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automan
blasted chipmunk


Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 8,272
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Maturing as a Cultivator 1
#7393204 - 09/10/07 06:49 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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I moderated this forum years ago. Somewhere along the way, I moved down to moderate the community forums while on the boards and started helping out full time with cultivation advise on the shroomery irc server. I am making this post to show new folks that stop by the irc channel to help give them a jump start in their newly chosen hobby as well as help a few of you fine people on the boards. So enough about me, let's get start on how a more advanced cultivator would start from scratch with spores and end up doing as little work as possible to get good yields. I will speak in the first person for the sake of simplicity, though I haven't actually cultivated in years.
Stage 1: Obtaining Fruit Bodies To Clone
Items Needed: 4 wide mouth pint jars 1 bag of brown rice flour 1 bag of vermiculite 1 large plastic spoon 1 large mixing bowl 1 roll of aluminum foil 1 21qt pressure cooker (get the big one, you will need it later) 1 large tote (something clear and larger than 40qts.) 1 bag of perlite anything else needed for pf-tek (like Lysol wipes and oust air sanitizer)
First thing I would do is create four pint sized PF-Tek style jars. I would pressure cook then following the directions the entire way. Once cooled, I would inoculate three of them with a good syringe purchased from Sporeworks or Ralphster still following the pf-tek. The forth jar I will never touch. It will be your control jar. Throughout the years you will be growing, occasionally you should create a control jar. If a mass contamination occurs, this jar will save weeks of testing to find the contamination source. I will then incubate the jars at 85F until they have fully colonized plus three days. These extra 3 days will give the internal substrate a chance to fully colonize. I will then place these three colonized cakes into a large tote at 72F to initiate the fruiting cycle. I use a tote that is much bigger than needed because after this grow, I will convert this tote into a glove box. More on this later. I will use perlite as humidification and will fan the tote once a day. Once the mushrooms start growing, I will dry the smaller mushrooms to preserve them. More on drying later. The large mushrooms I will clone to agar.
Stage 2: Cloning and Strain Isolation:
Items Needed: agar (I get mine from MycoSupply) light malt extract (I get mine from our local beer brewer supply house) petri dishes (splurge for Pyrex plates. I got mine on eBay.) 1 quart jar 1 exact-o knife 1 roll of Parafilm (to seal the petri dishes)
Time to make the glove box. Get oven mits... good ones. Take an empty coffee can and place it rim down on your largest stove burner. Turn it up to high. The can will ge very VERY hot. With both hands in over mits, pick up the hot (did i meantion it is very hot?) can and put it rim down on the long side of the clear large tote we used earlier. Don't let it fall through and burn the other side. Congratulations, You just made a perfect arm hole. Now repeat the process to make the other arm hole. Affix thin plastic squares above the holes on the inside with clear tape. This will keep air from moving in and out while it is sitting there sterilizing. We won't be attaching actual gloves to the box. We will just use it as a still air box and wear latex gloves that have been wiped with lysol wipes. When preparing the box to be worked in, wipe down the inside with lysol wipes, place everything needed for the operation to be performed (agar plates, mushrooms fruit bodies, exact-o knife, extra lysol wipes, etc), then spray with oust. Let is sit for 5 minutes before using.
There are cloning and isolation tutorials here on the shroomery, but allow me to quickly go over the process. What you do is find a mushrooms that has all the characteristics you want (or at least many of them.) You pick that mushroom and hold it upside down. split the stalk in half from the bottom toward the cap and take a small chunk about the spot where the outside of the stalk turns from white to off-white. This will usually be a half inch to an inch from the very bottom. I will do this for three different fruit bodies. I place these three different clones on separate agar plates and seal with Parafilm. The agar is prepared by this recipe:
Malt Extract Agar (MEA) 10 grams light malt extract 9 grams agar agar 500 ml distilled water
So, now you have three plates growing mycelium at 85F. You will notice a few separate fans of rhizomorphic mycelium forming as well as some cotton-like mycelium. If you have never seen rhizomorphic mycelium, hold your hand out like you are a cop stopping traffic. Now look at your hand and imagine you have a lot more fingers. That is what rhizomorphic mycelium looks like. Like a lot of tiny strings coming from close to the same spot. Hopefully, you will notice more than one rhizomorphic fan on the plate. These are effectively substrains. Take a wedge of each rhizomorphic fan when it is about an inch from the edge of the petri dish (which from here on will be referred to as plates.) Transfer each wedge to it's own fresh agar plate to grow out. Helpful Hint: It is called a wedge because it is shaped like a triangle. Repeat this process until you have a handful of plates with homogeneous rhizomorphic mycelium. It should all look the same. Once again, congratulations. You have isolated a substrain. Helpful Hint: You can isolate for more than just fruit body characteristics. You can isolate for mycelia growth speed, substrate makeup, etc. Just remember, though, if you select for substrate makeup, the mycelia will not grow as fast on other substrates.
Stage 3: Checking Substrains Viability
Items Needed: 1 large bag of wild bird seed (the cheapest kind you can find, seriously) 3 cases of wide mouth (this is all you will ever need) 1 strainer 1 large pot with lid 1 large plastic spoon 10 small disposable aluminum baking pans 1 empty notebook 3 good pens
Now we are going to grow out our isolated substrains to see which ones perform the best. Let's say that out of the clones, there are five homogeneous plates. With each plate we will inoculate three sterilized jars of wild bird seed which we will eventually case and fruit. So let's prepare the wild bird seed.
Take that large pot and fill it somewhere between one third and one half full of wild bird seed (which from now on will be referred to as wbs.) Now cover that with water plus two inches. Give it a good stir and make sure the water is a good two inches above the wbs. You will notice the sunflower seeds and some wood debris float to the surface. Do not worry about the sunflower seeds. They contain lignin, which mushrooms need as they grow. You do, though, need to pick out the wood debris you see floating and any sticks you see in the seed mix. Put the pot over medium heat and cover. Be sure to stir the pot every five minutes or the seeds on the bottom will burn and burst prematurely. If you notice the pot has run dry of water, yet no seeds are bursting from absorbing too much water, add some more water to the pot. A good three or four cups should be fine. Return the lid to the pot and continue simmering until you start to see some seeds burst. you do not want many seeds to burst, but a few is fine and a good indication that the wbs is done simmering. Remove it from the heat. Now chances are your strain is no way close to being big enough to pour all the wbs into it. That's fine. Pour as much as you can into the strainer, then move under a faucet to wash the seeds. This washes away a lot of the starches that would otherwise inhibit growth. At this point, I will shake the strainer to drain off excess water. Leave the strainer in the sink to drip dry for 10 minutes. The seeds on top will look dry, but the ones just underneath will look moist and plump. That is perfect. Use the spoon to scoop wbs into pint jars. Leave about an inch at the top of the jar with no seed so you will be able to shake it. Repeat this process of straining, washing, drying, and filling until you have 15 jars done. Throw away the remaining wbs. Be sure that the lids are upside down and the rings just snug but not tightened. Pressure cook the jars for 90 minutes at 15psi. I know this is a bit longer than needed, but since there aren't a ton of sugars to caramelize, I would rather err on the side of caution... especially since these are our isolated substrains. Once they are done pressure cooking, place in the sink until they reach 1psi. At this point you want to get out that trusty oven mit and give each jar a good shake to loosen up the seeds. If you don't do this, you will have wbs blocks that are a total pain to shake apart. Return the jars to the pressure cooker and replace the lid. Let it cool over night in the sink.
The next morning, shake each jar and place a piece of masking tape on the lid of each jar. This way you can write on the lid and keep track of everything. Put three isolated plates, nine jars, the exact-o knife, and extra wipes in the glove box. Be sure to follow your sterilization routine. Everything, when it comes to being clean, works better once part of a routine... something you learn to do in your sleep and without thinking about it. Once gloved and in the glove box, Remove the parafilm from one plate and set it to the side. Now loosen three jar lids and move them to one side. Remove the lid from the plate and cut a line a half inch in from the edge of the plate rim. Once you finish cutting this circle, Cut the inside agar into thirds. Drop each third into it's own jar and replace the lid on the jar. Put a letter “A” on the tape of each of the jars. Repeat the process for Each other dish labeling the jars “B” and “C” respectively. Remove from the glove box tightening the lids in the process. Refill the glove box with the other 2 plates and remaining jars. Repeat the process labeling the jars “D” and “E” as directed. Now shake the holy hell out of the jars and move to an 85F and dark location. Shake again on day three, but never again. Once colonized, place one of each jar in your refrigerator and case each other jar in their own aluminum baking pan with plain vermiculite. So, now you have one jar each of “A” - “E” in the fridge and two of each cased. Grow out as normal. In your notebook label a page for each substrain. One page will be labeled A1. The next, A2. The next, B1, and so forth until you have 20 pages ready for information (there are two casings for each letter, hence A1 and A2.) Record everything you think is relevant to what you would consider useful information. When did each casing give hyphal knots? When did pins form? How many mushrooms per flush? How long from casing till each flush? How long between flushes? Average weight of each flush? Average mushroom size per flush in weight and length? Record every bit of information you would want when deciding what a perfect fruiting strain would be. Once you get into your third flush, you have a decision to make. You decide which substrain is the winner. Once you have that winner, you have three options.
1)You can take the winning substrain and fruit it out like will be discussed in a little while. 2)You can clone the winning substrain and start the isolation process again further refining the substrain, or 3)My personal favorite, you can do both 
Stage 4: Compound Mathematics
Once you understand the nature of a mushroom, you are better able to use them to make your work easier. Let me give you an example. A person new to cultivation will buy a few syringes, run through the PF-Tek, print some caps, make more syringes, eventually learn to case. Probably someday he will get into bulk growing using poo, straw, and mixture of the two, or even getting up to compost, but he will always follow the cycle of grow, print, make syringes, repeat. The advanced cultivators I know never touch syringes unless someone sends them one. Then they usually just collect dust somewhere. Advanced cultivators understand the nature of mycelium and compound mathematics. Let's take the experienced cultivator. He would refine a substrain on agar and use that to inoculate a jar. With grain to grain transfers, that one jar can easily become fifteen jars. In a world where the number of jars is limitless, those 15 jars become 225 jars. Those 225 jars become 3375 jars. Those 3375 jars become 50625 jars. You can do this for 6 generations before senescence becomes an issue. Senescence is where mycelium gets tired to the point where it needs to fruit or die. In grain to grain transfers, a pint jar will fully colonize in about a week. Think on those numbers for a minute:
Week 0 to Week 1 = 15 jars Week 1 to Week 2 = 225 jars Week 2 to Week 3 = 3,375 jars Week 3 to Week 4 = 50,625 jars Week 4 to Week 5 = 759,375 jars Week 5 to Week 6 = 11,390,625 jars
Now take a deep breath. There is no way you can handle, move, buy, store or even fathom that many jars... but it is possible. So how will our experienced cultivator use this knowledge to his benefit? All he needs is one colonized case labeled ,“substrain name” 1, kept in the refrigerator. Name your substrain something unique in case you decide to do this again with a different strain. That way nothing will get mixed up. So he chooses the name TAS1 for his first generation jars. (Remember the masking tape on the lids? Comes in handy now, doesn't it?) When our advanced cultivator is ready for a grow, he takes one jar from this case in the refrigerator and does a grain to grain into 15 newly sterilized wbs jars. Once it has colonized, he will label one of the jars TAS2 and drop it into the case in the fridge. So now in the fridge, there is a case with 11 TAS1 and 1 TAS2 jars. After his next grow, there will be 10 TAS1 jars and 2 TAS2. This repeats 10 more times until all the jars in the case are TAS2. Then comes TAS3, then TAS4, TAS5, and finally TAS6. Then the advanced cultivator will take a clone from the TAS6 grow and start over. No syringes. No prints. Just the joy of growing using as little energy as desired. So far, I have found no limit to how many times you can run through six generations, clone, run through six more generations, clone, etc. But then again, it took me almost 10 years to run through that cycle five times.
Stage 5: Grain to Grain Transfers
Items Needed: 1 colonized jar 15 sterilized wbs jars 1 glove box (which we made earlier) 1 metal spoon 1 tube of lysol wipes 1 can of oust
While one jar can feasibly inoculate more than 15 jars, the thinner you spread the spawn the more time it takes to colonize. The more time something takes to colonize, the larger the chance of contamination. I have found the 1:15 ratio is a good middle ground. You still colonize many jars from one, but the time until full colonization (at 85F) is 6-9 days.
