mushy-mart
07-29-2007, 09:11 PM
Spawning to Manure: Growing in bulk requires the use of bulk substrates such as straw, manure or compost. The procedure is to mix with the bulk substrate an amount of spawn to colonize it. Because spawn is vigorous the bulk substrate only needs to be pasteurized.
There are many procedures for doing this. The following is a procedure for pasteurizing dehydrated manure.
You will need:
8 x 4 x 18" 2 Mil Gusseted Poly Bags (These are not autoclavable)
A 5 gallon bucket or large tray
Dehydrated manure or compost
Probe Thermometer
Large Pot
Hydrating the Manure:
Load your large tray with dehydrated manure or compost. Whatever you are processing. Soak the substrate down with a garden hose and mix the it around thoroughly. When full saturation has been reached and water begins pooling in the bottom mix it around some more and stop adding water.
Load your Gusseted Poly Bags 2/3 full.
Important:
When you load the manure by hand, gently squeeze each handful. You want the substrate to be moist not soaking and dripping. When squeezed gently, only a few drops will come out of the substrate.
EXAMPLE: Submerge a household sponge in water & fully saturate it.
Remove the fully saturated sponge. And, give it a gentle squeeze. WATER POURS OUT IN A STREAM, RIGHT. You do not want a substrate THAT WET.
Continue to slowly squeeze the sponge (very gently), until;
ONLY, A FEW DROPS ARE STILL DRIPPING OUT OF IT.
That is the same saturation point, you want a SUBSTRATE AT.
(close to 68/72% moisture capacity)
Now, its time to pasteurize the bag, or multiple bags.
Seal the bags with a rubber band or twist tie but allow it to remain loose so steam can escape.
Using a large pot, fill with water until it's about 1/2 full. The pot should be large enough to allow the bag to set in. Submerse the bag/s but keep the neck above the water to keep out excess moisture. Bouyancy will cause the bag to float so you can use something to weigh it down. Be vigilant about keeping the neck above the water.
Insert a probe thermometer through the neck and into the substrate.
Heat the stove and pot until the internal bag temperature is between 160-170F. When it has reached this temperature, set a timer for 60 to 90 min. and monitor the temperature so that it remains in the 160-170F window.
When the time is up, remove the bag and allow to cool overnight.
Optionally You can build a pastuerizer to make things easier.
Supplies:
1 : 60 qt. cooler from wal-mart
http://i.walmart.com/i/p/00/03/42/23/45/0003422345006_215X215.jpg
1 : wallpaper steamer
http://www.tooled-up.com/artwork/ProdImage/TB28874.jpg
Take out the drain plug from the cooler and the steamer head screw plug will fit perfectly. Insert this part into the cooler and from the inside, attach the steamer plate (optional, you can chop off most of the steamer plate to make room for your racks of manure or other substrate you want to pastuerize)
Screw the steamer plate into the hose like and it seals the hole snugly.
To use, simply fill up your holding tank, plug in the steamer and wait for it to get up to temp. Make sure you have a probe thermometer inserted into one of the substrate bags so you can set a timer for 1 hour when the temp. gets to 140 degrees F. When the temp. gets up to this, just unplug the steamer and leave the cooler lid closed. The temp. will continue to rise during the hour up to approx. 160. When it's done, remove your pastuerized substrate, allow it to cool and then spawn with your favorite legal compost loving mushroom.
There are many procedures for doing this. The following is a procedure for pasteurizing dehydrated manure.
You will need:
8 x 4 x 18" 2 Mil Gusseted Poly Bags (These are not autoclavable)
A 5 gallon bucket or large tray
Dehydrated manure or compost
Probe Thermometer
Large Pot
Hydrating the Manure:
Load your large tray with dehydrated manure or compost. Whatever you are processing. Soak the substrate down with a garden hose and mix the it around thoroughly. When full saturation has been reached and water begins pooling in the bottom mix it around some more and stop adding water.
Load your Gusseted Poly Bags 2/3 full.
Important:
When you load the manure by hand, gently squeeze each handful. You want the substrate to be moist not soaking and dripping. When squeezed gently, only a few drops will come out of the substrate.
EXAMPLE: Submerge a household sponge in water & fully saturate it.
Remove the fully saturated sponge. And, give it a gentle squeeze. WATER POURS OUT IN A STREAM, RIGHT. You do not want a substrate THAT WET.
Continue to slowly squeeze the sponge (very gently), until;
ONLY, A FEW DROPS ARE STILL DRIPPING OUT OF IT.
That is the same saturation point, you want a SUBSTRATE AT.
(close to 68/72% moisture capacity)
Now, its time to pasteurize the bag, or multiple bags.
Seal the bags with a rubber band or twist tie but allow it to remain loose so steam can escape.
Using a large pot, fill with water until it's about 1/2 full. The pot should be large enough to allow the bag to set in. Submerse the bag/s but keep the neck above the water to keep out excess moisture. Bouyancy will cause the bag to float so you can use something to weigh it down. Be vigilant about keeping the neck above the water.
Insert a probe thermometer through the neck and into the substrate.
Heat the stove and pot until the internal bag temperature is between 160-170F. When it has reached this temperature, set a timer for 60 to 90 min. and monitor the temperature so that it remains in the 160-170F window.
When the time is up, remove the bag and allow to cool overnight.
Optionally You can build a pastuerizer to make things easier.
Supplies:
1 : 60 qt. cooler from wal-mart
http://i.walmart.com/i/p/00/03/42/23/45/0003422345006_215X215.jpg
1 : wallpaper steamer
http://www.tooled-up.com/artwork/ProdImage/TB28874.jpg
Take out the drain plug from the cooler and the steamer head screw plug will fit perfectly. Insert this part into the cooler and from the inside, attach the steamer plate (optional, you can chop off most of the steamer plate to make room for your racks of manure or other substrate you want to pastuerize)
Screw the steamer plate into the hose like and it seals the hole snugly.
To use, simply fill up your holding tank, plug in the steamer and wait for it to get up to temp. Make sure you have a probe thermometer inserted into one of the substrate bags so you can set a timer for 1 hour when the temp. gets to 140 degrees F. When the temp. gets up to this, just unplug the steamer and leave the cooler lid closed. The temp. will continue to rise during the hour up to approx. 160. When it's done, remove your pastuerized substrate, allow it to cool and then spawn with your favorite legal compost loving mushroom.