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Grumio

Registered: 10/18/19
Posts: 126
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Coir only or coir and vermiculite? First time making bulk substrate.
#26396743 - 12/23/19 03:55 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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I've got a couple of rye grain bags that are ready to spawn to bulk.
I am going to make my own bulk substrate this time and do a couple of shoeboxes.
I have an insulated cooler and some bricks of coir.
I was going to follow bods easy tek for preparation of the coir.
As i am only making two small shoeboxes I was going to use 200g of coir and 100ml of water as per bods tek.
However I can't see any mention of vermiculite in there. Do i need this?
If so, how much verm and when do i add it or shall i just go without?
thanks,
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JohnRainy
Stranger

Registered: 07/09/19
Posts: 1,244
Last seen: 3 years, 11 months
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Re: Coir only or coir and vermiculite? First time making bulk substrate. [Re: Grumio]
#26396748 - 12/23/19 04:06 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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You don't need it but some people think the substrate is better with it. About a cup per 100g.
Bod's recipe makes my coir too wet. With the vermiculite it's about the right amount of water, without, about 20% less water
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BLINKfan420
Jedi



Registered: 07/06/12
Posts: 1,078
Last seen: 5 months, 16 hours
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Re: Coir only or coir and vermiculite? First time making bulk substrate. [Re: JohnRainy]
#26396976 - 12/23/19 08:31 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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I've done both.
Got great results with both.
Now I just throw my extra verm in just to get rid of it. I'm not sure I'll be buying more when I run out unless I start running into problems with straight coir.
I'd say you don't need it.
BLiNK
--------------------
  All my pictures are drawn from imagination. I don't even know what a mushroom is.
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frumpcicle
Knowledge Eater



Registered: 09/03/18
Posts: 4
Last seen: 2 months, 8 days
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Re: Coir only or coir and vermiculite? First time making bulk substrate. [Re: Grumio]
#26397241 - 12/23/19 11:21 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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I believe the importance varies depending on your climate and where you are storing your tubs.
I'm in the midwest going through a very dry winter. In addition, my tubs have to be stored in a furnace/laundry room.
I did straight coir for my tubs, but because of my conditions the substrate dries out very fast even with misting twice a day.
My next run I will either do a mix of verm and coir, or I will add a casing layer to help.
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AlwaysAtHeight
Grain Dancer


Registered: 09/12/19
Posts: 65
Last seen: 9 months, 20 days
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Re: Coir only or coir and vermiculite? First time making bulk substrate. [Re: frumpcicle]
#26397303 - 12/23/19 12:02 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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I've had better results with coir and verm. I brick of coir(~640g) to 2 qts verm(~250g) with about 4qts water. I boil it for fun but you don't need to and you certainly don't need all that insulated cooler stuff. I use a 5gal bucket with a lid
-------------------- The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same. -Carlos Castaneda
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gizmo1



Registered: 06/15/11
Posts: 3,831
Loc: FREEDOM
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Re: Coir only or coir and vermiculite? First time making bulk substrate. [Re: AlwaysAtHeight]
#26397401 - 12/23/19 12:49 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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I like to use verm for drying the substrate when it's too wet. If it comes out perfect(it never does) I dont add any. If it comes out too wet I add it a handful at a time, mixing between handfuls, until it is at field capacity. If it comes out too dry I just leave it as it is and give it a mist with a spray bottle after spawning. Supposedly verm helps retain moisture better than just coir I dont know if this is true I've never tested it side by side or anything.
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Grumio

Registered: 10/18/19
Posts: 126
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Re: Coir only or coir and vermiculite? First time making bulk substrate. [Re: gizmo1]
#26398505 - 12/24/19 01:57 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Thanks for all the replies guys, i'm going to knock up a batch of coir on it's own and if it's too wet add a little verm to bring back to field capacity.
thank you and have a good Christmas all!
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