The first thing we will do is prep the glove box and shake the master spawn jar so that the colonized wbs is loose. We do this the same way we prep the glove box no matter what we will do in it. Wipe down the interior surfaces with lysol wipes, wipe down the jars that go into the box loosening their lids a bit so that they will be easily removable when in the box, wipe down the spoon then wrap the spoon in the wipe. Set everything up in the box in the order that you will be doing the work. Less movement is always better. Now spray the inside of the box with oust and let it sit for 5 - 10 minutes. Now glove up and clean your hands with a lysol wipe. When you move into the box, finish loosening the lid of the master spawn jar, but leave it sitting on the jar. Now systematically work through the jars, removing the lid of the sterile jar, opening the master jar, scooping out a heaping spoonful of spawn, pouring it into the sterile jar, returning the lids, and setting the freshly inoculated jar to the side. Once completed, open the top of the box and shake the jar vigorously after tightening the lid. Shake it for about 30 seconds nonstop. You will never shake the jars again after this first shaking. Move the jars to a dark place that is 85F and they should colonize in about a week. Once all the jars are colonized, do not forget to return one of them to the case in the refrigerator.
Stage 6: Drying
Items Needed: 1 box fan 1 2'x2' piece of porch screen
Option Items Needed: plywood 2x4s 2x2s nails more porch screening 1 more box fan a saw a pencil a measuring tape power strip *** All lumber used should be treated with moisture resistant coating or paint***
So what happens if you find yourself with too many mushrooms to eat in a short time? You dry them and store for later use. This is a modular system for drying mushrooms. It can easily be expanded to accommodate more mushrooms than expected.
The idea is that dry air moving over something wet will wick the water away. The very basic for of this is to take a box fan and prop it off the ground a foot or so so that it will be blowing towards the floor. On the back (or top if you are standing over it looking down) lay the screening. The screening will keep the mushrooms from being sucked into the fan blades as they dry up. It will take 24 – 48 hours for a mushroom to dry to cracker dry, depending on the humidity where you live. But what if floor space is an issue and you need more drying space? The idea is to build a column of box fans that can slide out like shelves. The easiest way to do this is to take a box fan and create a frame out of the 2x2s with a half inch wood overhang, meaning that the wood frame is a little bigger than the fan. This way, the fan wont get stuck when trying to slide out of column. For those of you thinking, “Why not just put a box fan on the top and a box fan on the bottom with a bunch of shelves?” let me go ahead and inform you that the mushrooms on the middle shelves wont dry properly. So, now you have a wood frame for your fan. Go ahead and make three more for a total of four. Now place your 2x4s on a level solid ground, placing the 4 frames 2' from each other with the bottom one 18” from the bottom of the stack. This gives enough room for the mushrooms to dry, yet not so close that the fan above blows the mushrooms off the fan below. Nail them into place and stand the wood frame column up. Now make sure the fans can easily slide in and out of place. It is easier to make adjustments now than after the sides are applied. Once everything fits nicely, remove the fans and cut the back from the plywood. Once the back is cut, measure the sides and cut them from plywood. I always measure again after nailing the back on because the thickness of the plywood adds to the width of the sides. Once the sides are nailed into place, you can turn your attention to the front. You want to measure pieces that start at the bottom of the top fan and go down to the next fan minus three inches. You want to leave that three inch gap for larger mushrooms that you will be drying because you did that nifty substrain isolation above Once you are happy with the cuts, nail them into place. Congratulations! You have completed a modular drying column.
From this point, you can do as I used to do and spawn a pint to a bag of compost and let it fruit in the bag (giving magnificent results, I might add.) Or you can continue to case. Or you can try poo/straw. The point is now you have a strong substrain to test to your heart's desire in any way you see fit.
Enjoy Yourselves and Happy Growing,
automan
-------------------- No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
Edited by automan (09/11/07 05:29 PM)
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automan
blasted chipmunk


Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 8,272
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: automan]
#7393215 - 09/10/07 06:50 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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I will add the drying and grain to grain sections tomorrow. I have a new baby that needs tending to right now.
-------------------- No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
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pinkfloydms
!!!!!



Registered: 05/26/04
Posts: 4,470
Loc: City of Dreams
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: automan]
#7393249 - 09/10/07 06:59 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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Very nice auto, I didn't read it totally but scanned through it(will read it all though I assure you that). I hope this will open the eyes of a few people up, and let them learn to think for themselves also. It's not always just what other people are doing or what they are saying is right or wrong. It's about learning new ways to do things and then teaching/showing others your methods. Thats what this community use to be about.
There is not only one way to cultivate, there are lots of different ways . If people would think about it would we have gotten as far as we have already if we all just followed pf tek? So no more babbling from me but just try new stuff people, don't come here and ask questions, "is this gonna work, is this gonna work?" just try it. Chances are when people hear about something they have never tried or heard of then they are gonna say no, with no data to back it up.
Take from it what you will guys/gals. Learn and experiment!;)
-------------------- Muppet Said: so yeah: - 'sex' five times - once with a man - once with a cadaver - and thrice with actual women(all of which were prostitutes) Best story ever! www.panicstream.com
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Peterthinks
(Caulking) gun for hire


Registered: 11/10/04
Posts: 2,379
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Edited by Peterthinks (04/03/09 06:52 PM)
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MonChe
RevolutionaryMonkey



Registered: 08/16/06
Posts: 100
Loc: Canada
Last seen: 9 years, 10 months
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: Peterthinks]
#7393474 - 09/10/07 07:47 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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this is the greatest, and possible only, myco cultivation walkthrough I've seen. Thank you very much.
-------------------- MonChe, Leading the monkeys against the tyranny of the apes in the Gorilla wars!
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Tashatar
Stranger


Registered: 06/21/07
Posts: 16
Last seen: 5 years, 1 month
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: Peterthinks]
#7393475 - 09/10/07 07:47 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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Cheers for sharing this!
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emit
Trippy 70'sSci-Fi Movie




Registered: 06/20/07
Posts: 131
Loc: my place ;)
Last seen: 1 year, 5 months
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: Tashatar]
#7393519 - 09/10/07 07:56 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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yea 5 shrooms great job
-------------------- yes...
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Blutjager
Inhuman


Registered: 06/11/06
Posts: 9,220
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: emit]
#7393545 - 09/10/07 08:04 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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Book marked for future reference,I cant open the download for some reason
Edited by Blutjager (09/10/07 08:08 PM)
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The shroomy 1
Luminous beings surround me




Registered: 03/27/07
Posts: 5,543
Loc: The Aether
Last seen: 5 months, 5 days
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: automan]
#7393552 - 09/10/07 08:06 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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Definitely 5 shroomies for you! This page has been bookmarked! Thank you so much for sharing
--------------------
AMU Q&A thread.
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Peterthinks
(Caulking) gun for hire


