Birthday Today! :D Sterilization Question

[JustinNed]

So, I'm going to birth my cake tonight and I was wondering if I needed to sterilize the tank before putting in the cake? I was thinking of wiping it down with some h2o2, that couldn't hurt right?
Also, any tips for a healthy cake? Thanks!

((I'm excited))

 

[mushhed8055]

spray tank with disinfectent like lysol or some antibacterial/ mold killer n wipe it down. fill the bottom of the tank with perilite n keep moist 100%humidity. n have fun watching ur babies grow. good luck :wink:

 

[user_1919]

If your cake if fully colonized, then you have very little worry of contamination. The mycleium network, once established, acts a a barrier or shield towards contaminations. It is never bad to sterile everything. I would suggest using hydrogen peroxide to wipe down the walls of the tank. Are you using pertile to add humidity to the grow tank? If you are, add around 4-6 inches of wet, but not to wet pertile. Then I would recommend cutting out small pieces of aluminum foil as a base for the cake. I also put the top of the lid on top of the foil. Any other question, I can try to help...

PEACE & LOVE

 

[JustinNed]

Thanks. I figured Peroxide wouldn't hurt at all so I wiped down all walls (and I'm very happy I did as I picked up quite the layer of dust/etc.). Why use Perlite? That's just gonna make a giant mess, sir. I can hit real close to 100% humidity with a spray bottle.

Also, I think I ran in to the same problem as you user_1919. The top 1 to 1.5cm of the cake was uncolonized, but I was working in what I like to think to be a roughly sterile air environment, I also use sterile gloves, and I tried to get as much of the substrate off as I could without bruising the mycelium or the pins.

Since I am a first time grower, I wanted to be able to quickly identify molds and contaminants so I just took a dozen jars and put regular substrate in them except I did NOT sterilize them. I found about 3 different types of mold that look almost exactly like mycelium, but since there was no inoculation it can't be.

To finish, I just really wish I could claim my cake as a dependent on my taxes.

Thanks for input!

 

[user_1919]

Do what ever you like, but in my experience Pertile worked excellent.

PEACE & LOVE