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What is everyones favourite/prefferred filter

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What is everyones favourite/prefferred filter for putting over the holes in the lids of jars to prevent contams and keep good GE?
I am having a little trouble

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I dont use them in my jars - i use 1litre, 1.5 litre and 2 litre jars abd i just leave an inch if space at the top. Still works fine and rarely stalls.

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With the jars you use, you use ball yea?
If so how do you innoculate then?
Yea man i am not worried about the stalling, more so the contam situation :)

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Synthetic filter discs which you can get from Myco Supply, Fungi Perfecti and probably numerous other places. I vaguely remember RR saying he has some that he's used for a decade. They fit ball mason jars perfectly. They'll stop contaminates and they'll give you lots of gas exchange. 10/10 would recommend!

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I see!
If they are tyvek filter discs you are speaking of.. I have used them many times and i would say i get 60% success 40% contam
I was considering polyfil but not sure how it would go with using rye for colonizing as it would just mix in... thought maybe polyfill jammed tightly on the inside of the jar up between the lid and the rye and then to hold it in place- fix a tyvek filter disc up into the lid somehow, holding in the polyfill... hmmmmm

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I use the filter discs that Migraineur uses, as well for all my grain jars. what they are made of

I don't know. polyfil worked well back when I started, I would drill a 6-8mm hole in the lid and

then roll up a tight wad and shove it tight in the hole. Disc are quick and ezi and can be used

for, almost forever.

wow 40% cantam is high.

do you use a flowhood and do your filters go into autoclave?

hope we can pin point were your contams are making there way in. so you can enjoy more

fruits of your labour.

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I see!

If they are tyvek filter discs you are speaking of.. I have used them many times and i would say i get 60% success 40% contam

I was considering polyfil but not sure how it would go with using rye for colonizing as it would just mix in... thought maybe polyfill jammed tightly on the inside of the jar up between the lid and the rye and then to hold it in place- fix a tyvek filter disc up into the lid somehow, holding in the polyfill... hmmmmm

40% contamination rate is insanely high. I've never really had any major contamination problems but I am very meticulous and clean when doing mycology. Could you provide us with some details on your mycology room, equipment etc?

Have you watched the Let's Grow Mushrooms videos? They might help you improve your sterile technique. The filter discs should be fine unless you bought some dodgy substandard ones. I'm not sure what material they're made out of.

Could you please rephrase the following? I didn't quite understand it or the part after it

"I was considering polyfil but not sure how it would go with using rye for colonizing as it would just mix in"

Also, you don't have to use rye. It can be hard to get in Australia and it's on the expensive side. Wheat is cheap and easy to find and it works well.

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tyvek for jar filters is way too thin.

As per the mycosupply link that migraine thru up, about 1/16" is minimum.

these days i just collect used p2 dust masks from .... , cut em into almost circles & stick em on with high heat

industrial grade silicone. (this)

and yeah 40% contam!!! you need to look closely at your whole series of maneuvers man.

ps. ive found in the past, too thin a filter can work ok on a jar, until the first shake, then sometimes trich shows up. Ive

surmised that spores settle on top of the filter and then are shaken in thru the too thin mesh, and bang!

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I use the filter discs that Migraineur uses, as well for all my grain jars. what they are made of

I don't know. polyfil worked well back when I started, I would drill a 6-8mm hole in the lid and

then roll up a tight wad and shove it tight in the hole. Disc are quick and ezi and can be used

for, almost forever.

wow 40% cantam is high.

do you use a flowhood and do your filters go into autoclave?

hope we can pin point were your contams are making there way in. so you can enjoy more

fruits of your labour.

Well i am assuming the filters we all use are made of the same material, which is tyvek..

So what i have done is rolled up polyfill quite tightly and put it in the holes of the jars... Then i have sandwiched th polyfill with a filter disc on each side of the jar lid :)

I either have reaaaal dodgy filter discs or my pressure cooker does not work, as 40% contams is a shocker!!!

I have only had this problem since i have moved area's...

I don't use a flowhood- I use a glovebox in my sterile enviroment..

I neeed to pinpoint the sourceof these contams~!

haha

BIG LOVE!

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I neeed to pinpoint the sourceof these contams~!

Are you introducing myc' from a healthy agar plate or from a spore syringe? If from a syringe, are you making up your own, maybe the spore print is the source the contams?!

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If you have only had this problem since you moved areas then I suspect that your new work area is filthy.

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glove boxes can be hit and miss, at the best of times. and this depends on

how they are constructed and how you manage and work in them.

lets assume your pressure cooker is getting to pressure and your jars are

getting the time in there for the size of jar you use. scalpel also goes through

the cook wrapped in foil. so every thing in the cooker until the cooker drops its

pressure is sterile the cooker as it cools will be sucking in air from out side and

the jars will be doing the same, but through a filter. using some polyfil soaked

in isopropanol or Metho wrapped around the release valve can stop contams

being sucked in.

glove boxes can be totally sealed with gloves taped in them or unseal with holes

you slip you arms into. remember once you arms are in these unsealed types and you

pull you your arm out just a little bit, air will be sucked in equal to the volume of arm

you pull out. having positive air pressure pushed in through a filter can stop this.

vacuum hepa filters work well for this, (8-10 bucks ebay).

my procedure was to load every thing in, to one side then when my hands were

in and cleaned I would spray a air spray disinfectant all around. one side of the

glove box is clean down first, then all items were cleaned one by one and placed to the

clean side. then the other side is cleaned down. another spray with that air stuff and

another wash of the hands and I was good to go.

avoid any fast movements that may stir up any contams into the air.

in my opinion it would rare that disc filters or polyfil filters being were the contams are

getting in. its more likely to be the environment, technique or the original culture.

