mushroom mans sock log tek

Transcription

Mushroom Mans Sock Log Tek
by
Mushroom Man
original source: http://mycotopia.net/archives/discus/messages/5/135826.html
I'll try to make this easy for ya, so i'm including this list of supplies you will need to get before doing this tek.
Supplies.
Straw (Can be found at most feed stores for $4 a bale.)
Something to chop the straw. (Scissors, weed eater, lawn mower, chipper/shredder)
Colonized grain (You can use WBS, rye, or any other suitable grain)
Drainsleeve Filter Fabric Sock for Perforated Drain Pipes (Home Depot $20 for 100ft)
Insulated Cooler (For holding your pasteurizing straw)
Form to pack straw in (4in PVC pipe, or wood frame.)
Zipties (You can skip this one if you are good at tying knots)
Vermiculite (Found at hydroponic stores and nurseries)
Pillowcase (To hold straw while pasteurizing)
Thermometer (So you don't overheat the straw)
Craft Hoop(Used for stretching fabric in to stitch through. Can be found at craft stores)
The first step is to chop up your straw. You need to get the pieces of straw somewhere between 1 and 3 inches
long. What I do is i use a weed eater to chop it in the bottom of a trashcan. It really shreds it, almost to the
point of being straw flakes. Another way to chop it is by hand. Chopping by hand can become a real pain after
a few logs. Another good way to chop it is with a lawnmower, or leaf shredder. Its not too important to get the
straw the perfect size, just around the right size, you can have some long pieces here and there, doesn't
matter. In the picture you see the unchopped straw on the left, the straw being chopped in the middle, and the
chopped on the right.
soma rights re-served
1
since 05.03.2015 at http://www.en.psilosophy.info/
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The second step is to get the straw in a pillowcase and get it soaking in lukewarm water. You need to do a one
hour soak before pasteurizing the straw. One pillowcase full of straw will be enough for 3 foot long logs. After
the hour long soak, you take the straw out of the water and let it drain while you do the next few steps. First
get a large insulated cooler with a lid, and pour a few large pots of boiling water in (enough to cover the straw
thats draining). Then, use your thermometer to check the temperature of the water, when the temperature
drops to 180, put the pillowcase of straw into the cooler, and close the lid. You might need something to hold
down the straw while it pasteurizes. Once you put the straw in the cooler, you start a timer for 1 hour. After
one hour, you open up the cooler and check the temperature with a thermometer. If the temperature is down
to 155 or lower, add a pot of 180 degree water to bring the temp back up. If the temp is high enough, then just
close the cooler and leave it for another hour to finish its full 2 hours of pasteurizing. Once the straw is done
pasteurizing for 2 hours, take it out and let it drain until it cools. You can let it drain overnight if you want.
Here is a picture of the straw during pasteurizing.
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The next step is to toss the straw into a tub to do your mixing in, i recommend doing half a pillowcase at a
time. After the straw is in the tub, you can throw in some vermiculite to add moisture, you can use anywhere
up to 50% vermiculite for your logs without negatively effecting yield (it can actually yield more with verm). To
get the vermiculite ready, bake it in an oven at 400F for about 30 mins, then rehydrate with water.
Then, toss in some colonized grain. For every full pillowcase, you need 2 quarts of grain, and half a pillowcase
is 1 quart. Make sure the grain is good and crumbled up so it mixes in good.
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Then, mix it all up. The grain usually falls to the bottom of the tub while mixing so make sure to grab the straw
seed mix and roll it over and mix that around to get it evenly everywhere (you'll understand when you do it).
Okay, now that its mixed real good, you can start on getting the fabric tube ready. First, cut off a section about
1 1/2 feet long.
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Then tie one end, and put the hoop on the other.
The next step is to drop the fabric tube into some sort of form to hold it while packing. You can use 4in PVC
pipe, or a wood form like i made. If you use a round form made of pvc pipe you can get a hoseclamp and clamp
the fabric right onto the pipe instead of use the fabric hoop, it will work alot better. I used a layer of plastic
with my form because i didn't want the fabric tube to touch the wood or catch on any splinters. Make sure to
get the tube all the way down in the form.
