The following method is very simple and can be used to transform a colonised
PF style jar into a casing. We used a ? pint jar and a coir/vermiculite/lime casing layer. Using two ? pint jars will produce a bigger flush.
Supplies:
Fully colonised PF style jars (at least one ? pint jar)
Plastic sandwich bag
Foil baking tray
Fork or spoon
Pre-sterilised casing mix
Vermiculite
Spray bottle
A little ingenuity
Remember to practice sterility at all points in this procedure.
Step 1:
Remove lid and band from jar. Place plastic bag over jar opening and hold tight. Turn your jar upside down and spank it. The objective is to loosen the cake from the jar. As soon as the cake loosens it should plop into the plastic bag.
After the cake is in the bag, remove the jar from the bag opening. Be sure to close the sandwich bag as you are removing the jar.
Step 2:
Insert a fork or spoon into the bag through the bag opening. You will use it to break the cake up into manageable sizes. Be careful in this step. Sharp objects such as forks can cause injury (as Azurepower found out while taking this shot). You will want to split the cake up 4-5 times into cross-sections if you can.
Step 3:
Once the cake is in smaller sections it is time to have some fun. While keeping the bag closed break up the cake from the outside of the bag. Try to break the cake into pieces the size of Whopper candies.
Once the pieces are all broken up they should look similar to this:
Step 4:
Wipe the inside and outside of the aluminum baking tray with alcohol. Place a layer of dry vermiculite in the bottom of the tray to ? inch deep. Spray water onto the vermiculite until wet.
Step 5
Pour the broken substrate directly onto the vermiculite layer. Try to spread it as you pour. Make sure to spread the substrate evenly across the bottom of the pan.
Step 6:
Now pour your pre-sterilised casing mix over the substrate layer. As a general rule I believe a 1:4 ratio of casing to substrate depth is used. After pouring your casing layer to the desired depth, lightly pat down and smooth out the casing layer (some people do leave the casing layer with a rough surface, that is fine also).
The final product!!!
Now cover the casing container with some aluminium foil and leave it at room temp (70-80?F) for 3 - 5 days. When the mycelium begins to pop through the casing layer, uncover the casing and put into the fruiting chamber.
I would like to thank Azurepower for his help in making this a pictorial tek.
Keep in mind that this is a general outline of one procedure to produce a casing. I encourage modifications and use of ingenuity to improve this procedure.
More general casing info
h e r e.
by Joshua and Azurepower
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