slowly regaining my senior memebr status...

I my experience the casings produce, less but biggger shrooms that way but overall a lower yield...I you can work calean you should crumble the cakes..

An other point I would add you haven't mentioned is light, air and temp...

I am not so far in figuring out which exact effects on the shrooms are caused by changing theese parameters, but if noticed that different strains behave different, and form different mushrooms if you change that paramters........for example my EQ seem to like more intense light and lower temps...
while my sterile, max yield strain loves less intense light....

light has a strong effect on shroom size I am quite sure about that...with weak light the Equs don't get very big...the other strain doesn't get very long if light is too strong..

my tip for casings...add a some inch thick very wet just perlite layer to your casing (four layer sandwich)

good job Ripper
der Prell

Vermiculite is simply minerals of hydrous silicates resulting usually from expansion of the granules of mica at high temperatures to give a lightweight highly water-absorbent material. Minerals aren't treated with chemicals before they're shipped to the stores unless they are part of some fertilizer. So, all in all there isn't much to be afraid of. But, then again, you can always let yourself be afraid of anything.

I'm a little cake tech biased simply because it's the only way I've ever grown them. And I've lost 1 jar to contamination out of the 50+ I've done in the past. Another good thing about cakes is that I hardly ever get contamination on them when they are uncased in my humidity chamber. But, I almost always get contaminations in the later flushes when I've cased them. Not that I have anything against casing, because I just cased 9 cakes about 5 days ago and I know I'm going to get a fat flush. But the point is that having uncut cakes seems to keep the contams out, and the cakes live longer. And, from what I've experienced is that the older your cakes the more potent the shrooms are that come from them.

Another reason I'm cake biased is that I can't readily get a hold of some straw or the means to shred and prepare it. It's also fun to experiment with cakes using different combinations of substrates, and figuring out what seems to work best. You can also give fully colonized cakes away as gifts. I gave one of them to my sister in a small "shroomarium" I made using a two liter plastic soda bottle. She got about 3 flushes from that cake and didn't know damn thing about it except that she needed to air it out every once in awhile.

Nothing, against your straw spawned with rye, I just wanted to give you my perspective. I'm sure I could get very fat and potent flushes off of using it, but like I said, I don't have the means right now.

Thanx, and keep posting intresting subjects.

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Trying to rationalize with an irrational person, is in itself irrational!

quote:

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Now a downside of using straw is this, you can end up not using enough rye grain and you get small mushrooms that are fucking weak in potency. So I STRONGLY suggest to anyone using straw to use 4 cups per sq. ft.(4 cups before coooking).

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Innoculation rates to bulk substrates are best done at 20%-25% spawn to substrate for achieving a thick and complete mycelial mat.

Rates can be done as low as 10% spawn to substrate ratio for those who have gotten their techniques down to a science, but any lower and you are into the "mad scientist/failure" zone in most cases.

quote:

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Vermiculite is simply minerals of hydrous silicates resulting usually from expansion of the granules of mica at high temperatures to give a lightweight highly water-absorbent material. Minerals aren't treated with chemicals before they're shipped to the stores unless they are part of some fertilizer. So, all in all there isn't much to be afraid of. But, then again, you can always let yourself be afraid of anything.

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Add to that "asbestos fibers!" if we are to take that newspaper article seriously. If breathing it rips your lungs to shit, I wonder what eating it does?

Now to clear things up, we need to find some factual research evidence of what things have been found that can be absorbed from the substrate into the mushrooms themselves. themselves.

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Trying to rationalize with an irrational person, is in itself irrational!

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-From a registered Mad Scientist

"From a certain point of view"
-Jedi Master Obiwan Kenobi (also a Mad Scientist tm)

[This message has been edited by rebelmoon (edited April 07, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by rebelmoon (edited April 07, 2000).]

quote:

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learner, where did you get that info

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Paul Stamets.

[This message has been edited by The Learner (edited April 07, 2000).]

When spawning you want as many innoculation points as possable to speed the rate of colonization as well as evenness.....each kernal of rye when mixed in the straw is an innoculation point hence aiding in colonization....I cant speak for Rip, but Im sure this is along the same lines as why he thinks mixing is better as well....Again Rip good post...keep em up!

Layering is not just a bottom layer of straw, a middle layer of spawn, a top layer of straw... what is that? sandwiching?

But continues on (note all of this is moot, unless you are in larger bulks)

X=STRAW
O=SPAWN

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

This gives the spawn very even distribution and they only have to travel up/down a few inches so complete colinization times will be extremely rapid.

Of course you probably will have to move to Thailand or something to do something this big in your back yard.

[This message has been edited by The Learner (edited April 13, 2000).]