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NumeroEno
I come from the land of lizards



Registered: 07/24/14
Posts: 9,652
Loc: Gamehendge
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Fun With Straw! 3
#22228628 - 09/12/15 07:22 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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First come the shoutouts. Huge props to blindingleaf, eatyualive, hamloaf, azur, pastywhyte, and the rest of the fine folks of The Tribe. I would never have done this without your incredible wealth of knowledge.
So, in order to improve the cost effectiveness and efficiency of my grows, I've switched it up. Forever, my monotubs have been comprised of 6 quarts of spawn and 8 quarts 50/50 hpoo/verm. Verm costs a lot more than straw. As far as cost effectiveness goes, you can get dozens of tubs out of the same dollar amount as a bag of verm that's good for maybe 4 tubs. Straw holds water just as well as verm, and unlike verm it contains lots of nutrients for the mushrooms.
The other big difference from my previous grows here is that I'm only using 4 quarts of spawn instead of 6. This allows me to sterilize enough spawn for 2 66qt tubs in one PC run.
So let's get started. First order of business is to prep the straw. Large amounts of straw can be shredded with a weed eater, but small amounts can easily be done by hand with scissors.
I try to chop my straw into 1" pieces. It's hard to get every single one and a few long pieces won't hurt anything, so I'm calling this good.
Once your straw is cut, it should be soaked, anywhere from a few hours to overnight. A nitrogen supplement may be added to the soak water. I use Alaska brand fish fertilizer at a rate of 2 teaspoons per gallon of water. Chicken manure and worm castings are also excellent nitrogen supplements.

The straw is placed in a mesh laundry bag, submerged in a bucket of water/fish emulsion solution, and soaked overnight. A gallon jug full of water is used to keep the straw submerged.

While the straw is soaking, we might as well prep the horse manure. Some horse manure should be added to the straw to fill in the voids. We will mix the straw with the horse manure at a 2:1 ratio -- one quart of horse manure for every 2 quarts of chopped, packed straw.
Please note that while this tek is intended to be done with horse manure, coir can be substituted, although that increases your cost of materials. Proper pasteurization must be employed even if coir is used in place of horse manure.
The horse manure should be broken up as finely as possible. Make sure to get rid of any debris like leaves, twigs, and bugs. This is a half gallon of horse manure, ready to be hydrated. I like to hydrate the manure separately, but we will wait to hydrate the manure until the straw is done soaking.

Once the straw is done soaking, remove the laundry bag from the bucket and hang it somewhere to drain.

While the straw is draining, we can finish preparation of the hpoo. First, preheat a stock pot full of water to about 165f and turn the heat down low enough to maintain that temp. Preheating your water saves you a shitload of time. I always add extra water so I can use hot water to hydrate the manure. Raising the baseline temp of the substrate is what saves so much time.
NB -- I have an electric stove, and it is extremely easy to maintain temps with it. I can't guarantee it will be as easy on a gas stove. Try to not let your water temp exceed 165. If it goes a little higher for a bit it's not the end of the world, but I prefer to never let any aspect of the pasteurization process exceed 165f.

Once the water is heated, take some hot water from the pot and use it to hydrate your horse manure.

Then mix in the straw.

Once the poo and straw are mixed, load them into jars or bags for pasteurization. I use half gallon jars. Fill the jars with substrate and pack it very firmly. If the jars aren't packed full enough, they'll float in the pasteurization pot and we don't want that. If you don't have substrate to pack your jars full, get more hot water out of the pot to hydrate more poo, and mix everything back up again. Once your jars are tightly packed full of substrate, cover the mouths of the jars with foil...

... and load into your stockpot. I keep a jar handy to bail out water if necessary. You want enough water that the jars barely don't float.

Put the lid on your stockpot (I use my old 23qt presto PC). Load a bowl, crack a beer, and find something to do to kill 20-30 minutes.
Once the internal temperature of the substrate jars reaches 145f, set a timer for 90 minutes. Once the pasteurization cycle is complete and the substrate is cool, it's time to spawn your tub(s). Pictured is the tub at time of spawning.

The varieties being grown are an albino penis envy pin clone and a Cambodian pin clone, as well as multispore penis envy. Culturing methods were identical for both the APE and cambo pin clones. A pin from a multispore plate was transferred to a new plate and allowed to completely colonize the media. Once knotting occurred on the new plate, quart jars were inoculated with pieces of agar with the highest concentration of knots.
2 half gallons of G2 spawn were made from part of the masters, and a tub designed specifically for penis envy varieties was used for the APE. The special tub has additional holes, 2 on each end up top and 3 on each side at substrate level. The idea is that with careful placement of polyfill, FAE can be increased without lowering the humidity inside the tub. The APE tub colonized quickly despite the lower spawn ratio. Here is the APE tub on day 3 of spawn run.

