LyleChipperson said:

The dry verm layer works well as a filter. The cakes do need the holes for air.

Sounds more like you didn't sterilize the uncovered ones completely, especially if you had mold in the whole batch.

I run PF cakes in these boxes:



The dry layer works well enough to keep them from contamination even with 9 holes in them, they stay uncovered the whole time. I'll get an occasional mold spot close to an injection point, which just points to the needle bringing it in.

---

UtahGetMeTwo said:

Is there a tek somewhere for that Lyle? Interested in details possibly for my next project.

---

Bigdogg said:

You got a link or source for those?

Look interesting. I prefer plastic to glass. The rectangle shape seems maybeore stackable.

---

There's not much of a tek, it's just PF tek adapted to my preferences and I fruit them in shoeboxes.

This is the box:

https://www.irakplast.com/product.php?ui=10

Not sure how widely they are distributed, but you should be able to find something similar. The key features are:

1. They're exactly as high as my 1/2 pint jars so the cake is the same thickness.

2. The material is PP5 so they can be pressure cooked.

3. They are gasketed so nothing can get in between the lid and the box.


I prefer them because I hate washing dishes and I'd rather wash 6 containers than 18 little jars. They are also more resistant to dropping and I am known to break glass more often than I'd like.

They can be stacked easily which makes for easier storage and they are slightly bowed so the holes don't get plugged when stacking.

Only prep needed is to drill big enough holes for your needle to fit.

These are 27 oz, so more inoculation points are needed compared to the jars. 5 holes works too but takes 1+ months to colonize. 9 holes + liquid inoculant takes 2 - 2.5 weeks.

I fill them up to the lip that locks the lid and top with dry verm.



You can use regular BRF mix for cubes and nats or add a small percentage of hpoo for pans. I haven't had great success with pans yet so don't take that as gospel, but I don't think the cakes are the issue.

Once the cakes are ready you can cover them with coir and fruit them in a water tub just like a regular cake.

I prefer to fruit them in shoeboxes like grain spawn. 2 cakes can fit in 5 qt and 14 qt shoeboxes nicely. I add a bottom layer of coir and compress it. Add the cakes. Fill in around them with coir and compress. Add a top layer and compress. I don't break up the cakes. The mycelium will still grow out enough to colonize the entire substrate. Once prepared, just treat them like a regular shoebox.



2 cakes in a 5 qt tub. 1 lb wet first flush, a bit under 1/2 lb second flush. You can add more coir in a 14 qt shoebox so they have the potential to yield more, but that's also up to the culture.

Fezzgig said:

Just to be sure, when I’m using a water tub, I only have to bottom water my cakes in a plastic lid when I need a new flush. Not from the start. Right?

---

Ziran said:

FAE will cause evaporation to occur slowly so in about 1-5 days you'll need to gently mist to replace the amount of droplets that have vanished in the course of the days.

---

xmparnold said:

If I'm using an AIO grow bag and will be fruiting as a cake, do I need to do the dunk and roll in vermiculite?

The directions on the website for my grow bag from Booming Acres is to place in a tub (it says on top of a layer of perlite but im obviously going to use vermiculite) immediately after removing the bag without any rinsing, dunking, or rolling...

Idk if i need to do the dunk and roll or not... it's a 5lb grow bag so it would be fairly large and difficult to dunk unless I use a VERY large Tupperware.

---

Mr Piggy said:

xmparnold said:

If I'm using an AIO grow bag and will be fruiting as a cake, do I need to do the dunk and roll in vermiculite?

The directions on the website for my grow bag from Booming Acres is to place in a tub (it says on top of a layer of perlite but im obviously going to use vermiculite) immediately after removing the bag without any rinsing, dunking, or rolling...

Idk if i need to do the dunk and roll or not... it's a 5lb grow bag so it would be fairly large and difficult to dunk unless I use a VERY large Tupperware.

---

An AIO grow bag is not a brown rice flour PF TEK cake.

Vermiculite is not used in fruiting chambers, for that matter neither is perlite anymore.

Go back and read the very first post in this thread again.  Go read the part about fruiting chambers.  It's obvious from your post that you did not.

---