The Official Kiwi Cultivators Thread

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Dunedinite
Actually a cat

Registered: 04/06/16
Posts: 1,059
Loc: Dunedin, New Zealand

Last seen: 4 years, 11 months

The Official Kiwi Cultivators Thread

10
#26047492 - 06/12/19 07:23 AM (7 years, 2 months ago)

Ahoy there all you beautiful people of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Recently I've gotten into cultivation and I've very rapidly learned that there's a number of differences between cultivating in New Zealand and cultivating elsewhere.
We have totally different names for some things that lead to weird confusions.
Other things are much cheaper here, or much more expensive, so alternatives are better.
Still other things are unavailable entirely!

Currently, if you want information specific to NZ, you have to PM someone, ask in the yearly hunting thread or hope that a Kiwi swings by your 'Mushroom Cultivation' thread.
It seems to me that we would thoroughly benefit from a single thread that all Kiwis can swing by and find information tailored directly to our needs.

Get amongst it!
______________________________________________________

I'll try to keep this post updated with various options for supplies so that people don't have to wade through the whole post trying to find info.

Pressure Cookers
For a large, good-quality pressure cooker you will likely have to bite the bullet and order it off Amazon or some such thing. Indian foodmarts and Asian grocers also sell pressure cookers. Stores such as Briscoes sell electric "set-and-forget" pressure cookers, although the largest is 8L. These are also more expensive than getting a 22L stovetop one from Amazon. It's preferable to get one with a pressure gauge. Many pressure cookers available here will only get to 7.5psi, meaning sterilisation takes twice as long.

23qt Presto from Amazon, shipping included - $218.98 (From chipsandwhich's comment)

Petri Dishes
You can buy disposable, plastic petri dishes; reusable, glass petri dishes; or PP5 containers. PP5 containers can be found at any supermarket. Make sure they're PP5, other plastics will melt/deform in your pressure cooker.

Crescendo - Lab supply company

20pk 90mm plastic petri - $5.20 (excl. GST)
1pk 100mm glass petri - $3.35 (excl. GST)

Interlab - Lab supply company. Enquire to find pricing. They sell both plastic and glass, of various diameters.

New World - PP5 containers can be bought here

1x 210mL 'Value' brand container = $2.35

Kmart - Very large range of containers in a great variety of shapes and sizes.

4 x 250mL 'Anko' brand containers = $2.50

Media Bottles
inski said:

Bobbit said:

Media bottles, the more expensive ones (locally) have better seals and can handle a PC run while sealed if cooling naturally. If buying from China, you are rolling the dice. Please report back if you get a good roll.

You don't need expensive bottles, the seal doesn't matter because you always leave the lid loose when sterilising agar, just cover the top with foil.

Crescendo - Lab supply company

Interlab - Enquire to find pricing.

Aliexpress

Jars
Good-quality mason jars are what is preferred here. It is possible to use regular jars that you'd get product in from the supermarket but these are more prone to cracking, especially with repeated use. Good mason jars are much more expensive in NZ than elsewhere. 'Ball', 'Quattro', 'Agee', 'Perfit', and 'Mason' are all good brands. I'm personally unsure about the quality of 'Kates Kitchen', 'Living and Co', and 'Frutta del prato'. There's also other "off-brand" jars available.

Wide = Wide Mouth | Reg = Regular Mouth

Pak'N'Sav - Only sells individual jars.[LIST]
500mL Perfit Reg = $3.49
1000mL Perfit Reg = $4.39
500mL Kates Kitchen Reg = $3.29
1000mL Kates Kitchen Reg = $3.49

New World - Only sells individual jars.

500mL Perfit Reg = $3.89
1000mL Perfit Reg = $4.89
500mL Kates Kitchen Reg = $3.49

Arthur Holmes - Good for bulk purchases. If you buy in bulk it appears that they have free shipping. They sell Quattro mason jars although they do not have the widemouth varieties.

