Woodlover-Regeneration-TEK: Densification of Rhizomorphs by Layering

[AlsahrGlib]

Wowza-beautiful pictures, man!

[fungus]

fruiting at the edges seems to be rather common

that's correct! the edges of a fungal colony are the only active (growing & fruiting) zones..tipically..while the center is the oldest part, senescence area..

zebra pattern? why not!..but always keep in mind that colonies grow circularly in solid homogenous substrata (and obviously spherically in LC...)..

[Rhizoo]

Originally Posted by fungus

that's correct! the edges of a fungal colony are the only active (growing & fruiting) zones..tipically..while the center is the oldest part, senescence area..

Ah, this is one of the two theories Wikipedia gives about fairy rings Fairy ring - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. I don't think that this applies here, because this happens too with beds which were built recently and flush for the first time.

but always keep in mind that colonies grow circularly in solid homogenous substrata (and obviously spherically in LC...)

Additionally, with beds built with several layers after each other, the oldest part is the bottom layer and the youngest the top layer. With layering the growth is predominantly vertical.

My personal theory is, that beside some microclimate issues it is advantageous for the mushroom that spores fall outside the bed, because that area is not already colonized.

Well, I hope the cyan fruits soon so this can be explored futher

[Rhizoo]

I'm soooo proud of my little azures, I just have to show you some more pics

[golly]

Beautiful Rhizoo...!
I agree that the fruiting on the frontier of new growth ,would be the whole patch ,if fresh chips are added in an even layer..The new edge would simply be the surface...

[MrMycelium]

WOW!

[Jake420]

So envious right now. That is some beautiful fruiting. Some people have all the excitement.

[hyphaenation]

Fantastic job, thanks for sharing. I'm feeling very inspired by your labours and the fruits there of.

[waylitjim]

Wow, those are some of the best Azure photos I've seen.
You have a good eye Rhizoo...and an even better hand.
Keep the pics coming

Some good Azure porn here too >
http://forums.mycotopia.net/exotic-m...zurescens.html (Psilocybe azurescens)

[Rhizoo]

Originally Posted by waylitjim

Some good Azure porn here too >
http://forums.mycotopia.net/exotic-m...zurescens.html (Psilocybe azurescens)

Ah, those are nice photos . My favourite one is the third one from Anno, where you can see the caps opening and the partial veils just breaking... I'm really looking forward to this moment with my azures, I deem this as the most beautiful moment in a mushroom's life

btw, I just noticed something new to me:

This is the same pin you can see in post #35 and in post #49, where a bit of the cap was bitten off. But now, as the cap itself is growing and expanding, this overgrew with new cap tissue, like skin or the the bark of trees does over a wound.

[monstermitch]

Very nice work. This thread is inspiring, thorough and interesting. Your attention to detail does not
go unnoticed, we really appreciate it.

[Rhizoo]

Some more pics to sweeten the time of waiting...

hygrophanous cap

[Jake420]

Sweetness. That must be a nice surprise to wake up to... I know I wouldn't mind waking up to that. Alas, I have to wait for my FOAF for any such surprise. If it is alright, I hereby dub that "Red Cap Forest" eh?

[dpwutz]

ok... i have the deepest respect for all the knowledge shared here. With a small amount of knowledge, willingness to learn and a love of the magic, i am once again starting this. Jars are started. 6 p.cyans and 6 azures. Also one of each sryinge is left (just incase). My question is : After spending hours and hours reading here (thanks WayLit, and Hippie3, and esp this thread) is there one "best" way to do things, or is it all just experimenting??? I'm trying to do the cyans in tub(s) on a porch I have, part of the house but all open windows = air circulation. and maybe do the azures out in the back yard in a pre existing bed, not shrooms.
You guys, I am forever in dept to you if this works out. any help or suggestions...thanks.

[Jake420]

Well, since it's woodlovers you might not have to worry about contams with tubs on your porch. Indirect sunlight and fresh air on woody substrate fully colonized... Hmm. Some contams attack the mycelium directly, so just watch really carefully.

[Rhizoo]

Originally Posted by dpwutz

My question is : After spending hours and hours reading here (thanks WayLit, and Hippie3, and esp this thread) is there one "best" way to do things, or is it all just experimenting???

Well, with your jars you just can follow Waylit's WoodLover Tek
If you then have the fully colonized wood, you can (not must) do experimenting with lots of beds/tubs and different types of beds/tubs. There are severeal reasons to do this:

• some beds or tubs may fruit better because the course of the weather fitted better to their placement, way of building, etc.
• its always good practice to do distibution of risks (an animal may dig up a bed, contams or a competing mushroom may take over a bed, fire, etc.)
• you learn the most if you try different things yourself and then try to analyze why there was a difference.
• woodlovers take soooo much time until they finally fruit, without a little variety they would be boring to death

I'm trying to do the cyans in tub(s) on a porch I have, part of the house but all open windows = air circulation.

If the temperature etc. there is the same as outside, this will probably work. There have been successful fruitings in sheds, cellars (with open windows) and uninsulated attics.

[camMyco]

I have to ask because your photos are amazing, what is your photographic set-up? body lens...

