A Newbie's FAQ Guide

[insight]

I'm sure there are several people that stop by the boards, read for a while and still can't seem to quickly find what they are looking for so they either post a the question, get discouraged or try something else. So, I figured, why not post the most frequently ask questions that I see asked by people just breaking into the hobby. Between the archives located here and the vaults located here, you should be able to find almost anything you are looking for. Sure there are several more, please feel free to add to post.

So here you have it. Insight’s Newbie’s Guide of FAQ’s.


1. What is the best growing TEK?
This has to be the most common question, but the answer is pretty simple… preference. The easiest, most foolproof TEK for the beginner is the Standard PF TEK located here which is imaged from PF’s Guide. Here is another, more pictorial version. Once you have understanding of the basics, then it may be wise to move on to Bulk Substrate cultivation.

2. What do terms like BRF, PF, FOAF, Spawn, Coir and DEC mean?
You will see many terms referred to every day on the boards. BRF is Brown Rice Flour, PF is Professor Fanaticus, FOAF is friend of a friend. A list of Glossary terms can be found here.

3. Can you recommend a vendor where I could order some spores from?
Everyone has a favorite or two, but if you're not sure who to pick, here is a list of ‘Topia's Vendors. These are the guys that ‘Topia stands behind for good product.

4. What is the best strain to use?
As you will hear frequently and learn for yourself, almost all cubensis strains are alike. Some have different properties than others such as cap color, height, sporulation patterns and stem depth and strength, but generally all the same. With that being said, stick with common strains such as B+, Golden Teacher, Hawaii, Texas and South American to name a few. There are hundreds of different strains, some just renamed. Ones that aren’t as common may need to be worked with more and may not produce and well as the more common ones.

5. How long till I see growth?
Initial signs of visible mycelium growth could range from 3-14 days from time of inoculation using a multi-spore syringe. Average is 5-8 days. This depends on ambient temperature, age of spores, substrate used, etc…

6. Should I incubate?
This is another commonly debated question and again leads to preference. I personally have found the colder temps lead to slower colonization. Some people leave the jars in a dresser drawer or in the closet at room temp, some just put all the jars in the cabinet somewhere in the kitchen and some (like myself) use an incubation chamber. You don’t want the temp around the jars (ambient temp) to fall below 70° or above 84°. Keep in mind that while the mycelium is colonizing, it is metabolically raising the temperature an extra 1-2°. If you decide that you do want to incubate your jars, there a several different styles of chamber ranging from a Tub-in-Tub system to a Rubbermaid with a fish tank heater. Here is a link to get some ideas.

7. What should the temperature be for incubation and fruiting?
This varies per Genus of mushroom, but generally speaking, incubation and fruiting temps should be anywhere from 70°-80°. Different exotic strains such as Ps. Cubensis, Pan cyan and edibles require different temps.

8. How much light do my cakes need?
Mushrooms, unlike plants, use light to induce pinning. As long as they have light a couple hours a day, that would be sufficient. However, up to 14 hours can be given. Most members will either leave their cakes where they get indirect sunlight throughout the day or give fluorescent light fixed on for 8-12 hours.

9. How much air exchange is needed?
Cubensis mushrooms are pretty tolerant. It is recommended that the air be exchanged every hour, but minimum, a few times a day.

10. How to I raise the humidity in my fruiting chamber?
The best way would be to line the bottom of your fruiting chamber with damp perlite. Perlite retains moisture, thus, increasing humidity. Some people use coolmist systems or ultrasonic foggers.

11. Should I birth my cakes or go Invitro?
This is all preference. The question you ask yourself is space and/or stealth a factor? If either/or, you may want to sway toward invitro. It gives you a chance to cultivate while saving space. Everything is contained within the jar. The downfall is a good chance you won’t be able to take spore prints.

12. What is the best Casing/Substrate TEK?
The two most common are probably using straw or poo. Both have their ups and downs. Due to increased risk of contamination, it is better if you have some experience under your belt before you jump into bulk trays. Here is a link to bulk casing TEKs.

13. What is the best type of grain to use?
Preference again. Popcorn and Rye Berries are among the easiest. Wild Bird Seed is good because of its size, it provides several inoculation points but harder to prepare. Here is a link to some Rye grain TEKs. Here is a link to some Popcorn TEKs.

14. How long after my cake has colonized until I could pick ‘em.
This too varies with the strain and the type of fruiting method performed. Once your cake has fully colonized you should be able to harvest within 1-2 weeks. It takes a few days for pins to show up, and a few days for the pins to mature into mature mushrooms.

