May I ask what your recipe is? I think I’m adding too much nutrient or agar as after 10 mins of boiling and mixing it’s still cloudy and when put into the jar I can see things falling out of solution.
I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but, if it's a closed closet to which you applied the positive pressure HEPA filter/blower, then It's a closed loop, and you've added neither positive nor negative pressure to affect in your lab! The closet will draw air from your lab into the vacuum environment within, through every conceivable draft opening around the door. In fact, you've added an Ineffective air purifier to the lab, and that's because it will steer up resting closet particles which will become airborne and which the HEPA filter will need to suck up...
@@MyHomeUSA it’s not a closet I should have shown what’s behind the door lol it leads into the larger area of the basement which has access to the upstairs so the air comes from above and down through the stairwell, through the “closet” which is a utility area through the filter and into the room. Hope that makes sense!
I recently poured my own agar plates. I was terrified that it wouldn't work because I don't even have a pressure cooker. I literally just boiled it inside of a Starbucks bottle. Using a still air box and a alcohol flame, I inoculated about six plates. I was so worried about contamination. 10 days later and I have beautiful growth on three plates, The other three are completely avoid of anything. I used a drop of liquid culture and may not have gotten any actual mycelium on the plate. But no contamination yet. I feel like a true scientist, and I didn't even wash my hands.
Great explanation! It’s been such a cool journey integrating my lessons from mycology and incorporating them into academia and the study of insect pathogen fungi.
I've been using a small alcohol burner inside of my still air box. I'm never in there long enough to start a fire and I always wait until the alcohol evaporates. Is there any reason why I shouldn't do this? Do tiny microplastics dissolve from the top? I'm only a week in and can't really see any contamination on anything. I've been trying to clone mushrooms from the grocery store onto plates. So far so good.
yes this can work but I avoid open flames because of the fire risk. It just takes one bad accident to cause damage but if you are careful it can work - this is how microbiologists worked before the modern innovations
3 days ago, I put a piece of sterile tissue from a lion's mane mushroom onto an agar plate. There is no growth at all. I soaked it in hydrogen peroxide first. Did I kill it?
it should be ok as long as it was a large enough piece but ideally if you use sterile tissue you shouldn’t need to soak it - Be patient I have faith it will emerge 🙏🏻
@@13LuckyykcuL13 in formal education it is pronounced how I pronounce it - a lot of internet teachers pronounce it like that - apples to apples in my opinion
I recommend soaking in a bleach solution for at least 20 min (I usually use a larger bin filled with 10% bleach and soak overnight) then dry off and wipe with isopropyl alcohol you will be good to go 👍
I prefer LC over agar. I just hate it when my dishes go septic. Then have to open those up to clean it out and it reeks. I have a preference for growing oyster mushrooms because they will grow almost to spite you. You can start out on agar then go to LC. But in general I try to avoid agar whenever possible. Instead of stir bars I use marbles. I can't justify spending the 40 bucks on something that I can do manually.
@@nuclearcooties9679 I think there is value in both - liquid culture also can get contaminated and it just hides itself so be aware of this - agar is a filter for finding contams
Make micro compartments/micro climates - I would do two separate areas and have one be for fruiting and one for air exchange/treatment - look up the “martha tent” setup 👍 you don’t need much air flow for smaller batches
Please tell me the brand and size of your boxes. I am just producing mushrooms from my 160 block mushroom farm and want to start packaging my produce with the best containers. Thank you!
Bro, @30:30 Are those cubes you bustin' out for us to gaze upon??? If that be for real for reals then I tip my hat to you my good man as that is one helluva cluster packed ball of wonder!
i saved a really large carolina wolf spider in my house one winter. It was too big to leave it be and too cold outside to throw it out there and exprect it to live. So I prepared a habitat for it to live out the rest of its life. it always was under a hide i placed in there but one day it climbed on top and was reaching for the sky with its front legs. it died like that and it started growing a fungus. it reminds me of the old stories about ants that wouild get infected and climb trees. but this is much bigger than an ant. hogna carolinensis is a pretty big spider. i joke i had a pet zombie spider for a while.
Do Cordyceps militaris spores last long? Can you use them to make a spore print on foil and store it for years? Or should the spores be planted immediately since their shelf life is short?
I could not keep this culture alive very long - I believe spores would be more effective but they are difficult to accumulate but I will be attempting more experiments like this in the future
You gotta mention the mushroom You are using. Only use non "edible" and non toxic substrates. Grains are a waste of food. Organic saw dust from untreated wood is an option or bran like useable waste products.
Brother Gary, your the best! But I really want to write to you regarding that you look into being more diligent when spraying iso alc, particularly when the hood is on, projecting the spray back onto you and into your breathing area. I used iso just to clean my surface areas for a few years, then I got tested for health reasons, indirectly, they found iso built up in my system. From watching your videos I see that you are a lot more exposed to iso than I was. I just wanted to share this with you in regards to long term health. Absolutely love your sharing Gary. Thank you
Yes this should be considered - I think wearing gloves and tyvek sleeves could help and also some people prefer ethanol but I just try to keep the air clean in my work space the best I can - working in the lab I have been exposed to lots of volatile chemicals I could be better with PPE
there is a phenomenon called di-mon pairing that could occur but it is random and no way to verify without doing genetic tests. I am not sure if cubensis will do this in grain spawn or not but it’s worth a shot right? I believe ed garrand has some good content on this as well
Love the videos brotha I have the same double stack flow hood but it doesn't blow that hard i wondering if the filter is clogged or something the fan looks like a turbine if you have any info that would be awesome thank you
Thank you brother for the inspiring and helpful videos that you share,those educational videos about mushroom growing are very helpful and inspiring.God bless you
