BeefSupremeJr said:

using a sab? can we see a pic of the lab? what kinda heat you running?  i notice a a steep increase in people sab issues once the furnace starts up for the winter.

radiant heat i think can almost be worse.

---

tryptkaloids said:

Spend less time thinking about your space and more time thinking about directly around your jars. Are you cleaning the threads and rim, wiping down before innoc? You resting your arms on the sab etc.

Your primary force should be gravity

---

tryptkaloids said:

To be clear, I mean clean them before loading. Only wipe the ring and lid post pc

---

callmehippie said:

Honestly cleaning your jar before the PC run shouldn't make that much of a difference.  Lots of us around here dont clean them unless they are really dirty. 

Whats the point since you're going to PC it?  I'm one of the ones around here who only cleans my jars if they've got shit on them that's going to make them harder to read.

Otherwise I just rinse them out real quick load and pc.


To each thier own tho really.  Cause the other more ocd half of us do soak, scrub, and clean them prior to the pc.  Some even put in the dishwasher.

---

tryptkaloids said:

To be clear, I mean clean them before loading. Only wipe the ring and lid post pc

---

B Traven said:

Shit stuck to a jar or lid will make it harder to sterilize, but that shouldn't matter for the sort of PC cycles we run.

But think about it like this: any material left crusted in place is a nutritious medium. If there's a continuous line of crap, or even just a trail that can be followed, from the outside of a jar to the inside, that could provide a point of entry for contaminants. If there's a bunch of shit on the lid or threads of the jar, there's a higher chance that anything you inadvertently swirl into the top of the jar will be able to get a foot-hold before everything is colonized.

Also, there are probably things our PC cycle won't kill. There is absolutely the possibility that crusted-on crap could be a repository for some extra heat-resistant bacteria.

Also, the cleaner everything is, the easier it is to look and see what's going on.

Yeah, I run my jars and lids through the dishwasher.

I also change my bongwater regularly.

Yeah, to each their own, but to be honest, I'll be pissed if someone comes on here asking for help with troubleshooting their grow, and then after much deliberation I come to find out that they don't even wash their jars.

---

1NFIN8 said:

Im just going to go straight to poor technique most likely in the SAB. I’m not going to delude myself on that one.

All of my plates are clean after I pour them and wait a week.

Most of my plates are clean after I inoculate. The ones that are contaminated have been - 1 clearly bad syringe and the others were clean on some and bad on others. So points to sab.

Shaky hands are part of the problem but until I can afford an Optimus robot and it can do sab work for me I’m going to have to figure a way to make it work.

Most likely it’s the alcohol flame I’ve used for sterilization. I need to buy an induction unit.

---

No way, alcohol flame is the shit.



So, you know, the thing about technique is that it takes time to develop. We're always trying to be all science-ey and boil everything down to procedures that a robot could do, but we're still basically primitive analog craftspeople. You gotta climb the learning curve and develop the muscle memory. Over the past several years, I've seen a very GRADUAL improvement in my spawn cleanliness and contamination rates. There was never really a moment of "oh, cool, there's the missing link." Once I ditched all the real dumb shit like spraying my SAB with lysol and working in a shower stall, it was just a long, slow process of learning how to make transfers without completely flubbing them.

Anyway, though, my main point is, alcohol flame for life 🤟

B Traven said:

tryptkaloids said:

To be clear, I mean clean them before loading. Only wipe the ring and lid post pc

---

I only wipe down the donor jar or plate, the one that's been hanging out in open air. The foil hats get pulled from my jars inside my SAB, right after they got pulled from the PC. I don't wipe those lids before inoculating. Same for fresh plates.

---

1NFIN8 said:

Hola AZ. You won’t missing anything important. In fact you will miss a little soul sucking so that’s a good thing! Welcome back!

---

Smellyhobbit said:

I wash my jars in the dish washer, but all I do for lids is knock old grains off. Not washing them might be keeping the filters in tact longer long term. Maybe. Either way, I like my jars clean and clear on load. My window to the action must be windex clean

---