growing bags vs. substrate jars to grow shrooms?

[ongos]

I'm a first time grower. I injected my tampanesis strain in a jar, it has only been a few days, I still don't see the stuff in the jar turning white as it's supposed to. I have 4 other types of psilocybine "spore", should I experiment with using those growing bags/zip lock bags? Can anyone recommend me one? Some come in small, some large, some come with horse dung in it and others just other various stuff. Which is superior? I'm worried that my tampanesis probably didn't "blossom", perhaps the spore "died"?. Although it has only been a few days, I'm anxious. I need to see something grow.

 

[Solipsis]

Could you please stop posting a new thread every day or so, about your grow? Actually we have a mushrooms cultivation subthread if only you would use the advanced search function or check the Big & Dandy Mushrooms thread in the Psychedelic Index and look for the subthread list in its OP.

People have already told you, be patient. OK still you can ask about bags and jars thats fine, but if its all cultivation talk and you come up with a question every few moments (no offense) please use the cultivation subthread for that.

I'm sorry you're freaking out so much over something that has already been explained, let go of the thought and just give it like 2 weeks rather than a few days! The time spores need to germinate varies and I don't think Tampanensis is that aggressive. Spores don't die unless you have them suspended in water for years or something like that and the very resistant 'shells' can eventually be compromised and I guess they can wallow so to speak.

What do you mean by blossom? I don't follow the analogy. If you wanna imagine spores as if they are seeds... you first need to wait until they get the message that the conditions are right to start to grow, then they need to get "above ground" after laying a groundwork of roots to extract food from the ground (substrate). You should not worry that they are in a coma or something like that. Instead worry about contamination. For beginners especially it is easy to fuck up sterile procedures and the consequence will be that other things like bacteria and molds and other fungi will start to grow and win the fight over the territory. If you see spots that are not a fuzzy white but are for example green or look wet and gooey (bacteria) then you can throw it away. There are few exceptions when there is so little contamination that the Psilocybe can kill it / keep in under control with its own antibiotics and even eat it. If your Psilocybe has only covered part of the substrate you can amputate surgically but unfortunately it is very easy to cross-contaminate when you stir up nasty spores doing that.

Horse dung is apparently good substrate but it is usually not what beginners use. I recommend either PF tek substrate which is vermiculite + something like brown rice flour + water... or birdseed mixes.

Bags can work but my opinion is that they can be impractical to work with for some reason and I also have had more contaminations with them which I cannot explain exactly.

Stick to jars for a while... or... get plastic boxes / jars that have filter lids which saves you some work.

Are you even reading my posts? Please get a grip, refer to the cultivation thread or expect to have your posts/threads moderated into a more neat concentrated place.

Yes it's exciting to grow, but if you get all controlling about it it won't help a bit and it can definitely take the fun out. Remember what fun and wonder it is and that it's about more than getting a result.

Being too eager to trip can also be your downfall, don't be impatient or greedy but find some peace. There is so much time in the future, it will come when it will come. If you're ready for it any moment, that's great. If you're ready for it today, that wouldn't sound balanced to me. If you want it all to be done yesterday even less so.

I hope you get my point, I'm not trying to lecture, I wanna help.

Invest your time wisely in the meanwhile, use google and the Shroomery to learn more about how cultivation works exactly. It's not really that hard but if you rush it you'll blow it and that would be a shame now wouldnt it?

 

[ongos]

how I prepared my spore print was I used a Styrofoam bowl (bought at dollar store), poured a bit of spring water in it, scraped the spore print into the bowl with a syringe needle, then mixed it with the syringe/needle. I hope that was sterile enough. The needle was sterile when I bought it at CVS. It was an insulin needle. My hands were clean. For me to know if there was contamination, it would show on the fruit correct? What you described? Moldy, wet, etc?

Could you please stop posting a new thread every day or so, about your grow? Actually we have a mushrooms cultivation subthread if only you would use the advanced search function or check the Big & Dandy Mushrooms thread in the Psychedelic Index and look for the subthread list in its OP.

People have already told you, be patient. OK still you can ask about bags and jars thats fine, but if its all cultivation talk and you come up with a question every few moments (no offense) please use the cultivation subthread for that.

