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AppalachianGuy
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Preparing substrate. How sterile?
#7055929 - 06/17/07 09:19 AM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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Basicly on my first run, which ended in failure due to a screw up in amount of water, I was as sterile as I could be. Like literally you could have performed surgery in that room. But I hear so much about being sterile during inoculation and not much on just mixing and preparing the substrate jars. I guess since they're about to be sterilized with steam? So what's up? do I really need to do much, if anything at all, when preparing substrate? O can I just comfortably stand in my kitchen and do it? Otherwise it's back to the bathroom... Thanks
-------------------- "Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist." ~ George Carlin
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Banez
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Re: Preparing substrate. How sterile? [Re: AppalachianGuy]
#7055937 - 06/17/07 09:23 AM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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yeah, you are getting ready to sterlize them anyways, i wouldnt see a need to be overly cautious. IMO.
you are using a pressure cooker, right?
a glove box is another suggestion if you are truly worried about contam and plan on having this hobby for quite some time.. you can either make a cheap one for about 20$ or you can make a really nice one for about 80$. look in the archives for examples of glove boxes.
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UnderNose
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Re: Preparing substrate. How sterile? [Re: AppalachianGuy]
#7055945 - 06/17/07 09:28 AM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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You can prepare substrates for pasteurizing & grains or PF Cakes for pressure cooking wherever you want to. I sometimes do it outside or in a shed if its a big batch of substrate, so I don't make a mess inside. Most of the time I prepare grain for spawning & substrate mixtures in the kitchen / bathroom. At these stages I am not clean at all.
When doing agar work, grain to grain transfers, anything where you open a sterile bag or jar you have to be as close to 100% sterile as you can get..
You have to be sterile when you are inoculating jars, reasonably so when spawning grain jars to pasteurized substrate & fruiting not so sterile but clean environment.
Edited by UnderNose (06/17/07 09:42 AM)
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AppalachianGuy
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Re: Preparing substrate. How sterile? [Re: UnderNose]
#7055948 - 06/17/07 09:30 AM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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Gotcha. Thanks.
-------------------- "Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist." ~ George Carlin
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AppalachianGuy
Learning

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Re: Preparing substrate. How sterile? [Re: Banez]
#7055951 - 06/17/07 09:33 AM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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And yes, I will be using a PC.
-------------------- "Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist." ~ George Carlin
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AppalachianGuy
Learning

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Re: Preparing substrate. How sterile? [Re: AppalachianGuy]
#7055961 - 06/17/07 09:39 AM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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And might I add, that I'm still amazed at how important is to be sterile when inoculating. Beforehand, the jar is sealed and for maybe 1 minute, those tiny holes are exposed and bam, potential for contamination. Maybe even alot of contamination for some. I just wouldn't have thought, but obviously, it's real.
-------------------- "Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist." ~ George Carlin
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UnderNose
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Re: Preparing substrate. How sterile? [Re: AppalachianGuy]
#7055963 - 06/17/07 09:41 AM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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No worries. Yes when inoculating your procedure should be as sterile as you can get it.
 I assume you are doing PF cakes. Are they to be fruited or spawned to bulk substrate. What strain are you growing.
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Banez
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Re: Preparing substrate. How sterile? [Re: UnderNose]
#7055997 - 06/17/07 10:07 AM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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incubating is the #1 time to be sterile.. once the cakes are fully colonized they become very resistant to contamination.
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deucedbi9
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Re: Preparing substrate. How sterile? [Re: AppalachianGuy]
#7056000 - 06/17/07 10:08 AM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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it's not the exposed holes that lead to contamination. after inoculation most pf growers rely solely on the verm barrier. most contaminants are introduced via an infected spore/lc solution,or by not sterilizing the needle.
-------------------- whether low pressure sucks or high pressure blows...
it's a bugger to cycle in.
even though I'm feeling good
Something tells me I'd better activate my prayer capsule
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Banez
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Re: Preparing substrate. How sterile? [Re: deucedbi9]
#7056121 - 06/17/07 10:59 AM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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is relying on vermiculite as a barrier a bad idea? for my first grow i used only a layer of verm and for my second i used both verm and rubberbanded a coffee filter to the top of the jars.
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AppalachianGuy
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Re: Preparing substrate. How sterile? [Re: Banez]
#7056392 - 06/17/07 12:26 PM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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Yeah, I'm fruiting pf cakes. I'm gonna use B+, Golden Teacher, and Peurto Rican. But not using the entire syringes. Just doing 3 jars of GT and PR and 6 of B+. Saving some of it and doing more as the next couple weeks go by. And I'm just using foil for lids and when done inoculating, putting the extra foil back over the holes. Unless you have a better suggestion.
-------------------- "Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist." ~ George Carlin
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Banez
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Re: Preparing substrate. How sterile? [Re: AppalachianGuy]
#7056528 - 06/17/07 01:00 PM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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no. just make sure you have it very tight and a couple layers of foil when you pressure cook, you want to make sure water doesnt get into the jar and alter the substrate's water content.
using a rubberband helps as well.
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RRVideo
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Re: Preparing substrate. How sterile? [Re: Banez]
#7056631 - 06/17/07 01:32 PM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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You can prepare your jars in the sewer if you want, as long as you properly sterilize them later. Be sterile during inoculation, as correctly said above. RR
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AppalachianGuy
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Re: Preparing substrate. How sterile? [Re: RRVideo]
#7056657 - 06/17/07 01:40 PM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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Yeah I'm using the thicker rubber bands and double wrapping them. Gonna keep them out of the water by using jar lid rims. 4 to form the bottom and then another 4 opposite siding, on top of them... Makes a little over an inch.
-------------------- "Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist." ~ George Carlin
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