15. I see wet spots. Is this OK?
Maybe, maybe not. As with any living thing, mycelium needs to excrete its waste. Sometimes, you will look at a jar and see a small amount of a brownish fluid, this my friend, is mycelium piss. Other wet spots may an area that wont colonize or an area that has contaminants.

16. I see green, am I doomed?
Most of the time, it would be better to toss the contaminated cake/tray, bleach-bomb your grow area and start over. If you seen green in your jars while incubating, get rid of them as you have just started the process. If you have already birthed your cakes or bulk and see green, you could bleach dunk your cakes/casings to try and kill the trich, but there is no guarantee that it wont come back to bite you. Keep in mind, that trich starts off as a white colored mold in the initial stages. By the time it turns green, thousands, if not millions of spores have been release in the air. It only take one spore to kill your grow.

17. Will peroxide kill these contaminants?
H202 has only been found to be effective on killing cobweb mold and for use with agar. H202 will not kill Trich or other many other molds seen frequently with mushroom cultivation.

18. Why do my cakes always contaminate?
This could be due to many reasons. Dirty syringe, dirty needle, dirty work environment, Contaminated substrate, moving air, and the list goes on. The first would step is to backtrack your work and see if there was any time anything could have came in contact with open air. When doing a lot of work with mushrooms, keeping a sterile environment is crucial. Working with tools, cultures and spores should be done in a sterile glovebox. Its very important to make sure that nothing gets exposed to open air any more than it has to.

19. Do I need a glovebox.
If you plan on taking spore prints, working agar, working with grains, doing transfers, then yes. Your glovebox is the sterile, still air chamber that all detailed work is done. This box prevents contamination issues later down the road.

20. What is the best print TEK?
There are many, the thing to remember is sterility. It would be best to print in a glovebox where there is no moving air and is a sterile environment. When you notice some spores on the stem of the mushroom, the cap is ready to be printed. You need to try to keep the cap as sterile as possible. Sterilize all of your tools, lance the cap as close to the top as possible, place the cap of foil, tyvek or whatever media you choose, cover with a jar, small bowl or similar, and let sit between 2 hours – overnight, whenever the cap has dropped spores. This is the basic printing idea. There any many variations, here is a link with more info.

21. What is the best way to dose?
This is all about preference. Some powder their shrooms and make chocolates, some chop them up and make tea, some just pop a couple in their mouth and chomp away. It is said that fresh shrooms carry a higher potency that dry. Here are some ideas.

22. Mushrooms have stopped growing for my cakes and they look dry.
It’s time you dunk them. By dunking the cakes, you are rehydrating them and getting them ready to flush a second time. The easier way to dunk your cakes is to clean them off under running water, put them back in clean jars, fill with water, put a soda cap (or similar) on top of cake, put lid and band on and let sit over night. Dunks can be anywhere from 12-24 hours. Here is a link for some other TEKs.

23. Does more blue mean more magic?
There has been no proof that mushrooms that bruise darker are any stronger than those that don’t.

24. Where can I find…
There are many items in mycology that we use, many hard to find. There are too many specifically to list. Here is a link to some commonly asked about items. If there is one you can’t find, just ask.

25. How do I dry my mushrooms?
Some people put them under a fan, some on paper towels by moving air, some right over desiccant. There any many ways. A strong fan will probably yield the best result. Keep in mind, a mushroom is 90% water, so any moisture left in the mushroom after it has been placed away for storage will cause it to rot. You want to have your mushrooms cracker dry.

26. Do I need a Pressure Cooker?
Yes. Many people have gotten away with making BRF Jars and sterilizing them in boiling water with success. Problem being, a pot of boiling water cannot get the jars to the internal temp that is needed to successfully kill the contaminants that would survive boiling. When working with grains, a pressure cooker is essential and grains contaminate much easier than BRF. You will also find a pressure cooker useful to sterilize your scalpel, syringes, jars, lids, water, etc…

27. What is all this talk about casing mean?
You may hear this term used incorrectly, but a Casing is defined as: A non-nutritious layer that is applied over the top of a substrate to encourage pinning by creating a loose microenvironment with numerous small air spaces. Here is a link to a discussion regarding this topic.

There any many more questions that could be asked, and I will try to update this list a time goes on.


You will find a world of knowledge, along with many good people here at Topia looking to help you every step of the way.