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fahtster
Now With 33%More Faht



Registered: 06/17/06
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Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) 54
#27280275 - 04/24/21 10:08 AM (2 years, 8 months ago) |
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Yoyoyo party peeps... I’m sure plenty have done this before (Sandman420’s sandbag tek or joey_megabucks) or are currently doing it and there’s nothing new under the sun, as they say, but I’ve been using ziplocks a lot lately and thought I’d make a thread about it... maybe give others ideas of their own.
I like ziplocks because they’re: available almost everywhere, cheap, come in various sizes, reusable, FAE holes can easily be added to them, allows for lots of headroom for fruit growth, and they act as a built in liner when used for fruiting sub blocks.
The one downfall is that they’re obviously not stackable, but you can hang them... I haven’t had a need to hang them so I don’t have any pics of that but you can imagine that’d be pretty easy and with some strategically placed coat rods, you could fill a closet space up with hanging ziplocks.
Let’s get the show on the road, shall we?
1 myco quart of spawn to 2 quarts of Coir/Verm (CV) in a 2 gallon ziplock blocks. AKA the ZIPBLOCK
UPDATE: recently I’ve been doing 1qt to 3qts where I overstuff the 8cup container (kind of a muffin top) with no top layer of any kind.. it’s been working great with melmak

I use these just like you would a shoe box... small 1qt spawn grows either for testing out a culture or if you have suspect bacterial spawn etc.
Items needed:
- 1 x 2 gallon freezer ziplock

- 1 x gladware 8 cup deep dish rectangular food container

- 16g syringe needle
- 1 myco quart colonized grain spawn
- 2 quarts prepared coir/verm (I still use verm because I like it, but if you use just coir, that’s obviously fine). I use the standard 650g coir, 2 quarts verm, 1 gallon water, bucketed recipe. If you want to make just enough for one of these bags: 80g coir, 2 cups water, 1 cup verm as per here
These are stupid fast to make... if you’re using a new bag, there’s nothing to wash or clean except for your hands
1. Break up your jar of colonized grain and add it to the 2 gallon bag.. you can break up the grain more to individual grains once in the bag

2. Add 2 qts of CV to the bag and zip it up with as much air in the bag as you can (don’t blow into it lol. There’ll be plenty of air if you just push the sides out and zip it up). Bunch up the zipper end with one hand and shake the shit out of it to mix the grain and CV thoroughly.

3. The ziplocks aren’t gusseted so we’re going to make it so the sides are flatter... do this by taping over about 2.5” of each corner like so:

^^^ I do that on both corners (fold one to the left, the other to the right). this is basically to reduce the size of the bag at the bottom so I can fit it in the 8 cup container better... if you don’t do that, those corners have to go somewhere and you’ll end up with them bunched up and small amounts of sub will get trapped in the little crevices. But you can get creative with the size container you use... I just like those containers because I like the thicker sub with a smaller fruiting surface.. I feel like I get bigger fruits that way. I know that’s debatable but that’s how I roll.
EDIT (10/20/23) OMC member “Nerd” from discord came up with a nifty way to square/rectanglize the bottoms of ziplocks by using a sealer to create a rectangle gusset in the bags. Like so (pics courtesy of Nerd—thanks man!)
 4. Put the bag with sub into the 8 cup container.. the container is simply to form the sub into a block shape

Alternatively, you don’t have to use a container, you can simply have the substrate in the bottom of the bag and fruit it that way (like a sandbag). I’d suggest putting a rubber band around the outside of the bag near the fruiting surface to close off the gap between the sub and bag… this’ll help keep side pinning to a minimum because the bag stays attached to the sub
5. I even out the top and lightly tap the container on the table to compress it slightly and add a top layer. You can also play around with the amount you compress. It’s come about in the last few years that a lot of compression isn’t a bad thing but you want to make sure your spawn is clean… compressing a lot squeezes the air out of the sub and can block off the micro airways to the grains near/at the bottom of your sub block. If your grains are already bacterial, the anaerobic environment at the bottom of the sub block is perfect for those grains to have bacteria grow faster than the myc is able to recover and you’ll end up with a bacterial infection that’ll eventually end up molding out and ruin your grow.
6. Take the syringe needle and poke FAE holes every 2” all over the bag (above sub level). For the two inches at and above sub level, I double up in the holes and go every 1” like this: ‘ . ‘ . ‘ . ‘ . ‘ in a band all around the bag. I usually have a unpoked bag that I use/reuse (wash it if you’re reusing obv) for the mixing and then I reuse already poked bags for the actual FC
Here’s a pic by mycgemini to show hole placement

