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doublem
Stranger

Registered: 07/18/20
Posts: 12
Loc: Oregon
Last seen: 3 years, 3 months
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First time grow journal - input appreciated!!
#26832697 - 07/19/20 03:08 PM (3 years, 6 months ago) |
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Hello everybody I'm new here, and I'm new to growing, this will be my first time. I've been spending a lot of time working through the abundance of excellent and informative material around here, and I finally feel ready to try it out. But undoubtedly I still have a lot of things to learn so I'm planning to post a detailed grow journal as I go and hopefully get some input about how I'm doing. Feedback is very appreciated!
I started by hitting up the hardware stores, I found most of what I needed; 70qt Sterilite tubs, vermiculite, 1/2 pint wide-mouth canning jars, &c. I couldn't find brown rice flour at Walmart but I had brown rice in my pantry so I just cleaned out my coffee grinder and milled some out. I also made up this spirit lamp from a spare jar, a wick and some denatured alcohol, and I ordered this nifty syringe (Ps. cubensis "Golden Teacher") from a vendor I found by reading the forums here   
I put 2c of vermiculite in a bowl, then added 1c of water and mixed well. Then I added 1c of my brown rice flour and stirred well again
   When I grabbed a fistful of this material and squeezed about a half-dozen drops of water came out, so I think I got the right ratio of water to solids. I loaded up 5 half-pint jars to the band line (about 8 or 9 tbsp), put the lids on and let them sit a day. (I think I read somewhere that letting the moistened substrate sit for 18-24hrs would cause bacterial endospores to germinate, and since I don't have a pressure cooker and can only heat to 100C I figured I need the extra measure to eliminate heat-resistant contaminants).
I got up this morning and nailed five holes each in the lids (I thought adding another hole would help speed up the colonization of the center?)
I wiped the rims on the inside of the jars to remove excess moisture and/or substrate and filled the jars to the top with dry vermiculite
I wrapped the top of each jar with alum foil and placed them in a 3-piece steamer. I couldn't quite fit all 5 jars side by side so I used a spare ring to stack one on top of the other 4.
  I steamed the jars for a little over 2 hours

After letting the jars cool for about 4 hours I moved them to my SAB and got ready for the inoculation, which is when I ran into a couple snags. For starters I found out that the nitrile gloves I had bought were a couple sizes too small, and I tore a couple pairs before I got them on good enough to work with. I put on a face mask and a freshly-laundered long-sleeve hoodie. I sprayed some water in the room and waited for the air to settle out, and I sprayed the inside of the box with a 200-300ppm NaClO solution I made by diluting bleach in tap water, just like we used in the fast-food business. I figure while I'm sticking the contams to the walls and table I may as well kill most of em off too. I turned on some music, wiped my gloves down with isopropanol and got to work. Which is when I discovered that a couple of the holes I had made in the lids were too small to get the needle through! So I had to flame-sterilize a nail and pound on the jar to widen the holes enough to get the needle through, which was a bit nerve-wracking. Other than that it went according to plan, 0.2mL per hole, 1mL per jar, with an iso wipe and trip to the spirit lamp between each jar.

So... I'm a little worried about my inoculation, especially in light of my hacky work with the nail but maybe it's just my paranoia; I'm sure that my needle stayed clean for all the injections so hopefully I'll be alright?? So I guess I'll just wait and see... I'm keeping my jars in my SAB for now (paranoia) and I'll take em out and look at em on Friday I guess. On that subject I have a question about the vermiculite layer; I know that shaking the jars is a big no-no because disturbing the verm will dislodge trapped contaminants into the substrate but I'm wondering what degree of movement/vibration is too great and will cause this to happen? What's the maximum degree of handling that remains safe?
So that's where I am so far, I'd love to know what people think. I will eagerly await yall's input and I'll keep updating this thread as I go, we'll see how it turns out!
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RedWolf77
Stranger


Registered: 04/11/20
Posts: 11
Loc: South Carolina
Last seen: 3 years, 1 month
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Re: First time grow journal - input appreciated!! [Re: doublem]
#26832739 - 07/19/20 03:30 PM (3 years, 6 months ago) |
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Looks pretty good to me, I would put some micro-pore tape over those holes though. Just to be safe.
-------------------- REDWOLF
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pesa



Registered: 06/13/20
Posts: 603
Last seen: 5 hours, 54 minutes
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Re: First time grow journal - input appreciated!! [Re: doublem]
#26833238 - 07/19/20 09:01 PM (3 years, 6 months ago) |
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looks great, you can steam the jars for 90 minutes instead of 2 hours.
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/8468474#8468474
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Phrontist
Determined



Registered: 07/17/13
Posts: 518
Last seen: 12 days, 2 hours
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Re: First time grow journal - input appreciated!! [Re: doublem]
#26833264 - 07/19/20 09:19 PM (3 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
doublem said: I found out that the nitrile gloves I had bought were a couple sizes too small, and I tore a couple pairs before I got them on good enough to work with. I put on a face mask and a freshly-laundered long-sleeve hoodie.
None of this is necessary, so I wouldn’t worry too much about the gloves.
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