obliguhl wrote:Of course, talking about mushrooms (cultivation, experiences) is encouraged. It is not allowed to talk about sourcing dried paln/fungi matter, but living plants/seeds os ok.
Awesome
then this is a quick breakdown of what i do,
i put the wild bird seed in a pan of water and scoop off anything that floats first
soak wild bird seed for 12 -24 hours in room temp water with a small handfull of instant coffee depending on how much i have in the pan depends on how long i soak
once soaked i wash the seeds in running water till runs clear then i refill the pan with water and seeds and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes, i let it drain and i let it cool for a few hours to make sure there is no excess water.
i three quarter fill glass jars of various sizes but i find better to use more smaller jars for speed of colonization and thus better chance of a clean jar than a big jar that can take a lot longer to fully colonize.
for the lids i hammer a nail through for 4 holes and clean the holes by rolling the nail round in the hole to flatten sharp pieces of metal, and i use tyvek that i have from the back of a catheter bag packaging, lots of medical supplies have it its like paper but softer and doesn't rip with your fingers i put tyvek over the jar mouth and screw the lid on over top and use a second piece of tyvek to cover the lid of the jar, and use an elastic band to hold it down
i put tinfoli over top of jars to stop water dripping from the lid from working its way into the jar, i pressure cook the jars for 90 minutes,
let it cool down and the pressure to stop, i tend to leave it overnight in the pan. next morning i open the pan and wipe the jars down as the filters are on i dont worry about contamination, i sit em in a plastic bag with the syringe and lighter or in the smallest room of the house and spray the inside of bag/small room with a 10% bleach solution
i let it sit for half hour, then i spray my arms with anti bacterial soap and rub it in as i rub it in i put my hands in the bag, take off elastic bands but leave filters on, sterilize the needle with a afterburner lighter till red hot let cool for a second or color fades then i lift the filter enough to put the needle in the wholes inject about 1 - 2 ml per jar through two of the 4 wholes and replace filter / elastic band, i then seal em in the bag, currently use a big grow bag with micro filter so i can seal them inside but if a normal bag i would air out once each day or two to dissipate carbon dioxide.
as for the silicone you could just use one filter under the lid of the jar and screw on the top, using silicone put a dab on each side of one of the wholes on the lid, let dry and instead of a second filter you can inject straight through the silicone without needing to put into a sterile environment as long as your wipe down the silicone before and after injection and also flame sterilize the needle you should be a ok!
this is just the method i use im not saying its perfect in any way but it works well for me.