54 replies to this topic

[losfreddy]

I've been having good luck doing this. All you need is plastic wrap, wbs and tupperware. Boil the bird seed in water for 30 minutes and strain. I add karo and coffee to my boil to help the mushrooms grow.

Fill the tupperware with substrate, wrap in plastic wrap and nuke for 3 sets of 3 minutes giving 3 minutes between nukings. I cross hatch the wrap so it inflates like a bubble with the expanding steam.

and push the lid back on while still hot and let cool. I incubated these with Liquid Culture.

this is an effective way to make lots of spawn easy and cheap for less then $10 at walmart, minus the spores. Hopes this helps people.

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[eastwood]

Interesting.I have been thinking about doing something similar..cool might try this and see if it works for me.

[LotRev]

Please follow up with more info...

What consistency was the seed after the boiling?
And after the microwaving?
Did you innoculate through the lids?
How has growth been?
What kind of success/failure rate have you had?

Thanks, it sounds like an easy way to do WBS,
thanks for posting.

[SporeCrazy]

Sounds simple enough and I might try myself, but I was wondering if you could give a little more info on this tek. How long do you let the WBS drain and what size containers do you use?

[darknezz7]

omg thats awesome, I would definitally like to do that.

Just a little bit ago I put 24 pints and 5 qts worth of wbs in a pot to do a 12 hour soak tomorrow I'll drain, load in jars with poly fil holes, and pc. I have lots of lc to inoc with.

I'll experiment with the seed I have left.

So you dont do anything for fae? More details as everyone has said would be nice :rasta:

Also got comparison of adding karo and coffee to without? How much to how much wbs?

Please post pics of them growing, and when their done :amazed:

I don't think it would much matter what size container, and as for draining I assume like any other wbs tek, when you can shake the strainer and no drops come out. Right?

[losfreddy]

i use the medium size round ziplock tupperware containers and drain the bird seed for 5 to 10 minutes. I find it is very important to cross wrap the plastic wrap so the steam is trapped and cooks in the tupperware. If wrapped air tight, i find it forms a suction when cooled. Also, the birdseed having been just boiled should be mostly sterile. Be careful that not too much steam escapes as this may ruin moisture content or burn the bird seed. Take the lid off, incubate thru the plastic and put back on. Haven't had a contamination yet doing this, but am only just now experimenting. My current grow using this tek is doing great. As for karo/coffee comparision, the one without karo/coffee is growing really slow., but it may be due to low moisture content. I'll get more pics up when they are ready.

[LotRev]

Take the lid off, incubate thru the plastic and put back on. Haven't had a contamination yet doing this, but am only just now experimenting.

Just to clarify, you mean:

"Take the lid off, innoculate thru the plastic..."

Innoculating is the injecting of the spores-
Incubating is keeping them warm for growth after the innoculation.

[gsmith1981]

you could put a self sealing port on them
hope all works well for ya'll

[oeisa]

when i first started this hobby, i bought grow kits made from those ziploc containers (the lids were the screw-on dark blue kind, though, not like the ones in the pics) with self-healing ports and some sort of filter that appeared similar to the kind on spawnbags. i managed to get two successes and thereafter everything else contaminated. i don't know if the filter wore out (probably so, from all the steam going through it) or if the plastic warped so that the lids didn't fit snug enough anymore to keep dirty air from getting sucked back in as it cooled. i don't remember exactly how many failures i had, but i know it was enough that i decided there was no "easy way" for me and got a pc.

it's good to see that some can make the microwave work for them, but i just wanted to relate my experiences for those out there who are somewhat lazy about keeping their houses super clean or who have had this hobby going for long enough that they have almost given up on being able to defeat all the trich floating around.

[Hippie3]

i don't see any fruiting.
hell, i don't even see any colonizing.
where's the proof that this actually works ?
i'm very skeptical .

[brodus]

Thanks for the good ideas man!

I've also had very poor luck with Microwaves teks, so maybe yours will be the winner.

[LotRev]

The only thing I know of so far that can go in the microwave
is a batch of LC.

Perhaps losfreddy is making it work, but the thread title does
have a question mark included. I wouldn't waste any seed
until we see some positive results.

[eastwood]

Roger that.

[hour]

i have a minifaht jar (30 kernals) just finished its second flush.

it was microwaved.

i have pictures, but ofcourse if I post pictures
people will still doubt.

