more questions about mushrooms~

So, I have four bags currently colonizing... 1 madbag from mad season and the other 3 are ryeberries from another company. Both sources have said that I can fruit in the bags but you dont have to be a genius to realize that the yields would be higher if the mycellium was transferred to another substrate with a larger surface area. THIS however is what scares me... I went the "bag" route because they came pre-sterilzed which seemed the safest option to go for a first timer.
Could someone please tell me in laymans terms the process of taking what I currently have and transferring it to a suitable substrate?? The sterilization thing scares me because I have cats and I know in general the air quality and such, probably isn't ideal in my small apartment for such a "sterile" procedure. I like the idea of putting it in small rectangular pans as I have seen pics here online but have NO idea how to do this safely. I have looked on the mushroom blogs and most of them require registering in order to see pictures which I'd rather not do if I can help it. Can the ryeberrie simply be tranferred to a pan to increase surface area? I'm thinking it's probably not that simple...lol!!! Another thing I'm wondering is will the ryeberries become a solid mass once colonization is complete?? I'm fairly sure the mad bag will because it's a much denser mix almost like soil.
Anyway.... ANY help would be greatly appreciated. I'm not looking to get POUNDS of mushrooms...lol... just want to maximize my humble first attempt... ty so much guys~

well most people would jus take the mycelium and spread it in a container to fruit without casing, once a bag is fully colinized it should be strong enough toward off contams and survive in the new air so long as the RH is high enough.

yes you can spread it like jelly it wont harm nothing.slow things down but wont harm the fungi.

some people i hear just remove top half of the bag and just fruit it like a cake.

ok... so thats very interesting... I just take a small pan, sterilize it with alcohol and place my colonized ryeberries in there??? I really thought it was going to be MUCH more difficult than that...lol! Is there a recommended minimum depth of the colonized ryeberry I should maintain??? I'm guessing you dont want to spread it TOO thin?

yeah not too thin i would get a Tupperware tho rather than anything metal fill the bottom with perlitite add water, drain excess put substrate on top. then put Tupperware with substrate in a fruiting chamber.(i would just use a tote with water at the bottom and an air stone pumping warm air into it, then the tray would sit in the water, hell you could do th ebag method the same way and skip the perlite and tupperware step, just make the water level in the tote stays below the edge of whatever you use and stays out of the substrate.

this is all GOOD news guys...ty!! I was really thinking this was going to be a pain in the ass...lol! I'm getting the impression, once the mycellium has fully colonized, the contamination issue is much lower? Regarding Tupperware Polyarcturus.. I was under the impression that you wanted to seal light from the sides so the mushrooms grew "up" and didnt try to grow out from the side??? Perhaps I misunderstood? Thats why I was thinking something more like a shallow pan... but I suppose it wouldnt be hard to wrap the tupperware in dark plastic or something~

yeah duct tape works the whole idea is the more suface area exposed the more fruiting area, your past the germination stage so ther is no reason th hide it from the light other than you dont want it to fruit in the dish between the walls and sustrate so yeah i would tape up the sides. so you are correct in a sense, plastic is just less reactive than a metal pan.

and yes once mycelium is colonized it should be able to handle itself so long as it is in a fruiting stage.

tried to give rep Poly but it wont let me do it again...lol!!! The thought was there TY so much for your ALWAYS informative and trusted responses! I'm feeling much better about this whole thing now...no need to pull out the Surgeon outfit....lol!!

ahh most of its from reading and a little exp. but these are basic questions most users(canndo for example) feel they are too above to answer, because i was asking these same things not too long ago. had to do a bunch of reading cuz everybody makes it seems like theres only one process and you have to follow that exact process, when often times thats not the case, but i gave you the best answers i could.

ty for the thought

polyarcturus said:

ahh most of its from reading and a little exp. but these are basic questions most users(canndo for example) feel they are too above to answer, because i was asking these same things not too long ago. had to do a bunch of reading cuz everybody makes it seems like theres only one process and you have to follow that exact process, when often times thats not the case, but i gave you the best answers i could.

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Now hang on poly, I am always willing to answer questions and don't feel myself above doing that very thing, I have had the feeling of late however that I was doing all the answering and posturing myself as the only knowlegeable person in the group - and that is far from the reality, I figured I'd let some others chime in forgodsake. I don't recall your questions and I am sorry that you feel I snubbed you (if indeed that is what you feel). People also get pretty unhappy when I contradict them so I try not to, unless they are promulgating information that is obviously false. You have pretty much steered donni.. in the right direction and I agree, many seem to intone that there is only one way to grow these things - when in fact many times they grow not because of a person's efforts but in spite of them.

Also, you must know that I disaprove of the PF Tek and so I try not to comment on those who are newbies and are trying that method for fear that I will look like a jerk. You have to admit that someone who spent hours or days working out pf tek only to be told that it is a stupid and barely productive method might resent the poster of that condescending little message.