I'm sorry you're freaking out so much over something that has already been explained, let go of the thought and just give it like 2 weeks rather than a few days! The time spores need to germinate varies and I don't think Tampanensis is that aggressive. Spores don't die unless you have them suspended in water for years or something like that and the very resistant 'shells' can eventually be compromised and I guess they can wallow so to speak.

What do you mean by blossom? I don't follow the analogy. If you wanna imagine spores as if they are seeds... you first need to wait until they get the message that the conditions are right to start to grow, then they need to get "above ground" after laying a groundwork of roots to extract food from the ground (substrate). You should not worry that they are in a coma or something like that. Instead worry about contamination. For beginners especially it is easy to fuck up sterile procedures and the consequence will be that other things like bacteria and molds and other fungi will start to grow and win the fight over the territory. If you see spots that are not a fuzzy white but are for example green or look wet and gooey (bacteria) then you can throw it away. There are few exceptions when there is so little contamination that the Psilocybe can kill it / keep in under control with its own antibiotics and even eat it. If your Psilocybe has only covered part of the substrate you can amputate surgically but unfortunately it is very easy to cross-contaminate when you stir up nasty spores doing that.

Horse dung is apparently good substrate but it is usually not what beginners use. I recommend either PF tek substrate which is vermiculite + something like brown rice flour + water... or birdseed mixes.

Bags can work but my opinion is that they can be impractical to work with for some reason and I also have had more contaminations with them which I cannot explain exactly.

Stick to jars for a while... or... get plastic boxes / jars that have filter lids which saves you some work.

Are you even reading my posts? Please get a grip, refer to the cultivation thread or expect to have your posts/threads moderated into a more neat concentrated place.

Yes it's exciting to grow, but if you get all controlling about it it won't help a bit and it can definitely take the fun out. Remember what fun and wonder it is and that it's about more than getting a result.

Being too eager to trip can also be your downfall, don't be impatient or greedy but find some peace. There is so much time in the future, it will come when it will come. If you're ready for it any moment, that's great. If you're ready for it today, that wouldn't sound balanced to me. If you want it all to be done yesterday even less so.

I hope you get my point, I'm not trying to lecture, I wanna help.

Invest your time wisely in the meanwhile, use google and the Shroomery to learn more about how cultivation works exactly. It's not really that hard but if you rush it you'll blow it and that would be a shame now wouldnt it?

 

[Qnick]

Contamination would show itself as growth on the substrate that isn't normal white mycelial growth.

After a few days you shouldn't expect to see any growth yet though, it can several weeks to see any growth in slow colonizing jars.

I mentioned it on one of your last threads, but you should really read the faqs on the shroomery. They have some contradicting info but all-in-all it's a very good place to start.

http://www.shroomery.org/4/Grow-Mushrooms

Maybe consider reading some of the stuff under 'getting started'.

But most of all be patient, shrooms don't grow overnight.

 

[Solipsis]

how I prepared my spore print was I used a Styrofoam bowl (bought at dollar store), poured a bit of spring water in it, scraped the spore print into the bowl with a syringe needle, then mixed it with the syringe/needle. I hope that was sterile enough. The needle was sterile when I bought it at CVS. It was an insulin needle. My hands were clean. For me to know if there was contamination, it would show on the fruit correct? What you described? Moldy, wet, etc?

That doesn't sound sterile enough, what makes you think the bowl came sterile from the store, was it in an airtight package? If so then perhaps it could be since lots of materials like aluminum foil are produced under quite extreme circumstances like intense heat that would not allow contaminants to survive. Otherwise it sounds like a bad idea.
Spring water, did you sterilize it? Even distilled or otherwise purified water should be sterilized by boiling before use. Look, I'm not trying to be dick by criticizing but you cannot combine an impatient attitude and similar expectations with ignoring rules that are set in sterile procedure. Growing mushrooms is not unreasonably difficult but a lot of the steps are sensitive enough to contamination that plain ignorance will just make all your efforts futile and in the long run it will be less productive than just reading how it's typically done and trying to copy those procedures as much as you can. If you understand what will constitute a sterile enough procedure and what will not then you can improvise of course... but if you do not like when you are a beginner such as yourself, you cannot. Assuming or hoping that it will be enough will not work.
Another thing that is not done is scraping spores with a needle. It will damage the spores because it is too sharp, ideally you should use inoculating loops but other (pre-sterilized!) blunt instruments can be used instead.

