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Offlinedl46
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Registered: 02/01/08
Posts: 19
Last seen: 15 years, 10 months
A New Technique for UK Jars
    #8046179 - 02/20/08 05:53 AM (15 years, 11 months ago)

I'm now growing my third batch of mushrooms and I've developed a new technique which has really helped increase the colonisation rate of my latest set of jars, which I thought I'd share just in case it helps anyone else here.

If like me you live in the UK, you'll be aware that finding suitable jars for growing mushrooms is really hard. The best you can hope to find are Bonne Maman jam jars (or alternatively Tesco and Sainsbury's both do own-brand copies which work just as well and cost half the price). However, the problem with these jars is that they're nowhere near as short and squat as the ones you typically see in PF-Tek tutorials. This means that, unless you have access to a really long syringe needle, your inoculation points tend to be towards the top of jar and, due to CO2 build-up, it can take a very long time for them to reach the bottom. Of course you can invert the jars, but this can increase the risks of contamination and it still takes quite a while.

So, I have devised a solution to this problem in the form of mine shafts. Here's how to do it, if you fancy giving it a try:

1) Take your jar, screw on the lid tightly, and then use a permanent marker to put a dot on the outside of the glass part of the jar, just below each inoculation hole in the metal lid (this is very important, or you will end up with your holes not lining up with your shafts).

2) Prepare your substrate as normal and fill the jars to about 2/3 inch below the top, leaving just a bit more room than you would usually leave for the dry vermiculite barrier.

3) Take a thin chopstick (or similarly shaped item) and use it to carefully create mine shafts down the sides of the jar, in line with the dots you made on the outside of the glass. Gently use your chopstick to press against the walls of the shaft to compact them slightly, and to clean any substrate off the inside of the glass.

4) Take some more substrate, and use it to cover the top of the mine shafts without filling them in (this takes a bit of practice and you may have to add an extra dash of water to the substrate to make it stickier). Fill it up to about 1/2 inch below the top of the jar and gently pack it down.

5) Clean the rim of the jar and apply your dry vermiculite barrier as normal. Then put the lid on the jar, making sure that the inoculation holes line up with the shafts you have created.

6) Sterilise the jars as normal, but be very gentle when handling them to avoid accidentally causing a mine collapse. Once the cakes are cooked they are generally much more solid and you won't have to worry so much.

7) Once the cakes have cooled, take your spore syringe and inoculate as normal, but making sure that you push the needle into the top of your shafts, and squirting in a really quick, sharp, hard burst.

8) If done correctly, the inoculate will run right down your shaft against the glass of the jar, wetting all the substrate on the way down and inoculating your cake from top to bottom. Put them in the incubator as normal.

In a few days, the cake should germinate in long stripes right the way down the sides of the jar. This means that the mycelium starts growing in the bottom of the jar right away, before CO2 can accumulate, and additionally the shafts permit a better exchange of gases throughout the jar. By using this technique you can as much as halve the time taken to reach 100% colonisation in the taller type of jar you typically have to use in the UK.

If anyone is interested I can post some pictures to illustrate the procedures above. Happy growing!


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Invisiblejustthatguy07
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Registered: 12/13/07
Posts: 194
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Re: A New Technique for UK Jars [Re: dl46]
    #8046265 - 02/20/08 07:21 AM (15 years, 11 months ago)

Great idea, I only have pint jars, cant find half-pints near me and I will definitely be doing this! Thanks for sharing.