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Next, grab a handfull of straw and ball it up as tight as you can.
Then place the ball of straw in the opening of the tube.
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And shove it down as far as you can with your knuckles Make sure to push hard and get it packed really tight,
then pack the straw to the sides with your fingertips to make sure its tight everywhere.
Keep packing straw until your are a few inches from the top, then take off the hoop, and pull the log out a little
bit, twist up the end of the fabric and put a ziptie on the log.
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Pull it out, and you have just made your very first sock log. Congratulations!!! Now you can put the log into
any terrarium for colonization.
When its done, it should look something like this.
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I'm back with a few updates. First, it seems that the sock logs need either vermiculite in them, or on them like
a casing. I've done a side by side test of two logs, the cased one (not made with vermiculite in it) has finished
flushing with a massive yield, and the uncased (no verm inside) has about 5 puny mushrooms on it. A good
amount of vermiculite to use in the logs is somewhere between 10% and 45%. If you choose to case the logs
instead, then a half inch works fine. The vermiculite content of the logs also seems to have an impact on how
the log colonizes and fuzzes up. Without vermiculite in the straw mix, the mycelium grows through in long
spikes, and does not like to pin, and with vermiculite, the fuzzing is even throughout. I think it is because the
vermiculite fills in the gaps in the log, makes it more dense, and adds moisture content to the logs. Here is a
picture of the square cased log I did, its yield is 671 g wet. Notice that it didn't pin on the sides where there
wasn't any vermiculite. A little vermiculite added to the mixture will make it pin all over.
Top view. The log was birthed into an aluminum tin with vermiculite in it, and covered with about 1/4 to 1/2 an
inch of vermiculite. [671g wet yield.]
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As for the first sock log I made, it just finished its second flush. I never even dunked it. Its vermiculite content
was about 45%. Here it is right before harvest.
Largest shroom from second flush. Isn't it beautiful. 120g wet. I had to break it in half to weigh it.
I should add that i'm currently trying a log with vermiculite in it, and on it. I'm also working on a form to make
triangular logs (those should be neat). My hanging log is knotting up, so there should be results of that soon
also.
I never really incubate the logs, they sit at room temperature which is about 78 most of the time. When its
time to fruit the logs I crank up the AC and drop the room temp to about 70. I've always given my logs regular
room lighting conditions, and regular temperatures. I've never really had that much of a problem with pinning.
As for second flushes, there are always alot less shrooms. Soon i'll be adding dung to one of my logs to see how
that works out. I've got a bag of worm castings, and i'm making some more logs tomorrow, so we may find out
how that works out really soon. I'm going to try dunking the sock log and go for a third flush. I've got a nice
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idea for dunking the logs by attaching hooks to the bottom of a tub and hooking the fabric to the bottom of the
tub when its full of water. The logs float alot, and you could dunk quite a few logs that way.
Skyypilot, the fabric is much too thin to be used as a casing itself, its actually see through. I have been
thinking about the second fabric and vermiculite layer, but i'm going to put that off till later. I chop my straw
really fine, almost like straw flakes, so thats why i like to use vermiculite, and it increases the weight of the
flush alot, so far, it seems like mixing in vermiculite is the best way to go for ease and performance. The
vermiculite on the outside is just there because those logs did not contain any vermiculite inside them, and i
saw how poorly they performed, so it was pretty much an attempt to save them. The yield from my one foot
long 4in wide logs is about 1.5 pounds wet, and about 6 logs produces one pound dry. I can guarantee that the
straw is dense enough, i've packed them so hard, i've ripped the fabric and stretched the plastic tubing. One of
my 4in wide foot long logs (without vermiculite) typically weighs in at 1000g right after i make it. Also, the
purpose of the sock material isn't to hold moisture, but to hold things together. It makes things alot simpler,
you don't have to worry about straw being stuck to the mushrooms, its really easy to pick,and they colonize a
bit faster than polytube logs. I've tried larger logs without the sock material and I never seemed to get that
much of a better yield per cubic inch of straw. Sorry if this doesn't make much sense, I haven't slept much
lately.
original source: http://mycotopia.net/archives/discus/messages/5/136901.html
I've been working with the log tek for some time now, and i've been doing a few experiments. A few weeks ago
i was at Home Depot and found some tubing made of fabric. The holes in it were small enough to hold straw,
but also let mycelium grow through. So a few days after that, i made a log out of it. Here is what I have now.