APE Day 5:

APE Day 6 -- casing layer was applied. Casing layer is 1/4" thick, consisting of jiffy mix pasteurized in the same method as above.

APE Day 12 -- 96 hours after introducing FAE and the pinset is coming in very nicely.

APE day 17 -- 5 days after introducing FAE.

APE day 18 -- 6 days after introducing FAE.

APE day 19 -- one week after FAE was introduced. A few mushrooms were ready to pick and the rest of the first flush is filling in nicely.

I'm going to keep this thread updated with the other tubs I have going using this method, and will document the APE tub until it's spent. Stay tuned!
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Let it grow! Let it grow! Greatly yield! What shall we say, shall we call it by a name As well to count the angels dancing on a pin Water bright as the sky from which it came And the name is on the earth that takes it in DOG FOOD AGAR MY ELECTRIC INOCULATION LOOP
Edited by NumeroEno (09/13/15 11:50 AM)
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Buck513

Registered: 04/17/14
Posts: 5,682
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-------------------- Fail to plan and you plan to fail. Enter the Ban Lottery
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Cue
Stranger



Registered: 01/10/08
Posts: 131
Last seen: 7 years, 6 months
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Re: Fun With Straw! [Re: Buck513]
#22228820 - 09/12/15 08:11 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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have you noticed a drastic improvement with the addition of the nitrogen supplement?
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NumeroEno
I come from the land of lizards



Registered: 07/24/14
Posts: 9,652
Loc: Gamehendge
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Re: Fun With Straw! [Re: Cue]
#22228905 - 09/12/15 08:34 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Not really, but I haven't run any tubs of just unsupplemented straw and hpoo. The closest thing I did was some mini monos of MS APE on 1:1:1 straw:hpoo:verm. Those mini monos were contaminated so I can't use them for comparison, since I know that the rhizopus and trich, along with the fact that those mini monos were uncased, all negatively affected yield. Plus there was a lot of verm in those tubs.
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Let it grow! Let it grow! Greatly yield! What shall we say, shall we call it by a name As well to count the angels dancing on a pin Water bright as the sky from which it came And the name is on the earth that takes it in DOG FOOD AGAR MY ELECTRIC INOCULATION LOOP
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Grey
⇜ ✯ ⇝



Registered: 11/06/14
Posts: 6,223
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Re: Fun With Straw! [Re: Cue]
#22228908 - 09/12/15 08:36 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Nice write up man! I have a bail of straw waiting to be shredded. Where did you purchase the fish emulsion?
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AMU Q&A If you don't have a plan of your own, you'll become a part of somebody else's.
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NumeroEno
I come from the land of lizards



Registered: 07/24/14
Posts: 9,652
Loc: Gamehendge
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Re: Fun With Straw! [Re: Grey]
#22228917 - 09/12/15 08:39 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Thanks! I got the fish emulsion at lowes. I think the bottle was 8 bucks.
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Let it grow! Let it grow! Greatly yield! What shall we say, shall we call it by a name As well to count the angels dancing on a pin Water bright as the sky from which it came And the name is on the earth that takes it in DOG FOOD AGAR MY ELECTRIC INOCULATION LOOP
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Fantastic Mr. Fox
Grass Seed Connoisseur


Registered: 02/12/15
Posts: 3,225
Loc:
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Re: Fun With Straw! [Re: Cue]
#22228925 - 09/12/15 08:42 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Nice write-up, Eno!
I'm gonna give your prep a go, and incorporate the nitrogen soak..
-------------------- Giving is all we have, for we're just grateful to be alive

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d0urd3n
Just call me "D"

Registered: 09/15/10
Posts: 5,237
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NumeroEno
I come from the land of lizards



Registered: 07/24/14
Posts: 9,652
Loc: Gamehendge
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Quote:
Fantastic Mr. Fox said: Nice write-up, Eno!
I'm gonna give your prep a go, and incorporate the nitrogen soak..
Gotta give credit to blindingleaf for that one. He uses chicken manure. I use the fish emulsion for gardening and one day it hit me that it would be perfect for mushrooms.
Actually I got the whole idea from blindingleaf. By all rights he deserves 100% credit for this. I just got the itch to write it up because straw is fuckin awesome.
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Let it grow! Let it grow! Greatly yield! What shall we say, shall we call it by a name As well to count the angels dancing on a pin Water bright as the sky from which it came And the name is on the earth that takes it in DOG FOOD AGAR MY ELECTRIC INOCULATION LOOP
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Fantastic Mr. Fox
Grass Seed Connoisseur


Registered: 02/12/15
Posts: 3,225
Loc:
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Fuckin' A Thank you both! 
Does it have to be fish emulsion/organic fert? Or can it be done w/synthetic..
-------------------- Giving is all we have, for we're just grateful to be alive

