Hey nexus, after a long and impatient six days penis envy is finally colonizing five brf-verm jars and a liquid culture. I don't know if this is fast for the strain or not but i've often read penis envy is very slowwww.
So here's what i did:
For 5 jars worth of substrate, i did the normal pf-tek preparation and added a tablespoon of nutritional yeast to the mix . This seems like a good ratio because it doesn't change the texture of the substrate much, as apposed to adding 1/3 cup of yeast in place of 1/3 cup of brf (see third picture) the jars get too thick and clumpy, making it hard for mycelium to grow (i assume)
For the liquid culture, you see black in the middle of the growing mycelium because i shot a huge load of spores in there on accident, it was a big purple clump of spores to begin with now it's less than half the size it was. And i made sure it wasn't contaminated by using a syringe and innoculating the jar (first picture) with some of the mycelium about 2 days ago. You can see that it watered down the substrate quite a bit.
The second picture is a spore innoculation from the syringe.
For the lq jar, i made a cotton filter by placing cotton balls underneath a cotton bedsheet to hold it all down with the lid, then steam-sterilizing with the rest of the jars for 90 minutes.
Even if only one jar works out, i'll be happy. I wasn't expecting the liquid culture to work out, people discouraged using cotton as a filter because of contaminants but it seems to work out quite nicely, and that's all i had atm. Maybe i'll get a penis envy fruit to drop some spores!
Next week i'm getting a pressure cooker and some bags and making another liquid culture with a self-healing injection port lid w/gas exchange. I'll be using the brf/verm substrate only this time no yeast, but instead using fulvic acid drops dissolved in the water. I have a ppm meter and i'm going to try to get the optimum ppm dialed down, that way if i'm successful and it helps growth speed or increases yeild, others can use the same method. Fulvic acid drops are amazing for your own health.
http://www.amazon.com/Fu...mp;coliid=I3PWEVDHEM41RMQuote:Our Fulvic Ionic Minerals contain Bio-available Organically Complexed Fulvic Acid, Humic Acid, Electrolytes, Every Essential Amino Acid, and over 77 Macro and Micro (Trace) Minerals in their ionic (aka nano or angstrom) form, all working in perfect synergy. Fulvic Ionic Minerals can both balance and energize cell life and biological properties once it comes into contact with the cell. If the individual cell is restored to its normal chemical balance and electrical potential, we have given the cell life where death and disintegration would normally occur. This is due to the ability of Humic Acid to break down the salt acids that build up on the cell membrane, and the ability of Fulvic Acid to transport nutrients into the cell and flush toxins out of the cell. Fulvic and Humic Acids will break the bonds of inorganic matter and transform them into organic matter, including radiation and petroleum, and remove them from the body
psilonautical attached the following image(s):
Liquid Culture innoculation.jpg
(878kb) downloaded 69 time(s). spore syringe innoculation.jpg
(512kb) downloaded 69 time(s). One-third cup yeast.jpg
(629kb) downloaded 70 time(s). liquid culture 1.jpg
(474kb) downloaded 69 time(s). liquid culture 2.jpg
(488kb) downloaded 70 time(s). liquid culture 3.jpg
(447kb) downloaded 70 time(s). Cotton Filter.jpg
(421kb) downloaded 72 time(s). bragg.jpg
(249kb) downloaded 68 time(s)."If the truth can be told so as to be understood, it will be believed" - T. Mckenna