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spasm666
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Making grow kits
#28606598 - 01/02/24 02:26 AM (25 days, 19 hours ago) |
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Hi.
I'm making a grow kit to sell and I'm just wondering about something. The kit is a carboard box with a window that is torn ope, then slit the substrate bag inside and spray water to keep moist. The usual stuff.
I of course need to fold (and tape) the empty top part of the bag before I put it in the box. Doing so the filter patch won't be open anymore as it is folded against the bag. So it will not breath anymore. I assume it will last for some time without being able to breath but surely not for very long. I've checked out grow kits on the market and they say to keep it in room temp if used before a week, and to keep it in the fridge if starting later than a week. And that it can last up to 4 weeks in the fridge.
How the heck it can survive a month without breathing, even in the fridge? I suppose the nonbreathability is what makes the kits fail often. I cannot figure out a workaround since the bag obviously needs to be folded tight. Any ideas? Thanks.
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stockw

Registered: 08/31/21
Posts: 450
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Re: Making grow kits [Re: spasm666]
#28606701 - 01/02/24 07:22 AM (25 days, 14 hours ago) |
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Can you not just fold it the other way so the filter is facing outwards?
An idea might be to find out what method larger scale trusted producers are using & go from there
Also, mind if I ask where you designed your boxes? Been looking for a place for a while.
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spasm666
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Re: Making grow kits [Re: stockw]
#28606857 - 01/02/24 10:02 AM (25 days, 12 hours ago) |
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Well the filter is so high up the bag that there will be a layer of plastic between the filter and sub regardless of which way I fold. Haven't found better sized bags, the box is quite small.
Yeah I guess I'll have to do some spying. There are no big players here though, I'm in the very north Europe. But there's one, I guess I'm going to order a kit. I designed the box myself with help of an acquaintance who knows the software etc to actually make it printable. I guess this is not much help lol.
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stockw

Registered: 08/31/21
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Re: Making grow kits [Re: spasm666]
#28607017 - 01/02/24 12:15 PM (25 days, 10 hours ago) |
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Can you post pictures? It's a micron filter so even if there's a layer of plastic I'd imagine it will still find a way for gas exchange. That's just how I imagine it to be without any images.
Not a direct help but reminded me I may know someone that can help, so thanks.
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deadmandave
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Re: Making grow kits [Re: stockw]
#28607152 - 01/02/24 01:59 PM (25 days, 8 hours ago) |
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i think also important in kits sitting around for a while is choosing a patient strain.
most of the commercial oyster strains will start pinning 10-12 days from inoculation regardless if the bag has been cut open or even if the sub is 100% colonized.
i agree with stockw that even if the bag is folded and the filter looks covered, there will still probably be GE.
perhaps run a trial. fold one and set it around for a couple weeks while the kit you order is being shipped. see if you notice any changes in the mycelium color and finally cut it as per your instructions and see what happens.
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Stromrider
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Running trials and testing different genetics is definitely what needs to be done. Figure out what works through direct experience. Like Dave was saying you cant be running an oyster that fruits invitro if you leave it more than 10 days. You'll have to use some of the more old school strains like maybe 3015 or Lambert123
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Silentraindrops
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Registered: 12/23/23
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This a interesting post i have questions.
Who are you marketing to friends / commercial Gourmet or actives?
What strains?
Have you read the difficulty people have growing things with instructions? lol Do you have a budget for Failure/returns lol.
I'm just really curious do you have a farm already just branching out?
I see people selling grain/ spawn bags all the time rarely kits . is that the new thing people etsy ? danm . *at least locally i see kits everywhere online lol*
Edited by Silentraindrops (01/03/24 05:18 AM)
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Stromrider
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I sell a few pioppino grow kits every week at the farmers market. I just stick to those because they're fool proof. I wait until they're beginning to pin on top before I take them. Then I just tell people to cut the corners off the top of the bag and leave them on the counter. I mark the corners so they know exactly how much to cut off. Never had a customer with a failure this way
Selling oyster or lions mane grow kits you can occasionally get people with failures or poor results. Even if it's their fault all you can do is replace them, give them instructions again, and smile. That's why I just started sticking to pioppino kits
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spasm666
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Thanks, good information here. I'll post pics some day when I'll get back to it.
Good to hear that some GE would probably still happen. I'll play a little with the folding too to see if I can nail it how I want.
Yea I'll do more trials. I have done trials already and they were all good except the last one I did, and that is what got me wondering about this all. That kit just didn't fruit. I'm not sure now but I think it was sitting about two weeks in room temp and maybe a week in the fridge. That's way more than in my instructions (I tell to fruit it within a week or otherwise refridgerate and still use asap). But yeah I must do more trials with the long sitting bags. Fresh colonized bags has worked very nicely. Or maybe modify the instructions to be more strict with the schedule to avoid problems.
I'm using a sporeless strain I use anyway, it works ok (at least with the given timeline as said above). Would be interesting to try different but nah I'll just go with the one I use anyway to make things easier. Haven't had problems of early pinning in my trials, I guess this strain is ok with kits.
The pioppino kits seem like a awesome idea. Thanks for the tip, I think I very well might explore that option too! Gotta look up some info on pioppino in general as I haven't grown it (if it works with straw pellets and lipa tek etc would be great, otherwise hmm gotta think about it). And yeah I'm prepared to replace kits with a smile, that's part of the deal I guess.
And yeah this will be just a side hustle, a product in my webshop. I have a small farm and been growing for a living for a bit over two years now. Not expecting this to be a big thing. Hmm I think kits are pretty common, no?
Edit: Just realized the only big kit producer here uses bags with different type of filter. There's two lines of filter material that goes all the way from bottom to top of the bag. Similar to the spawn bags used by big commercial spawn producers. Haven't found similar anywhere though.
Edited by spasm666 (01/03/24 03:02 PM)
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taku
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Re: Making grow kits [Re: spasm666]
#28614479 - 01/08/24 08:15 PM (19 days, 2 hours ago) |
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could you not flip the bag so the substrate shifts to the side of the bag with the filter and then fold the now empty side of the bag?
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spasm666
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Re: Making grow kits [Re: taku]
#28615138 - 01/09/24 11:33 AM (18 days, 10 hours ago) |
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Interesting idea, didn't think of that. The bottom of the bag is perfectly sized for the box I'll be using so I'd ruin that - the top of the bag is obviously not perfectly sized as it is closed from the top. But maybe put that on the backside and it won't matter. I'll try and see about it, thanks!
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