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cnidarium
radiallysymetric
Registered: 07/22/02
Posts: 47
Loc: benthic
Last seen: 15 years, 9 months
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critter country pelletized wheat bedding
#889344 - 09/17/02 06:03 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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Has anyone tried critter country? It is made of a winter wheat grass, and several other fibers. Has anyone had any success with this stuff? It could be a joy to work with. 40# for $12 and available at most pet shops that carry small pet supplies. Prepasteurized. Very small particle size. It does have a decided green smell to it when rehydrated.
I have two trays of bulk with this stuff. The first one was the pellets with boiling water added to rehydrate and then fluffed. The second one has equal parts of verm.
The problem seems to be that the resulting substrate is too dense. But that is based on comparisons to PF jars and regular hay teks. The straight CC colonized and was cased with coir. 10 days later the coir hasn't even begun to be colonized. The second fully colonized and was then broken up to incorporate more open space and coired. It is too early to tell if that did the trick.
Maybe it is too wet. I looked for an ideal % hydration for bulk substrate but only found Anno's rye analysis. I assume that I should shoot for abour 40% with a nice open structure. The chalenge is that the particle size is small almost dusty and it takes about 150 ml to hydrate 100 g of pellets. That is why I added an equal volume of verm to decrese the hydration and open the structure up some.
The other thing I am considering is getting it wet, then drying and then rehydrating. The idea is to get rid of the hydrostatic pressure that is holding the mass together. Seems like a lot of work for a questionable return.
If anyone has gone down the same path or any insight that might allow me to save some steps would be appreciated. Or is this a question for the advanced forum?
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cnidarium
radiallysymetric
Registered: 07/22/02
Posts: 47
Loc: benthic
Last seen: 15 years, 9 months
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Re: critter country pelletized wheat bedding [Re: cnidarium]
#890356 - 09/18/02 05:12 AM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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There seems to be binding agents added to keep the dust down. I hydrated and rinsed til the waste water ran clear. Much nicer and still less work than chopping hay. Especially nice if you get hay fever.
here is a pic of the pellets
here it is after boiling water added.
and after rinsing
Much nicer. open airy structure. no more smell of grass. The rinsing was done on a fine mesh screen. I have a cake that I might have to sacrifice to the gods of experimentation.
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Shaw
Registered: 06/27/01
Posts: 2,257
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Re: critter country pelletized wheat bedding [Re: cnidarium]
#890472 - 09/18/02 06:23 AM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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I was hopeing that someone would try this. I've got too much regular straw to do it now. I am assumung there were no fungicides in the mix? looks good.
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cnidarium
radiallysymetric
Registered: 07/22/02
Posts: 47
Loc: benthic
Last seen: 15 years, 9 months
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Re: critter country pelletized wheat bedding [Re: Shaw]
#890962 - 09/18/02 10:43 AM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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I have not been able to determine if there is a antifungal agent. I assume not but only time will tell.
In the product documentation it states that "Critter Country will not grow molds and fungus when scooped daily." But then again nothing will grow molds and fungus in that time frame no matter how perfect the environment. I am hoping that the "when scooped daily" caveat is evidence that they havnt put any antifungals in it.
I am surprised that no one has tried more pelletized substrate after CLuB99's stellar grow log here.
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cnidarium
radiallysymetric
Registered: 07/22/02
Posts: 47
Loc: benthic
Last seen: 15 years, 9 months
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Re: critter country pelletized wheat bedding [Re: cnidarium]
#894986 - 09/20/02 04:14 AM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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36 h @ 76 F
Half a PF (that had been dunked for 8 hours one day prior) into a food processor with 1/2 cup of the straw. Pulsed till even. Mixed in with 4 cups of the rinsed straw. Strain is Hawaiian. This colonization is TWICE as fast as my best previous bulk spawn on any substrate (all 15-20 of them)
I will update with fruiting results.
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Alkaloids
3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine
Registered: 11/15/98
Posts: 743
Loc: pubis mons
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Re: critter country pelletized wheat bedding [Re: cnidarium]
#895249 - 09/20/02 07:03 AM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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That's looking very good. I might go buy some and try it out also. good luck with the rest of the grow.
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