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You can see that the mycelium grew through the fabric and knotted up on the outside. The pins are on the
outside just like i had hoped. Closeup of pin on outside of fabric.
More pins.
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I've been working on a few other ideas also. One is a rectangular prism shaped log. I got the idea from the
straw biscuit. When its colonized enough i'm going to place it on a bed of verm, and cover the top with verm
like a double end casing for a cake. A log with flat sides.
Another pic.
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I made the logs square by packing the log inside of a form i made out of plywood.
How much for the tubing?
It was 20 bucks for a 100ft roll. Its filter fabric sock tubing for septic tank drain lines, here is a closeup
of it.
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rodger rabbit (Skyypilot) comment:
The myc is definitely NOT colonizing that covering. It's synthetic.
I colonized the straw in a humidified environment. It colonized inside of the terrarium. The mycelium has
totally grown through the fabric, and fuzzed up over the fabric, so there's no need to slit or do anything to it,
its already covered in hyphal knots and the pins form on top of the fabric layer, so they shouldn't suffocate. I've
been thinking about hanging the logs too, but it would be harder to case, but i have a way to make that easier
too.
rodger rabbit (Skyypilot) comment:
Every vertical log I did was a disappointment. Gravity pulls water to the bottom where it drips out
and is lost. The top of the log will dry out, because the mycelium isn't strong enough to pull water
from the bottom by capillary action. If you hang them, build hanging shelves, and try to keep the
logs horizontal.
I should also mention that this log is part of another experiment, the log is about 30% verm. I'm not sure how
it will effect the yield. The flat sided logs are 100% straw.
The log drying out doesn't seem to be a problem as long as you have plenty of humidity. I weighed the log b4
and after colonization and its the same, so that eliminates moisture loss as a possibility. As for the fabric
stretching, it does stretch, but in a weird way. If you make it wider, the tube gets shorter, its sorta like it pulls
on itself. Thats why I used a form to stuff it, if I didn't, it would have come out all lumpy. You can also use 4"
pvc for a form. Just tie the end, drop the fabric in the tube and stuff away.
This is a new log at 24 hours of colonization. See the fuzzy bits of mycelium sticking out. Very nice.
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Here is another pic of the log.
Here is a closeup of the fuzz. You can tell it has great air exchange like this.
Another fuzz closeup.
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I birth the log directly on the geolite and leave them alone, Its like one of those "set it and forget it" ovens, you
just birth and watch. Its incredibly low
UPDATE!!! The log is looking good. Still slow pinners as usual. Here are some pics i snapped a few mins ago.
Another.
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Here is a closeup pic of the knotting and pinning action.
Here is a pic of the logs that are colonizing. Amazing eh?
Closeup of the spikes of rhizomorphic mycelium coming through the fabric.
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I use bottled water.
PINS!!!
The colonizing logs are looking really nice.
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Getting closer
I like the looks of these pins, they're fat, should grow up big and strong.
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I just got done harvesting the log and I figure i might as well tease you a little b4 posting the yield. Here is a
little eyecandy from b4 i harvested.
Isn't it beautiful.
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I love teasing you.
And the grand total yield is 414g wet, that should give a nice 41g dry. 3 logs will give you a quarter pound of
dry shrooms, 12 will give you one whole pound of dry mushies.
Well, i'll get some pantyhose from my gf and give it a try. The tubing i use doesn't really stretch at all. I would
suppose that if you used a form you could use panty hose, but i would think the straw would snag it and give it
runs. We'll see. The logs don't really shrink like cakes, so there's no gap. It was really easy to harvest since i
didn't have to clean one bit. Oh, BTW, those dots on the caps that look like bb's are pushpins. I use them to
hook and move caps for printing.
I just weighed the caps i printed from the harvest, and they weighed 90 grams, add that to the yield, and you
get a whopping 514g wet!!!
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mushroom mans sock log tek

Transcription

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