I see no reason why discussions of this nature are so quick
to be shot down. Tainting noobs, giving people hope
of easy microwave growing - well, the hope exists-

the more openly this is discussed and the more people
that try it to narrow down a more accurate method
the better everything will be.

when people read these threads and see dubbed gurus
presenting their discontent for the idea, it discourages experimentation.

my first attempt with grains was the mentioned jar above.

it worked. everyone who has a little time to spare,
don't get discouraged by those who look down upon this.
it can be done.

[Hippie3]

post your proof.

it's not like no one has ever tried this before.
and the reason it gets shot down now
is because enough people have tried it enough times
to establish conclusively that microwave sterilization
of substrate is an inferior method.

we don't need to do it over and over again,
every time a new grower comes along.
that's not being unfair nor close-minded-
it's just being rational.
doing the same thing over and over again
expecting that somehow it'll be different next time
is the very essence of insanity.

30 kernels is not significant.
do a few pounds with a microwave.
then prove everyone wrong,
hell we'd all save money on pc 's
and be damn glad if you can.

[hour]

I think it's more appropriate to say that NOT enough people have tried this.

30 kernals may not be significant but I think it shows that the substrate was clean enough to be hit up with a year old spore syringe.

to the mention of inferior techniques, there's nothing to say that microwaving is to remain inferior. Most people have one, it's large enough to hold several containers, times may be reduced from 60-90 minutes to just a couple..

I myself was discouraged when my first microwave thread was shot down - and wala, didn't prohibit corn from fruiting directly, invitro, 100% neglect, peeked at many times. I did add Sal. acid to the simmering corn however.

It seems to me like you view microwaving as taking a step backwards - as currently it's hit or miss. Trust me, in working towards a degree in biology I know the significance of examples, proof - results, repeated results..

but science is a self correcting method. Someone says microwave works, others can test and shoot them down. To those that say it doesn't work, I myself can show them that it CAN work.

When people HAVE had success, it's 100% irrational to discourage continued experimentation by all who are interested, from noob to expert.

I agree in the fullest that encouraging someone to knock up a bunch of jars with brown speckled LC is not rational. I agree that encouraging someone to cultivate cubensis on woodchips as a bulk method is not rational, logical, or even helpful.

However, discouraging logical experiments that have yielded success in the past for some is simply standing in the way of continued innovation.

[LotRev]

Here's the deal...

No one who it has "worked" for has posted proof of it working.

I can post proof of it not working.

So if I have proof...especially my own proof that something
did not work, and no one has proof that it does work, then yes,
I will doubt them until it is proven.

And plenty of people have microwaved many things, check my
posted threads...I have one about this exact same thing.

Show the proof, and I will grovel in the dirt.

[hour]

Here's the deal...
No one who it has "worked" for has posted proof of it working.
I can post proof of it not working.
So if I have proof...especially my own proof that something
did not work, and no one has proof that it does work, then yes,
I will doubt them until it is proven.
And plenty of people have microwaved many things, check my
posted threads...I have one about this exact same thing.
Show the proof, and I will grovel in the dirt.

Sorry but the point of me bothering to post in this thread
is to say that discouraging people from trying this
is 100% unbeneficial.

Posting my proof, or you posting your proof that contests
mine, is entirely outside of the point. People are discouraged from trying this
when they see such distaste for the idea by dubbed gurus.

Cultivating is not rocket science, to noobs who don't understand their failures it may seem like gypsy magic is required to have success. Satisfy the requirements - clean substrate to inoculate, and you're money.

Look in to the contams most people face. Ensure proper water quality, and thwart many failures. Ensure proper sterilization, thwart many failures. Boiling/simmering substrate, possibly using additives, and microwaving has GREAT potential to ensure clean substrate.

Discouraging experimentation results in fewer people looking in to ensuring water quantity, trying additives, or experimenting with various cooking times.

End point.

[Hippie3]

seems like our POV differs in that
you see new growers as potential guinea pigs
thru which to test & perfect methodology.

i on the other hand
am just trying to prevent the waste
caused by failure
in both time and materials,
i'm not performing experiments by proxy
except where the threads are clearly experimental,
like where you learned to use that sal. acid .

here it was originally written & titled
as if it were an already perfected, reliable tek.

i'm in favor of experiments that really are new
but not in doing the same old ones over and over every few months.

nothing new at all
about someone trying to save time
by zapping their substrate.
that's how we determined that it could reliably be done with lc s
because the water and karo/honey/malt is easily sterilized
unlike grains with endospores.

now if one is willing to accept a high number of losses
for a few succeses
then go ahead-
i didn't say it never worked,
just that it was inferior.

[prism]

LOL! Hip your posts are always educational and entertaining... Thanks!:amazed: