Coir tek

[NHMI]

Courtesy of Dan @ shroomotopia

thought i'd write this out, I use coir quite often because poo isn't readily available here and I get great results from it.

Obtaining the Coir-

I buy my coco coir at local pet stores, you will find it under the reptile bedding. What you want is the coco coir not the coco husk. The coir will expand greatly when brought to field capacity, so buy accordingly. I also like to add worm castings for added nitrogen because it has been said that coir is low in nitrogen, although ive seen great results from just coir. You could also use spent coffee grounds/blood meal or anything high in nitrogen. Adding straw or vermiculite for texture can also greatly improve your substrate.

Field Capacity-

You'll need a big bucket for this. Add coir to the bucket and warm water 3/4 the way up. Mix it with your additives and until the coir expands to field capacity. Field capacity is when you pick up some of the sub and squeeze it and just a couple drops of water comes out. The way I pasteurize you are going to have to achieve field capacity before pasteurizing.

Pasteurization-

Bulk sub should never be sterilized it should be pasteurized, sterilization leaves it without any helpful bacteria to fight off contamination, it takes away its "immune system". I like to pasteurize with jars. You are going to need quart jars, and a meat thermometer.

Place your sub in quart jars either with foil over the top of them or the lids, either or doesn't matter. Stick a meat thermometer in the middle of them so you can keep track of the temperature. Place the jars in a kettle/pot and add cold water about 2/3 the way up of the jars. Boil the water until the thermometer reads 140F then shut the stove off and let it sit for an hour. If the temp drops below the 140 mark prior to the hour ending turn the stove on again for a little bit to get it back up to temp.

[xdinox3x]

dose this end up as cakes or do you break it up and case?

[NHMI]

you would spawn your wbs or rye to the coir and it would be in a tray and you would fruit it from the tray

[Rocknrolla]

I always thought the temp was 140-160. Just curious about those details. Also, I've heard of crumbling pf cakes and spawning to bulk subs too. How do you do that, just take a tub/pan and put your substrate down then add your spawn, then case?

[GirlsHateMe]

Thanks for this tek, ive read some others and this seems to be really helpful...

Ive never tried bulk before and im looking forward to it...

Yes past. is 140-160F but when I turn my stove off on 140F it'll go up to 180 for about 20 mins before it starts to drop...Its worked fine...

If you read about past. of other things 180 is usually the norm, like milk and such...

But if you CAN keep it between 140-170 thatd be tits too.

How do you do that, just take a tub/pan and put your substrate down then add your spawn, then case?

Id crumble the sub and layer it with the bulk, some people mix, Ive always herd its better to layer it. maybe try a 1:3 ratio of sub to bulk...

Then cover it for like 3 days and check on it, make sure you have holes for gas exchange. Once its colonized(week to two weeks? im not sure about the time) you can case and fruit it...

[DopeMushroomMoFo]

I case with coir, but I have read straight coir is a "one flush wonder", so I try and mix in spent coffee grinds, and worm castings for added Nitrogen. I also add oyster shells for PH to avoid Trick/Mold, which I have never dealt with, but I read it to be common with coir. I pasteurize my straight coir, at 140-160 for about 30-45 minutes in a pillow case, just to kill any possible contaminants, after I squeeze all the water out of the coir by squeezing the pillow case till all the water has drained out to "field capacity", I add worm castings, spent coffee grounds, and mix well in a zip lock bag, once cooled I add a small 1/2-1 inch layer of coir mixture in my treys, then crumble a cake or add colonized rye just enough to cover the first layer, then cover with a slightly deeper layer than used at the bottom. I usually give the trey complete darkness for 3-6 days or until it is covered in small white patches, then I fruit being sure to keep humidity at around 70-80% since the caseing will lock in more moisture. I have never had a contaminant problem, even though I don't pasteurize the worm castings, or the oyster shells.


[EDIT] I have also used my coir-mixture straight with LC, and it worked great, I just added a small layer of coir added some LC over the top, and let colonize for 3 days then buried with more coir and gave a few more days, then started to fruit. It worked great, and i got multiple flushes.

Also, since I am either using LC, crumbled cakes, or colonized rye, once i have cased them I usually spray with a fine mist of water mixed with 3% peroxide (about a teaspoon of H202 per quart of water), for an extra fight against contaminants.