Contamination will show up on the fruit? Well hm yes but to be precise the "fruits" mean the mushroom bodies, the shrooms are what are called the fruits of the fungus while the mycelium is the ground or basis from which they fruit. Contamination will show before the mushrooms grow, you should expect it to be apparent as irregularities in colonized or uncolonized substrate. So, obvious ones are green spots or wet and icky looking parts where there is not even white mycelium yet. But the less obvious contaminations can be white ones IN the mycelium that look like a noticeable difference. There is lots more info on the shroomery on the subject. Visit that site, it's great for it and lots more.

So, now that you have already started with your Tampanensis wait to see if any of it will be uncontaminated otherwise of course throw it all away. Then get better equipment and materials. Some things are luxuries that are not entirely needed but other things are indeed needed.

What you should have done to prepare the spore syringe is: sterilize all of your items to start with, by putting them in boiling water or in a pressure cooker inside aluminum foil packages so to speak, or other sterilization methods. Also sterilize water by boiling it for a while. Transfer all of it into a glove box, or at least figure out a way to minimize exposure to the elements when you are working. Then take your sterilized container, something that is nice to use is a shot glass! If you do not have a glove box have it covered with an aluminum foil top for example. Draw up sterile water into the needle. Open your spore print and take a sterile instrument like an inoculating loop (google it to see what that is like) and put in the water. Rub the instrument on the print to get the spores suspended into the water, then get the water with the spores into the shot glass. You can repeat the process if you intend on making multiple spore syringes accounting for the total volume. Then eventually draw up the spore water into the needles.
All the while minimize exposure to open air to prevent contaminations from falling in. Even if you don't see it, the air is FULL of germs. Also you can add a drop of lube (sex lubricant is suitable) to the water to avoid having the spores sticking to the sides. Perhaps it is more wise to add the lube to the water before you sterilize it to avoid contam. but that might be overcautious.

 

[Ismene]

Tampanensis? I thought that was a sclerotica rather than a standard fruiting species.

 

[ongos]

there seem to be "moist" inside the substrate jars. I don't see it turning white yet though. Just getting moist. I hid it in a plastic bag in a dark closet. You mentioned slow colonizing jars, how do I find a fast colonizing jar? The mushroom growing kit I bought mentioned 2 weeks for the stuff in the substrate jars to turn white. That's just estimate I'm sure. I have about 1 week to go to see if 2 weeks was enough time.

Contamination would show itself as growth on the substrate that isn't normal white mycelial growth.

After a few days you shouldn't expect to see any growth yet though, it can several weeks to see any growth in slow colonizing jars.

I mentioned it on one of your last threads, but you should really read the faqs on the shroomery. They have some contradicting info but all-in-all it's a very good place to start.

http://www.shroomery.org/4/Grow-Mushrooms

Maybe consider reading some of the stuff under 'getting started'.

But most of all be patient, shrooms don't grow overnight.

 

[ongos]

the spore print was in a tiny foil, I scraped it with a sterile syringe needle. The Styrofoam bowl was those disposable ones. It came ready to use in a 30-pack plastic bag. If I could eat my cereal in it, I think it's sterile enough.

That doesn't sound sterile enough, what makes you think the bowl came sterile from the store, was it in an airtight package? If so then perhaps it could be since lots of materials like aluminum foil are produced under quite extreme circumstances like intense heat that would not allow contaminants to survive. Otherwise it sounds like a bad idea.
Spring water, did you sterilize it? Even distilled or otherwise purified water should be sterilized by boiling before use. Look, I'm not trying to be dick by criticizing but you cannot combine an impatient attitude and similar expectations with ignoring rules that are set in sterile procedure. Growing mushrooms is not unreasonably difficult but a lot of the steps are sensitive enough to contamination that plain ignorance will just make all your efforts futile and in the long run it will be less productive than just reading how it's typically done and trying to copy those procedures as much as you can. If you understand what will constitute a sterile enough procedure and what will not then you can improvise of course... but if you do not like when you are a beginner such as yourself, you cannot. Assuming or hoping that it will be enough will not work.
Another thing that is not done is scraping spores with a needle. It will damage the spores because it is too sharp, ideally you should use inoculating loops but other (pre-sterilized!) blunt instruments can be used instead.

