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Comment on Mushroom growing scale down minimal volume

alzymologist@sopuli.xyz ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

But… but… they are in that humid plastic box! And the whole point of this experiment was to see whether I can run 100g media batches really; I had huge fruitings in these boxes just filled with autoclaved wooden stuff. The needle-like fruits do look like they are starved for oxygen; the horizontal ones started growing that way because they were loosely covered with foil (thus no light but full ventilation) - after I removed it I’ve got normal straight ones, but they still did not develop any gills or anything, just stopped. I suspect it’s something else. Almost like it just ran out of energy too soon, didn’t even have enough to retreat the mycelium - it’s one solid and seemingly inert block now (it’s been like that for some weeks; I have older attempts stuck like that for good, chunks of glistening white mycelium that doesn’t even rot)

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dgdft@lemmy.world ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
The glass jars are definitely your issue. You need something more breathable.

You asked for advice and got it. Take it or leave it.

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the_artic_one@piefed.social ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Your jars probably over-colonized because there wasn’t enough surface area getting proper ventilation/evaporation to trigger primordia formation so it just kept colonizing. It looks like pins didn’t start until the mycelium grew over the top of the jar and by then all the food was already used up.

Topfruiting jars isn’t a great method even for terrestrial mushrooms, I imagine it’s worse for oysters. Consider using small oven bags instead, that way you can cut the sides to trigger fruiting earlier and across a wider surface.

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- alzymologist@sopuli.xyz ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Thanks; I’m thinking about overcolonization indeed - Stamets mentions that growing in jars works, but mine here are just too small. Colony was supposed to hit the bottom and feel constrained, not grow up. Another thing is heat balance, which is not so obvious; the best results I’ve got were when I left the house for 2 days in the middle of the winter and temperature dropped by 2C. I mean, I expected small jars to radiate heat better, but then fruiting is surface process, maybe it’s the opposite too.
  
  I’m also trying to come up with something that does not use disposable plastics. I know bags are quite versatile, I just hate them, not so much because of ecological issues, but like I can’t really make them myself, that’s disturbing.
  
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  - the_artic_one@piefed.social ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Plastic buckets drilled holes are good reusable option. If you want to avoid plastics all together you could use some of this spawn to plug a small alder log.
    
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    alzymologist@sopuli.xyz ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    I had troubles with logs - I have lots of trees, but apparently most are already badly inoculated. Or I need to choose really really healthy looking ones. Or dry them first maybe.
    
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  - dgdft@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    
    I’m also trying to come up with something that does not use disposable plastics. I know bags are quite versatile, I just hate them, not so much because of ecological issues, but like I can’t really make them myself, that’s disturbing.
    
    To throw out some easy options, in a humid chamber, a plain cardboard box roughly the same volume as those jars would do great, especially with a few 1/4” holes added.
    
    A closed 12-ct paper egg carton with a few holes where you want fruiting would also do nicely, but that’s probably right on the line of minimum growth medium necessary for decent fruit.
    
    And if you get bored of the scaling-down experiment, you’d be well served with some 3-gal food-grade buckets with a few 1” holes. Still plastic — but readily available, indefinitely reusable, and should fit your chamber nicely!
    
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    alzymologist@sopuli.xyz ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Yeah, I’m thinking in direction of edible (for mushroom) containers; maybe some cardboard origami, or simple wood plank box; I’m even thinking to try casting linoleum pots on woven jute. It must be doable, why nobody does that now?
    
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PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I’ve grown oyster mushrooms from the grocery store on used coffee grounds and I mixed things with my hands in open air. Take the cakes out of the jar. Put them in your fruiting chamber (or plastic bag draped over it). The mycelium is a little plant animal and it breathes oxygen. You’ve stuffed it in an airless room with a tiny little hole. The whole body needs to be able to breathe. Not just the elbow.

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- alzymologist@sopuli.xyz ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Thanks, I’ll just try that. I know contamination starts only when the mycelium is dying; just being unreasonably careful here (I also do yeast pure cultures, habits interfere somewhat).
  
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