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Intersect said:
Sorry to cause a fuss over everyones different interpretation of my question.

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Blue Helix said:
Also, here is the formula redone with some volume measurements.  This makes about 38 final pounds, which fills 4 super large spawn bags or 7 regular large spawn bags.  Since this mix contains about 12.5 pounds nutritive dry matter, 100% BE, a typical good cubensis yield, would yield 1.2 cracker dry pounds (545 g) pounds or 12.5 pounds wet.  A good yield of pan cyans runs closer to 60%, which would mean this substrate would yield 7.5 pounds wet or 0.75 pounds (340 g) cracker dry.  That's a lot of mushrooms (thousands in the case an pan cyans), so you might want to reduce the recipe according to your needs/expertise.  Here it is:

10 lbs manure/straw (horse manure is better than cow because it's lighter unless it's a grass-fed cow.  Straw is often in the mix as they line the barn floors with it.  Straw speeds things up but reduces density a bit.)
2.5 lbs dry (uncooked) wild bird seed (other grains like rye are fine too)
3 gallon  water (any water is fine)
5 liter  vermiculite (coarse is better but any will work)

The amount of vermiculite that will work is highly variable.  Hell, you could do fine without it if you are using hay/straw-fed horse manure or if there is a lot of straw in the mix to lighten it up.  Removing it in a substrate that is pretty dense will probably slow down the colonization time of the bag in most cases because more airy substrates tend to colonize a lot faster. 

Speaking of colonization time, my bags usually colonize in 3 to 5 days to grey (recently I had bags finish in 3 days that had more straw than usual) and finish flushing out white in about 7 days.  If you are seeing times way in excess of this, you are probably doing something wrong or supplementing with some funky stuff (keep it simple stupid). 

Also, when you are storing really big bags to colonize, the ambient temperature should be in the low to mid 70s (F) and always store the bags apart from each other, preferably on wire racks because otherwise the core temperatures can soar and if the core temperature gets too high, it'll ruin everything.

Water content is critical if you want to maximize yield.  Even 10% off 65% moisture content either too high or low, can give poor yields of only a hundred mushrooms or less per couple cubic feet (given a substrate depth of 2" to 3" for cubensis or 1.25" to 2" for pan cyans).  Unless you have done this a dozen or so times and are in some real hurry, you should measure the water content by taking 20 grams of full-mixed substrate, microwave it for about five minutes on a paper plate until it is bone dry (but not burnt), and the reweigh.  It should weight about 7 grams.  If it is under 6 or over 8, you should add dry material or water respectively and try again.  Take your time and do it right!

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Blue Helix said:
I was trying to find a place online that sells stainless steel needles that are appropriate for this tek.  I recommend the 140ml Luer Lock syringe and a stainelss steel needle (do not get the plastic junk) no less than 3" and at least 14 gauge, although I like 12 better, especially with cubensis because they can clump pretty bad in the LC.  Here is a place that sells all of that: 

http://syringesupplies.com/

They are definitely not the cheapest place for the syringe (you can find them for $10 other places), but you'll have a hard time finding a 3" 12 gauge stainless steel needle in quantities of one or two anywhere, period.  And you really will want a stainless steel needle because the plastic top screw-in ones always separate eventually from the metal needle right when you are trying to use them as they weaken from the repeated pressure cooking.

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