Contamination will show up on the fruit? Well hm yes but to be precise the "fruits" mean the mushroom bodies, the shrooms are what are called the fruits of the fungus while the mycelium is the ground or basis from which they fruit. Contamination will show before the mushrooms grow, you should expect it to be apparent as irregularities in colonized or uncolonized substrate. So, obvious ones are green spots or wet and icky looking parts where there is not even white mycelium yet. But the less obvious contaminations can be white ones IN the mycelium that look like a noticeable difference. There is lots more info on the shroomery on the subject. Visit that site, it's great for it and lots more.

So, now that you have already started with your Tampanensis wait to see if any of it will be uncontaminated otherwise of course throw it all away. Then get better equipment and materials. Some things are luxuries that are not entirely needed but other things are indeed needed.

What you should have done to prepare the spore syringe is: sterilize all of your items to start with, by putting them in boiling water or in a pressure cooker inside aluminum foil packages so to speak, or other sterilization methods. Also sterilize water by boiling it for a while. Transfer all of it into a glove box, or at least figure out a way to minimize exposure to the elements when you are working. Then take your sterilized container, something that is nice to use is a shot glass! If you do not have a glove box have it covered with an aluminum foil top for example. Draw up sterile water into the needle. Open your spore print and take a sterile instrument like an inoculating loop (google it to see what that is like) and put in the water. Rub the instrument on the print to get the spores suspended into the water, then get the water with the spores into the shot glass. You can repeat the process if you intend on making multiple spore syringes accounting for the total volume. Then eventually draw up the spore water into the needles.
All the while minimize exposure to open air to prevent contaminations from falling in. Even if you don't see it, the air is FULL of germs. Also you can add a drop of lube (sex lubricant is suitable) to the water to avoid having the spores sticking to the sides. Perhaps it is more wise to add the lube to the water before you sterilize it to avoid contam. but that might be overcautious.

 

[ongos]

is there a different way of growing these then? It's psilocybin tampanensis. How is this not standard? I heard this was a truffle? Now a sclerotica?

Tampanensis? I thought that was a sclerotica rather than a standard fruiting species.

 

[Ismene]

Truffle and sclerotica are the same thing - instead of fruiting mushrooms they form this hard stuff in the jar. It's still potent but you arn't going to get any mushrooms from it. From what I know of it it takes a lot longer too - 4-6 months I think.

If you want to follow the standard PF-tek you'd need cubensis like B+, golden teacher etc.

 

[Solipsis]

It's partially normal for grow bags to apparently get more moist, because water can evaporate from the substrate and condense back again on the bag. On the other hand, like I said wet spots are a name for bacterial infection and it can be a little tricky to discriminate between the two situations with little experience. One thing though is that if your substrate is overrun with bacteria you simply will not see any good colonization in those places, it's a bad sign to see good colonization stop where it meets a wet-looking portion. That is, if you have any real colonization at all. Wait longer.

You bought a growing kit? You mean in the past, and did you have any result?

"Find" slow or fast colonizing jars? I think Qnick meant relatively slow or fast for one species, I have already mentioned fast colonizing substrains mostly Cubensis from South-American origin. There is no trick to find quick or slow jars, it is very simple: fast colonized jars are completely white (a fluffy cottonball sort of fuzzy aka "rhizomorphic") soon, sooner than other jars.

Quite frankly I would be amazed if you would pull off a Tampanensis fruiting grow with poor methods. Not to rain on your parade but the strain is said to be a little hard to cultivate also 'somewhat hard to get to fruit', typically not a good sign for unexperienced growers who do not follow procedure. For it to work you do not only have to stick to the guidelines but make sure growing conditions are within certain parameters.
So you see if I were you I would make my attitude 'assume failure, thank heavens if producing a dose of shrooms', but then learn a valuable lesson from this and start doing it correctly right away. Like I said, get some new stuff and a spore syringe from a substrain like Amazonian, Ecuadorian for *slightly* better colonization but not necessarily a better end result in the bigger picture - you best take the type of Cubensis boards and sites say is best for beginners. Why? Because they are robust and can take a hit, when growing treatment is not optimal like with people still learning the trade.

