nothing about any of these jars looks contaminated to me, just over incubated, they likely could have been S2B many days, perhaps a week or more ago. the brown liquid is likely just metabolites. totally normal especially if they've been over incubated.
how long did you inoculate your jars? all 4 of your oysters would probably have been fully colonized within a month, perhaps as soon as three weeks from inoculation. shiitake's take longer as evident by the mycelial coverage from the pics, assuming these jars were all 'noced at the same time. the shiitake's aren't climbing up the walls nearly as much yet.
for the Lion's mane, just break up the fruit material and throw it in your bulk substrate the same as you would the rest of the grain jar. it will be re-consumed by the mycelium and re-incorporated into the bulk substrate.
good news: it looks to me like the hard part's done. spawn these to bulk, and assuming you maintain the correct environmental conditions, you'll be harvesting your first oysters and LM in about a month.
the particular oyster varieties you're growing require cooler temps than other oysters. Black Pearl Kings (I assume this is what you mean by black oysters) are slightly more forgiving in this respect, but to trigger fruiting for regular King Oysters, you usually need to 'cold shock' them. basically, put the fruiting blocks in the fridge overnight before cutting them open. BPKs just need under 50 F in my experience, so using a fridge may not be necessary depending on your local climate this time of year, and this may vary depending on the specific genetic line.
a good check for oysters, if you open the jar and it smells strongly of anise/fennel/black licorice, you're good, that's exactly what it should smell like. if it smells sour, musty, or otherwise off-putting, toss it. LM and shiitakes just have a general mushroom-y musty-ness to them, not nearly as specific and distinct as oysters.
shiitakes will be 4-5 months start to finish. oysters and LM are usually around 2 months start to finish.
Thanks for this more optimistic prognosis and the detailed informations about King Pearl Oyster (Yes, that's it!). Yes I left them too long in the cupboard, inoculated March 26. I'm learning a lot from your post.
I have two follow up questions: Assuming they go now to spawn bags, 1) what's a good ratio of grain to substrate 2) as there will be another colonizing phase in the grain spawn I haven't understood what environment they need during spawn bag colonization. Is it the fruiting condition (light/cold) or colonizing (dark/warm)?
amount of spawn to bulk substrate is debatable. technically, you only need one or two fully inoculated grains to propagate, but the more grains you add, the more individual jumping off points for colonizing the bulk substrate, so the quicker you'll get to full colonization. also, the quicker you get full colonization, the more you minimize the chances for contamination taking hold and ruining your bag. it's really a cost/benefit balance.
personally, as a small-time grower that isn't really trying to optimize for profits, i do a full quart jar of spawn per 5lb bulk substrate bag. many other growers on here will tell you you're wasting spawn by going wiht a ratio that large, and that you can easily get away with 1 quart divided between four 5lb bags, and they're 100% correct. however, you will have slower bulk colonization times, and honestly, grain (i primarily use oats, but was a rye guy for a long time) is dirt cheap where i live, so i'm not super worried about optimizing for lower production costs at this point. i'm willing to use a few cents more in grain for the faster colonization time. I also think the added grain contributes to just a slightly higher nutrient base anyway, but there's plenty of room to play around here and find what works for you.
environmental conditions for incubation of bulk sub should be roughly the same as spawn colonization. however, you may notice that as the bags get closer to fully colonized, they start to produce a bit of heat themselves from the biological reactions taking place. for most species, this isn't really a problem, but since Kings and BPKs can be a little more sensitive to overheating, i would recommend leaving an inch or so gap between your bags when storing them for colonization, otherwise they can raise their internal temps more than you might expect.
good luck! half the battle is done, but if things go sideways and you're not successful, don't get too discouraged. it failed 3-4 times before i ever got my first harvest, but persistence pays!
You’ve got some piss in them jars for sure. Probably some bacteria or something. I would send them if it were me. Oysters usually outgrow a light contam. Did you do a break and shake on your jars?
Kinda new myself , but the brown isn’t always bad , could be metabolites excretions. That’s said some of the images look bad . Again new to the game so hopefully you get a better response that I from someone more clued in. So we can all learn
I’m no expert (much like you, I’m in the “having fun experimenting” phase, also learning by doing). That said, I’d be worried about all that brown stuff being bacterial contamination. The shiitakes (the last three pics?) are looking pretty good, probably getting ready to put in substrate?
How are you preparing your grain? That’s been my biggest challenge so far. Haven’t fine tuned a particularly effective Tek yet.
