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BigGameHunter

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Everything posted by BigGameHunter

  1. Did you gently shake or turn your jars once inoculated to distribute the spawn? Doing this usually speeds up colonization.
  2. I previously soaked my grain (wheat) overnight then sterilize but now I do it differently. I measure my grain out for each quart jar using a quart jar with measurements on it. For each quart jar I measure to the 400ml mark of grain and then pour into a large pot. After all the grain is in the pot I rinse the grain 4 - 5 times with water depending on how dirty the grain is. I then add a little gypsum (not sure if it's necessary) put water in the pot (about the double depth of the grain) and bring to a boil stirring often (I don't soak overnight). After it starts boiling I set the timer for 9 minutes. When the timer goes off I check a few grains for proper hydration. For proper hydration break open a a few grains and when the bright white inside the grain is barely there in my experience it is properly hydrated (approximately 9 - 15 minutes). Once it reaches proper hydration I turn the heat off and pour the grains into several colanders/strainers and let the grains set for about a couple of minutes for the excess water to drain. I then transfer the grain to a framed screen and spread evenly to dry the surface of the grains (usually 2 - 3 hours). Once the surface of the grains are dry I fill each quart jar to the 600ml measurement mark on the jar. After the jars are filled I put the filtered lids on the jars then put aluminum foil over each top of the jar and then put them into the pressure cooker and once the pressure cooker reaches 15 psi I set the timer for 2 hours. For my filtered lids I use plastic lids with a hole drilled in the center and a nickel size piece of synthetic filter disc siliconed to it.
  3. Found this lone specimen in south central Pa. in a primarily oak forest with some birch and maple mixed in. Pics are from a several days span of the same mushroom. I'm leaning toward Macrolepiota procera but would like input from others. The stem is hollow and I didn't notice any staining/bruising when I cut the stem or cap. I was able to move the ring down the stem until it reached a larger portion of the stem which was about an inch or two. Spore print is white. The darkness on the first spore print image is from the dampness of the paper when the cap was on it causing the paper to warp thus creating a shadow effect but the print is definitely white. The second spore print image is on foil.
  4. Leucoagaricus americanus is the what I come up with these. Found them in a wood chip bed under oak trees. Spore print is white
  5. After looking through several ID books, I think these are Sparassis spathulata (minus the two stemmed mushrooms in the first pic, not sure what they are). I found them around dead oak trees and stumps. In the general area there were a total of 10 clusters of these.
  6. As long as they get ample moisture & ventilation (ventilation is important too) should be okay. I usually kept mine in a hardwood area because that's all I have on my property. It was great when there was foliage on the trees but when the foliage was gone I had to water them regularly if we had a dry spell especially in the spring. Since you're doing oysters and shiitake I would probably keep the logs separated just because the oysters colonize faster and once they fruit they give off a fairly heavy spore load and the oyster spores may colonize your shiitake logs if they are nearby.
  7. I think what I found here is Bondarzewia berkeleyi but not 100% sure. I found it a the base of a mature oak tree. I tore a couple of pieces of the fungus apart and there was no bruising or staining of any color. Unfortunately I was unable to get a good spore print just very faintly white. I think it already dropped most of its spores because some of the underlying shelves looked as if they had a thin white layer of powder (spores) on top of them. It had a woody type mushroom smell to it with a very slight hint of black licorice also.
  8. Found these in south-central Pa. yesterday. They were growing in wood chips under oak trees. I'm not sure what type of wood the wood chips were though. After looking through my mushroom identification books and on mushroom expert online, the closest id I can come with is Pluteus petasatus. Is this an accurate id? I appreciate any input on this.
  9. Thanks GJC and Dave. I think that may be a reflection on photo #7. I was hoping by the time i was able to visit the area where I found these there would be more so I could take a better spore print but there wasn't
  10. I found these in wood chips/mulch/soil surrounding a magnolia tree in south-central Pa.. I know the spore print is a little lacking, probably should have left the cap set longer.
  11. Found this in south-central Pa. this week. It was in a bed of wood chips. Nearby trees were coniferous, I think some type of spruce or similar looking tree. Thanks.
  12. Found this in central pa. last week. It was the only one I saw. It was in a wooded area with a good amount of green vegetation on the forest floor. It was at the base of a tree or what was left of the tree. It looked like the tree had been dead for a lot of years. The soil was more loamy than soil like, almost like it was accumulated compressed decayed wood. I apologize for the lack and the quality of pictures. At first I thought it may be stropharia, but I'm not sure. The spore point as best as I can tell is purple black.
  13. Went back to the same spot yesterday & found 70 more. I looked at some of my other spots & only found a couple of black ones or none. I haven't found any white ones yet. Seems like a hit-or-miss year to me.
  14. Had a similar observation last week thinking the black morel season was about over especially after hearing people were starting to find white ones . I only found two small ones but decided to let them there and come back this week. Yesterday I found these at the same spot. These were all fresh and no old ones.
  15. What strains were you interested in getting? The grow kits are probably set up to fruit soon after you receive them. The sawdust blocks may or may not be 100% colonized or at the fruiting stage when you receive them. In the past in our area I've inoculated most of my logs for shitake beginning in late March which would be approximately 10 weeks. So you figure you would like to get more than one flush from your kit/block which would add 1 to 3 weeks or longer for each flush depending on the type of mushroom, strain & conditions. If you're planning on using your spent grow kit for log inoculation another thing to consider is once the kit/block or parts of them are exposed to open air you run the risk of the spawn getting contaminated with mold, bacteria, etc.
  16. When you say sawdust spawn kits, do you mean the actual sawdust spawn blocks or the mushroom grow kits they have listed on their website? If you mean their grow kits, I would do both. With the grow kits you would likely see sooner results than plug spawn. Also, depending on the strain you get it may fruit well indoors but when you transfer it outdoors to a different substrate it may not yield as well and vice versa. Some shitake strains are this way although oysters don't seem be as selective. The fruiting of a grow kit may not coincide with the inoculation time of your logs if you relied on the spent grow kit to inoculate your logs. If you mean their sawdust spawn blocks, I would just do the sawdust spawn instead of the plugs unless you want to do several strains of mushrooms then I would do the plugs for your best bang for your buck. In my experience sawdust is seems to colonize a log faster than plugs. If you do logs you'll also need wax to seal up the inoculation points so the plug or sawdust spawn doesn't dry out.
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