Hey there guys, gals, and non-binary mycopals!

Mycothaotix here, and this shall be my first post on my new, separated tumblr-blog. I was not able to respond to reblog questions and didnt have a way to impliment 'ask's on my previous blog (now titled: 'mycochaos-oldacnt-plzfollownew).

I have some visible old posts under the #mycochaotix tag that I usually use for all posts (and plan to continue to use).

I consider myself a Non-Binary, they/them/he/him mycophile and have started researching and cultivating in late 2021. I also serve as a moderator on the Contamination ID and Myco-advice subreddit r/ContamFam. On that platform, I am known as the Trich Hunter. I have a passion for studying all types of contamination (in addition to primarily researching basidiomycete fungi) because I believe that learning from failures and understanding what to avoid in research efforts are crucial for personal growth and reducing occurrences of contamination.

Please follow for more!

Message me on IG or Reddit with any questions; or to share your mycology successes and failures! 🍄 u/Dry_Cardiologist8370 IG: myco_chaotix Tumblr: myocochaotix

July Mycopal Q&A

Q: “ Hi do you mist the cake or just its side walls to fruit...i exsperment with a all in one grow bag..and another i have a water bin were the cake sits on brick abouve water...but do i ned to ever spray the cake its self ..or just side walls n lid.“ A: hello mycopal! sorry for the late reply! I don't seem to get notifications for comments on my own videos :(  I apologize for the length of this message, but I'm passionate about this topic, and I appreciate your genuine question! After reading it, fel free to let me know if you have any follow-up questions or thoughts. I'm also open to suggestions for content you would watch if I created said content related to mycology (with some cross over into microbiology). 

I suggest, if you haven't already, get yourself a hair-stylist's misting spray bottle for your mycojourney :) I recommend using a misting bottle because pressurized spraying, even with a fine nozzle salon misting bottle, can dislodge spores of contaminant fungi from their microscopic structures. Additionally, water splashing can spread bacteria, which usually requires transfer from the user's skin or falling off the nose, eyebrows, hands, etc., or through water transfer. Some bacteria have flagella and can wiggle around, but not very far on dry surfaces. 

I strongly advise against directly spraying the surface of the mycelial colony or any mycelium. Instead, only mist the sides and underside of the lid when they become dry. This should not happen often if you maintain proper field capacity. In general, direct spraying (and sometimes even just air flow) can cause mycelium to bruise. Bruising isn't necessarily "bad," but if an area of the colony is severely bruised for an extended period, it can hinder the mycelium's metabolism in that specific area and even stall the growth of the entire tub. When you're breaking up grainspawn and mixing it with substrate to "birth" it into a tub (often referred to as S2B), it's important to understand the concept of "field capacity" (FC) in substrates. If you're confident about your FC levels and have control over your spawn, substrate, and other variables, the substrate and colonized spawn/sub mix should maintain humidity within the tub itself without the need to remove any lids or introduce misting. This advice specifically applies if you're using shoeboxes or other plastic tote-tubs, and it requires some adjustments to the methods used when working with an AIO bag.  In the case of an all-in-one (AIO) bag, which will have reduced flush sizes/pin spread by the nature of available surface to do so), you have no way to confirm its sterility or exercise quality control (unless you made the bag yourself). You CAN control contamination at the injection site and in your local environment where you inoculate/inject the AIO bag through its injection port. However, you do not control the sterility of the syringe fluid you are injecting or the cleanliness and correctness of spores or mycelial tissue if using a liquid culture syringe. If you have the opportunity, using LC syringes is much better ( I have more reasons but will refrain cause this comment is already too wordy). Multi spore syringes I consider, very much, chaotic "luck of the draw". The single spores must meet a pair-mate, and their coupling results in the first initial mycelium hyphae that then spreads and colonizes. So, technically, the mycelium 'colony' is an individual organism and the mushrooms are just the final stage of the life cycle of the fungal organism :)  BUT -- Do not be dismayed: AIO bags do work; but I do not use them due to the reasons mentioned above. Worth noting that grain-bags can be useful for those with limited space or time/resource constraints, and some gourmet mushroom species require fruiting from blocks of colonized spawn (not so much with AIO bags). On r/contamfam (where I have the privilege and pleasure of being a member of the mod-team), we have mycopals who have entered our summer full canopy contest with impressive canopies grown on small 4x2 blocks pulled from an AIO bag or similar sizes. However, I strongly encourage all mycopals I advise to work towards doing as much of the hobby themselves as possible. There is a lot of variability in substrates, and you can often find materials at your local farmer's cooperative or grain/feed stores. Additionally, if you're interested in exploring woodlovers, you can often source woodchips from local mills or other available sources.  As I have mentioned before, if you can afford it, I highly recommend transitioning to using shoeboxes. They are 6qt Sterilite tubs designed for long-term sneaker storage. They have a passive FAE (fresh air exchange) at the lid-clasp/handle area, which is sufficient to allow for colonization without losing humidity in a birthed tub. If you use a larger tote, you need to consider passive air flow and potentially drill 2" holes slightly below where the handles are and cover them with a filter patch or lightly stuff them with polyfill to avoid restricting FAE. When your cake is fully colonized, you can "flip the lid" and introduce 12-hour light cycles from the sides of the tub. Alternatively, you can try what I call "shotgun tubs" where you clean another 6qt tub with isopropyl alcohol, let it dry, then spray it with preferably filtered or sterile water from the misting bottle and place it on top of the base tub with the lid removed. This allows light to come from above, which I've found helps with pinning formation, spread, and fruit growth direction; while aiding in moisture retention during the primordia formation and pinning initiation phases of the process (moisture is SO important in this hobby. Generally 90% humidity or above within the enclosure at all stages of the process. The more aspects of the process you can handle yourself, the cheaper the hobby becomes, and the easier it is to contain contamination and identify contaminants with greater reliability. I have never attempted a technique where you place a cake above water as it seems problematic and not feasible based on my personal techniques developed over the past few years. From what you mentioned, it seems like placing a colonized cake on moistened vermiculite within a plastic tote a few times larger than the cake itself might be a more appropriate approach for your project. However, don't let me deter you from experimentation! I have no judgments!