You can eat cereal from it, then sterile enough for cultivation. Are you kidding? Sterile means free from germs, germs can be any of the countless and countless fungus spores and bacteria we ingest and inhale each day. People don't need sterile utensils and dishes, just globally clean. That's why we have an immune system: to kill all these germs we encounter. However if the germs are introduced to nice fresh substrate, food you prepared especially for your Psilocybes, they will contaminate it because they like to eat it and grow there as well. Germs are not the real problem, they are only like little seeds. It's the things that grow from them similar to your mycelium - like macroscopically - that you need to worry about. Those sorts of things will fuck up your grow, and those are the sorts of things you should not eat by accident with your cereal because that can be too much for your body to handle and you might get sick.
[Actually, food poisoning then can often come not from the fungus and bacteria that are still alive but the toxic compounds they leave behind even when your body kills them]

Tampanensis? I thought that was a sclerotica rather than a standard fruiting species.

yes with the emphasis on "rather"... rather than solely. Of course otherwise reproduction would really suck. Although you can't grow just anything, like ectomycorhizzal species such as Amanita Muscaria.

In the case of ongos, no I'd bet my money on no result - and a particularly horrifying strain to pick if you are in such a hurry lol!! No offense dude, it's just that they are better for people who have had successful grows in the past (not including kits).

Here's a Tampanensis grow for example.

http://i53.tinypic.com/2hq78u8.jpg

 

[ongos]

Now I am seeing some growth in the jars, it looks white, it looks like cotton, like bundled up spider webs or something. I hope this is fine. If there was contamination, would the shroom even fruit or not?

Contamination would show itself as growth on the substrate that isn't normal white mycelial growth.

After a few days you shouldn't expect to see any growth yet though, it can several weeks to see any growth in slow colonizing jars.

I mentioned it on one of your last threads, but you should really read the faqs on the shroomery. They have some contradicting info but all-in-all it's a very good place to start.

http://www.shroomery.org/4/Grow-Mushrooms

Maybe consider reading some of the stuff under 'getting started'.

But most of all be patient, shrooms don't grow overnight.

 

[ongos]

I followed all procedures. I thought I read that tampanensis is the easiest and quickest to fruit, maybe it was a different type of spore.

It's partially normal for grow bags to apparently get more moist, because water can evaporate from the substrate and condense back again on the bag. On the other hand, like I said wet spots are a name for bacterial infection and it can be a little tricky to discriminate between the two situations with little experience. One thing though is that if your substrate is overrun with bacteria you simply will not see any good colonization in those places, it's a bad sign to see good colonization stop where it meets a wet-looking portion. That is, if you have any real colonization at all. Wait longer.

You bought a growing kit? You mean in the past, and did you have any result?

"Find" slow or fast colonizing jars? I think Qnick meant relatively slow or fast for one species, I have already mentioned fast colonizing substrains mostly Cubensis from South-American origin. There is no trick to find quick or slow jars, it is very simple: fast colonized jars are completely white (a fluffy cottonball sort of fuzzy aka "rhizomorphic") soon, sooner than other jars.

Quite frankly I would be amazed if you would pull off a Tampanensis fruiting grow with poor methods. Not to rain on your parade but the strain is said to be a little hard to cultivate also 'somewhat hard to get to fruit', typically not a good sign for unexperienced growers who do not follow procedure. For it to work you do not only have to stick to the guidelines but make sure growing conditions are within certain parameters.
So you see if I were you I would make my attitude 'assume failure, thank heavens if producing a dose of shrooms', but then learn a valuable lesson from this and start doing it correctly right away. Like I said, get some new stuff and a spore syringe from a substrain like Amazonian, Ecuadorian for *slightly* better colonization but not necessarily a better end result in the bigger picture - you best take the type of Cubensis boards and sites say is best for beginners. Why? Because they are robust and can take a hit, when growing treatment is not optimal like with people still learning the trade.

