Do BIRTHDAYS have to be clean?

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Double-end casing Tek  -    

By jared (Jared112) on Sunday, December 09, 2001 - 10:31 pm:

I just wanted to know, since I birthed all 11 of my jars today, Do you want to practice clean procedure, or is it ok to just do it out in the open in the kitchen like I did today. I noticed that the skin of the cake is very hard and rubbery, I was expecting it to be like cotton and fragile. Man, I bet I could bounce one of my cakes off of the floor and it would be ok. The 50cc 60cc and 70cc jars all looked pretty much the same, the 70cc jars had a little bit more pins on them though.

First I boiled my perlite in water for about 20 minutes, to sterilize it. Then I put it into the terranium, and poured some of the hot water in with it, then I added some hydrogen peroxide.
perlite

Next I made some little lids out of aluminum foil. And filled them with verm which I had soaked in water and then I nuked it in the microwave for about 8 min on high. It was steaming hot, so I know that it was sterile.
making lids
lids in terranium

Then I birthed the jars, by shaking the cakes out of them.
birthing

After that I scraped all the old verm off of the top and bottom of the cake. (I used 2 tablespoons of verm in the bottom of each jar)
new cake

Then all I had to do was stuff the cakes into the terranium and top them off with the double ended casing TEK, I made it kind of sloppy, I spilled a bunch of verm on the perlite. It's Ok though I don't really care, if can attract contams somebody please tell me and I will take it out of there ASAP.
double ended casing

That is just about everything that I can think of that I did to make sure my cakes were birthed right. Tell me what you think. Do you think I did it right, or should I throw them all away cause they are probably contamed. After actually feeling the leathery surface of the cake I felt a little bit more relaxed about contams, I don't think much could penetrate that. They seemed really dry. maybe I should shoot them up with some water or something, or should I just let the double ended casing work it's magic for now?

By quote: (Quote) on Sunday, December 09, 2001 - 10:42 pm:

you'll be ok, but i'd clean up most of the verm. off of the perlite.
since you've already cased, i'd just keep going that way.

By jared (Jared112) on Sunday, December 09, 2001 - 10:57 pm:

Cool Quo you da man, ohh ya, The jars were in a 85 degree F. Incubator for 3 weeks drying out with the lids halfway loose, do you think that's why the cakes feel hard and leathery, should I mist the sides of them and shoot them up with some water or what? I really want to have a good first flush.

By jared (Jared112) on Sunday, December 09, 2001 - 11:00 pm:

Umm. I forgot I got the terrarium out to take the cakes out and pick up the verm. Fuck that. I can barely take out a single cake without spilling shit all over. I think maybe I'll clean up that mess after the first flush while I'm dunking or something like that. Do you think that sounds good quo?

By Cbee (Cbee) on Sunday, December 09, 2001 - 11:04 pm:

no dont spray them, close the lid and let the perlite do its thing. ITs there to provide the cakes with moisture and water they need.. the first flush i find is not the best, i usually find 2nd or 3rd is best, after dunking 12 hours... dunking helps incredibly in the flish sizes, i would have to say that is why ppl get such great results with the inner resoivor tek because it is like dunking 24/7 =) anyways youll get afew muchrooms from that I gaurantee it, make sure you fan lots and if your terrarium is air tight you shouldnt need to mist often, maybe before you put the cakes back in... I dont have much experience with perlite tho, just humidifiers.. Ive never tried misting... but looks like your in for a good start, oh ya and dont worry if you dont get large flushes, this is your fist time, haha, trust me there will be many more ahead, next time itll be easier to let em sit longer, not to exciting. Anyways glad your on the road to success. Cheers

By quote: (Quote) on Sunday, December 09, 2001 - 11:05 pm:

well, maybe it would just be better to dunk now, and re-do your tank meanwhile. i suspect your cakes must be pretty dry, so if you want a good flush, then dunking might well be the best option short-term.

By jared (Jared112) on Sunday, December 09, 2001 - 11:09 pm:

Should I just fill up the jars with water then put them in there for about 12 hours?

By quote: (Quote) on Sunday, December 09, 2001 - 11:12 pm:

no, put the cakes in the jars first, then top off with water. let sit 12-24 hours, then drain and dry.

By Cbee (Cbee) on Monday, December 10, 2001 - 12:11 am:

dunking is great =) i love to dunk, haha!

By jim brown (Shrhobbyist) on Monday, December 10, 2001 - 12:30 am:

Hey Jared, did I hear you correctly? Did you put your tin foil cups full of verm in the microwave? If you did...you might have to ask Santa for a new microwave. If it still works, you're lucky. Don't put foil or anything metal in it again. Hopefully I misread your post and you just nuked the verm.

By jared (Jared112) on Monday, December 10, 2001 - 01:10 am:

No if you'll notice in the picture above I have the verm in a big ceramic dish, I used that in the microwave... that would be funny though, sounds like something a tweaker would do.

Ohh ya, Quote, I was just too damn lazy to start all over so I added 10cc of water to the top of the casing and 15-20cc on the bottom casing. Then I misted the terrarium really good. I misted the cakes too, because I read somewhere that it is ok as long as they are not pinning yet. And my cakes don't have very big pins on them, plus they are at the bottom (top invitro) so I think I'll be fine. If there is something wrong with getting the cakes wet with a sprayer before fruiting let me know.

I also wanted to know if I should be scratching the surface with a fork, because it is hard, and smooth, it feels almost like rubber. I don't know if mycelium is suppose to feel like that, but mine is. Or is scraping something that you do after dunking? Please help me out here, I feel like a newbie again.