Invitro ?'s - Post dunking procedure + howw common is it for cakes to be too dry?

[Hobbit Girl]

Hi All, I have a couple of quick invitro grow questions:
1. I just dunked several jars after my first (meager) flush. I let all the water drain out, but did not pat dry the cakes with paper towel. Should I have? The cakes seemed pretty wet.
2. I'm a little bit worried about several cakes which I think might be too dry to make it through their first flush. If they are damp enough to cause some condensation on the sides of the jars, should I just leave them alone? Any other thoughts?

Many thanks as always for your advice. Mycotopia rocks!

[Ben Dover]

1: As long as there is no water puddling under the jar you should be fine without the towel. Just to be sure, after they have sat for a little while pick them up, tilt some and gently spin the jar to see if any water comes out the holes in the lid. I have had some problems before with the air holes not big enough and holding a little water in between the lid and cake.

2: If there's condensation inside the jar then IMO you should be ok if you want to finish the flush. I have harvested early to dunk in hopes that the added moisture will get a better 2nd harvest sooner but that is entirely up to you.

Sounds good?

[Hobbit Girl]

Originally Posted by Ben Dover

1: As long as there is no water puddling under the jar you should be fine without the towel. Just to be sure, after they have sat for a little while pick them up, tilt some and gently spin the jar to see if any water comes out the holes in the lid. I have had some problems before with the air holes not big enough and holding a little water in between the lid and cake.

2: If there's condensation inside the jar then IMO you should be ok if you want to finish the flush. I have harvested early to dunk in hopes that the added moisture will get a better 2nd harvest sooner but that is entirely up to you.

Sounds good?

Thanks very much for the advice. It sounds as if you flip your jars. I'm really confused on that point. One of the original neglect tek summaries suggested flipping after the first dunk, as have a number of other threads, but Hippie recently advised me that he does not flip.

[steeq]

Originally Posted by Ben Dover

1: As long as there is no water puddling under the jar you should be fine without the towel. Just to be sure, after they have sat for a little while pick them up, tilt some and gently spin the jar to see if any water comes out the holes in the lid. I have had some problems before with the air holes not big enough and holding a little water in between the lid and cake.

2: If there's condensation inside the jar then IMO you should be ok if you want to finish the flush. I have harvested early to dunk in hopes that the added moisture will get a better 2nd harvest sooner but that is entirely up to you.

Sounds good?

Yep, they should be fine

[Ben Dover]

Sorry, I should have clarified that I have the jars upside down with fruiting (or slow incubation for what ever reason).

With the jars upside down the co2 with naturally drain out and be replaced with lighter, fresh air. I thought Hip did the same thing so now I'm not sure since you said otherwise. I speak from my own experience as I'm sure Hip is so I guess pick which ever you like and if you don't fancy the results there's always next time.

[ADDlCTlON]

Originally Posted by Hobbit Girl

Hi All, I have a couple of quick invitro grow questions:
1. I just dunked several jars after my first (meager) flush. I let all the water drain out, but did not pat dry the cakes with paper towel. Should I have? The cakes seemed pretty wet.
2. I'm a little bit worried about several cakes which I think might be too dry to make it through their first flush. If they are damp enough to cause some condensation on the sides of the jars, should I just leave them alone? Any other thoughts?

Many thanks as always for your advice. Mycotopia rocks!

1. meager? you should have let them go longer before flushing them. no need to pat dry

2. the cakes are fine and are not dry , let keep growing till all the sides of the jar has little shrooms

3. i hate to be the ass , but how old are you and are u living with people you have to hide your grow from? (parents) i know i posted in some of your earlier threads and you mentioned you cant even fit a small lasagna type tray in to your grow area , fruiting invitro in half pint jars will yield poor results at best , maybe you should wait till you have your own place to grow mushrooms



But, since i hate the drug laws , i will give you one good tip for your adventures , next time you make 1/2 pint jars only fill them half way with brf (if u intend to do invitro in the same jar you colonize them in), you will at least provide some growing room for the mushrooms.
you could even cut your current cakes in half and put each half in its own clean jar , this will give you a slighty better yield.
also tape the bottom half of the jars with duct tape or something similar so you get fruits to grow in the open space of the jar

obviously there is no lid or sub in the jar but u get the idea


cheers

[Hobbit Girl]

Originally Posted by ADDlCTlON

1. meager? you should have let them go longer before flushing them. no need to pat dry

2. the cakes are fine and are not dry , let keep growing till all the sides of the jar has little shrooms

3. i hate to be the ass , but how old are you and are u living with people you have to hide your grow from? (parents) i know i posted in some of your earlier threads and you mentioned you cant even fit a small lasagna type tray in to your grow area , fruiting invitro in half pint jars will yield poor results at best , maybe you should wait till you have your own place to grow mushrooms



But, since i hate the drug laws , i will give you one good tip for your adventures , next time you make 1/2 pint jars only fill them half way with brf (if u intend to do invitro in the same jar you colonize them in), you will at least provide some growing room for the mushrooms.
you could even cut your current cakes in half and put each half in its own clean jar , this will give you a slighty better yield.
also tape the bottom half of the jars with duct tape or something similar so you get fruits to grow in the open space of the jar

obviously there is no lid or sub in the jar but u get the idea


cheers

Thanks for this, and the earlier advice, Addiction. Again, I wish that I did have the right environment to use a proper Fruiting Chamber, but although it's been a long time since I've lived with my parents, I still don't have the freedom/space to grow as I'd like. I think I'm not the only one here at Topia with this type of situation, which explains the popularity of Invitro growing (in addition to it's suitability for Newbies like me).

