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Joban

Registered: 06/09/13
Posts: 145
Last seen: 10 months, 17 days
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BRF Tek: Critiques of my methods thus far?
#19292994 - 12/18/13 11:55 AM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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Hey all, I've been doing research for the better part of a year and I decided to start my first grow during winter break from college. I figured I'd start with BRF, get the basics down, then work my way up. I'm briefly going to highlight what I've done so far and I'd appreciate any constructive feedback from you folks.
-Substrate: 2:1:1 verm/H20/BRF + 1 tbs gypsum +BRF was made with a coffee grinder / gypsum was bought from a brewing supply store ($3 for 2lbs. wow!)
-Jars: I decided to do a little experimenting jar wise. I used: 5 wide mouth 1/2 pints, 2 reg mouth 1/2 pints, and 3 Ziploc pp5 jars.
-Sterilization: The first round of sterilization included the pp5 and reg mouth jars. After using micropore tape on the jar holes, I placed them into the pot. Before the water reached a boil, I realized that I forgot foil, so I removed the jars and added a layer of foil. All 10 jars were sterilized in the same way (I remembered foil for the next round). Timed for 90 minutes after reaching a boil and left to steam with a lid (steam hole in the lid). Once 90 min expired, I removed the pot and let it sit over night in the corner of my room. Should I have left it sit with the lid on the pot? and foil on the jars?
-Inoculation: After letting the pot cool down overnight (8-12 hours), I removed the jars as well as the foil from the jars, and placed them on my desk. Prior to this, I lysol'd my work space, took a shower, put on a face mask, and sanitized my gloves. I flame sterilized in between jars and used 1/4 cc per inoc hole. For one jar, I decided to try the "sponge method" I heard about where you soak a sponge is iso. and inoc through the sponge. The jars were then placed in a drawer (previously cleaned with lysol). I've read that dark colonization is outdated, so I have been leaving the drawer open in order for the jars to receive indirect light and be able to breathe. My only question is, it is cold in my area and I use a space heater, should I close that drawer in order to minimize contams blown toward my jars or would it not matter much? I've been keeping the heat off during the day, and when I turn it on at night, I close the drawer my jars are in.
That's basically where I am as of now. I inoculated the first 5 jars on 12/16 and the last 5 on 12/17. I will check for growth on Friday. Any constructive feedback, negative or positive, is much appreciated. Thanks guys. 
EDIT: I also would like to start a new round of jars, but I'm curious if I should wait or not to see if I need to tweak my methods. When is it an acceptable time to observe my jars and decide it's ok to start a new batch? And again, any comments are appreciated.
Edited by Joban (12/18/13 11:59 AM)
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lsms
Strangler



Registered: 09/03/13
Posts: 639
Last seen: 9 years, 4 months
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Re: BRF Tek: Critiques of my methods thus far? [Re: Joban]
#19293029 - 12/18/13 12:04 PM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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Sounds like you know what your doing.
Did you use a still air box when inoculating?
You can take the jars out of the pot with oven mitts and leave them on a shelf or the counter to cool down.
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Joban

Registered: 06/09/13
Posts: 145
Last seen: 10 months, 17 days
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Re: BRF Tek: Critiques of my methods thus far? [Re: lsms]
#19293056 - 12/18/13 12:11 PM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
lsms said: Sounds like you know what your doing.
Did you use a still air box when inoculating?
You can take the jars out of the pot with oven mitts and leave them on a shelf or the counter to cool down.
Thanks for the tip; would you suggest keeping the foil on while they cool down?
And I used a makeshift still air box. I heard that many people don't use them with success, and while I know I shouldn't cut corners, I went ahead and used half of a plastic drawer. Hard to explain, but it is a rectangle with 5 sides and one open face. I sanitized the container and inoculated with the open side facing me (made sure to cut all fans, heaters, windows, etc prior to inoc)
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lsms
Strangler



Registered: 09/03/13
Posts: 639
Last seen: 9 years, 4 months
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Re: BRF Tek: Critiques of my methods thus far? [Re: lsms]
#19293058 - 12/18/13 12:11 PM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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I would check on your jars a week after inoculation then about 2 weeks, the less you mess with them the better. Especially with the plastic containers, the dry verm layer can shift a lot easier.
Did you use a layer of dry verm?
Also not putting the foil on can mess up your moisture content but you caught it in time I feel.
-------------------- "We cannot proceed. You cannot rate yourself." Or can you?
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Joban

Registered: 06/09/13
Posts: 145
Last seen: 10 months, 17 days
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Re: BRF Tek: Critiques of my methods thus far? [Re: lsms]
#19293059 - 12/18/13 12:12 PM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
lsms said: I would check on your jars a week after inoculation then about 2 weeks, the less you mess with them the better. Especially with the plastic containers, the dry verm layer can shift a lot easier.
Did you use a layer of dry verm?
Also not putting the foil on can mess up your moisture content but you caught it in time I feel.
Yes, I used a dry layer in ever jar and wiped off excessive brf/moisture prior to adding it.
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lsms
Strangler



Registered: 09/03/13
Posts: 639
Last seen: 9 years, 4 months
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Re: BRF Tek: Critiques of my methods thus far? [Re: Joban]
#19293098 - 12/18/13 12:21 PM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
Joban said: Thanks for the tip; would you suggest keeping the foil on while they cool down?
No problem!
I am not sure about taking the foil off honestly. I don't think it can hurt to leave it on until your ready to inoculate. You don't want it on after inoculation because it limits GE, but nothing is alive after sterilization (theoretically) so leaving it is just extra protection right?
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cronicr



Registered: 08/07/11
Posts: 61,436
Loc: Van Isle
Last seen: 2 years, 1 month
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Re: BRF Tek: Critiques of my methods thus far? [Re: lsms]
#19293113 - 12/18/13 12:25 PM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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remove the foil, if you leave it on your dry verm barrier will get moist
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Joban

Registered: 06/09/13
Posts: 145
Last seen: 10 months, 17 days
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Re: BRF Tek: Critiques of my methods thus far? [Re: cronicr]
#19293148 - 12/18/13 12:33 PM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
cronicr said: remove the foil, if you leave it on your dry verm barrier will get moist
Duly noted for the future, thank you. My layers seemed to be fairly dry after sterilization ( I shook one to be sure. Oops ). Hopefully no contams mosey their way in there.
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Joban

Registered: 06/09/13
Posts: 145
Last seen: 10 months, 17 days
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Re: BRF Tek: Critiques of my methods thus far? [Re: Joban]
#19316491 - 12/23/13 02:34 PM (10 years, 2 months ago) |
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I have 13 jars colonizing as of now and they are are looking great. It's pretty neat watching them progress in each different type of jar.
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