I inoculated rye grain today in my first attempt at mushroom growing. I spent about an hour sanitizing my very dirty bathroom and I was in such a rush during inoculation that I forgot to swab the area of my grain bag in which the needle made its entrance. I did the inoculation inside of a sterile plastic box. Should I expect that my bags wont be colonized?

Did you flame the needle red hot? If so I'd say there's a pretty good chance you'll be alright. Just gotta let it sit and wait to see

yes i did but i used a bic lighter and it got slightly sooty. is that too terrible?

Nah, it's not ideal but it's fine, won't hurt anything in my experience. Just makes nasty unprofessional black marks on your stuff haha. One recommendation though is be careful not to melt the plastic on the end of the syringe when flaming. One day if you like you can invest in a http://everythingmushroo...r-supplies/alcohol-lamp/ for a clean flame

nah its good, but not recommended.
i use iso then boiling water to rinse, but a bic should be fine.

you guys are awesome...

You really don't need no stinkin alcohol burner, especially if you don't have much extra cash.

I just take a small saucer and pour a little IPA (isopropyl alcohol) where the depression for a tea cup would go.

When needed, i light that small amount of IPA, and just hold the needle over that flame, till red hot. When done with the flame, i take another small plate or the like and set it on top of the saucer, which extinguishes the flameage in short order........

Perhaps not as proper as an alcohol burner, but for me, much cheaper and works fine!!!

Just sayin............

cool idea, observer.

i will try that.