You’ll probably end up having to put a few more holes in (I usually do) depending on what your climate is at the time of growing but that’s a good starting point. And that goes for any size bag (1.5-2” spacing w/doubled up holes at the sub level). I should say, the holes placement is on both sides of the bag. If you’re poking a new bag, the easiest way is to poke the needle though the bag before it’s been opened so it’s mirrored on both sides.
7. It even has a built-in label!

8. For colonizing, I just fold the bag top over EDIT: April 2023. You can pull the bag up right away if you’re finding it’s faster or if you’re working with questionable spawn. Nowadays, I just pull the bag flap up right away. I use to have a fan running in my grow area so the bags tended to dry out a bit too much unless I folded them over. Now I have no fan running so the flap stays up from the start. If you’re working with questionable spawn, the more FAE during grain recovery after spawning, the better (ofc to a point but you don’t want to provide an anaerobic environment for bacteria to overcome the exposed grain surface)

9. After the 4-6 days it takes to colonize, I pull the bag top up to start fruiting.. you can take the container off the bottom if you want (the bag will be stuck to the sides of the sub and act as a liner). I tend to leave them on

That’s it! You may have to dial them in a bit with the amount of holes you poke in the bags depending on your climate. You can also unzip the top whatever amount you want if you need to introduce a lot if FAE, like mid-fruiting or if the weather changes drastically for example. The bags are definitely washable and reusable. They’re pretty easy to wash if you turn them inside out and put them on a big cutting board in your sink.. really fast that way. If you’re reusing one, obviously you can’t use ones with holes in them to mix your sub and grain... just have a non-modified one that you mix in and then transfer to the one you’re reusing.
One of the best features of using an oversized bag for the container to shape the sub block is that side pins are no problem at all... if you see a bunch of side pins coming in, you simply untape the corners and pull the bag away from the sub sides/ends and allow those fruits to grow into normal plump fruits!
Edit: So I stumbled upon a little hack yesterday.. instead of untaping the bags when there’s side pins, just pull the bag away from the top ends of the sub block and push down on the top of the bag.. the bag should have enough air in it to pull the bag away from the sides of the sub block but stop so when there’s still ~an inch of the bag still stuck to the bottom of the block… this shortens the height of the bag and creates a bubble around the block for the fruits to grow in..
You have to keep at least some of the bag attached to the block otherwise the bag will fall over, but when you keep it attached, the bag stays nice and supported

Another nice feature is that if you get a lot of water pooling before fruiting, just take grab the bag by the sub block and turn it upside down over the sink and the water drains out. Ez pz!
Here’s some results...
Apeu MS:

FP+ f7 clone:

Mak 118 (2 bags)


PE/RW f6 ms

2nd flush

Yeti first and second flush

PE/pfrs clone:

2nd flush:

Another PE/pfrs f1 clone

2nd flush

PE/pfrs f2 zipblock

2nd flush (2 blocks)


7 bags of Pea+ f1 clone (these had lots of side pins and I just pulled the bag away from the sub and let them do their thing):







2nd flush:





2 bags of Pea+ F2 MS:

3 bags of Pea+ f3 MS (with these, I used the prints the next day after taking them and they were slightly bacterial... I should’ve waited at least a few days for them to dry)

Took 1 of them to a second flush:

PE/RW F2

PE/RW f6 blob culture (all same bag 1st, 2nd, 3rd flushes)