I'm guessing that what I'm doing falls into the PF Tek category??? lol.... I'm honestly so clueless with all of these terms

donniemcm said:

I'm guessing that what I'm doing falls into the PF Tek category??? lol.... I'm honestly so clueless with all of these terms

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Seems you are not using PF (that method was introduced to the world by a fellow - recently dead, who made a fortune selling syringes and finally did time over his inclusion of specific instructions on his website and I believe with the shipped syringes) Pylocibe Fanaticus. You are creating spawn by innoculating a bag of boiled, sterilized grain in a sterile environment. After your spawn is completely colonized it can be fruited as is, it can be cased and fruited or it can be used to further innoculate other substrates such as straw or manure or compost, usually one needn't do this in sterile conditions but rather using pasteurized substrates. Those substrates when they become fully colonized can be fruited as is or cased and fruited.

canndo said:

Now hang on poly, I am always willing to answer questions and don't feel myself above doing that very thing, I have had the feeling of late however that I was doing all the answering and posturing myself as the only knowlegeable person in the group - and that is far from the reality, I figured I'd let some others chime in forgodsake. I don't recall your questions and I am sorry that you feel I snubbed you (if indeed that is what you feel). People also get pretty unhappy when I contradict them so I try not to, unless they are promulgating information that is obviously false. You have pretty much steered donni.. in the right direction and I agree, many seem to intone that there is only one way to grow these things - when in fact many times they grow not because of a person's efforts but in spite of them.

Also, you must know that I disaprove of the PF Tek and so I try not to comment on those who are newbies and are trying that method for fear that I will look like a jerk. You have to admit that someone who spent hours or days working out pf tek only to be told that it is a stupid and barely productive method might resent the poster of that condescending little message.

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very well written, i on the other hand always listen to contrary opinions and wont be doing PF tek for the same you reasons you have.... yeah you snubbed me a little but no hard feelings it was just once of those time i had a lot of ?s that were a little technical, anyways your cool canndo, just difficult to get your attention.... but you could do a lot more good around here, your way too smart to let the bullshit info get told around here id just like to see you more active.

and you are pretty much the only knowledgeable one around, now dont get me wrong theres some smart folk on here but when it come to the shrooms....well ive found your advice on google plenty of time lol.

once again, AMAZING info guys... and I'm glad that you guys are on the same page because it's obvious that you BOTH hold a wealth of knowledge which would be sorely missed by Myself and countless others on here.
So, it seems at the moment that my research should dwell on the "casing" of my colonized bags.... which as best as I can tell is just taking the mycellium, placing it into a sterilized plastic container of some sort and then placing in my fruiting chamber. My FC btw is going to be a sterlite tub which I have drilled holes in and will fill with H2O saturated perlite. The ryeberry bags btw have already started colonizing while the "mad bag" is taking it's sweet time.
Ty again my friends.... not to be cliche but... couldn't do it without you....lol~!

of course after only 20 minutes of reading, I have ANOTHER question... I think I've come to the conclusion that I have to buy mushroom casing soil... this is the link I'm looking at now...http://www.earthstongue.com/site/388422/page/933739/site

for my (4) 1lb bags I have colonizing, how much soil will I need??? I can buy it by the pound on ebay

Jesus, the more I read the more I feel like an idiot... now I see that you can use vermiculite... this would certainly be cheaper and easier to get locally... I'm so confused...lol!!

ok.... I think I have my plan in place thanks to this article I found.... casing for Dummies... PERFECT!!!! lol~
http://www.psychedelic.com/casing_for_dummies.htm
This, to me, seems completely do-able and I'm hoping you guys take a moment to look at it and let me know what you think It not only seems easy but I dont have to mess with e-bay and waiting for things in the mail...

i would just case with regular potting soil pasturized.

canndo would ask why you want to case it?

you really dont have to i would but this an opinion thing. try it both ways see what you like.

does potting soil have an advantage over vermiculite??? I kind of like the thought of having a medium that bacteria and such had "no interest" in... due to it's lack of nutritional value???

Yea canndo is great with the mushroom growing, though I still disagree about the PF tek comment lol.
If you ever need mushroom help and canndo isn't around to help then why not use a mushroom forum?
The shroomery is a pretty hostile environment, but mycotopia is nice.

Canndo, you mind me asking if your on any OMC sites?
I'm sure they would love you if you aren't already.

donniemcm said:

does potting soil have an advantage over vermiculite??? I kind of like the thought of having a medium that bacteria and such had "no interest" in... due to it's lack of nutritional value???

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Bacteria has no interest in verm(no nutritional value), I usually use mine straight out of the bag for all my casing/bulk needs.