[Hobbit Girl]

Originally Posted by Ben Dover

Sorry, I should have clarified that I have the jars upside down with fruiting (or slow incubation for what ever reason).

With the jars upside down the co2 with naturally drain out and be replaced with lighter, fresh air. I thought Hip did the same thing so now I'm not sure since you said otherwise. I speak from my own experience as I'm sure Hip is so I guess pick which ever you like and if you don't fancy the results there's always next time.

Thanks again for the advice, Ben. Thanks also Steeq. Yes, I've read this about the C02 sinking down and out when the jars are flipped, which is why I'm so confused on the point. I may start a new thread with "to flip, or not to flip" as the subject. As I hope this grow will last me a while, it's really disconcerting not to know which works best.

[Irishlion]

hey Hobbit girl you ever heard of the Chronic tek?

[coorsmikey]

Here is an idea.... no flip! and when you need to dunk the small mouth jar hold the cake submerged. Only prob is you need small fingers to get the goods out. Basically the " Chronic Tek modified to a qt jar

[hyphaenation]

I like using a gallon jar. You can reach right in it and it gives plenty of room for full sized fruits. Plenty of FAE in there with a nice polyfil breather in the lid.

[coorsmikey]

Heck yeah! Hyph. w/ a gal jar would be like a " Set It! and Forget It" Tek for sure. And most females could fit a hand in the widemouth lid to harvest, And just add water for a dunk. You could get a good yeild for one and a few friends on just one flush, then more later.

[hyphaenation]

" Set It! and Forget It"

That's the ticket Mikey ... Several times i've come back to clean up what should have been a contamed or shriveled mess and low and behold a vase of beautiful fruit.

Large plastic pop bottles (cut so they can open) work well to and are less bulky and unbreakable if dropped.

http://forums.mycotopia.net/popcorn-...tml#post390672 (Buckaroo Bulk Nugget Tek (invitro, spawn bags and/or ½ gallon jars))

[whatisntseen]

There are far too many teks out there! All of those sound like pretty cool ideas to just try growing with.. best of luck with your invitros.

[Hobbit Girl]

Originally Posted by whatisntseen

There are far too many teks out there! All of those sound like pretty cool ideas to just try growing with.. best of luck with your invitros.

Thanks very much, and thanks to Hyph and Mikey for the ideas. There sure are a lot of teks, and so often they are written with the assumption that those reading/trying them are experienced, and I'm still a Newbie. Unfortunately reasons of stealth/space/light make it tough for me to try these other teks right now, or the Chronic (my original plan). Thanks again.

[hyphaenation]

A very easy way to accomplish what you want is to colonize a jar fully , birth it out and place it into a jar that is larger than your first.

Takes hardly any time , gives room for more fruits to form.

If contams are a concern place a clear plastic bag over the jar , remove the lid through the plastic and allow them to fall out. Spank the jar and birth the cake into the bag. Open the recipient jar and place cake in there. Replace lid.

Good luck with however you do it.

[whatchamacallit]

SWIM finds that with most colonized cakes done invitro/chronic tek, contamination rarely can get a foot hold, unless casing it, when cobweb can sometimes pop up..

[Hobbit Girl]

Originally Posted by hyphaenation

A very easy way to accomplish what you want is to colonize a jar fully , birth it out and place it into a jar that is larger than your first.

Takes hardly any time , gives room for more fruits to form.

If contams are a concern place a clear plastic bag over the jar , remove the lid through the plastic and allow them to fall out. Spank the jar and birth the cake into the bag. Open the recipient jar and place cake in there. Replace lid.

Good luck with however you do it.

I'll try it with at least a couple of jars, Hyph. The reason I assumed I could not go with Chronic, or some of these others, is that I can't maintain the 76 degree temp specified. Right now in Northern CA, it's upper 60's, and has been for at least a week.

[hyphaenation]

Upper 60's is fine. 76 is optimal but certainly not required. I live north of 60 degrees and its much colder than that at night.

Upper 60's only means slightly slower growth , not no growth. You'll be just fine no matter what you decide.

I've had jars left outside in the snow in -20 C that froze solid and were well and alive in the spring as soon as it was above 0 C.

[Hobbit Girl]

Originally Posted by hyphaenation

Upper 60's is fine. 76 is optimal but certainly not required. I live north of 60 degrees and its much colder than that at night.

Upper 60's only means slightly slower growth , not no growth. You'll be just fine no matter what you decide.

I've had jars left outside in the snow in -20 C that froze solid and were well and alive in the spring as soon as it was above 0 C.

Well, that's definitely encouraging! Thanks, I'll try it and let you know how it goes.

[hyphaenation]

I'm not the sharpest spoon in the drawer ... but why exactly can't you do this chronic tek ? Besides the temperature "issues"... For example you site space and light as a factor , how would it be different with a slightly larger jar ?

http://forums.mycotopia.net/fungi-gr...ronic-tek.html (Oakridge.... Chronic Tek)

Seems so close to what you are already doing but i've heard you several times say its not possible for you.

[Hobbit Girl]

Originally Posted by hyphaenation

I'm not the sharpest spoon in the drawer ... but why exactly can't you do this chronic tek ? Besides the temperature "issues"... For example you site space and light as a factor , how would it be different with a slightly larger jar ?

http://forums.mycotopia.net/fungi-gr...ronic-tek.html (Oakridge.... Chronic Tek)

Seems so close to what you are already doing but i've heard you several times say its not possible for you.

I do have space for a couple of them, and unless you or others have other suggestions, I'll set them up as per the original Chronic Tek with the PVC tube riser, etc. I suppose I should wait though until I've freshly dunked a couple of jars.