[dpwutz]

thanks rhizoo. ya I've read allover WayLits Tek. But the reason for the porch idea is that when then temps drop here in the SE, hopefully around Dec. Jan. Feb..ect. it's all open windows and not in the sun at all, actually it stays pretty dark in there. but i like the idea of the natural temps outside, min light. but also the safety of being behind doors- so to speek. what about trying to do a jar or two of the azures the same way, or will just be a waste?

[hyphaenation]

True mycoporn for the brain !

[Rhizoo]

Originally Posted by dpwutz

what about trying to do a jar or two of the azures the same way, or will just be a waste?

I'm not realy sure if I understand your question correctly. Do you mean if cyan and azur have to be handled differently? No.

Just an additional remark because I'm not sure if this has become clear: since you started just recently, a fruiting this fall/winter is rather unlikely (the mycelium has to colonize wood first; but of course you might give it a try with a part of it). So over the winter you will mostly do lots of propagation work (like the first half of this thread was), and this can be done well at 15-20°C indoors. In fact, the mycelium grows slower at lower temperatures and stops growing altogether below 5°C or so. I'm really not familiar with american climate, but if you have longer periods below this or frost in the winter I would recommend to wait until next spring before bringing the tubs outside or to your porch.

[Rhizoo]

Originally Posted by camMyco

I have to ask because your photos are amazing, what is your photographic set-up? body lens...

As said before, you do not need expensive equipment for such photos. Just experience

The only details which I would recommend is a camera which allows to select the aperture and/or shutter speed manually, and lots of focal lenght (see below).

Ok, here are some tricks... I assume that it is known how to focus, and what aperture, shutter speed and iso rating are.

• never use a flash (unless you have a ring-flash) or make photos in the full sun. The contrast will be too high and lots of details will be lost. Additionaly you get ugly shadows.
• use the lowest possible ISO rating to minimize noise from the sensor.
• this will increase the exposure time dramatically, therefore use the self-timer
• place the camera on something stable.
• since mushrooms grow barely above the ground, the camera should be placed at the same height. Make pics from diagonally above only for giving an overview but not when doing close-ups.
• a bag filled with (not too much) dry beans or chickpeas placed under the camera is the ideal solution to both previous points.
• use a piece of white cardboard or the silver inner side of a tetrapack to provide some soft indirect light (try from different sides & angles), especially if you want to show the underside of the cap.
• if you want to do close-ups, I would recommend a good close-up lens (i use +4 diopters) in front of a normal lens of large focal length unless you can afford a real macro lens. With the "flower-symbol" most cameras have just the range of the autofocus gets changed - and therefore you would have to place the camera very close to the shroom, which is most of the time not possible (because this would hurt other pins) or not desired (because it shadows the pin you just want to photograph).
• usually it looks better when the background is blurred so it does not distract the viewer, so use a small aperture number. The exception here is when doing close-ups use a large aperture number because even then the depth of sharpness is very shallow.
• make many photos and just post the best. I usually select from 3-10 photos per one which gets actually posted.
• use the crop function in your favorite imaging program to cut away distracting parts and reduce the picture to the essential aspect.

[waylitjim]

I'm thoroughly enjoying this thread. Great photo tips as well.
I really appreciate those who take the time to archive their work.
Truly a beautiful species, and worth the effort in every way.
Your photos are stunning. Thanks for sharing.

[Rhizoo]

it's going faster and faster every day...

[MrMycelium]

F...king WOW!

I really look forward to reading the updates on this thread every day.

[hyphaenation]

Hi Rhizoo

Breathtakingly beautiful photos bro !

Had a quick question for you or another... I had to move this summer and in the process was forced to relocate a bed of P. Cyans. Everything went well and I made a dozen 2 gallon pots from the extra colonized chip clumps. I added new soaked chips, straw and potting soil. They colonized well inside and then I put them out.

Temps are near 50 or lower day and night and its raining. At first there was potting soil on the surface of each pot but the mycelium ate though that inside. Once I set them outside and I watered a few times or they got rained on and now there is only moist chips on to the surface. They still look white with rhizomorphic mycelium , but can turn "dull" after a rain or watering.

At the moment I have moss on the surface of each pot to keep humidity high. Is it to late to add a small layer of potting soil on the top of each pot? I'm hoping that they are ready to fruit very soon as its been 50 F for a couple weeks already. Will adding the casing now help or hinder?

Thanks to anyone with time to answer.

Cheers

H

[Rhizoo]

Originally Posted by hyphaenation

Once I set them outside and I watered a few times or they got rained on and now there is only moist chips on to the surface. They still look white with rhizomorphic mycelium , but can turn "dull" after a rain or watering.

At the moment I have moss on the surface of each pot to keep humidity high. Is it to late to add a small layer of potting soil on the top of each pot?

Well, I don't have that much experience with fruiting yet, but from what I can observe with the azures I would think that adding a little more soil is no problem and in fact a good idea. They predominantly fruited from wood which was covered with a little soil, not from the one which was uncovered. And they seem to prefer the
spots which are more secluded and can't be hit by the raindrops directly.

But since you have several pots, you might do some experiments

[Rhizoo]

These are the two main clusters in the patch - in the rest only 20-30 more are growing.
Next year I want to have a patch which looks like this everywhere





Most of the time I photograph the left cluster because its the most accessible





The caps are so close to each other it makes you wonder how the spores are supposed to reach the ground...





This one reached a place in the sun...





...whereas those are too late and have to be content with the cheap seats...





...but it's not so bad because the caps let pass some of the light