Wine cap mushroom

my mycelium of wine cap does not feed on my substrate, it turns white around the grains but does not run away, I use sterilized beech sawdust for 2 and a half hours and look at the bags, no sign of contamination, can you help me with some advice?

Is this a grain to sawdust transfer? Have you done this before so you know where abouts to target your sawdust moisture or is it your first go? How long have you waited for it to inoculate so  far?

[I've done pleurotus transfer before and I succeeded in the first attempts with wine cap. For several months now, I've been encountering the same problem with wine cap. I still use Air Box for transfer

That is interesting, I know sometimes it takes about 6-8 weeks to see anything when trying to get sawdust to colonize. My biggest issues personally tend to be the moisture side. I have been heavy handed and that has caused me issues. How much grain are you using in the transfer?

I use almost a kilogram i guees
I sterilize grains in 700 ml jars

This is kind of a clunky measurement but I do 7 cups of water to 5 cups of hardwood pellets personally. Give or take a cup of water.

It sounds like you are using plenty of grain spawn so that shouldn't be an issue.

I use beech ruf lighters, I hydrate them and then sterilize them for 2 and a half hours when I get home I'll attach some pictures

I made this substrate on December 26, 2023

Mmm... Your grain spawn looks really good. Might be a time thing?

I'm now edging into territory that I'm not too well versed in.

Does that bag have a gas exchange filter or anything? I'm not sure if it matters, I know the bags I have come with a patch.

it has an air filter made of batting with the other two wine cap cultures with which I was successful, the substrate colonized in 20 days, I will try to leave them like that and wait, I put wine cap grains and on the straw substrate I used briquettes from  straw

Beniamin,

I think that your spawn looks very healthy.  The spawn is very bright & white around the grains and it appears to me to be spreading into the sawdust around the individual grains.  My thoughts are that you may be near your limits for growing Wine Caps in a bag.  Wine Caps really like to grow exposed to air and especially in contact with a soil medium--that's what makes them such a great starter mushroom.  They actually like a little boost from soil microbes.  I have never tried growing Wine Caps in a bag like that but I have had good success growing them on a garden bed with a healthy supply of microbes.  In my experience, Wine Caps actually like a little bit of neglect and they may benefit from less-than-pristine conditions.

Going forward, maybe consider putting all that nice spawn in a pot or container that is open to the air.  Also, maybe add in something else that has some nitrogen--which your Wine Caps plainly love.  I was thinking about used coffee grounds.

These are just a few suggestions/ideas.  Take them as you wish.  In the end, your own experience will teach you better than I ever could.

Eric

I'm going to put it in wood chips but I'm waiting for the mycelium to colonize the substrate

Guess Mother Nature wants me to use Siberian Elms for a substrate. I have a bunch of these things down. Bunch more that need to come down.

A substrate that worked very well for me in the past to expand the Wine Cap mycelia was wet cardboard.  What I did, after wetting the cardboard, was peal away the outer layers to expose the cardboard ridges, then make a lasagna style stack. No sterilization required. As mentioned above, Wine Cap benefits from having some microbial activity.  

Lay down wet, but not over soggy, cardboard with exposed ridges. Then sprinkle a light layer of spawn. Then add next layer of cardboard. Then sprinkle spawn. Repeat the process until no more spawn is left.

When I did this i placed the cardboard + spawn into a plastic bin at a slight angle to help excess water to pool into one of the corners,  and placed a lid on top with a small gap for some airflow. I think i only had to add water on the surface once. Within a month or so the cardboard was almost entirely white. I can't remember exactly how long it took.