250mL Quattro Reg = $4.10 per 1 | $39.37 per 12
500mL Quattro Reg = $5.28 per 1 | $50.71 per 12
1000mL Quattro Reg = $5.86 per 1 | $56.21 per 12

Little Ink - They do not always have stock, but they have a wide range. It appears they sell Kerr, Ball and some other off-brands.

250mL (8oz) off-brand Wide = $5.50 per 1 | $55 per 12
700mL (24oz) Ball Wide = $10 per 1

Briscoes sells everything. Perfit, Ball, Quattro, Kates Kitchen, and likely others. They have both wide mouth and regular mouth varieties. They sell both individually and in packs. They are typically more expensive than elsewhere, but Briscoes being Briscoes means that you can wait for 70% sales or whatever and get good prices.

Stevens sells Agee, but prices are high.

240mL Agee Wide - $6.99
500mL Agee Reg - $7.99
1000mL Agee Reg - $8.99

Kmart - Very cheap jars in packs of 6 or 3. Unsure of quality as they seem thin.

300mL 6pk Reg - $6
550mL 3pk Reg - $6
1000mL 3pk Reg - $6

Other places to find cheap preserving jars are dollar stores like '$ n sense'.

Good quality jars can also be found cheaply on Trademe, or at Op Shops.

Grains and Seeds
"Any grain will 'work' but rye berries are the gold standard because of low starch content. They're easy to shake and don't turn to mush. Get the rye." - Roger Rabbit

You also want to get whole grains. Kibbled, rolled, hulled or anything like that is not appropriate as the starch will leak out and you'll end up with a mess. If you're buying Wild Bird Seed (WBS), get it without corn.

Milmore Downs - As of the time of this writing they have organic rye for $0.90/kg
Cost is $0.90/kg + GST + $18.00 to deliver nationwide (additional $14 for a rural delivery). 25kg is therefore $43.88
They also sell wheat, barley and dinkel/spelt

Seeds And Cereals - Good range of grains and seed.

25kg bags of Barley, Black Oats, White Oats - $29.50
25kg bags of Wheat - $12.70

Bin Inn - Unfortunately it seems that they sell few wholegrains unless buying birdseed, which is mixed grains/seeds.

Poultry Wheat - $1.90kg

Mitre 10

20kg Wheat (as poultry feed)- $34.99
1kg Tui Wild Bird Seed Mix - $6.98

New World

10kg 'Value' brand Poultry Wheat - $11.49

Countdown

10kg 'Barnyard' brand Poultry Wheat - $11.89

Pak'n'Sav

'Value' brand Poultry Wheat - $11.49

Lincoln Grain - free shipping within Canterbury

30kg Wheat - $23

Agar and Agar Ingredients
Agar Agar
Easily purchased at any Asian or Indian grocer. Will cost approximately $3.50. You can also buy 500g from Aliexpress for $34.76.

Light Malt Extract (LME)
If you are making MEA (Malt Extract Agar), you will need LME, known in NZ brew shops as 'Light DME' (Light Dry Malt Extract). There are many options. If you have access to liquid and dry, use the dry. If you have access to dark and light, use the light. Be very careful with storage as it's hydrophilic asf and will suck moisture from the atmosphere. (Chur Bobbit for the info)

NZ Brew Shop - 1kg DME is $12.95

Dextrose

Baylands Brewery - 1kg Dextrose is $4

Alcohol for sanitising
DO NOT WASTE MONEY ON ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL. The reason this is so commonly used is because in the USA is is cheap and available everywhere. Here it is expensive and only available at hardware stores. Buy methylated spirits instead, you can find this at the supermarket, dairy, anywhere, and it's cheap at ~$5 a bottle. Additionally, in New Zealand, methylated spirits does not contain methanol or weird other shit. It is 99.9% ethanol with dye and bittering agent added. Ethanol also burns cleaner and hotter than iso. Dilute your methylate spirits to 70% when using for sanitation.

Pak'N'Sav is cheapest at $4.29/L

Edited by Dunedinite (09/16/19 11:02 AM)

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