This is my very first antler reishi grow and I’m fascinated how it develops:
Category: Growth
Showercap Solution
I was able to get a good puff ball off of my Lion’s Mane and Bears Head Tooth, but the growth seemed to stop afterward. It seemed like the bag had more to give, but since I’d already cut off the top of the bag I wasn’t getting that same foggy environment to help it along. My solution? Some cheapie shower caps like the kind you can get at any grocery or dollar store.
Back to Basics
After the first bucket failure I decided to go with a cycle of bags instead of buckets for my next round which included some antler reishi, lions mane, bears head tooth and honey mushrooms. I waited too long to transfer the honey so it didn’t have much success and the reishi took off immediately but when i cut open the bag, died. I should have left bag closed and done slights, stupid stupid stupid.
I’m getting an instant pot tomorrow and am considering using it to help sterilize some HWP and try buckets again. I have chestnut and turtle shell beech ready to colonize.
Final Buckets Removed
Still wasn’t quite sure I could open the buckets and check how they are doing and the last few just don’t look too good. I’m trying to zero in on the mistakes I made and I believe it was either:
- Contaminated bran
- Too much heat (too close together?)
- Should have left the holes uncovered (I used micropore tape over them)
I’m getting ready to try some drippy corn and give a second batch a go.
Booo! Contamination
This site is called “logs” for a reason and that included documenting failures so that I can learn from them in future. My baby bucket recipe did not do well with the bran included. I was able to flash a light on the buckets and spotted trich in them (green). This was an unexpected advantage to using this particular brand of “clear” bucket! I buried them in hopes they are able to resurrect themselves. In the meantime, 2 lions mane, 1 turkey tail and 1 white enoki are still going strong!
Update: Colonization_2024.06.20-2024.07.17
Bad News:
- Reishi has a spot of green on top. It’s not stopping the rest of the jar from colonization though, and so I’m going to let it continue. It was suggested to me to bury it and see if it will grow outside. I saw on iNaturalist that Golden Reishi is indeed found near me, and so I might give that a try.
- Almond and Pioppino haven’t taken at all. Shittake is slow going and I might attempt to drop the temperature to see if they’ll colonize better.
Lion’s Mane and Chestnut
Liquid culture, direct to hardwood pellet + bran block!
Direct Innoculation to Sawdust
Trying a combo of Hardwood Pellets bought at Walmart and bran. Followed a simple mixture recipe and made some bags for Reishi, Lion’s Mane and Chestnut (August 2nd). Only the Chestnut and Lion’s Mane are taking.
Harvesting Oyster Mushroom Block
Harvested the oyster finally and there were some surprises as I just had never seen spores and the “trash” they can make. I also think I definitely waited too long to harvest the oyster. I cut it up and had it in place of chicken for some stir fry using this: Stir Fried Oyster Mushrooms, how to cook delicious mushrooms 炒平菇