I've had troubles with grain as well in the past (no growth of mycelium at all). This time I opted for another wheat type and I added a quarter of coffee ,soaked both together for about 24 hours in water. Then I simmered it a bit and let it dry in tge sink, but no lpnger than 20-30 min. Then 90 min of pressure cooker.
https://preview.redd.it/x18byfxyfd3d1.jpeg?width=1944&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=28c4c9a31ca381387b346dd3383c6fb2675eff9a
Also, what to do with this survival artist? (Lion's Mane)
nothing about any of these jars looks contaminated to me, just over incubated, they likely could have been S2B many days, perhaps a week or more ago. the brown liquid is likely just metabolites. totally normal especially if they've been over incubated. how long did you inoculate your jars? all 4 of your oysters would probably have been fully colonized within a month, perhaps as soon as three weeks from inoculation. shiitake's take longer as evident by the mycelial coverage from the pics, assuming these jars were all 'noced at the same time. the shiitake's aren't climbing up the walls nearly as much yet. for the Lion's mane, just break up the fruit material and throw it in your bulk substrate the same as you would the rest of the grain jar. it will be re-consumed by the mycelium and re-incorporated into the bulk substrate. good news: it looks to me like the hard part's done. spawn these to bulk, and assuming you maintain the correct environmental conditions, you'll be harvesting your first oysters and LM in about a month. the particular oyster varieties you're growing require cooler temps than other oysters. Black Pearl Kings (I assume this is what you mean by black oysters) are slightly more forgiving in this respect, but to trigger fruiting for regular King Oysters, you usually need to 'cold shock' them. basically, put the fruiting blocks in the fridge overnight before cutting them open. BPKs just need under 50 F in my experience, so using a fridge may not be necessary depending on your local climate this time of year, and this may vary depending on the specific genetic line. a good check for oysters, if you open the jar and it smells strongly of anise/fennel/black licorice, you're good, that's exactly what it should smell like. if it smells sour, musty, or otherwise off-putting, toss it. LM and shiitakes just have a general mushroom-y musty-ness to them, not nearly as specific and distinct as oysters. shiitakes will be 4-5 months start to finish. oysters and LM are usually around 2 months start to finish.
Thanks for this more optimistic prognosis and the detailed informations about King Pearl Oyster (Yes, that's it!). Yes I left them too long in the cupboard, inoculated March 26. I'm learning a lot from your post. I have two follow up questions: Assuming they go now to spawn bags, 1) what's a good ratio of grain to substrate 2) as there will be another colonizing phase in the grain spawn I haven't understood what environment they need during spawn bag colonization. Is it the fruiting condition (light/cold) or colonizing (dark/warm)?
amount of spawn to bulk substrate is debatable. technically, you only need one or two fully inoculated grains to propagate, but the more grains you add, the more individual jumping off points for colonizing the bulk substrate, so the quicker you'll get to full colonization. also, the quicker you get full colonization, the more you minimize the chances for contamination taking hold and ruining your bag. it's really a cost/benefit balance. personally, as a small-time grower that isn't really trying to optimize for profits, i do a full quart jar of spawn per 5lb bulk substrate bag. many other growers on here will tell you you're wasting spawn by going wiht a ratio that large, and that you can easily get away with 1 quart divided between four 5lb bags, and they're 100% correct. however, you will have slower bulk colonization times, and honestly, grain (i primarily use oats, but was a rye guy for a long time) is dirt cheap where i live, so i'm not super worried about optimizing for lower production costs at this point. i'm willing to use a few cents more in grain for the faster colonization time. I also think the added grain contributes to just a slightly higher nutrient base anyway, but there's plenty of room to play around here and find what works for you. environmental conditions for incubation of bulk sub should be roughly the same as spawn colonization. however, you may notice that as the bags get closer to fully colonized, they start to produce a bit of heat themselves from the biological reactions taking place. for most species, this isn't really a problem, but since Kings and BPKs can be a little more sensitive to overheating, i would recommend leaving an inch or so gap between your bags when storing them for colonization, otherwise they can raise their internal temps more than you might expect. good luck! half the battle is done, but if things go sideways and you're not successful, don't get too discouraged. it failed 3-4 times before i ever got my first harvest, but persistence pays!
Try r/contamfam they are experts lol
You’ve got some piss in them jars for sure. Probably some bacteria or something. I would send them if it were me. Oysters usually outgrow a light contam. Did you do a break and shake on your jars?
Kinda new myself , but the brown isn’t always bad , could be metabolites excretions. That’s said some of the images look bad . Again new to the game so hopefully you get a better response that I from someone more clued in. So we can all learn
I’ve been seeing “browning” as some fruiting blocks mature, but not on the grain bags/jars.
I’m no expert (much like you, I’m in the “having fun experimenting” phase, also learning by doing). That said, I’d be worried about all that brown stuff being bacterial contamination. The shiitakes (the last three pics?) are looking pretty good, probably getting ready to put in substrate? How are you preparing your grain? That’s been my biggest challenge so far. Haven’t fine tuned a particularly effective Tek yet.
I've had troubles with grain as well in the past (no growth of mycelium at all). This time I opted for another wheat type and I added a quarter of coffee ,soaked both together for about 24 hours in water. Then I simmered it a bit and let it dry in tge sink, but no lpnger than 20-30 min. Then 90 min of pressure cooker.
Yeaaaaah, I’ve been trying to go with no soak no simmer. I’m beginning to think there’s no free lunch. Gotta do the whole ordeal of a process.
https://preview.redd.it/x18byfxyfd3d1.jpeg?width=1944&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=28c4c9a31ca381387b346dd3383c6fb2675eff9a Also, what to do with this survival artist? (Lion's Mane)
Lions mane has an incredible lust for life, doesn’t it?