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Mushroom-Hut Shop: Substrate Mix

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OfflinenewGuy4950
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Registered: 04/11/06
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one quick casing question
    #5647444 - 05/18/06 07:22 PM (17 years, 8 months ago)

hey guys im pretty new to making casings for please excuse the ignorance :P

right now im making some trays using a 50/50 peat and verm mix. here's my procedure outline.

1) put 50/50 dry peat and verm in bowl
2) mix while dry
3) add water until desired saturation point is reached
4) microwave 5 minutes
5) wait umpteen
6) microwave 5 more minutes
7) my casing is suuuuper dry upon leaving the micro

am i not adding enough water or do you guys add more water after the micro?


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InvisibleHoleSnype
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Registered: 04/27/06
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Re: one quick casing question [Re: newGuy4950]
    #5647452 - 05/18/06 07:25 PM (17 years, 8 months ago)

you could add water after.


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OfflineRogerRabbitM
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Re: one quick casing question [Re: HoleSnype]
    #5647893 - 05/18/06 09:33 PM (17 years, 8 months ago)

You need to properly pasteruize the casing mix, and sorry to those who disagree, but the microwave isn't the place to do it. Proper pasteurization means heating the peat/verm to 140F to 160F for an hour. You can't do that with a couple of five minute bursts in the nuker. The intense heat in the microwave will overheat the material, killing off the organisms that you're trying to save.

First, break up your dry peat. Add hydrated garden lime at the rate of one teaspoon per cup of peat. Add gypsum at the rate of two tablespoons per cup of peat. Mix the dry ingredients well, then add water until when you squeeze it hard, just a drop or two of water comes out.

Second, take your verm, put it into a bowl and fill with water. Turn the bowl over and let as much water drain out by gravity as will. Now, dump your soaking wet verm into the peat and mix well. Allow to sit for fifteen minutes for the moisture to equalize. Check and adjust at this time for field capacity. Field capacity means when you pick up a handfull, no water drips out on its own. If you squeeze gently, a few drops will drip out. If you squeeze hard, a small stream will run out. At this point, it's ready for pasteurization. Be sure to let the mix sit for at least ten minutes and check again for field capacity. The peat may have absorbed more of the water, in which case more needs to be added.

An accurate method of getting the desired temperature/time for pasteurization of small amounts for home growers is to load the material into quart jars and pasteurize on the stove in a pot of water. Lids can be left slightly loose, or if you're making some in advance, you can use polyfil or tyvek filters. Cover with foil and place in a large covered pot(an all american pc works great) with cold water filled 2/3 of the way up the jars. Place a weight on the jars if necessary to keep them from floating. Turn on the stove and bring water to a boil. Allow to boil for five minutes, then shut off the stove. Keep the pot covered and walk away for two hours. When you return, you can take the jars out to cool, or simply leave them in the water overnight. They'll be ready to use in the morning.

The preceding tek will heat the interior of the jars to at least 140F for an hour, but the center of the jar won't exceed 170F at any time during the process. It's a tad more work this way, but will pay off with great results.
RR


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Mushroom-Hut Shop: Substrate Mix


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