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Offlinemescalinaz
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Registered: 12/14/07
Posts: 117
Loc: NorthWeastFromTheEast
Last seen: 5 years, 9 months
Re: A New Technique for UK Jars [Re: justthatguy07]
    #8046287 - 02/20/08 07:41 AM (15 years, 11 months ago)

good one mate... i had hell of a problem with finding jars here
the one i found was freaking expensive... i ended up buying jars of pickles ate the content and used the jars... it still was cheaper than buying jars itself.. the only difference between you and me is that i do WBS but the idea is great


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OfflinecoulterIV
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Registered: 11/07/07
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Re: A New Technique for UK Jars [Re: mescalinaz]
    #8046308 - 02/20/08 07:55 AM (15 years, 11 months ago)

we would love to see pictures!!  Especially a noob getting ready for his first BRF tek :heart:


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BREATHE IN LOVE
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Offlinedl46
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Registered: 02/01/08
Posts: 19
Last seen: 15 years, 10 months
Re: A New Technique for UK Jars [Re: coulterIV]
    #8050447 - 02/21/08 03:01 AM (15 years, 11 months ago)

I'll take some pictures to illustrate the procedures above when I next do it. All my jars are full at the moment so it will have to wait until I've birthed some cakes. However, I do have some pictures of the cakes I inoculated on Sunday evening. These cakes are less than four days old, and already the technique has proved itself to be extremely effective:





You can see that the mycelium has colonised the full length of the shafts. I have five or six inoculation points in each of these cakes, so they're effectively already 50% colonised on the outside at least!


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Offlinehdo3hc

Registered: 01/25/07
Posts: 156
Last seen: 8 years, 6 months
Re: A New Technique for UK Jars [Re: dl46]
    #8050482 - 02/21/08 03:49 AM (15 years, 11 months ago)

i just use little 240ml glasses. they colonise fine...


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Offlinegaladar


Registered: 05/09/07
Posts: 981
Loc: in a monotub!
Last seen: 2 years, 2 months
Re: A New Technique for UK Jars [Re: hdo3hc]
    #8050540 - 02/21/08 05:37 AM (15 years, 11 months ago)

if i couldnt find jars for pf, id move straight to grain in pasta sauce jars and bigger jelly jars etc etc.


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Offlinedl46
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Registered: 02/01/08
Posts: 19
Last seen: 15 years, 10 months
Re: A New Technique for UK Jars [Re: galadar]
    #8050717 - 02/21/08 07:42 AM (15 years, 11 months ago)

Yeah, but grain is much more complicated and requires a pressure cooker, which I don't have...


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OfflinecoulterIV
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Registered: 11/07/07
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Re: A New Technique for UK Jars [Re: dl46]
    #8050743 - 02/21/08 07:52 AM (15 years, 11 months ago)

Quote:

dl46 said:
Yeah, but grain is much more complicated and requires a pressure cooker, which I don't have...




want one????


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BREATHE IN LOVE
BREATHE OUT FORGIVENESS
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Offlinedl46
Stranger

Registered: 02/01/08
Posts: 19
Last seen: 15 years, 10 months
Re: A New Technique for UK Jars [Re: coulterIV]
    #8050769 - 02/21/08 08:01 AM (15 years, 11 months ago)

Cheers for the offer, I remember seeing that you had one for sale, but I'm happy with doing cakes for the moment. I might give grain a go at some point, but for now I think I'm just gonna stick to what I know. PF-Tek jars are plenty productive enough for me anyways. Thanks tho.


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Offline_OttO_
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Registered: 06/01/05
Posts: 2,588
Loc: Up Over
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Re: A New Technique for UK Jars [Re: dl46]
    #8051129 - 02/21/08 09:37 AM (15 years, 11 months ago)

If anyone has problems finding jars, the pf tek for simple mids has a perfectly good pictorial on using normal drinking glasses with a foil lid.

My first few times with the pf tek worked very well with this and gave me the flexibility to find many different sized glasses for the job - second hand stores are loaded with super cheap glasses.


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Offlinejmanwozere
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Registered: 04/03/12
Posts: 48
Last seen: 11 years, 7 months
Re: A New Technique for UK Jars [Re: _OttO_]
    #16039015 - 04/03/12 03:53 PM (11 years, 9 months ago)

Wow I just spent a long time searching everywhere from ebay to pound shops, high street shops and of course tescos, asdas etc and so I can feel your struggle, I will be going out looking for these jars sold in Tesco can't believe I have not came across these yet :frown:


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