Hey Canndo, straw poo tek?

canndo said:

Cut them, they will cause you nothig but grief. the spots that are dry didn' colonize (told you!), spray them with steril water, if they ar not too big, dig them out to the point where you reach mycelium, you can case over the surface but you risk infecting the casing UNDERNEITH - so it wil gro in huge unseen matts that will surface and will be impossible to control using tradional methods - also it will put spores into your atmosphere at alarming rates. I'd wait, the rest of yours substrate is fine, it is in no danger. You made those holes too big didn't you - you were afraid that it wouldn't get enough air.

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Be willing to chuck everything and clean your room up if you see more than a few spots of contam, especially early on, you will be fighting an uphill battle that you are unlikely to even draw to a standstil. You migh get a yeild, but not even close to what they work you pu into it deserves.

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No, I still haven't even opened those yet, no polyfill. But that's ok, I can give them a bit more time and then cut it out if required.
I'll chuck the contamned one, not a problem.

I don't like contams. This are my 1st bins to go, but my previous location was a LOT cleaner.

I've bought 8' high white plastic sheeting. I wrapped it in 1x2s and nailed it into the ceiling, creating 2 x 10 foot draped plastic hallways leading to my glove room. I will secure it in, and use it to create multiple clean (not sterile, but dammit, they will be CLEAN) spaces (with airlocks and booties) for substrate layout and then growth.

I dunno, I'm rethinking this straw stuff. Corn yay, straw I'm not so sure about.

Lost another tub to green surface. Has not been opened. I've lost 2 out of 3 straw tubs, with another waiting to open in a day or so.

In the same environment, I've lost 1 out of 6 coir/verm tubs. Those used damion50/50 tek.

In the case of the lost tubs, THOUGH, they are all the same strain. Both the straw and the coir, all from the same MS myc run. Maybe this particular strain is just prone to contam. Maybe something is hidden not showing up until layout, and I should move away from it.

I will continue testing with a few of the proven growers and take it from there. Anything you'd like to advise to increase my likelihood of success?

Note on the corn: While you don't NEED coffee or gypsum, I found a couple of strains that grow very slowly in pure popcorn, but grow explosively with coffee water (1/2 pot) and gypsum (1/2 cup) in the boil water. So it is worth testing.

Small ph changes can make big differences in specific strains - working with a single strain is a good thing. Be sure you are pasteurizing your straw well, and be sure you are shredding it well. Those are the keys. My loss rate with straw is under 10 percent no matter what I grow with it.

canndo said:

Small ph changes can make big differences in specific strains - working with a single strain is a good thing. Be sure you are pasteurizing your straw well, and be sure you are shredding it well. Those are the keys. My loss rate with straw is under 10 percent no matter what I grow with it.

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I have NO faith in my pasteurization procedure. My stove will never hit the exact range for more than a few moments. Of course I use thermometers (multiples in a single bag, I can gauge in-bag temp velocity) , and pay close attention, and it still doesn't matter. Sooner or later, for an unknown amount of time, I'm gonna overshoot a piece of that bag, while another piece is too low. And even if not, I still will not believe it is correct.

If I try to use the oven, it takes a LONG time and stinks up the house.

And since on some passes I want to do more than 2 tubs a day, and can only fit 2 big pots on my stove, I have to run multiple stove watching passes. Hate it.

I moved to damions bucket (sorry frank, works for me) for my coir/verm, and I like it. I know it can't work 100%, at least I don't think so, but I don't care. I might lose 1 out of 20 when using it, as opposed to losing far more with any "standard" method (simmer in bag, keep in oven, etc), and I can do 20 damions in a single day, and the ONLY effort is 30 seconds of mixing 1 hour after pouring the water for each bucket.

Major win on my time and hassle factor, and materials and loss rate costs are minimal.

I want an equivalent pour and forget method for straw. Does it exist?

I'm going to have to build a bulk bucket pasteurizer with a heater and temp control, but until then, simply worry.

testtime said:

I have NO faith in my pasteurization procedure. My stove will never hit the exact range for more than a few moments. Of course I use thermometers (multiples in a single bag, I can gauge in-bag temp velocity) , and pay close attention, and it still doesn't matter. Sooner or later, for an unknown amount of time, I'm gonna overshoot a piece of that bag, while another piece is too low. And even if not, I still will not believe it is correct.

If I try to use the oven, it takes a LONG time and stinks up the house.

And since on some passes I want to do more than 2 tubs a day, and can only fit 2 big pots on my stove, I have to run multiple stove watching passes. Hate it.

I moved to damions bucket (sorry frank, works for me) for my coir/verm, and I like it. I know it can't work 100%, at least I don't think so, but I don't care. I might lose 1 out of 20 when using it, as opposed to losing far more with any "standard" method (simmer in bag, keep in oven, etc), and I can do 20 damions in a single day, and the ONLY effort is 30 seconds of mixing 1 hour after pouring the water for each bucket.

Major win on my time and hassle factor, and materials and loss rate costs are minimal.

I want an equivalent pour and forget method for straw. Does it exist?

I'm going to have to build a bulk bucket pasteurizer with a heater and temp control, but until then, simply worry.

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In the end, it all boils down to what we can use as tools and how confident we are in our methods. You may be in too much of a rush, there is nothing wrong with fruiting out of pure corn and leaving the straw for another time. Remember also that the seasons play a huge role in contamination. The wetter the season while the temps are still warm, the more spore load there is in the air, no matter how hard you try to clean things up - remember you carry a huge load on you - it is said that if you were to somehow dissapear, you could still be seen simply because you have such a thick coating of spores and bacteria.

relax, be unafraid to chuck it all and try again - to that end, try to pace your activities so you don't have to start from scratch every time, - have some innoculant, have some spawn, have come LC so you can pick up from any point TO any point. That will keep you from hesitating when something needs to be thrown out.


I use an 8 hp shredder and run the straw through it three times. Then I use a 55 gallon steel drum that is heated with an old turkey deep frying gas rig. I bring the temp to 170 and leave it there for two hours I then let it coast down. I siphon the water out and pour the whole mess on clean concrete to cool.


Also, if you have more problems with your straw, blame the straw - get it from another source - you might want to try those straw pellets - I hear they work quite well.

My shaggy crop did better this time, I harvested 9.5 lbs from 5 tubs but I am going to have to get better if I want to accelerate the process.