You can eat cereal from it, then sterile enough for cultivation. Are you kidding? Sterile means free from germs, germs can be any of the countless and countless fungus spores and bacteria we ingest and inhale each day. People don't need sterile utensils and dishes, just globally clean. That's why we have an immune system: to kill all these germs we encounter. However if the germs are introduced to nice fresh substrate, food you prepared especially for your Psilocybes, they will contaminate it because they like to eat it and grow there as well. Germs are not the real problem, they are only like little seeds. It's the things that grow from them similar to your mycelium - like macroscopically - that you need to worry about. Those sorts of things will fuck up your grow, and those are the sorts of things you should not eat by accident with your cereal because that can be too much for your body to handle and you might get sick.
[Actually, food poisoning then can often come not from the fungus and bacteria that are still alive but the toxic compounds they leave behind even when your body kills them]



yes with the emphasis on "rather"... rather than solely. Of course otherwise reproduction would really suck. Although you can't grow just anything, like ectomycorhizzal species such as Amanita Muscaria.

In the case of ongos, no I'd bet my money on no result - and a particularly horrifying strain to pick if you are in such a hurry lol!! No offense dude, it's just that they are better for people who have had successful grows in the past (not including kits).

Here's a Tampanensis grow for example.

http://i53.tinypic.com/2hq78u8.jpg

 

[Ismene]

Nice looking mushroom solipsis - can you grow em using the standard PF tek for cubensis?

 

[Solipsis]

Not really:
http://www.mushroomgeeks.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1906.html

http://mycology.wikia.com/wiki/Fruiting_conditions

 

[ongos]

I'll keep you all posted if my tampanensis even fruits...

 

[ongos]

what kind of growth on the substrate? what is "normal" white mycelial growth? anyway, must the stuff in the substrate jar turn entirely white before I place its contents in a growing kit/box/casing? I see that only more than half of the stuff in the substrate jar is white, the rest is still brownish...

Also, must the casing be sterile? Is "just clean" enough?

Contamination would show itself as growth on the substrate that isn't normal white mycelial growth.

After a few days you shouldn't expect to see any growth yet though, it can several weeks to see any growth in slow colonizing jars.

I mentioned it on one of your last threads, but you should really read the faqs on the shroomery. They have some contradicting info but all-in-all it's a very good place to start.

http://www.shroomery.org/4/Grow-Mushrooms

Maybe consider reading some of the stuff under 'getting started'.

But most of all be patient, shrooms don't grow overnight.

 

[ongos]

My growing kit is called HydroShroom. There are moist in my substrate jars, it's turning white but not completely, I think about 75% white, the rest still brown. Not sure if this moist or wet spot is a good sign. The instructions that the product HydroShroom has was that the substrate jars will become colonized after approximately 2 weeks or 10-20 days. I'm getting there.

Just wondering if there's issues, will there even be fruiting or it would just not happen at all?

It's partially normal for grow bags to apparently get more moist, because water can evaporate from the substrate and condense back again on the bag. On the other hand, like I said wet spots are a name for bacterial infection and it can be a little tricky to discriminate between the two situations with little experience. One thing though is that if your substrate is overrun with bacteria you simply will not see any good colonization in those places, it's a bad sign to see good colonization stop where it meets a wet-looking portion. That is, if you have any real colonization at all. Wait longer.

You bought a growing kit? You mean in the past, and did you have any result?

"Find" slow or fast colonizing jars? I think Qnick meant relatively slow or fast for one species, I have already mentioned fast colonizing substrains mostly Cubensis from South-American origin. There is no trick to find quick or slow jars, it is very simple: fast colonized jars are completely white (a fluffy cottonball sort of fuzzy aka "rhizomorphic") soon, sooner than other jars.

Quite frankly I would be amazed if you would pull off a Tampanensis fruiting grow with poor methods. Not to rain on your parade but the strain is said to be a little hard to cultivate also 'somewhat hard to get to fruit', typically not a good sign for unexperienced growers who do not follow procedure. For it to work you do not only have to stick to the guidelines but make sure growing conditions are within certain parameters.
So you see if I were you I would make my attitude 'assume failure, thank heavens if producing a dose of shrooms', but then learn a valuable lesson from this and start doing it correctly right away. Like I said, get some new stuff and a spore syringe from a substrain like Amazonian, Ecuadorian for *slightly* better colonization but not necessarily a better end result in the bigger picture - you best take the type of Cubensis boards and sites say is best for beginners. Why? Because they are robust and can take a hit, when growing treatment is not optimal like with people still learning the trade.

