I recently purchased the "South American" strain spores. I had to boil it twice over a 3 day period due to the fact that I had messed the pot up by opening it when it wasn't in a sterile area, and also when not ready to be inoculated. (It was recommended here to do so).
Anyways, all 6 jars showed colonization over the first 2 weeks, very rapidly. I'd say most jars when last checked were at least 30%+ colonized. My inoculation procedure was fairly sterile for a beginner I'd like to assume, I'll describe it..
I started off by emptying out my small closet, setup the work space (made sure it was all there and ready), then got ready to start sterilizing. I sprayed lysol in the closet and the room to a big degree, rubbed the stuff inside the closet down with 90% alcohol, including the gloves I was wearing, and even bothered to wear a face mask since I have a cold. Basically did it in an order which seemed most logical for proper sterilization.
Note: I did light my needles, however with a bic and it wouldn't go red hot. I did wipe moisture very well from the inner lip of the PF TEK jar before sterilization, added a clean half inch - 1 inch amount of dry verm.. etc.. I did shake my syringe.. upper lid plastic side up, I covered the four holes with green painting tape or something like that, and then covered the whole top with foil...
Anyway, when it came down to after inoculation, I wasn't really prepared. I never put the foil back on as I did not know.. and it also wasn't exactly being protected from everything by the best means in the beginning...
Would it be worth wiping down some fresh tin foil with alcohol and then covering the jars?
My colonization is coming on rapidly and I'm loving the results, however does anyone think here I may have some contamination issues towards the finishing?
Does anyone here know the av. colonization speed of the South american strain too? Just like a bonus question.
And for a side note, my means of doing this anymore professional is extremely limited. I can not afford any huge fancy set ups, I don't even think I'll be able to fruit with much more than my bin, perlite, and water.. though getting that humidity gauge would be a plus for the future..
What can I do within using the verm/BRF to make it so I do not need to buy any more syringes? Could I possibly isolate some of the cake?
Any recommendations? Thanks.
Edited by Sizzlin (01/08/08 06:33 PM)
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It sounds like you're fine. Leave the foil off. The dry vermiculite is your filter, so don't disturb the jars much, or the verm will shift and allow contaminants to reach the rice flour below.
What you'll want to do is make spore prints from your crop, and then you make fresh syringes from them. You can boil your used ones to sterilize them, and then re-use. RR
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