Erik Drews

SOSComAlt

Mushroom update week 8

The last time I inoculated spent grains, I utilized my method of working between 4 candles whose heights came to about the same height as a quart sized mason jar. The intention is that the will constantly be clean air between the candles to avoid the contents of the jar from becoming contaminated. While I am inoculating my grains with this technique I place the lid of the jar between 4 tea light candles. This is the technique that I have used to successfully inoculate my first 18 jars of spent grains. This time while I was inoculating the grains, 2 of my tea light candles went out. Hoping that maybe all 4 tea light candles would prove to be unnecessary, I decided not to replace them and continued inoculating with only 6 of my 8 candles ignited. After a few days I was checking to see if the mycelium had began colonizing the substrate when I noticed a type of green mold present in all 6 of my newly inoculated jars. Proving that 8 candles are the minimum because I have had 100% success with 8 candles and 100% contamination with 6 candles. It will be interesting to watch and see how these two fungal organisms will compete with one another within each jar so I have decided to keep them and monitor this.

Contamination on red ale grains

My selected jars of spawn that are completely colonized and in the fruiting chambers have given me a significant amount of insight in regards to the fruiting process. My oyster mushrooms formed primordia almost immediately upon exposing them to higher oxygen levels whereas the shiitake did nothing. I decided to cold shock my shiitake mycelium as a way to try to induce fruiting. I did this by running cold water all over the open jar of mycelium. The oyster mushrooms grew with a very concerning growth form that did not seem uniform or ideal. After emailing my subcontractor with questions regarding these discrepancies she informed me that this is known as octopus growth form and results from either not enough oxygen, too much carbon dioxide or not enough supplemental light. I have induced another jar of oyster mycelium to fruit while adding light for 12 hours a day. My hope is that this will allow for more uniforms mushroom growth.

octopus growth form on Oyster mushrooms