You can eat cereal from it, then sterile enough for cultivation. Are you kidding? Sterile means free from germs, germs can be any of the countless and countless fungus spores and bacteria we ingest and inhale each day. People don't need sterile utensils and dishes, just globally clean. That's why we have an immune system: to kill all these germs we encounter. However if the germs are introduced to nice fresh substrate, food you prepared especially for your Psilocybes, they will contaminate it because they like to eat it and grow there as well. Germs are not the real problem, they are only like little seeds. It's the things that grow from them similar to your mycelium - like macroscopically - that you need to worry about. Those sorts of things will fuck up your grow, and those are the sorts of things you should not eat by accident with your cereal because that can be too much for your body to handle and you might get sick.
[Actually, food poisoning then can often come not from the fungus and bacteria that are still alive but the toxic compounds they leave behind even when your body kills them]



yes with the emphasis on "rather"... rather than solely. Of course otherwise reproduction would really suck. Although you can't grow just anything, like ectomycorhizzal species such as Amanita Muscaria.

In the case of ongos, no I'd bet my money on no result - and a particularly horrifying strain to pick if you are in such a hurry lol!! No offense dude, it's just that they are better for people who have had successful grows in the past (not including kits).

Here's a Tampanensis grow for example.

http://i53.tinypic.com/2hq78u8.jpg

 

[Solipsis]

As long as there's doubt about whether the mycelium is still progressing or not I would give it the benefit of the doubt and wait. If not contaminated the mycelium should want to colonize the rest to assimilate more nutrients. If there is a period in which there is no growth but instead the brown patch starts to look more and more like funky goo, that's a sign that you have contamination.
It's very difficult to be more concrete about it than that.

So you bought a Hydroshroom kit that only needed spores and the rest is in the kit? There is no telling if you will get fruits, since you are already doing this grow just ride it out, and look up the "fruiting parameters" or "fruiting conditions" needed for Tampanensis. They are a set of values like temperature and humidity and you should use your setup to try to adjust the conditions to be near that. For fruiting you need fresh air that has carbon dioxide I think, but at the same time if the humidity is too low I would limit refreshing of the air to try and build up evaporated water inside the tank. So just try to do your best fiddling with those things to get as close as possible. But only after you have either total colonization of course, or some jars have proven to be contaminated. So you throw those out and wait for the rest to complete.

I guess it doesn't matter if you try to fruit the jars together or at different times but it couldn't hurt to write down the date for each jar if you birth them. Just birth and attempt fruiting for each individual jar if they seem ready. Allow for like 4-5 more days IIRC after complete colonization, to consolidat the mycelium. In that time it builds up potential for fruiting. Leave the light out during all that time to restrain it until you're ready. Then when birthing increase fresh air and activate lighting.

 

[ongos]

is there such a thing as over colonizing? meaning I left the mycelium to be in the jars when it was already white a little too long in the jars. what would happen?

As long as there's doubt about whether the mycelium is still progressing or not I would give it the benefit of the doubt and wait. If not contaminated the mycelium should want to colonize the rest to assimilate more nutrients. If there is a period in which there is no growth but instead the brown patch starts to look more and more like funky goo, that's a sign that you have contamination.
It's very difficult to be more concrete about it than that.

So you bought a Hydroshroom kit that only needed spores and the rest is in the kit? There is no telling if you will get fruits, since you are already doing this grow just ride it out, and look up the "fruiting parameters" or "fruiting conditions" needed for Tampanensis. They are a set of values like temperature and humidity and you should use your setup to try to adjust the conditions to be near that. For fruiting you need fresh air that has carbon dioxide I think, but at the same time if the humidity is too low I would limit refreshing of the air to try and build up evaporated water inside the tank. So just try to do your best fiddling with those things to get as close as possible. But only after you have either total colonization of course, or some jars have proven to be contaminated. So you throw those out and wait for the rest to complete.

I guess it doesn't matter if you try to fruit the jars together or at different times but it couldn't hurt to write down the date for each jar if you birth them. Just birth and attempt fruiting for each individual jar if they seem ready. Allow for like 4-5 more days IIRC after complete colonization, to consolidat the mycelium. In that time it builds up potential for fruiting. Leave the light out during all that time to restrain it until you're ready. Then when birthing increase fresh air and activate lighting.