mushy-mart
07-29-2007, 09:07 PM
Grain to Grain Transfer
When a Quart Rye Jar is fully colonized it can be used to inoculate up to 10 more jars to expand your mycelium and increase substrate mass thus increasing yields. Inoculating a grain jar with colonized substrate is faster than using a Liquid Culture because there is more mycelium to reproduce and proliferate. The procedure is fairly simple. The main concern is sterility when opening the uncolonized substrate jars.
First thing. You should wait approximately 1 week after the jar has colonized to ensure the interior has colonized as well and allow the mycelium to digest the substrate in preparation for fruiting. A rye jar usually colonized in about 3-4 weeks. Sometimes this can take longer if the temperature is not between 82-86 degrees during incubation.
When you are sure colonization is complete you will need to break up the grain so that you can inoculate your other substrates. Using a tire is perfect for this. Just make sure there are no cracks in the jar or it could break. You should also use safety goggles when doing this. After the grains have broken up, place it back in your incubation area and wait 24 hours. This will help rule out contaminations. The next day, mycelium should be growing again. If it has not within 24 hours the jar is considered contaminated by bacteria and should be thrown out. If you use it then you are potentially contaminating all of your new substrate jars.
The following day when you are ready to inoculate your jars, you should clean your work area, table and air with some cleaner. Any automatic air should be turned off one hour before the procedure. This helps calm the air and reduce the risk of airborne contaminates entering the jar when you open it. Ideally, you should be working in front of a Flow Hood but a Sterilized Glovebox will work as well. If you are using a glovebox, load the jars at this time.
The Procedure: Reshake the colonized jar to break up the grains. To inoculate the new rye jars, remove the lid from your colonized jar and the lid from the fresh substrate jar. Shake some colonized rye grains into the fresh substrate. There should be enough to divide the 1 colonized jar into 10 new ones.
Continue with the rest of the jars. Remove the lid, quickly inoculate with rye grain and replace the lid. The less time the lid is off the better. Incubate your jars the same way you did the first one. After these have colonized you can do several things with the grain.
• Use each jar to inoculate 10 more jars each
• Fruit the mushrooms right out of the top of the jar (depending on your species; not all mushrooms fruit directly from grain)
• Use the colonized grain to inoculate any of our 3 lb Substrate Spawn Bags. In most cases these can be fruited directly using our grow chambers or a humidity tent.
• Use the colonized grain to inoculate Pasteurized Straw
When a Quart Rye Jar is fully colonized it can be used to inoculate up to 10 more jars to expand your mycelium and increase substrate mass thus increasing yields. Inoculating a grain jar with colonized substrate is faster than using a Liquid Culture because there is more mycelium to reproduce and proliferate. The procedure is fairly simple. The main concern is sterility when opening the uncolonized substrate jars.
First thing. You should wait approximately 1 week after the jar has colonized to ensure the interior has colonized as well and allow the mycelium to digest the substrate in preparation for fruiting. A rye jar usually colonized in about 3-4 weeks. Sometimes this can take longer if the temperature is not between 82-86 degrees during incubation.
When you are sure colonization is complete you will need to break up the grain so that you can inoculate your other substrates. Using a tire is perfect for this. Just make sure there are no cracks in the jar or it could break. You should also use safety goggles when doing this. After the grains have broken up, place it back in your incubation area and wait 24 hours. This will help rule out contaminations. The next day, mycelium should be growing again. If it has not within 24 hours the jar is considered contaminated by bacteria and should be thrown out. If you use it then you are potentially contaminating all of your new substrate jars.
The following day when you are ready to inoculate your jars, you should clean your work area, table and air with some cleaner. Any automatic air should be turned off one hour before the procedure. This helps calm the air and reduce the risk of airborne contaminates entering the jar when you open it. Ideally, you should be working in front of a Flow Hood but a Sterilized Glovebox will work as well. If you are using a glovebox, load the jars at this time.
The Procedure: Reshake the colonized jar to break up the grains. To inoculate the new rye jars, remove the lid from your colonized jar and the lid from the fresh substrate jar. Shake some colonized rye grains into the fresh substrate. There should be enough to divide the 1 colonized jar into 10 new ones.
Continue with the rest of the jars. Remove the lid, quickly inoculate with rye grain and replace the lid. The less time the lid is off the better. Incubate your jars the same way you did the first one. After these have colonized you can do several things with the grain.
• Use each jar to inoculate 10 more jars each
• Fruit the mushrooms right out of the top of the jar (depending on your species; not all mushrooms fruit directly from grain)
• Use the colonized grain to inoculate any of our 3 lb Substrate Spawn Bags. In most cases these can be fruited directly using our grow chambers or a humidity tent.
• Use the colonized grain to inoculate Pasteurized Straw