Damion5050
Well-Known Member
Would you recomend rye flour for a noob and his first grow?? Also can u get it at a regular grocery store??
Anyone growing shrooms, have a look at this thread.
- Thread starter IslandGreenGuy
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IslandGreenGuy
Well-Known Member
I would recommend it. It's no harder to use then the Brown rice flour. And personally I have found it works a bit faster. I buy a 5 pound bag at the local Grocery store. It cost about 5 dollars. some people say to use Organic flour, I haven't used it before. I just buy the cheap stuff. I have bought it at both stop and shop and shaws, but I'm sure your local super market will have it... It's really hard to screw up growing mushrooms, for your first grow I would use the PF-/TEK method for simple minds on Shroomery.com
One thing I would advice doing is: put your Vermiculite in a covered pot or disposable pan with aluminum foil over it and cook it for 30minutes at 275 degrees. This will kill any contanimates that might be living in the Vermiculite. It gets hotter then boiling water in the oven, so it works better.
9 out of 10 times, comtaminates come from your vermiculite and not your inoculation procedures. I have never had one single cake get contaminated if it was cooked in the oven prior to use..
Damion5050
Well-Known Member
Sweet thx for the advice what about Foil lids you think they are safe enough cause I was gona use 8 oz drinking glasses..
IslandGreenGuy
Well-Known Member
Oh ya, but make sure your glasses are larger at the top then they are at the bottom. If not your never going to get the cakes out.. Do two layers of foil. Or use the Heavy duty aluminum. Don't go cheap with it..
IslandGreenGuy
Well-Known Member
ARe you pressure cooking or using a big pot and steaming the jars?
IslandGreenGuy
Well-Known Member
after you fill the jars with your vermiculite and flour mixture. And If you are going to use a regular pot, be carefull not to break your glasses in it. I have broken alot. do this: Take a Glass dinner plate and cover it with several layers of foil. Place it in the bottom of the pot and place your cups on it (this will act as a barrier for the heat, so it won't break the plate) Now put in enough water to cover the plate and about 1.5 - 2 inches of the cups. boil for an hour and a half. Don't let the water evaporate out, check it every 15 minutes. Make sure you cover the pot with a lid.
Damion5050
Well-Known Member
I bought a 23 quart pressure cooker/canner off ebay for 98 bucks.. So I plan on using that..
IslandGreenGuy
Well-Known Member
you should have no problem then. Look into doing a different method that yeilds much more mushrooms, check Shroomery.com.
Damion5050
Well-Known Member
kk I looked around for awhile on there the other day but I am not sure what other method would be good for a noobie... That's why I chose cake method seemed to be really really easy.. Also I ordered like 4 cu ft of vermaclite off ebay cause stores around here only sell it with like fertz added in..
Nuggetsinmypocket
Active Member
ya the cake method is prob the simplest. its pretty hard to mess up. you tube has a great video called LETS GROW MUSHROOMS and some old guy does an awesome job explaining each step.
Damion5050
Well-Known Member
What's the estimate on the yield of like 6 1/2 pint cakes??
IslandGreenGuy
Well-Known Member
Depending on what strain you do, it could be anywhere from 3 grams a cake to 10 grams a cake. If your doing B+, your probibly looking at around an ounce or so total. You can always make spore syringes and get more jars. If you bought a big enough bag of flour and Vermiculite, then the only other thing you need is more jars. Making a spore Syringe is really easy stuff. All you need is a syringe, a jar with a lid, distilled water and aluminum foil.. I'll get into more detail if you need it..
Nuggetsinmypocket
Active Member
ive been gettin about 2 ounces from 5. but depends alot on strains some grow much fatter stems and huge caps. i got 4 flushes with john allen strain
Damion5050
Well-Known Member
Please do.. The more info the better.. I ordered a 4 cu ft bag of vermiculite, and as far as the flour I can just run 2 minutes to the grocery store.. So if you want to share the knowledge consider me a sponge..
Nuggetsinmypocket
Active Member
ya if you wouldnt mind to explain how you make your syringe
Like I said in another thread, I'd quickly skip over the cakes.
Using rye you have a much easier time reinoculating.
