Mycotopia Web Forums - View Single Post - Questions about spawn bags, pressure cookers and Impulse sealers.

BuckarooBanzai · 12-28-05, 20:38

I know these questions have been dealt with before, but there is some kind of confusing information in the archives so I’m going to play the rampant noob and ask ‘em all again!

I am interested in experimenting with spawn bags, but I’m not interested in doing a lot of them. I can have 6 of 8 cake projects fail (or succeed wildly) and not loose a lot of sleep. Bags, however, are going to take up a lot of space and produce a lot of fruit. Doing four and having one work will waste all my grow space. Doing four and having all four work out perfectly would actually be worse.

My spouse is going to be somewhat uncomfortable with four basketball sized projects fruiting at the same time. It’s fun to watch her eyes get big, but after the excitement wears off, she gets the paranoid heebie-jeebies and I hate that for her. After having flaunted so many rules and conventions for so many years, I’ve accepted the potential consequences (lets be honest, the EVENTUAL consequences – it’s all about playing the odds) of my hobbies/habits. This is why I keep a lawyer/bail fund in a safety deposit box, but that’s a whole different thread. The wife still likes to pretend that bad things don’t happen to good people. It’s harder for her to pretend that when she knows a boatload of fungi are maturing a scant few hundred yards away.

Anyway, my burning questions follow. Answer as many as you can stand without laughing…

Do you seal your bags before or after you PC them? Why do you do it that way? If you don’t seal until after, how do you secure the bags for PCing?
If I am using bags with vent patches, does that change the answer to question 1 in any way?
What Impulse setting (surprise…they have a knob) do you use for polypropylene spawn bags? Do you also wish the knob went to 11?
Do you double seal?
Do you use injector port bags or tape/glue to seal the inoculation hole?
Do you reuse your bags? If so, how many times and how do you clean them between uses?
When you PC bags, do you allow any extra time for the larger volume of material?
Have you ever fruited directly from/in a bag? If so, would you do it again?
This is a stupid question, I know, but do you use the same substrate moisture ratios in a bag as you use in a jar?
Were you hoping for another Spinal Tap reference?
Have you ever been killed in a bizarre gardening accident?

Thanks, in advance, for your patience and any experience you are willing to provide.

Long live Mycotopia!

12-28-05, 20:38	#36 (permalink)
BuckarooBanzai Prone to ranting... Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 6,050	Questions about spawn bags, pressure cookers and Impulse sealers. I know these questions have been dealt with before, but there is some kind of confusing information in the archives so I’m going to play the rampant noob and ask ‘em all again! I am interested in experimenting with spawn bags, but I’m not interested in doing a lot of them. I can have 6 of 8 cake projects fail (or succeed wildly) and not loose a lot of sleep. Bags, however, are going to take up a lot of space and produce a lot of fruit. Doing four and having one work will waste all my grow space. Doing four and having all four work out perfectly would actually be worse. My spouse is going to be somewhat uncomfortable with four basketball sized projects fruiting at the same time. It’s fun to watch her eyes get big, but after the excitement wears off, she gets the paranoid heebie-jeebies and I hate that for her. After having flaunted so many rules and conventions for so many years, I’ve accepted the potential consequences (lets be honest, the EVENTUAL consequences – it’s all about playing the odds) of my hobbies/habits. This is why I keep a lawyer/bail fund in a safety deposit box, but that’s a whole different thread. The wife still likes to pretend that bad things don’t happen to good people. It’s harder for her to pretend that when she knows a boatload of fungi are maturing a scant few hundred yards away. Anyway, my burning questions follow. Answer as many as you can stand without laughing… Do you seal your bags before or after you PC them? Why do you do it that way? If you don’t seal until after, how do you secure the bags for PCing? If I am using bags with vent patches, does that change the answer to question 1 in any way? What Impulse setting (surprise…they have a knob) do you use for polypropylene spawn bags? Do you also wish the knob went to 11? Do you double seal? Do you use injector port bags or tape/glue to seal the inoculation hole? Do you reuse your bags? If so, how many times and how do you clean them between uses? When you PC bags, do you allow any extra time for the larger volume of material? Have you ever fruited directly from/in a bag? If so, would you do it again? This is a stupid question, I know, but do you use the same substrate moisture ratios in a bag as you use in a jar? Were you hoping for another Spinal Tap reference? Have you ever been killed in a bizarre gardening accident? Thanks, in advance, for your patience and any experience you are willing to provide. Long live Mycotopia! __________________ Banzai Institute for Higher Education (a collection of growing Teks & threads)