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 Chief_
Stranger
Registered: 07/29/01
Posts: 21
Last seen: 22 years, 8 months
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 First attempt.. Need a few things cleared up 
#498639 - 12/22/01 02:13 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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A friend of mine started his first shroom setup today. Fresh ground BRF and vermiculite mix was place in half pint jars, then pressure cooked for 40 minutes at 15 psi.
After they were cooled, spores of Thai Koh Samui were scraped into each jar then shaken vigorously. He placed the jars, lids tight, in the same box the jars came in, and set it all aside in a closet.
He is unsure how he should store these innoculated jars. Should he keep the lids loose or tight? Should they be getting indirect light?
He plans to crumble the cakes into baking tins and case with coco fiber when the cakes are colonized. When is the prime time to crumble the cakes, so that they won't be harmed in the process? After crumbling and casing, should he then give it some light or does it still need to be kept dark?
He will use a homemade terrarium composed of a Vicks V400 humidifier, with a hose running to a 18 gallon Rubbermaid container, with a timer. How much peroxide should he mix into the humidifier water?
He would appreciate anyone's help or comments on his setup.
-Chief
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 blahblahblah
Mad Scientist
Registered: 10/24/01
Posts: 1,022
Loc: South America
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 Re: First attempt.. Need a few things cleared up [Re: Chief_]
#498644 - 12/22/01 02:21 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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Try and keep the jars warm (80-85 f) Just put a heater blanket on top of the box and watch the heat. Other than that it sounds good. Also do you have holes in the lids of your jars? You will probably need something like a hole to let out the CO2 later on or your jars will eventually stall.
Let the jars colonize to 100% and then crumble them into the casing. Keep them in the dark and warm (colonizing temps) until the casing is about 60% colonized (my opinion, many disagree with it) I like to have them pretty well covered then I deep scratch them. I get good results this way.
Have you got the humidifier yet? If you haven't try and find some perlite and use that. It is alot less hassle and works really well. If you have already purchased it then try and find some perlite anyways and just use the humidifier for air exchange. If you do add any peroxide use a 10-1 solution. 1 part peroxide to 10 parts water.
Good luck
Edited by blahblahblah (12/22/01 02:31 PM)
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Chief_
Stranger
Registered: 07/29/01
Posts: 21
Last seen: 22 years, 8 months
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Re: First attempt.. Need a few things cleared up [Re: blahblahblah]
#498649 - 12/22/01 02:30 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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Thanks for the advise. There are no holes in the tops of the jars.
And no, he doesn't have the humidifier yet. He was wanting to use a humidifier because the air exchange is automatic in addition to the humidity. With perlite, what would be his best means of air exchange? Simply taking the lid off and airing it out everyday?
-Chief
Edited by Chief_ (12/22/01 02:38 PM)
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blahblahblah
Mad Scientist
Registered: 10/24/01
Posts: 1,022
Loc: South America
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Re: First attempt.. Need a few things cleared up [Re: Chief_]
#498652 - 12/22/01 02:33 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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What you should do then is take your jars when they are about 60% or when they start to slow down, is take them to the oven and turn it on 200 mabey, then open the jars and let some fresh air in and/or poke holes in the lids of the jars.
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BeppoMarx
old hand
Registered: 09/01/01
Posts: 1,126
Last seen: 19 years, 8 months
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Re: First attempt.. Need a few things cleared up [Re: Chief_]
#498667 - 12/22/01 02:51 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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shaking BRF/verm jars does distribute spores better; but [especially if done vigorously] will pack the substarte together quite well making the mycellia work much harder and in general increase colonization time. shaking is for whole grains that cannot be compressed or squeezed like vermiculite.
koh samui colonizes hella fast though
keep jar lids tight but you might want a small hole in the top of each jar and cover the top w/ foil. flip upside down to let heavy CO2 out after 50-70 percent colonization to prevent stalling. you can now wait till the jars are halfway done to put that hole in the lid though. doing it before mycellium has a good hold will give cordial invitations to unwanted guests such as green mold and his cousin cobweb mold.
prime time to crumble is when jars are FULLY white and you can no longer see any verm or BRF or anything; completely white not just when its all covered lightly. either way teh mycellium will never be 'harmed' so that it is incapable of growing just by crumbling anyway. waiting for full colonization will just be a much sturdier barrier against contaminants actually getting to the nutrients while you are exposing it all.
after casing cover the casing with tinfoil or something opaque (no light) and keep it at 80-85 degrees for a few days. once you see teh mycellium creeping upward and it hits the top in 2 or 3 places uncover it and put it in a humid (85% humidity) terrarium @ 75 degrees.
as for peroxide add anything equal to or less than 10% by volume. i would use less though but most people recommend 10%.
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Holy shit people; COMMON SENSE! we were all born with it where did it go?
maybe theres a tek out there to explain how to use it!
BUCKETS BRIGADE left hand man!!!
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phrozendata
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 04/23/00
Posts: 5,015
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Re: First attempt.. Need a few things cleared up [Re: blahblahblah]
#498672 - 12/22/01 02:55 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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You'll only need to PC at 15PSI for 20 min. Also, you wont need to open the jars using the oven tek. and poke around. At 60% colonization or so loosen the jar lids and, if you want, flip them over. CO2 will drain out and be replaced with fresh oxygen resulting in faster colonization time.
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"There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving and that's your own self. So you have to begin there, not
outside, not on other people" - Aldous Huxley
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Chief_
Stranger
Registered: 07/29/01
Posts: 21
Last seen: 22 years, 8 months
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Re: First attempt.. Need a few things cleared up [Re: phrozendata]
#499395 - 12/23/01 03:00 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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First of all I would like to thank everyone for their quick and helpful replies. Websites like this and poppies.org are a godsend for those who need advise.
When he shook the jars he did notice that the substrate got compacted, so he shook them even more vigorously until they broke apart. He then slamed the jars down so that there wasn't any big air gaps in the substrate. Does he need to shake the jars during colonization, and if so, how often?
He doesn't want to fool around with the oven, because he is worried about overheating the mycelia. SInce this is his first attempt he wants to be safe. He will not poke holes in the lids, and at 60% colonization, he will loosen the lids and turn the jars upside down. Should he then retighten the lids or keep them loose? How often should this process be repeated?
Should the casings covered with tinfoil be placed into the terrarium, or set out in the open?
-Chief
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mystic1
addict
Registered: 10/11/01
Posts: 410
Last seen: 22 years, 7 months
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Re: First attempt.. Need a few things cleared up [Re: Chief_]
#499431 - 12/23/01 04:09 PM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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only let them be upside down for about 2 days. who cares what you do with the lids. my friend keeps them loose at all times
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Chief_
Stranger
Registered: 07/29/01
Posts: 21
Last seen: 22 years, 8 months
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Re: First attempt.. Need a few things cleared up [Re: mystic1]
#499964 - 12/24/01 08:36 AM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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Just after he crumbles the colonized substrate into the tins, cases, and covers with foil, where should he place them? Would a humid terrarium be fine?
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BeppoMarx
old hand
Registered: 09/01/01
Posts: 1,126
Last seen: 19 years, 8 months
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Re: First attempt.. Need a few things cleared up [Re: Chief_]
#499967 - 12/24/01 08:49 AM (22 years, 11 months ago) |
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after covering the casing keep it incubating (85 degrees) for a few days until you can see teh mycellium coming up. then birth it into the terrarium (high RH and 75 degrees)
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Holy shit people; COMMON SENSE! we were all born with it where did it go?
maybe theres a tek out there to explain how to use it!
BUCKETS BRIGADE left hand man!!!
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