For instance, you inoculate 10 quart jars with your one syringe. Once all 10 are fully colonized, you can use 6 to make casings and than use the other 4 jars to inoculate up to 40 jars.
If you want to even do it slow, which is what I'd suggest, especially since pressure cooking 40 jars would take a LONG time (around 2 hours PCing and 6 hours cooling), you can just reinoculate with one jar and have a constant cycle of 9 jars worth every 2-3 weeks flushing. Plus, casing out a quart jar into a pan with casing layers, you'd yield MUCH higher. With cakes, it's kind of hit or miss. Sometimes you'll get great yields, but others, not so much.
Now with casings, the smallest yield you'll get on an okay casing, is as much as some of the higher yields on cakes. Granted, there are some people that grow beautiful cakes, it would be easier to case honestly.
If you're just doing for personal use, you can just grow cakes, but even than, you wouldn't be able to really trip often, or with a lot of friends even.
Seriously, look into Rye grain substrate into casing layers, it is on shroomery too, so it should be easy to find.
Using rye you have a much easier time reinoculating.
For instance, you inoculate 10 quart jars with your one syringe. Once all 10 are fully colonized, you can use 6 to make casings and than use the other 4 jars to inoculate up to 40 jars.
If you want to even do it slow, which is what I'd suggest, especially since pressure cooking 40 jars would take a LONG time (around 2 hours PCing and 6 hours cooling), you can just reinoculate with one jar and have a constant cycle of 9 jars worth every 2-3 weeks flushing. Plus, casing out a quart jar into a pan with casing layers, you'd yield MUCH higher. With cakes, it's kind of hit or miss. Sometimes you'll get great yields, but others, not so much.
Now with casings, the smallest yield you'll get on an okay casing, is as much as some of the higher yields on cakes. Granted, there are some people that grow beautiful cakes, it would be easier to case honestly.
If you're just doing for personal use, you can just grow cakes, but even than, you wouldn't be able to really trip often, or with a lot of friends even.
Seriously, look into Rye grain substrate into casing layers, it is on shroomery too, so it should be easy to find.
Damion5050
Well-Known Member
Damion5050
Well-Known Member
I was wondering if anyone could tell me where I can pick up some of the grow bags. I went ot mushbox but all he has is prefilled ones for like 20 bucks.. All I want is empty bags so I can do the wildbird seed tek I seen on shroomery
Damion5050
Well-Known Member
I was wondering if anyone could tell me where I can pick up some of the grow bags. I went ot mushbox but all he has is prefilled ones for like 20 bucks.. All I want is empty bags so I can do the wildbird seed tek I seen on shroomery
IslandGreenGuy
Well-Known Member
I agree, that method does produce much much more. And I thinks its easier then the Cake method. You do need alot of cakes to trip with a group of friends. I have 216 cakes now (8 different strains). I could get the same yeild for a tenth the work and effort if I case with whole grains. This started as an experiment with me, to figure out what strains were the best produces and what substrate would work best. Now, its become a full time job. I constintly picking, boiling, pressure cooking, mixing, washing, ect ect, ect. For a first timer, I would recommend the PF-Tek method, but if you bought a pressure cooker, go for the casing method.
To make a Spore syringe: Make sure you wrap all the tools your going to use for this process in aluminum foil and pressure cook for at least 15 minutes on 15 psi. This includes the jar, syringe and water (distilled water doesn't need to be pressure cooked) Let the water cool before putting in the spores.
I take a mushroom cap just after it opens up. and put it on a piece of aluminum foil, spore side down. place it in a dark closet. I put an upsidedown cup on top of it. I leave it for 3 of 4 days. After the 3rd or fourth day I take it out of the closet. You will see an imprint of the mushroom on the foil. This is called a sporeprint. Take a clean jar with a lid and fill it 3/4 of the way with distilled water, now scrape the mushroom spores off of the foil and into the jar, using a butter knife or anything else that works and is sterile. Put on the lid and shake vigorously for a minute or two. Poke a small whole in the top of the jar with a nail (sterile nail). Use syringe and suck up the water in the jar which now contains the mushroom spores. When your not sucking up liquid, try to keep the hole in the jar covered with foil. Some people use silicone sealent to act as a barrier to contaminates. you now have your spore syringe ready.
There are other ways to do this, this is how I do it.