Detailed Explanation of Key Techniques for Identifying Wood Ear (Black Fungus) Spawn
1. The mycelium is snow-white, like fine wool, with short, neat, dense, thick and strong strands, advancing evenly side by side until it reaches the bottom of the bottle, growing uniformly and consistently from top to bottom, coming out in a solid block when dug out, not loose. 2. After the mycelium has fully colonized the bottle, brown water droplets are generally secreted on the surface of the mycelium. Later, pale yellow...
1. The mycelium is snow-white, like fine wool, with short, neat, dense, thick and strong strands, advancing evenly side by side until it reaches the bottom of the bottle, growing uniformly and consistently from top to bottom, coming out in a solid block when dug out, not loose.
2. After the mycelium has fully colonized the bottle, brown water droplets are generally secreted on the surface of the mycelium. Afterwards, pale yellow transparent gelatinous fruiting primordia appear around the bottle wall and on the surface.
3. If the spawn column fits tightly against the bottle wall and a small amount of white water droplets adheres to the inner wall of the bottle, it is fresh spawn. If there is pale yellow standing water at the bottom of the bottle and the spawn column has shrunk away from the wall and dried out, it is aged spawn and cannot be used.
4. Normal spawn has the unique fragrant aroma of wood ear. If there is a foul or moldy smell, or patches and ball-shaped areas where the fungus fails to grow, it is bacterial contamination. If other colors such as red, green, yellow or black appear, it indicates contamination by weed molds, and it also cannot be used.
5. If pale black gelatinous material (fruiting base) appears between the substrate and the bottle wall, it indicates spawn that is early-maturing or has been subcultured too many times; after cultivation the fruiting bodies are small, numerous, difficult to grow large, of poor quality and low yield, and should be discarded.
6. If wood particles are still visible inside the bottle while the mycelium is very sparse, it means the culturing time is too short and culturing should continue. If there is no significant change after culturing for some time, it means the substrate nutrients are insufficient and should be supplemented.
7. If the spawn stops growing after about half or in one corner, it may be due to being too dry or too wet. If the mycelium grows neatly and densely, then suddenly becomes sparse with a clear boundary, it means the upper part of the substrate is suitable while the lower part was packed too firmly and too densely.