vermiculite center in cakes

[white_rabbit3]

An article in a recent High Times showed a grower of mushrooms (didn't seem to be a hobby grower) was using pints or tall half pint cakes in a aquarium type set up, I'm not sure to much about the tall cakes, but anyway the article went on that he incorporated a vermiulite center in the middle of the cakes. I think I've seen this on HIPPIES site but I've never come across a tek or anything instrutional wise on it.
I did a search under 'verm, center' didn't really find it.

What is it used for?
how do you make it with your cakes?
Is the verm the same moister level as the rest of the cake?
can any one enlighten me?

.

[~Hippie3]

> inner reservoir tek <

[fedshtkpndrk]

I am also interested in incorporating this into my PF cakes, I have used the Straw Tek. I was wondering how you isolate the verm center while making the cake. Also is the verm dry or moist when you put it in the center. I guess the idea is to inject spring or sterile water into the center verm reservoir after birthing, and throughout the remainder of the life of the cake.

[~Hippie3]

adding the verm core is a real PITA .
i'd like to hear a good way.

[Nabby]

The idea that keeps popping through my head for this... I have an old apple corer that I think would make the whole process easier... build the cake around the hollow tube part of the corer, fill the tube with verm, than place the plunger over the top and pull the coring piece out onto the plunger, leaving the verm in place... seems custom tailored to this sort of application, and I think a verm core would cut down colonization time since myc always seems to take longer to progess into the center of the cake.

[fedshtkpndrk]

these next batch of cakes I was gonna try and drill out the cores with a sterile drill bit and fill them with verm after birthing. Im lost on how to do it prior to sterilization.

[fedshtkpndrk]

Nabby? would you fill them with dry verm pull out the corer, then water to expand the verm in the hole? BTW, sweet idea!

[PsychoDrogue]

get a redbull can, cut off both ends. center it in your jar, fill the outside with brf, and the inside with verm... remove the redbull can and your on your way.

if the can is too wide you can snip a strip out and adjust.

you could easily modify this in 100 different directions. add brf on the bottom layer first might make a more encapsulated verm layer rather than just a dowel of it all the way threw. you could top it all off with brf as well and never worry about spilling verm out the center once the brf is colonized

[rip]

Originally Posted by Hippie3

adding the verm core is a real PITA .
i'd like to hear a good way.

How about a piece of tube of appropriate diameter and a suitable cylindrical object which fits inside tube. Put some substrate in jar, put in the tube and fill the sides of jar. Then fill the tube with vermiculite, put the cylinder in top and and lift the tube while pressing to keep the verm in place. (Maybe also something that fits inside jar with a hole for the tube to keep the substrate in place too.)

No, I have never tried that.

[~Hippie3]

i've only done a few dozen with the IR so far
and the best option i've found
is to fill the jar as normal
then 'cut' out the center-
i use an empty pill bottle of the right size to
cut out and remove the core
then fill with dry verm.

any of y'all actually tried your suggestions ?

[white_rabbit3]

Originally Posted by Hippie3

adding the verm core is a real PITA .
i'd like to hear a good way.

Whats wronge with your dunk tek Its worked for me, I like it


.

[~Hippie3]

not one damn thing wrong with my dunk tek.
some folks just prefer alternatives so i accomodate.

[PsychoDrogue]

i hadn't until now, but since you prompted. i went and did a test run. i'll take pics if i must.

i like your pill bottle idea, but i imagine its a mess getting the core out without mashing the rest of the brf into something you'd rather not use. with the redbull can, or any similar tube, (even a pill bottle with the bottom punched out too) maybe a paper towel roll, etc, you can loosely lay in your brf, and fill the hollow spot in the middle with verm. the stuff slightly sticks to the can on the way out, but it leaves a nice wall and nothing mixes up. you never have to take anything back out except for the tube. no making a big mess fooling around with pulling prepared brf back out of the jars.

I haven't run this all the way threw. I actually dont do pf jars very often at all, it just seemed like a good idea. when i do pf's, i just dunk. this was the first thread i ever noticed about the IR tek. you asked for solutions so i came up with one that works up to the point you'd PC the jars. i dont see why it wouldn't after that.

[~Hippie3]

but
until you actually make a couple dozen
you just don't know what's involved...
theoretical solutions sound great
in theory...
i tried the other way and it was much slower
and messier.
now you try...

maybe i missed something but i just don't see the point..
i mean your taking brf/verm mix out of the core and filling with plain verm
i would really think that little bit of extra verm you can get in there would be rather negalible.
in the ones you've done hip what has been your opinion?
just doesn't really seem like it would be worth the effort..
lost

[~Hippie3]

i've never colonized the ones i've made,
just made them up for someone else at their request.
PF was convinced the IR tek worked well
and i guess it must do ok or we'd know otherwise by now
but
yeah, it'sa real PITA as i said,
dunking is superior, imo,
but PF never much liked dunking.

[shroom57]

I know this is an old thread, but hey, I'm an old shroom!

Take a used syringe and cut the needle end off...Pack the tube full of vermiculite premoistened to field capacity and stand it up in the jar.
Build the cake around it and then use the plunger to push the vermiculite out into the center cavity. Works pretty good but still a little extra work.

I had cakes that averaged absorbing 24 gms of water after a 12 hour dunk with this method and they only weighed around 98 gms to begin with...It's worth it IMHO.

[~Hippie3]

i finally figured out a decent fast way-
i found a short fat candle the right size
place it in center
i use a plastic fork then to fill up the jar to candletop level,
grab the wick, spin and wiggle the candle out
leaving hollow center
then i use funnel to fill that with verm.

[Fresh Brewed]

Does the loss of nutrient space over the life of the cake make this a worthwhile option?

[~Hippie3]

hard to assess,
contams more often are the killer,
few last long enough to use up all nutes.

[Yale]

Since this topic was already resurrected, I might as well ask something. Can you still dunk a colonized cake with an inner reservoir? I know when my contamed caked met with a toilet bowl the verm in the center went down leaving a donut ring in the bowl. Will the same thing happen if I were to dunk?

[~Hippie3]

the whole idea of the IR tek is to get by
without dunking.

[Yale]

fair enough