2 Gandalf (only one full bag is shown but both bags dried down to 2.25oz combined for the first flush)

For rehydrating, I usually soak for a couple hours in a 1 gallon ziplock
And Cleaning the 2.5 gallon for reuse is super easy.. pull inside out and put on large cutting board in the sink and wipe clean.. clean in seconds

Fruiting 16qt Substrates in 2.5 Gallon Ziplocks for Second Flushes and Beyond
This is as easy as it sounds... when I did 16qt tub grows, I sometimes ran out of tubs to put new subs into so if I had a tub that was finished with its 1st flush, I take that sub and put it into a 2.5 gallon ziplock and poke needle holes every 2” on the top and fruit the 2nd flush that way.. worked well:



Fruiting 3 or Less Cakes in a 2.5 Gallon Ziplock
I use to use 2 gallon but that extra bag is nice for fruit space. Pretty simple.. I’ll let the pics speak for themselves.. an 8 cup container with ~3” of perlite with cakes sitting in 4oz jar lid that are DEC. I found using CV leftovers from bucketed sub works better than just verm for the cake recipe (obviously still use brf). And then needle holes poked every 2” and double that up at cake level... here’s a good shot showing how many needle holes I use..










Pf cakes in a sandwich bag.. this really as simple as it sounds.. I put a 24h dunked cake into a bag that I poke ~6 needle holes (I use 16g syringe needles) evenly through the bag. I double end case the cakes with a healthy wet (not sopping but above field capacity) layer of CV (plain verm will work too) under and on the cake and that’s it! They do pretty well..




And a heads up.. if you do use colored baggies, don’t use the red ones… the dye that they use I believe is the one that has anti fungal properties..

The pins and substrate that was touching the bag started turning black
Sandwich baggie for clone testers and getting prints/swabs and/or growing out the glc grains that produce larger qt jars… it’s like a look into the future to see how the qts are going to perform that the glc grains inoculated. I use to use water tubs and tall 1/2 pints but these baggies are just too damn easy.
Use at least a 1:3 ratio (spawn to CV) or they can dry out or not have enough water to get a good flush.. they usually average around 3g dry but I’ve had PE baggies that dried down to 5g. I poke 3-4 needle holes (16g) at sub level and then 4-5 holes evenly in the rest of the bag flap. Roll them up in a burrito and then I push down on the top to flatten it out a bit for a nice fruiting surface. The key is to keep the bags rolled up until pins start pushing the bag up.. that keeps them from drying out.. I do pull the top of the bag away a bit like a week into it (just so the the bag isn’t stuck to the substrate and gives the sub a place to pin because there’s a small gap on the top.
If the fruits are getting too tall for the baggie, simply open the bag and slide another sandwich baggie over the top of the open one with the substrate in it.. no need to poke holes the “lid” baggie.

Soak the substrates for an hour to go for a second flush just like you would any other substrate.. I usually just pour water into the bag and dump out after a hour
Here’s some examples:
Tall 1/2 Pint Culture Tester Jars (finally, a reason to have tall 1/2 pints lol)
I actually recently used a water tub (you can find some dudes write up Here) for fruiting out ~1/3 cup grain to ~2/3 cup of CV using tall 1/2 pints. Just put 4 testers in a 8 cup container with some water in it in a 2.5 gallon ziplock with the standard needle holes:

Here’s another successful water tub




Lately I’ve been using this water tub set up that’s working well considering what I’m using them for (crossing)

I use to bury the tall 1/2 pints in perlite before I just used water:




Lastly, just get creative.. ziplocks and containers come in all different sizes. You can do a lot with a bag, a container and a needle



Then there’s the ol’ “throw two rehydrated 1/2 pint cakes in a quart jar with a sandwich baggie over the top for second flush” trick... what? There’s a ziplock involved 
Faht
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Danny McBride
Goddard Goddard



Registered: 07/23/22
Posts: 78
Loc:
Last seen: 2 months, 16 days
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: fahtster] 6
#27945437 - 09/11/22 02:17 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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Just harvested some that had the veils break 30 grams exactly
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Nichrome
I'm a torso!


