A pictorial to use spawn bags to grow pounds of mushrooms! No HEPA required. - Mushroom Cultivation

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Blue Helix
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Registered: 02/02/03
Posts: 1,565
Last seen: 5 months, 22 days

A pictorial to use spawn bags to grow pounds of mushrooms! No HEPA required.

13
#4903105 - 11/07/05 12:54 AM (17 years, 6 months ago)

Why Use Spawn Bags?

Regardless of the type of mushroom that one wants to grow, spawn bags provide an excellent solution to handle many pounds of substrate in a totally sterile environment with relative ease. Spawn bags can be used to colonize either spawn or the final fruiting substrate (which can then be laid in a tray if desired). As a cultivation tool for the colonizing the fruiting substrate, spawn bags greatly simplify the process of bulk growing, reducing the chance of failure and speeding the growing cycle by one or two weeks since the spawning process is bypassed entirely.

The books covering spawn bag methodologies describe usage assuming one has access to a HEPA filtered flow hood, so one can easily be intimidated assuming spawn bags are in the domain of professional growers only. Nothing, though, could be further from the truth!

One doesn't need a HEPA filter as I show below, and using spawn bags is a pretty cheap way to make things a lot easier and less prone to contamination! Large spawn bags, holding over a gallon of substrate and complete with a breathing filter patch, can be had online for as little as a quarter a piece bought in bulk (see www.sporeworks.com). Additionally, a 12"-wide impulse sealer, as required to properly seal the bags, can be found on Ebay for about $25 plus shipping (look for one with a 2mm or wider seal). And once one is set up with spawn bags, a single large 140ml syringe injection can take the place of 80 or more smaller injections one would require using PF half pint jars, saving a lot of time. Below I have simplified the process of preparing spawn bags without the use of a HEPA filter using pictures.

Step 1 - Place duct tape covered by masking tape on the spawn bag directly opposite the filter patch (never cover or inject through the filter patch). Tape on the bag serves as an injection reinforcement platform. The footprint of the tape should be at least as big as the filter patch on the opposite side of the bag. Any other thick tape that can withstand pressure cooking can also be used. Although I do not have any experience with them, I have been told that some fancy foam tapes are self-sealing so that when the inoculation needle is removed they automatically seal shut. Such a tape could eliminate the need for hot glue as shown later.

Step 2 - Load the bags with the final fruiting substrate. The substrate should not appear significantly wetter on the bottom than the sides. Any sign of standing water is a sign of certain failure. The material should have a light and airy texture totally unlike mud. Vermiculite should be liberally added as needed to improve the texture of the substrate if required to achieve a light substrate.

Step 3 - Clean the inside flaps with a paper towel if necessary and tape the sides tidily if desired. Remember you'll want the bag flaps to lay flat like they came, not all wrinkled up, and you don't want substrate to impede forming an airtight seal so keep the inside clean.

Step 4 - Load the bags in the pressure cooker. The bags should be loaded such that the flaps are folded down the sides and flipped back up. You want to have easy access to the bag flaps so they can be sealed quickly and with little effort when the time comes. Put metal band separators between the bags to ensure even steam penetration. The bags can be against the pressure cooker walls, but if one has a gas stove, you'll need to elevate the floor separator an inch or two or else flames can lick the sides and cause the bags to melt. Multiple levels of bags should be rotated 90 degrees for better steam penetration.

Step 5 - Pressure cook the bags for 3 to 4 hours. If a single large spawn bag is used, one might be able to get away with only 2 hours.

Step 6 - Allow at least an hour for the cooker to partially cool. While the cooker is cooling, spray the room used for sealing the bags with Oust or Lysol to clean the air. Put on a facial breather mask and rubber gloves. Wash the outside of the gloves with rubbing alcohol. Bring the cooker in the cleaned room and seal the bags. The bags must be sealed without allowing any outside air in them. It is best to seal them without moving the bags or moving them as little as possible to prevent outside air from entering them.

Step 7 - Cooling and self-inflation of the bags. Inflation of the bags is essential to mixing the innoculants, so air must be encouraged to enter the bag through the fitler patch. The good news is that the bags will partially inflate on their own if hung up to cool. Rubber-footed wood clamps are great to hang up cooling bags so they may self-inflate.

Step 8 - Once the bags have totally cooled (12 hours) they can be injected with liquid culture. Again in a clean room sprayed with Oust and wearing facial mask and gloves, plug in your hot glue gun to heat it up. Using an alcohol-soaked cotton ball, rub the tape reinforcement injection site with rubbing alcohol. Inject through the tape reinforcement. Typically a large spawn bag can be injected with a full 140mls of live culture. After pulling out the needle immediately seal the hole with a blob of hot glue over the tape (this is not required for self-sealing tapes). Allow the glue to cool completely. Knead the contents of the bag mixing the inoculants throughout. Put the bags up and watch them grow! They should completely colonize in only 7 to 14 days! Once colonized the content can be used for spawn or laid in trays as a bulk substrate.

Edited by Blue Helix (11/07/05 02:08 AM)

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