How Long to Dunk?

[bsurfer2d3]

I had my first flush off of one cake and I'm ready to dunk. I've read up on a lot of threads and I'm not sure what to do now. It seems many scrape their cakes with a fork or knife and then dunk. However some say not to do that because it can introduce contams. What is your opinion? Also how long should I dunk for since I just had my first flush? Thanks!

[chimp]

I think an 18-24 hour dunk in a sealed container in the fridge is the way to go.

[onediadem]

There is alot of differing opinions on whether to scratch your cakes or not. I always did, and never had a problem. I scraped the cakes, put them in a gallon ziplock full of water, and stuck them in the fridge. Put them back in the FC @ 12 hours later.

[eat your oats]

Originally Posted by onediadem

There is alot of differing opinions on whether to scratch your cakes or not. I always did, and never had a problem. I scraped the cakes, put them in a gallon ziplock full of water, and stuck them in the fridge. Put them back in the FC @ 12 hours later.

What would scratching do, physiologically, to induce fruiting further?

[warriorsoul]

Scratching allows a greater surface area of mycelium to be exposed to the air.
resulting in more pins.

[onediadem]

Opens up areas that are closed due to overlay. The cakes always fluffed up nicely and the flushes were always better than when I didn't scratch them. It's always been good for me. Others may have had problems. It all depends on how deep you scratch (I never went into the cake, just ran the edge of a knife over the surface gently), humidity, cleanliness, air exchange ect. I can see how problems could arise from different things.
If there are plenty of air exchanges, contams should never be an issue when scratching cakes. They recover in 24 hrs if they aren't butchered.

[bsurfer2d3]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'm going to scrape them and then dunk for 12hrs. Should I add any peroxide to the water? I'm going to use distilled water from a gallon bought at the store.

[warriorsoul]

If you are not having any major contamination problems, theres no need to add h202 (hydrogen peroxide), just distilled water is fine.

[MLBjammer]

No peroxide needed--just water. As far as scraping the cake, just get off the dead fungal flesh with a fork or knife. Dunk for 24 hours in a sealed container with the cake fully submerged--and in the refrigerator. It's pretty simple. Good luck!

[CoyoteMesc]

Opens up areas that are closed due to Overlay .

I agree, scratching helps break up that knotted overlayed mycelium.
Overlay is like root bound in that sense.
I like 10-18 hours for dunking, those times depending on how dry the cake feels and how dense the cake is.

If im in a pinch I would pull em early rather than late
water logged cakes are a real bitch imo.

[camMyco]

I don't scrape ( I will try it). I do dunk over night using
steam distilled H2O. in the morning I do a
bleach dip 10 min. and clean the FC changing
the perilite or giving in a diluted bleach rinse
and the cakes go back in.

[bsurfer2d3]

Thank all of you for your help. I just scrapped them and they are now in the fridge submerged in water. I'm thinking I'll leave them in for 18 hours. It felt pretty dried out. One last question. I'm leaving town for the weekend. Now that I just dunked this cake should I just let it sit in my FC, or put it back in the fridge in a ziploc bag until I get back? I'm using the spray method so it won't have any fresh air exchange for two days.