crazy1]

As far as I know he is correct. You're doing a great job. Hell getting a morel culture to run is a task to say the least. But with your determination, I'm sure you'll do fine.

[TheJackal]

Originally Posted by crazy1

As far as I know he is correct. You're doing a great job. Hell getting a morel culture to run is a task to say the least. But with your determination, I'm sure you'll do fine.

Thanks for your vote of confidence! Win, lose, or draw, this is a damn fun experiment.

[TheJackal]

Let the morel agar work begin! Just ordered some:

Rose Bengal Agar Plates

Description: 1.0% Glucose, 0.5% peptone, 0.1% potassium phosphate (monobasic, anhydrous), 0.05%magneium sulfate, heptahydrate, 0.003% Rose bengal, and 2.0% agar.
Applications: Used for isolating fungi. Designed to suppress bacterial growth.

Hope these work out!

[crazy1]

The antibiotic agar is a great thing to have. You can be sure after a run in that the culture should be pretty clean. And I'm really waiting to see the outcome of this experiment. I have so many "irons in the fire" so to speak that I just don't have the time or space for an experiment like this. And as I said before if this doesn't go well and you need a culture, just PM me and there'll be one coming your way.

[TheJackal]

Originally Posted by crazy1

The antibiotic agar is a great thing to have. You can be sure after a run in that the culture should be pretty clean. And I'm really waiting to see the outcome of this experiment. I have so many "irons in the fire" so to speak that I just don't have the time or space for an experiment like this. And as I said before if this doesn't go well and you need a culture, just PM me and there'll be one coming your way.

Thanks bro, that's awesome!

BTW, nice new lab set up you have!

Cheers!

Jackal

[crazy1]

No problem. And thanx for the compliment.

[TheJackal]

I will need some guidance on long term storage of isolated myc from agar plates.

My understanding is that you keep transferring good myc candidates until no more sectoring occurs and then store and/or use that isolated myc for substrate innoc, etc.

Read about storing culture slants, but was wondering if the agar plates could just as easily be stored instead for later use.

All help appreciated and thanks in advance!

Cheers!

Jackal

BTW, running the simulated rain version 2.0 24/7 to help keep the humidity up in the greenhouse and that works great. Now, have no problem maintaining 90% RH at 70F with this method and the ultrasonic and cool mist do not have to work very hard. The problem was that the A/C kept flushing out all of the humidity to maintain 70F.

The problem now is that when I sit next to the greenhouse the sounds of the simulated rain makes me want to take a leak!

[crazy1]

Well, I only take the strongest, fastest colonizing plates for transfers. Usually it's 1 0f the best 3 of 10.
As to "slants" I use antibacterial Malt Extract Agar. and use only 1/2 the amount of water. That way you have a good nutrition base for your culture, and it's protected a bit from contams. Plus it sets up nice and holds it's "slant".
Plates, even when covered with film will last about 3 - 4 months with a GOOD chance of viability under proper conditions. Now I know it can last longer, but that is a fair estimate. A slant can last well over 3 yrs, but viability begins to decline about 16 - 18 mos in. But at a much slower rate. When sealed and stored at 34°F. Hope that helps.

[TheJackal]

Originally Posted by crazy1

Well, I only take the strongest, fastest colonizing plates for transfers. Usually it's 1 0f the best 3 of 10.
As to "slants" I use antibacterial Malt Extract Agar. and use only 1/2 the amount of water. That way you have a good nutrition base for your culture, and it's protected a bit from contams. Plus it sets up nice and holds it's "slant".
Plates, even when covered with film will last about 3 - 4 months with a GOOD chance of viability under proper conditions. Now I know it can last longer, but that is a fair estimate. A slant can last well over 3 yrs, but viability begins to decline about 16 - 18 mos in. But at a much slower rate. When sealed and stored at 34°F. Hope that helps.

Where do you get the "antibacterial Malt Extract Agar"?

[crazy1]

Not to sure if a sponsor here sells it. But I get mine from xxx. That's FungiPerfecti's site.
And when you do it. Fill the test tubes first and then sterilize them, then just lean them up against something till they solidify.

[TheJackal]

Originally Posted by crazy1

Not to sure if a sponsor here sells it. But I get mine from Fungi.com. That's Fungi Perfecti's site.
And when you do it. Fill the test tubes first and then sterilize them, then just lean them up against something till they solidify.

Thanks, ordered some!

What kind of test tubes are you using? I have some with rubber self sealing injection port tops. Looks like I need the screw cap type?

Details of your procedure would be most helpful in view of my agar newbness. I do have a PC and the above-noted rubber stopper test tubes. Was thinking of using polyfil during the PCing of the tubes and then putting back on the rubber stoppers, which also will be PCd. However, lack of air exchange may be a problem with the rubber stoppers.

[crazy1]

Well I use test tubes that are 125x25mm with screw on caps. I think the pressure in the tube would blow the rubber stoppers off. But I'm not sure.

Then I mix 40gms of the Antibiotic Malt Extract Agar with 500ml of water. I use our tap, but our well is in a spring. Then use a turkey baster to fill the tt about 1/3 of the way. There is no need for sterilizing the baster, as long as it's clean it's OK.
I then screw the caps on kinda tight. I then sterilize for 45 min @ 15psi. When it comes down to pressure and cools enough to handle. I wash my hands, then use 70% alcohol to kind rinse them again. I then take the rack, or what ever you have to use, and tip it in front of the Laminar flow hood. You can also do this in any clean area where you do your work. I use 2 canning rings and it holds it at about 55° angle. There you have a good surface area so grow your culture on. Then after inoculated I seal the tubes with parafilm and store in the refrigerator.

[TheJackal]

Originally Posted by crazy1

Well I use test tubes that are 125x25mm with screw on caps. I think the pressure in the tube