ok to mix up dpoo that's been colonizing for 13 days

[chrisnh]

about 2 weeks ago, swim spawned some mycomix bags with some dpoo. the bottom layer was half spawn and half dpoo mixed all up and about an inch thick(100% colonized now). the top layer was about 2 inches of straight dpoo. 2 weeks in the top layer only has a few spots peeking through, should he just give it more time, or can he go and break up the bottom layer and mix it all up with the top layer? thanks

[wildburr]

I would have mixed all of it up to begin with. Not sure about breaking up what you have going on now though, I would wait and let it go. Someone with more experience might say different though. Good luck with your grow.

[chrisnh]

Originally Posted by wildburr

I would have mixed all of it up to begin with

live and learn eh? the way it was going to be done would have called for a layer in between the 2 of pure spawn, but it was discovered half way through that there wasn't enough room. so the dpoo layer was put on top. looking back, clearly the wrong way to do it. just not sure what the best remedy is now. swim has some jars of the same strain that will be ready soon. maybe break a few of those up and mix with the top layer of dpoo?

[Hippie3]

don't fuck with it
is the best advice.
start a new project if you must do something.

[Freaky]

I prefer mixing it all up. An option you could consider for next time, is mixing spawn and bulk substrate in a separate clean tub, then add to the final tub.

As Hip suggested, leave this one instead of disturbing and possibly contaminating, and try a new project for practice.

[chrisnh]

ok thanks. it will be left alone. one thing he did do just before asking this question..it was obvious that he should have done a better job fluffing up the dpoo before putting it on top. so he sterilized 2 forks and lightly broke up some of the top layer of poo, being sure not to disturb the colonized layer below and avoid the spots were the myc had already broken through. doesn't seem like any myc was damaged this way. hopefully just doing that will help.

could any of the pros here give ideas on success rate of this colonizing properly(assuming all other parameters are ok) and an approx time before it will be ready for the FC if successful? thanks

[chrisnh]

update. seems like using the forks to fluff it up like should have been done in the beginning really helped. moving along good now. couple questions. how important is it for it to colonize evenly? as you can see it isn't. where this won't have a casing, what's the best way to fix that if it's needed? and is they greyish stuff in pic 2 a problem? don't worry the beetle is dead lol. and should this be fully colonized before putting in the FC since it won't be cased? thanks

[hyphaenation]

To my untrained eye the surface of your substrate looks quite shiny and wet (almost soupy). Maybe a touch to wet ? I'd just give the tubs the best FAE holes with tyvek/polyfil , keep them at a nice 80 F in a clean, dark place.

With the donkey doo etc , if its soaked well and pasturized then it should hold a bunch of its own moisture. You don't need to mist heavily right on the surface. If you have'nt been watering the substrate then maybe it was to wet to begin with.

In either case I think you should just leave them alone, make sure they have good , tyvek/poly covered air holes and just forget about them for a day or 3. This way you give it optimum conditions and let it do its thing.

Should be white like a cake in a short while. No doo-doo visible.

Goodluck

[chrisnh]

thanks, it's not in a tub yet. still incubating with the tray covered in foil with holes and that is put into a cardboard box that is loosely closed and kept around the high 70s. it might have been lightly misted once at spawning but not since then. i think that 2nd close up pic is a little misleading as to moisture appearance. the other ones look more accurate. and so this should be solid white before introducing to the FC? thanks for clearing that part up

other than looking too wet(again, a bit of an illusion in that pic), is the second pic ok with the greyish stuff, hpoing tha'ts not cobweb forming. but it's getting the foil lifted up once a day or so, if not the holes in the foil are fanned, so i'd think it's getting enough fae to avoid that.

[Hippie3]

and so this should be solid white before introducing to the FC ?

no,
you want to see mycellia is the rifts and micro-canyons
on the casing surface
but not covering the 'peaks'.
you need to be able to mist casings with water
so you need to have bare areas where the water can soak in
while the mycellia lurks just below, protected from the mist.

[chrisnh]

i wasn't planning on casing this, just straight colonized poo into the FC(monotub). if no casing should it be solid white?

[hyphaenation]

Here's a typical bulk sub scenario from a member here...

http://forums.mycotopia.net/holding-...-bulk-tub.html

There are many good pictorals on this site that perfectly illustrate and explain the ins and outs of colonizing bulk substrates. Most of them are step by steppers.

