Well my friend from the 17th dimension decided to show me his "Plastic Tek Grow" and I will show it to you....
Basically using a modified PF Tek here that incorporates the use of Polypropylene (Plastic # 5) a high heat food grade plastic used in containers such as the Zip-lock 2 cup storage containers that will be used here. Polypropylene https://en.wikipedia...i/Polypropylenehas a melting point of 130–171 °C (266–340 °F) - with food grade being on the higher end. A 15 lb pressure cooker reaches a temperature of 250 degrees, which below this critical point.
Below is a pic of the cake containers ready for PC - unfortunately this style PC is small and only can do three of these containers at a time - so for the 9 cakes we had three runs.
Here is the recipie used for these cakes and the container preparation:
This is a modified BRF recipie:
1.) 10 cups medium vermiculite.
2.) 2 cups dry quinoa
3.) 1.5 cups Sweet Rice Flour (Much like brown rice flour)
4.) .75 cup of coffee grounds
5.) 2 TBSP corn meal
6.) 1 TBSP Honey
The real difference here is that instead of water, 3% Hydrogen Peroxide was used in the mix. The reason is so that the standard 90 minute PC could be cut in half by using peroxide to kill most contaminants in the mix itself. The heat of the PC will drive off all the excess oxygen and the finished product will be a sterile substrate in 45 minutes of PC. This was done so as not to stress the plastic or cause it to leach plastic chemicals.
The BRF mix was chosen for fast colonization. The quinoa is a "super-food" rich in trytamine components. IT also allows faster colonization for the same reasons that birdseed does in bulk substrates. The coffee grounds offer nitrogen and some minerals. Gypsum could have been added, however that was not done here. The distilled water was used because just a little more moisture was required when the H2O2 ran out.
Water/H2O2 was added until the substrate could be squeezed and a trickle of water ran out for a second or two, then drips - holding the substrate in a basic "wad" - a little more moisture was added because the quinoa is dry and will take up water as it "cooks" in the PC stage.
The containers were prepared by drilling 4 holes along the sides of the screw on tops in the same manner as is done in the glass jar PF Teks. The containers were then washed and then rinsed in 91% isopropyl.
After filling the jars to within 1.5 inches of the top, an half inch of dry vermiculite was then added to the top as a "casing layer".
The cakes were PC'd and placed in their sterile environment - a very nice clear tub on it's side that acted like a "pseudo-glove box" in that the lid was taped at the top so it could swing upwards as cake containers were placed in. The box and containers were wiped down with 91% isopropyl alcohol as were the hands - gloves were not used.
The alcohol lamp was made using an old pimento jar, a bit of a t-shirt, and of course... 91% alcohol - it worked beautifully!
After about 4 hours the cakes were back to room temperature. They were then inoculated through the four holes previously drilled using standard procedures of heating the spore syringe needle red hot, then using alcohol swabs between every cake container.
The spores are PC-GT
Now the waiting game begins.
I shall post updates as they occur.
Edited by TurkeyRanch, 27 November 2014 - 04:50 PM.
Adding updated disclaimer