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NumeroEno
I come from the land of lizards



Registered: 07/24/14
Posts: 9,652
Loc: Gamehendge
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Well I suppose you could soak the straw in diluted miracle grow 
I'm just a big advocate of growing organic
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Let it grow! Let it grow! Greatly yield! What shall we say, shall we call it by a name As well to count the angels dancing on a pin Water bright as the sky from which it came And the name is on the earth that takes it in DOG FOOD AGAR MY ELECTRIC INOCULATION LOOP
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blindingleaf
blue collar underworld


Registered: 07/19/13
Posts: 22,008
Loc: sub-surface unseen
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nah man, this all you!!! awesome write up!!!
-------------------- A few thoughts on cultivation MICROBIAL HUSBANDRY!!!! The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
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NumeroEno
I come from the land of lizards



Registered: 07/24/14
Posts: 9,652
Loc: Gamehendge
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Shit man you gave me the idea. I just realized that there wasn't much info about straw out there. It's such an awesome and under appreciated substrate. You can get a bale of straw for less than a 3 ack of eco earth bricks.
I'd really like to see more people using straw, and I'm just hoping this will help in that.
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Let it grow! Let it grow! Greatly yield! What shall we say, shall we call it by a name As well to count the angels dancing on a pin Water bright as the sky from which it came And the name is on the earth that takes it in DOG FOOD AGAR MY ELECTRIC INOCULATION LOOP
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eatyualive
Eat's You Alive :)



Registered: 08/17/01
Posts: 19,026
Loc: In Your Head
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ApeApeApe!
love me some straw/poo.
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NumeroEno
I come from the land of lizards



Registered: 07/24/14
Posts: 9,652
Loc: Gamehendge
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I just harvested the 2 biggest mushrooms from the tub. I've noticed that the mushrooms get overripe really quickly. If you don't harvest them at just the right time the cap starts turning black and the stem gets squishy. I'll have to be really careful about harvesting these at peak ripeness. I also expect mushrooms from subsequent flushes to be bigger and I'm gonna push this tub as far as I can.
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Let it grow! Let it grow! Greatly yield! What shall we say, shall we call it by a name As well to count the angels dancing on a pin Water bright as the sky from which it came And the name is on the earth that takes it in DOG FOOD AGAR MY ELECTRIC INOCULATION LOOP
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eatyualive
Eat's You Alive :)



Registered: 08/17/01
Posts: 19,026
Loc: In Your Head
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yes they do and when the caps turn black they usually abort. you will get the hang of them.
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NumeroEno
I come from the land of lizards



Registered: 07/24/14
Posts: 9,652
Loc: Gamehendge
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It's weird. The last time I did a 66qt PEU tub they all aborted. I think I'm gonna have to break out my PEU clone and try it on straw.
This APE tub though, I'll probably flip it after the second flush. There are a ton of knots on the bottom of the sub. I think it will come gradually, but I bet I get a really good yield from this tub.
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Let it grow! Let it grow! Greatly yield! What shall we say, shall we call it by a name As well to count the angels dancing on a pin Water bright as the sky from which it came And the name is on the earth that takes it in DOG FOOD AGAR MY ELECTRIC INOCULATION LOOP
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PsiloPsychIn
PsiloPsychIn



Registered: 06/17/14
Posts: 8,182
Loc: up north
Last seen: 2 days, 20 hours
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Well Done Eno - thanks so much!

Nice tek. I did horse poo this way with Azur's tek. The Alaska fert is a nice touch and the mix of straw and poo is obviously a winner!
Have you done a comparison without the Alaska fish fert to see what you are gaining with this?
I may just have to try this when I get some APE myself... I have a sense that the universe may just provide me with some soon...
-------------------- What are they saying? Listen carefully, it might be something you need to hear...
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NumeroEno
I come from the land of lizards



Registered: 07/24/14
Posts: 9,652
Loc: Gamehendge
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I haven't done a side by side comparison with and without the fish emulsion, but I will. I'm doing all of my fall tubs this way and I will keep this thread updated. I'll do a side by side fish emulsion vs none with either the GT or the cambo that I have on deck.
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Let it grow! Let it grow! Greatly yield! What shall we say, shall we call it by a name As well to count the angels dancing on a pin Water bright as the sky from which it came And the name is on the earth that takes it in DOG FOOD AGAR MY ELECTRIC INOCULATION LOOP
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PsiloPsychIn
PsiloPsychIn



Registered: 06/17/14
Posts: 8,182
Loc: up north
Last seen: 2 days, 20 hours
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I bought some Alaska Fish emulsion (because of you buddy) and I'm going to try it with my oysters... I will do a bucket with and a bucket without and see how it impacts yields and flavor.
-------------------- What are they saying? Listen carefully, it might be something you need to hear...
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