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PF TEK diverse spore race growth
guidelines
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by PF
The Nook :
Archives : Jars :
Condensation Problem
The PF spore race (AKA Matias Romero) is the most unique
spore race of them all, and that is because it fruits
automatically in the jar on PF substrate. This mushroom
is most likely the Matias Romero discovered by the late
Dr. Stephen Pollock. It was his brown rice "miracle"
cubensis. And in comparison with the others, it is truly
amazing how it starts to fruit (pinning and primordia formation)
while in the jar after about 3 weeks after initial inoculation.
No other spore race known to PF can do it like this one.
But the others are all another case, in that they apparantly have a
distinctively longer "gestation" period in which they
wait until they "decide" to fruit. Why this is, is unknown and
no theory can satisfy the mystery. But even here, they can
be predicted to fruit on schedule if everything goes OK while
the cake is in-vitro.
The procedure is simple. First, inoculate the jar. Usually in
about 2 weeks, colonization will be complete (cake is all white).
Delay birthing the cake. This delay seems to make for bigger
fruitings in the end. After about one month (at normal room
temperatures), the cake is birthed and the PF double ended
cake casing tek is performed. If the room temperatures are higher
(as in summer time) - removing the cake can occurr sooner.
You can birth at any time after colonization is complete, but
a delay of a couple of weeks seems to be helpful.
What this is all about, is watching
the cake in-vitro and making sure that water condensation onto
the inner sides of the jar is not
doing anything bad to the cake (direct moisture is not good).
A little condensation is normal, but too much will start to
drip down to the bottom of the jar and collect, becoming a
puddle and creating unfavorable conditions for the mycelium.
Excess water buildup can be easily seen at the bottom
of the jar. As has already been said in the PF TEK, it is
good to do different water formulations in the jars for comparison.
This is extremely important, because it can enable you to have first
time success and the failures can be learned from, as long as you
keep notes and compare. Condensation control and balance is the
heart of the PF TEK. Some is good, but a lot can be bad. If you see
a lot of condensation developing after complete colonziation, you
can always birth. Lower water contents in the PF substrate will
reduce or elliminate condensation, but then fruiting might be
affected. The answer is to do some simple comparison experiments
and go with what works the best for your situations.
If the cake starts to develope a yellowing color in places,
birth immediately. This is water damage. Likewise, if you see any
blueing, birth immediately. The cake will recover nicely after
a few days under the casing tek. But as long as the cake remains
white and healty in-vitro, try to delay birthing until about a
month goes by.
After birth, perform the casing tek and place the cake into
a humidified terrarium. Great fruiting can be had in about
6 weeks. With the Treasure coast, it is about 7 to 8 weeks.
The Treasure Coast is the most difficult one, because it is
the slowest to fruit. But with the PF casing tek, the cake
can remain healthy for weeks after birth while gestating and
"deciding" when to fruit.
Misc Teks :
PF TEK Main Page :
Shroom Glossary