FRIENDLY REMINDER TO ANY NEW FOLLOWERS, PLEASE FOLLOW MY NEW TUMBLR! (tumblr.com/mycochaotix).

I do not update this tumblr any-longer and all new content (like some I am working on releasing in the next few hours) will only post on the new tumblr!

@mycochaotix

Thanks mycopals!

Made a linktr.ee! :) At this point, seems much easier than continuously posting all my socials connecting to each other <3

'Spore Swabbin' Myco-Musings: Exploring Ethnogen Explosion'

Greetings, fellow mycophiles!   In this video, Myco_Chaotix will be discussing a P. Cubensis strain variety known as 'Ethnogen Explosion' (EE), as well as spore harvesting, shoebox tub gathering, contamination control, casing layers, P. Natalensis, Mazaptec, and other varieties. Whether you're an experienced cultivator or simply interested in learning more about mycology, this video is sure to captivate and educate. So sit back, relax, and join Mycho_Chaotix on their first longer-form internet content, focused on bringing you along on a fascinating myco-journey, filled with kindness, consideration, knowledge, and experimentation! You never know, you might just discover something new along the way. Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe for more! You can also contact Myco_Chaotix for advice, information, or general myco-discussion on their other content accounts: Instagram: myco_chaotix Tumblr: mycochaos Reddit: u/Dry_Cardiologist8370

Macro examination of this beautiful “penis envy” plate! on this plate is a living, unique fungal organism, a multicellular eukaryote that produces mushroom fruit bodies as end stage of its reproductive cycle :) this plate show cases mycelium, or a collection of hyphae from any given fungal spores germination or tissue cloning, that form the mycelium Your eyes see. This colony is a specifically named isolate from multi spore syringe, a Psilocybe Cubensis variety named ‘Penis Envy’ (thanks to its specific fruit morphologies that carry over to subsequent generations of that variety) and a trait of blobbing ‘Dino egg’ fruit bodies for first flush and expected fruit bodies second flush🍄🍄🍄🍄

—

Follow for more!

patreon.com/mycochaotix

youtube.com/myco_chaotix

Instagram: @myco_chaotix

www.linktr.ee/mycochaotix

.

.

.

.

.

.

3/5 am tub updates. In order shown: Art, art, mckennai(maybe umbo mislabel), Baper, APE

Follow on this mycojourney! for more:

patreon.com/mycochaotix

youtube.com/myco_chaotix

Instagram: @myco_chaotix

www.linktr.ee/mycochaotix

The selected fruits:

Example of selective harvesting 🍄

Follow on this mycojourney! for more:

patreon.com/mycochaotix

youtube.com/myco_chaotix

Instagram: @myco_chaotix

www.linktr.ee/mycochaotix

Project updates - 3/21/24

Follow on their mycojourney! for more:

patreon.com/mycochaotix

youtube.com/myco_chaotix

Instagram: @myco_chaotix

www.linktr.ee/mycochaotix

Cleaned up and sorted my main area! Left this tub WAYYYY too long because of a few choice fruit phenos I want to put on the new agar plates. These agar plates are 20g agar, 1tsp aerogarden plant food liquid, 2g yeast, no antibiotic :) testing N,P,K agar (plus whatever else is in aerogarden liquid plant food).

—-

Follow on this mycojourney! for more:

patreon.com/mycochaotix

youtube.com/myco_chaotix

Instagram: @myco_chaotix

www.linktr.ee/mycochaotix

Follow on this mycojourney! for more:

patreon.com/mycochaotix

youtube.com/myco_chaotix

Instagram: @myco_chaotix

www.linktr.ee/mycochaotix

This is why I do what I do:

patreon.com/mycochaotix

youtube.com/myco_chaotix

Instagram: @myco_chaotix

www.linktr.ee/mycochaotix

🍄6am update from today 1/4; 1st pic umbo, rest PE

Follow on this mycojourney! for more:

patreon.com/mycochaotix

youtube.com/myco_chaotix

Instagram: @myco_chaotix

www.linktr.ee/mycochaotix

🍄Harvested PE and Umbo today 6pm:

P Natalensis graveyard update

—-

Follow on this mycojourney! for more:

patreon.com/mycochaotix

youtube.com/myco_chaotix

Instagram: @myco_chaotix

www.linktr.ee/mycochaotix

Huautla had a cluster, clap yo hands 👏🏼👏🏼 Huautla had a cluster, clap yo hands 👏🏼👏🏼 Huautla had a cluster, and I plucked and cut behading er’, Huautla had a cluster, clap yo hands 👏🏼👏🏼

———

Follow on this mycojourney! for more:

patreon.com/mycochaotix

youtube.com/myco_chaotix

Instagram: @myco_chaotix

www.linktr.ee/mycochaotix

Four tubs of Huautla. Top left is 2nd newest, look at that big fruit!!! - top right is third newest tub, bottom left is first og tub on second flush and bottom right is fourth the newest tub just showing pins

Follow on this mycojourney! for more:

patreon.com/mycochaotix

youtube.com/myco_chaotix

Instagram: @myco_chaotix

www.linktr.ee/mycochaotix