▲CREATIONS

During the process of research on this growing material, turned out that the material and shape (although a little bit less) matters for the fungi to grow properly. This last months I've been working with different types of moulds. Mainly silicone based moulds. Also with glass and plastic like PP or PE from recused food containers. It turnes out that the best performance was given by the silicone moulds that are used in the food industry. Not sure if there is a specific type of name but the ones I was using where for making ice. I'm pretty sure the ones that are used for baking would also be well suited for this task. There is a couple of photos showing the thickness of the walls. I found that this thickness becomes important because a good performance is given when it's allowing the mycelium to breath in and out having an exchange of gases. It it also important to consider that the mould should be compressing the shape enough to not be too deformed on the way. In the...

Liquid culture would be consider, to my point of view; the first stage of growth of mycelium. Is ideal to keep colonies thriving for long periods of time and start a new community. There are a lot of recipes out there to keep them going on a liquid media. My personal favorite is always the easiest one, so: Water and Honey. For 400 ml of water I'd dissolve about 15 gr of honey. My favorite part of this type of colony conservation is that it can be sterile in any media with a fixed cap like Alex Dorr recommends. He's got a book called Mycoremediation handbook and some videos on how to grow mushrooms that are very handy for a beginner like I once was. So, basically the way to go with liquid culture jars is to have a sterile breathable port and a self-sealing port for syringe transfusions. I'm not sure if you could buy them done already but making your own is very easy. All of the materials are available on amazon or ebay or any of those handy e-shops. This is how mine e...

Como parte de mi proyecto de maestría, decidí volcarme hacía los biomateriales, en específico, los materiales que parten del uso del  micelio de hongo. El micelio podría ser comparable con las raíces de una gran rama de la familia del Reino Fungi. Los hongos juegan un papel sumamente importante en la cadena natural de degradación de compuestos orgánicos. Es gracias a ellos que la materia se vuelve a descomponer en nutrientes que regresan a la tierra para poder ser repartidos en los organismos vivos. El micelio puede tener kilómetros de longitud y mantiene una red de comunicación química entre árboles y otros organismos para mantener un balance de nutrientes. Su función es realmente fascinante. Uno de los primeros que han trabajado con el micelio como material es Philip Ross, definitivamente vale la pena revisar su trabajo. Actualmente tiene la compañía llamada Mycoworks   en donde desarrollan textiles con base en hongo como sustituto a la piel. Su apariencia es m...