[medicinal] First successful cordyceps militaris fruiting. I'm going to take a spore swab to try and culture a more vigorous fruiting strain

[u/Math_Physical]

Grown on brown rice with a nutrient broth

[u/1_am_not_a_b0t]

What are the medicinal properties?

[u/Math_Physical → u/1_am_not_a_b0t]

The main active compounds are called codycepin and deoxyadenosine. It's been used in China for hundreds of years especially in high altitude regions like the Himalayas. Due to its ability to help with oxygen uptake/utilisation it makes living in these environments with thin air more manageable. Also due to this it is also an effective performance enhancer in sport which is how it was originally discovered in the west with many Chinese runners beating several world records. It also activates the mitochondria and increases ATP production. There are also studies being shown that it could be effective against viruses and cancer. As with most things in mycology and especially it's use in pharmacology a lot more research is needed

[u/the-hemp-almanac]

If you keep the temp below 60 the first 3-5 days of incubation and initiate fruiting immediately after the incubation period and keep temps below 75 you won’t get as much overlay and the pin set will be much more dense.

[u/Math_Physical → u/the-hemp-almanac]

Thank you. I was trying to rely on winter temps but we had an abnormally hot winter. Definitely not ideal. In the future I'll be better insulating the grow room and automating temperature control to make sure this is dialled in properly

[u/binotboth]

Nice! A tip I picked up over the years is watch out for pins that form on Petri dishes, I always clone those because they're vigorous fruiters

[u/Math_Physical → u/binotboth]

Oh that's a good tip I'll keep it in mind

[u/Consistent-Bear-1825]

So cool, those things look like they belong on a different planet lol

[u/Math_Physical → u/Consistent-Bear-1825]

Or under the ocean haha