Registered: 12/17/18
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: MushieMafia] 6
#28005417 - 10/18/22 07:39 PM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
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Semp bag looking good.
-------------------- “Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one.”
Freedom is not the right to do as you please, but the liberty to do as you should. ~Emerson
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SwabMarley
Twisted Metal Head



Registered: 12/07/20
Posts: 1,450
Loc: Drunken Stupor
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: fahtster] 5
#27714058 - 03/30/22 01:18 PM (1 year, 9 months ago) |
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A testament to the Fahtlocks!

 
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WellDuYaPunk
Being



Registered: 01/23/22
Posts: 147
Loc: h ness monster
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: fahtster] 5
#27751780 - 04/26/22 08:25 AM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
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Atomsplit


Registered: 01/16/21
Posts: 1,505
Loc: SAB
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: MushieMafia] 5
#27875422 - 07/24/22 02:14 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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--------------------
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MushieMafia
The Mushroom Don



Registered: 02/15/22
Posts: 1,303
Loc: Down Under Mate
Last seen: 9 days, 9 hours
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: fahtster] 5
#27876825 - 07/25/22 03:57 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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2nd flush on the fahtloc is coming along fantastic!!!
 
cant wait to do another run with these with better genetics!
-------------------- - Nature alone is an antique and the oldest art is a mushroom. GROWING SHIT-LIST Mushie's Ghetto Hood Build! Mushie's Ghetto Spawn Bags! Fahtster's Fahtlocs! (Ziplock FC) Mushies LAGM 2023
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MysticMycologist
Dirt Sherpa



Registered: 10/14/21
Posts: 1,755
Loc: seeking samadhi
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: milkboy] 5
#27879755 - 07/27/22 08:05 PM (1 year, 5 months ago) |
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Today while shopping I saw some 10gal ziplock storage bags, and instantly thought of this tek.

I had 4qts of clean Cambodian gold clone spawn, so I found a medium sized tote and decided to give it a try.
I mixed the 4 quarts of grain spawn with 8qts of coir, and added another 4qts of coir as a top layer. I misted the top layer and folded the top over. I’ll leave it in the tub until it is solid, then carefully pull it out, poke some holes in the bag, and hopefully get a nice flush.
-------------------- Two eyes to look, One eye to see. Prying open my third eye 
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milkboy
Child



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Posts: 2,295
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: MushieMafia] 5
#27907117 - 08/17/22 05:47 PM (1 year, 5 months ago) |
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Enigma bag, no top layer, took like 2 weeks longer then bag with top layer... Also got fewer fruits on this one.
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nglsnv
Becoming



Registered: 08/31/10
Posts: 782
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: fahtster] 5
#27941237 - 09/08/22 09:38 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
fahtster said: Looking good! Looks like it’s about to pin
My man!

Harvested 374g wet from my first bag. Four more to go
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MushieMafia
The Mushroom Don



Registered: 02/15/22
Posts: 1,303
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: fahtster] 5
#27990350 - 10/09/22 02:52 PM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
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Couldnt resist and took this cutie away with me for the weekend.

-------------------- - Nature alone is an antique and the oldest art is a mushroom. GROWING SHIT-LIST Mushie's Ghetto Hood Build! Mushie's Ghetto Spawn Bags! Fahtster's Fahtlocs! (Ziplock FC) Mushies LAGM 2023
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fahtster
Now With 33%More Faht



Registered: 06/17/06
Posts: 9,266
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: MeanValley] 5
#28001134 - 10/15/22 10:01 PM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
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I mean don’t hold back.. tell me how you really feel I very clearly stated this isn’t anything new out of the gate.
I just like helping people out. I don’t ask for any kind of celebrity treatment or think I’m anything special. It actually embarrasses me.
I’m sorry you feel threatened by my write-ups. Again, just giving people ideas of their own. I like to think who I am as a person is more reflective of how people treat me. I love growing mushrooms and I love helping others. It’s that simple. Hate the game not the player
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MushieMafia
The Mushroom Don