[Hippie3]

no, not really required. just well run-thru is good enough,
if you can see threads of mycellia intermixed in the poo
you don't need to delay fruiting until every inch is covered,
often that never happens anyway, not like with cakes or grain.
straw and poo being bulk make them more resistant to contams
so every inch doesn't need to be covered like cakes 'n grain.
just well run-thru with mycellia threads is what you need.
of course it doesn't really hurt to let it fully colonize and overlay but
it does make re-hydrating for extra flushes more challenging
as water runs off instead of soaking in.


hyph i'm thinking later results kinda showed that faht's 'late-casing' method
wasn't really any improvement over standard techniques.

[hyphaenation]

Hip I hear you. I grabbed that thread randomly from the great many that show a bulk sub from start to finish of colonization. I was more trying to show him a mental image of what it "should" look like... generally.

Hey chris , how did you handle that donkey poo ? Did you soak it, then pasturize it ? Did you drain it well to the point of squeezing out all excesses moisture ( field capacity )? Lots of times with certian kinds of poo iv'e actually had to take a board and stand on the pillow case to squeeze that big bunch of water out of there.

I'm just curious how you proceeded with the Donkey doo ...

Also you mentioned

still incubating with the tray covered in foil with holes

This can work for sure, but the normal lid that came with the tub works better. You can cut decent sized holes in the lid and stuff with polyfil or cover with tyvek. With a bulk project like that tiny holes in the tinfoil just don't really cut it. Also a tinfoil lid is easy to tear and flip off.

[hyphaenation]

Just remember ...

All poo is not created equally. Whats true of horse is not the same for sheep. Cow shit can vary a lot in texture as well (especially store-bought).

Drying the poo and shredding it is good advice.

but ive learned from alot of grows using my leached, dried and screened horse poo

How does your manure get leached without "flooding" it ?

[chrisnh]

wow, alot of action on this(good thing) ill do my best to respond

just well run-thru is good enough,
if you can see threads of mycellia intermixed in the poo
you don't need to delay fruiting

so i assume that would mean when the whole tub looks like this?

how did you handle that donkey poo ?

pre pasteurized from hip

With a bulk project like that tiny holes in the tinfoil just don't really cut

i didn't have the monotub when it came time to spawn and i guess i just left it alone as it was. next time i'll let it colonize in the tub, but for now i'll just give it a little extra fae


thanks for all the info/help/ good to know it's there if i missed someone's question please ask again

[Hippie3]

yeah, the tub should be run-thru like that.

[chrisnh]

Originally Posted by Hippie3

yeah, the tub should be run-thru like that.

getting there quickly, about 60% or more of the tray looks like that now.woohoo. hopefully a few more days and it will be ready for the monotub.

[Lookyhere]

I like that picture Chris. Great rhisomorphic mycelium. What strain is that? I just got another addition to Catdaddy's thread "You know mycology is an obeseeion when:" You look at a tub of crap and say "Wow, that's beautiful".

[chrisnh]

Originally Posted by Lookyhere

What strain is that?

R44, got it from a buddy of mine who's first name begins with "R"

here's a pic from today

[Lookyhere]

Almost there. Can't wait to see this one fruit.

[BuckarooBanzai]

Oh, HELLS YEAH!

Beautiful rhizo action there.

LMAO @ Looky ! ! ! ! It is a beautiful tub of crap!

RH might be a tiny bit high - the poo looks maybe a tad wet and I see condensation on the mycelium. Maybe not wrap the aluminum foil quite so tight or poke an extra hole or two. Totally your decision - it looks damned good.

That tray is gonna fruit like a beast. And not to be rude, but now ya probably realize why it would have been better to mix the whole thing up with the spawn evenly distributed.

Fantastic work up to now, though. Just picking nits...

[chrisnh]

thanks, i hope you are right, i can't seem to get my first casing to fruit for shit, but thats just a throw away project. this is what counts, so i'm hoping for good things. and i put fresh dry foil over it with more holes fingers are crossed

[BuckarooBanzai]

What are you casing with?

Also, you know you don't need to case that tray - you have plenty of water in there for a good flush. Cubies don't need a casing to perform extremely well.

Below is a plastic filing box filled with coir/poly/castings (spawned from popcorn). No casing layer at all.

[chrisnh]

very nice, actually not planning on casing this at all. just throwing it in this monotub(still in the tray) and hitting it with a few hours of a 40watt equivalent 6500k CF bulb and leaving a ceiling fan on in the room. sound like a plan?
i know it looks weird but there 4 1inch holes on top and 4 on bottom, all covered in micropore tape.
edit, this is how it's looking 2 days later, one stubborn corner. should the whole thing look like the right side or would it be ready to fruit if it all looked like the middle part? thanks

[chrisnh]

think this is ready or would it be better to give it another day or 2? thanks