Black mold in IMO1
so I just recently made 2 collections 1 from a local untouched spring fed riparian habitat in the mountains and on from my property under leaf litter from giant shrubs surrounding the property, the one from mountains was pretty much perfect and contained little or no colors other than the white Cotten candy on top and throughout, but the one I collected from my property, it had some nice mycelium growing in too like the other but it also had a little blue a little red and than when I broke it up I saw that it had definite black mold growing on some of the inner parts, i tried my best to get the pieces of the rice patty with good mycelium and no black mold but definitly got a little in my IMO2, my question is.. is this IMO2 still good to mix with my other good IMO when making IMO3 or shoukd I avoid using this collection?
The answer
I operate on the 80/20 rule. If 80% of it looks good, I go with it.
From the KNF library
From the KNF library
Drafted by Claude from Office Hours and the books
·
Sep 2026
·
4 sources
Cho's notes accept a few spots of red and blue mold on an IMO1 collection. (Cho, Theory, p. 52) If the whole box is covered, he says to collect again. (Cho, Theory, p. 52)
Drake told another farmer to keep pink and yellow spots and mix them in. He reads mold as a sign the collection ran too long and needed more rice. (Office Hours Ep. 154, 7:48)
A good collection looks like cotton, fills the whole rice, and smells like rich forest floor. (Cho's Solutions, p. 16) If anaerobic microbes are in the majority, Cho says to collect again in a drier area. (Cho, Theory, p. 51)
The library does not name black mold. It does not say whether to mix a tainted IMO2 into IMO3.
Sources
- 7:48 Office Hours Ep. 154 (Dec 2024) — IMO1 Troubleshooting, Water-Soluble Calcium, Egg Yolk Oil · “Don't toss the pink and yellow spots, just mix them in — the mold means the collection ran too long and needs more rice.”
- p. 51 Cho, Theory · “But, if the anaerobic microbes are in the majority, it is better to try again to collect IMO in areas with less moisture.”
- p. 16 Cho's Solutions · “Successful collection looks like cotton, will permeate the entire rice substrate, and smell like rich forest floor”
- p. 52 Cho, Theory · “It is acceptable if there are a few spots of the red and blue mold. but if the whole box is covered by them, collect again.”