Registered: 02/15/22
Posts: 1,303
Loc: Down Under Mate
Last seen: 9 days, 9 hours
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: fahtster] 5
#28003284 - 10/17/22 03:08 PM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
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First time going for a 5th flush! cant believe this lil sucker is still going.
-------------------- - Nature alone is an antique and the oldest art is a mushroom. GROWING SHIT-LIST Mushie's Ghetto Hood Build! Mushie's Ghetto Spawn Bags! Fahtster's Fahtlocs! (Ziplock FC) Mushies LAGM 2023
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MushieMafia
The Mushroom Don



Registered: 02/15/22
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: fahtster] 5
#28006581 - 10/19/22 02:54 PM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
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5th flush harvested!
Not much of a flush but happy to make it to 5!
-------------------- - Nature alone is an antique and the oldest art is a mushroom. GROWING SHIT-LIST Mushie's Ghetto Hood Build! Mushie's Ghetto Spawn Bags! Fahtster's Fahtlocs! (Ziplock FC) Mushies LAGM 2023
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fahtster
Now With 33%More Faht



Registered: 06/17/06
Posts: 9,266
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: Soloist] 5
#28113011 - 12/26/22 03:20 PM (1 year, 1 month ago) |
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Just updating my most recent bags to this thread
Sandwich bags:
PE/RW f5

Yeti ms

Swpe (canned corn)

Pfrs (canned corn)

Mak 118 clone (canned corn)

Fp+ f7 clone (revived from 6 month old dried grain)

Cakes in sandwich bags:
PE/RW f5 ms

PE ms

2.5 gallon zipblocks (opted for containers in the bag method to stop condensation from dripping back onto the sub surface):
Fp+ f7 clone. Also got 32g dry including the sandwich bag (came from same myco qt)

Mak 118 clone (got a lot of side pinning so I removed the container and liner and replaced block back in bag—glad I did). Dried to 32g

Yeti ms. Got 18g dry. Block was still heavy and dunked for 2 hours and second flush is already coming in
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fahtster
Now With 33%More Faht



Registered: 06/17/06
Posts: 9,266
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: fahtster] 5
#28153097 - 01/23/23 01:35 AM (1 year, 4 days ago) |
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PE/RW f6 sandwich bag did really well

Almost a 100g wet from a 1/3 cup of grain is doing well
The 1 qt grain 2.5 gallon zipblock of that culture is just starting to pin so I’m excited to see how that translates to the larger sub

I did two grows from ms swabs and the other one was mostly blobs with one giant pin and if that has mostly PE traits with the rust spores, that’d be great.

Here’s the 2.5 gal zipblock of that culture.. hoping I see some of those pins pop up in here as well

Pretty interested in how big the blobs will get too
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174BPM



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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: fahtster] 5
#28225867 - 03/12/23 12:08 AM (10 months, 11 days ago) |
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GT PF Cakes, smooooooshed and bulked. I am now a true believer in the Fahtlock!



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MushieMafia
The Mushroom Don



Registered: 02/15/22
Posts: 1,303
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: fahtster] 5
#28342581 - 05/31/23 11:07 PM (7 months, 24 days ago) |
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Bacterial as fuck Fahtloc.
Finally started up a few new clean cultures, was using the same bacterial GT culture for months
-------------------- - Nature alone is an antique and the oldest art is a mushroom. GROWING SHIT-LIST Mushie's Ghetto Hood Build! Mushie's Ghetto Spawn Bags! Fahtster's Fahtlocs! (Ziplock FC) Mushies LAGM 2023
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tiptrippy
The Mechanic



Registered: 09/09/20
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: Samushlove] 4
#27290373 - 05/02/21 12:38 PM (2 years, 8 months ago) |
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Spawned 5qts of x7x last night as a test run
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RiverBum



Registered: 10/16/18
Posts: 141
Loc: Down by the river!
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Re: Using Ziplocs (Ziplocks) as Fruiting Chambers (FC) [Re: WellDuYaPunk] 4
#27702201 - 03/20/22 08:05 AM (1 year, 10 months ago) |
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Cant get much easier than cakes in a sandwich baggie. Subtrops love it! 

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