Registered: 11/10/04
Posts: 2,379
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Edited by Peterthinks (04/03/09 08:06 PM)
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automan
blasted chipmunk


Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 8,272
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: automan]
#7393840 - 09/10/07 08:58 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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I don't know if everyone noticed, but i made the post downloadable. i just realized that when i post about grain to grain transfers, drying many mushrooms, etc, i wont be able to change the upload in the first post. maybe ythan can change it out for me once i finish this thread so people can download the completed version.
-------------------- No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
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Skeeblix
Dave Thomas



Registered: 01/28/07
Posts: 1,745
Loc: Wendy's
Last seen: 8 years, 3 months
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: automan]
#7393952 - 09/10/07 09:18 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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5'd!
-------------------- This post approved by:
Premedman1 said:
I just shat my pants.
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Phreakr
Exploration of Space


Registered: 07/23/07
Posts: 125
Last seen: 5 months, 8 days
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: Skeeblix]
#7394169 - 09/10/07 10:09 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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An awesome walk-thru for a VERY basic cultivator... haha, like me! I read, understood and acknlowledged just how helpful doing things like this would be, thankyou for laying it out in a clear and easy to read method, I created my first LC yesterday for the exact reason you wrote above (I will do agar for sure, but not just yet) however it's a multispore LC, but just a trial run for LC's when i clone a particular shroom when my 3 BRF cakes fruit. An awesome read for sure, 5     for you!
--------------------
I'm After some Panaeolus Cyanescens, PM me to trade.
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automan
blasted chipmunk


Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 8,272
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: Blutjager]
#7394231 - 09/10/07 10:26 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Blutjager said: Book marked for future reference,I cant open the download for some reason
use openoffice to open it. i run linux so dont use ms word. www.openoffice.org
-------------------- No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
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xhooliganx
Munky


Registered: 03/09/06
Posts: 900
Loc: reno, nevada
Last seen: 2 years, 8 months
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: Skeeblix]
#7394653 - 09/11/07 12:28 AM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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I really liked the whole dozen generation jars thing.
i've done g2g before, but never really kept master grain jars around for long. I was concerned about scenecence, but didn't know exactly when it became a major issue
--------------------
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Walter1496211
Window Washer



Registered: 09/09/07
Posts: 639
Last seen: 16 years, 1 month
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: xhooliganx]
#7394688 - 09/11/07 12:42 AM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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Wow So much to copy and Paste!!!
-------------------- you see the world through the window of your experience
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automan
blasted chipmunk


Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 8,272
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: automan]
#7397429 - 09/11/07 05:29 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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the final sections on g2g and drying have been added. if you want these in the downloadable document, you need to download it again.
enjoy, all
-------------------- No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
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pinkfloydms
!!!!!



Registered: 05/26/04
Posts: 4,470
Loc: City of Dreams
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: automan]
#7397479 - 09/11/07 05:38 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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-------------------- Muppet Said: so yeah: - 'sex' five times - once with a man - once with a cadaver - and thrice with actual women(all of which were prostitutes) Best story ever! www.panicstream.com
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somebody041
bud tester


Registered: 06/04/07
Posts: 476
Loc: California
Last seen: 9 years, 9 months
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: pinkfloydms]
#7398351 - 09/11/07 08:26 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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Downloaded and saved. Thank you!!!
one question though: you mention putting the jar lid on upside down... what is the purpose of that?
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automan
blasted chipmunk


Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 8,272
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Re: Maturing as a Cultivator [Re: somebody041]
#7399440 - 09/12/07 04:08 AM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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because, since you do not need to have holes in your lids, they would seal when you pressure cook them. this becomes a problem when you break the seal and it sucks in as much air as it can hold. you greatly increase the rate of contamination when air gets moving.
-------------------- No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
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