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joedonbaker
Stranger
Registered: 03/03/07
Posts: 36
Last seen: 6 years, 6 months
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First time grow, a few questions.
#6663809 - 03/13/07 05:20 AM (17 years, 10 days ago) |
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A friend of mine is helping me with this, but I want to try to learn as much as possible on my own first. I've read just about everything I could and now I just need some clarification on a few things.
I've brewed beer for a few years, and live literally next door to a hops shop. That being said, I have some ingredients laying around, as well as easy access to ingredients for a liquid culture.
I have some extra light dry malt extract and light dry malt extract, which would you recommend using, and if possible, what is the reasoning behind choosing one over another?
I use corn sugar for priming, is corn sugar pure dextrose? I don't have any on hand at the moment, and I can't remember if the label said anything about it. I'm fairly certain it is, but I figured I'd better check.
Once again from brewing beer I'm experienced with making a sterile environment, I use a product called one step sanitizer normally. It's an oxygen based sterilizer, you just mix with water and let it go to work, no rinse required.
Will this work to sterilize my equipment and jars?
I plan on using PF TEK cakes (2/3 cup vermiculite, 1/4 cup brown rice flour, 1/4 cup of water). Is that the optimal ratio or is there a better one?
Also, I do not have a pressure cooker at the moment, but will be purchasing one if I decide to continue growing shrooms. I've read that you can use H202 in your cakes if you use an LC, since it will not affect the mycelium. So, if I boil the LC jars before inoculating them and also boil the cake jars with H2O2 in them, will contamination be as much of a looming threat as opposed to the just boiling them method outlined in the MMGG? Also, the recommended ratio is 1:10 for the H2O2, correct?
That's all I can think of at the moment, but I'm sure I'll come back with some more questions later. Thanks in advance for any replies.
EDIT: To clarify a few things I'll outline my plan.
1) Make a liquid culture using malt/dextrose. Use Agar's formula for the ratios. I plan to use boiling water for sterilization. Also I will be putting a marble in each jar for sterilization purposes.
2) Transfer the jars to a TiT incubator.
3) Use the liquid culture to inoculate the PFTEK cakes, and then they will go into the TiT. I've seen a few different ratios for the ingredients, what is recommended here?
4) The fully colonized jars will got into a PMP for fruiting.
5) ???
6) Profit!
EDIT #2... I'm not selling them the profit! thing was just a sleep deprived attempt at humor.
-------------------- When inferior men censure, the good man pays no heed.
Edited by joedonbaker (03/13/07 12:17 PM)
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Blutjager
Inhuman
Registered: 06/11/06
Posts: 9,220
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Re: First time grow, a few questions. [Re: joedonbaker]
#6663890 - 03/13/07 07:09 AM (17 years, 10 days ago) |
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Profit huh ?? Don't expect much help from anyone here
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ozzyozzyozzy
Australian
Registered: 10/23/06
Posts: 545
Last seen: 3 years, 10 months
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Re: First time grow, a few questions. [Re: Blutjager]
#6663895 - 03/13/07 07:14 AM (17 years, 10 days ago) |
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haha blut... the 2) ??? 3) profit is an internet meme popularized by something awful and derived from a south park episode about underpants gnomes, i dont think he's really talking about selling drugs.
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VampireSlayer
killing ghosts,zombies andvampires forlife
Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 2,529
Last seen: 16 years, 5 months
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Re: First time grow, a few questions. [Re: ozzyozzyozzy]
#6663912 - 03/13/07 07:35 AM (17 years, 10 days ago) |
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either way you won't be making much money with PF tek
-------------------- I Don't come to fight flesh and blood but spiritual wickedness in high and low places
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joedonbaker
Stranger
Registered: 03/03/07
Posts: 36
Last seen: 6 years, 6 months
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Re: First time grow, a few questions. [Re: VampireSlayer]
#6663915 - 03/13/07 07:38 AM (17 years, 10 days ago) |
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I'm using the PF TEK the first time just to get a feel for the process. If I enjoy it I'll get a PC and start using casings with rye. And no I don't plan on selling them, just a tired South Park joke.
-------------------- When inferior men censure, the good man pays no heed.
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VampireSlayer
killing ghosts,zombies andvampires forlife
Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 2,529
Last seen: 16 years, 5 months
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Re: First time grow, a few questions. [Re: joedonbaker]
#6663922 - 03/13/07 07:42 AM (17 years, 10 days ago) |
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it looks like you've done some good reading. good job
-------------------- I Don't come to fight flesh and blood but spiritual wickedness in high and low places
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joedonbaker
Stranger
Registered: 03/03/07
Posts: 36
Last seen: 6 years, 6 months
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Re: First time grow, a few questions. [Re: VampireSlayer]
#6664616 - 03/13/07 12:42 PM (17 years, 10 days ago) |
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Up until now I've glazed over casing topics thinking I would read up on it as the time came. And by "up until now" I mean the last 4 hours I spent reading about them. I'm curious as to what you guys think of a new and (hopefully) improved plan. I plan to have 24 BRF jars. I'll use 12 as cakes and case the rest. Would you recommend using the cakes directly or mixing them with some coir? Also, what does mixing the substrate with coir provide? Judging from some people using it as a casing layer is it just for added moisture in the substrate layer? It doesn't seem like it provides nutrients, but the mycelium colonates the cellulose from what I read. I may just be confused though.
Onto the casing layer itself. I'm debating what to use. I came across this recipe and it seemed to garner positive reactions:
Im trying a mixture right now.... 2.5% bloodmeal 5% hydrated lime 10% gypsum
1/2 cup hydrated lime 10 cups peat 1/4 cup bloodmeal 1 cup gypsum
Mix well with water to field capacity Add 10 cups of verm at field capacity
I have easy access to everything there I believe. I took a trip to the hops shop (I love being able to just walk over there in my pajamas) and they have precipitated chalk, which is pure calcium carbonate. Is this a suitable substitute for the hydrated lime? This part of the 50/50+ Tek seems like it's saying that, but I would use the same proportion, correct?
Calcium carbonate is basically ground up limestone, a soil sweetener. It works just as good if not better then horticultural hydrated lime. Its a much safer bet as well.
And the gypsum, they are referring to food grade gypsum correct?
I also saw some topics that claimed that Miracle Grow MC is a superior casing layer. Is this due to the ease of use, or is it actually better? I seemed to find extremely mixed reactions. The recipe (I think it is RR's, I copied it and closed the tab and don't remember where I found it. I might be Agar's as well) would be just as simple for me, so I'd prefer using the one that will work best, with ease of use not factoring into the decision.
-------------------- When inferior men censure, the good man pays no heed.
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etam
it's a hobby...
Registered: 04/24/06
Posts: 1,126
Loc: East Coast
Last seen: 15 years, 5 months
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Re: First time grow, a few questions. [Re: joedonbaker]
#6664659 - 03/13/07 12:53 PM (17 years, 10 days ago) |
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Mix the cakes with some pasteurized coir, if you can. It adds more nutrients and surface area to fruit from giving you more fruits. You're using the coir as a bulk substrate if you do this.
Coir isn't great for casing layers, but it does allow the myc to get a foothold in the casing so some people like to use it.
MGMC is a great casing material out of the bag. It requires no PH adjustment, and has bits of perlite that create humid air pockets next to the substrate to help encourage pinning. Honestly, it's just really easy to use. Peat and verm will also work fine.
I'm really stoned. I hope this makes sense at all.
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joedonbaker
Stranger
Registered: 03/03/07
Posts: 36
Last seen: 6 years, 6 months
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Re: First time grow, a few questions. [Re: etam]
#6664733 - 03/13/07 01:12 PM (17 years, 10 days ago) |
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Yeah, I was just curious as to the benefits of coir in the substrate layer. If I do casings I'll use one of the two "recipes" I posted earlier. Thanks for all the replies so far guys.
Also, if anyone homebrews shoot me a PM, I'm good friends with the owner of the hops shop and I can give you some recipes we've been working on. We just (nearly) perfected an apricot ale that is fucking fabulous.
-------------------- When inferior men censure, the good man pays no heed.
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RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure
Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 42,214
Loc: Seattle
Last seen: 1 year, 29 days
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Re: First time grow, a few questions. [Re: joedonbaker]
#6664805 - 03/13/07 01:36 PM (17 years, 10 days ago) |
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Quote:
1/2 cup hydrated lime 10 cups peat 1/4 cup bloodmeal 1 cup gypsum
Way too much bloodmeal. In fact, I don't recommend blood meal anymore, even though I did in the past. I've found that a lot of bloodmeal is bad, and a small amount really doesn't help at all. It seems the blood meal really needs to be composted along with the substrate to be of much good.
If you're composting, blood meal will add nitrogen that will help to heat up the pile, but after numerous side by side tests, I found no benefit to adding it to a substrate. I apologize that some of my previous posts recommended it, so please disregard those.
You don't need food grade gypsum. Just pick some up at a garden center. In fact, the 'garden gypsum' I get from my local Lowe's and garden centers is made from the broken up scraps from a drywall plant. Sheetrock and other brands of drywall are composed of calcium sulphate. RR
-------------------- Download Let's Grow Mushrooms semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat "I've never had a failed experiment. I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work." Thomas Edison
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joedonbaker
Stranger
Registered: 03/03/07
Posts: 36
Last seen: 6 years, 6 months
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Re: First time grow, a few questions. [Re: RogerRabbit]
#6667095 - 03/13/07 11:18 PM (17 years, 10 days ago) |
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I'm still curious what the answers to these questions are:
I plan on using PF TEK cakes (2/3 cup vermiculite, 1/4 cup brown rice flour, 1/4 cup of water). Is that the optimal ratio or is there a better one?
Also, I do not have a pressure cooker at the moment, but will be purchasing one if I decide to continue growing shrooms. I've read that you can use H202 in your cakes if you use an LC, since it will not affect the mycelium. So, if I boil the LC jars before inoculating them and also boil the cake jars with H2O2 in them, will contamination be as much of a looming threat as opposed to the just boiling them method outlined in the MMGG? Also, the recommended ratio is 1:10 for the H2O2, correct?
-------------------- When inferior men censure, the good man pays no heed.
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