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40% contamination rate is insanely high. I've never really had any major contamination problems but I am very meticulous and clean when doing mycology. Could you provide us with some details on your mycology room, equipment etc?

Have you watched the Let's Grow Mushrooms videos? They might help you improve your sterile technique. The filter discs should be fine unless you bought some dodgy substandard ones. I'm not sure what material they're made out of.

Could you please rephrase the following? I didn't quite understand it or the part after it

"I was considering polyfil but not sure how it would go with using rye for colonizing as it would just mix in"

Also, you don't have to use rye. It can be hard to get in Australia and it's on the expensive side. Wheat is cheap and easy to find and it works well.

Yea i think i have it figured now!

Pretty sorted :)

Sly little air vent from outside was gusting in air from outside and i DO believe this was the source as it is relatively close to the colonizing chamber..

We will soon find out anyway!

I am pretty confident all my procedures are sterile and contam free, from spore , all the way through to fruit..

-

With what you did not understand about the polyfill..

I have heard different methods of using polyfil as a filter...

Some roll up into littlewads and plug up the holes and some cram it up tightly into a ball and put it between the top layer of the vermic and the underside of the lid in he jar...

As for the second method.. I was under the impression this was the only method of doing so...

So if you were to use Rye grain (which i much prefer than Brown rice flour and vermiculite), you would have trouble packing in polyfil between the vermiculite (as there is none) and the jar lid.. Plus one of the the main ideas of rye grain is to be able to shake the myc a few times...

-

I have a lovely source of rye grains which are organic/biodynamic and i have always used these and find they are pefect..

I have not used anything else- Do you mean wheat grain?

If so, how does it go?

Big love

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glove boxes can be hit and miss, at the best of times. and this depends on

how they are constructed and how you manage and work in them.

lets assume your pressure cooker is getting to pressure and your jars are

getting the time in there for the size of jar you use. scalpel also goes through

the cook wrapped in foil. so every thing in the cooker until the cooker drops its

pressure is sterile the cooker as it cools will be sucking in air from out side and

the jars will be doing the same, but through a filter. using some polyfil soaked

in isopropanol or Metho wrapped around the release valve can stop contams

being sucked in.

glove boxes can be totally sealed with gloves taped in them or unseal with holes

you slip you arms into. remember once you arms are in these unsealed types and you

pull you your arm out just a little bit, air will be sucked in equal to the volume of arm

you pull out. having positive air pressure pushed in through a filter can stop this.

vacuum hepa filters work well for this, (8-10 bucks ebay).

my procedure was to load every thing in, to one side then when my hands were

in and cleaned I would spray a air spray disinfectant all around. one side of the

glove box is clean down first, then all items were cleaned one by one and placed to the

clean side. then the other side is cleaned down. another spray with that air stuff and

another wash of the hands and I was good to go.

avoid any fast movements that may stir up any contams into the air.

in my opinion it would rare that disc filters or polyfil filters being were the contams are

getting in. its more likely to be the environment, technique or the original culture.

Thanks for the input :)

I have been using the glovebox method for some years now and i find it has worked well :)

I am ever so careful with being sterile etc.. I pressure cook everthing i use.. Even my lab coat ;)

I have never done that method you said above... Personally i much prefer having the gloves fixed in, although there are a few con's about it but i feel the pro's weigh out the con's

It has quite a restricting feeling when they are attatched to the box.. Alot less maneuverability, well especially the way i have constructed mine.. But i think once i have cleaned the inside and sealed it with the lid.. i am not viable to any source of contams..

I think it is the enviroment which was the contam sourcei was having trouble with but i think i solved it..

big love

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I must've got lucky in my new house re contams. I have 60yr old floorboards that have cracks to the clay underneath, not to mention my myco room is also my man cave. Open air G2Gs are at 10% contams and all I do it have the misso spraying glen20 every 10seconds above me, a can can go 5 sessions and setup/packup for the g2g is 2mins lol. But like I said, it's luck for now hahaha

Until it gets to at least 25% contams fck my glovebox, and sterile procedure lol :) but I follow the PC procedure like Lindsay said and plug my hole up with polyfil during cool down. For a filter all I'm using is micropore tape, one layer on inside, one layer on outside...

Sorry I didn't contribute anything new, I just don't want newbies scared off with open air work ;) even if 5/10 pints contam, that's a lot of grain for you to play with!

/ghettotalk

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What do you all reckon about the idea of using ciggy filters?
I reckon it could be worth my while...
Has anyone ever thought of this?

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Nope, I've never thought that... Seriously, what's wrong with micropore tape if you want something cheap/abundant? If your worried about contams use a foil dust cover. Let me upload pics in a sec....

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These are my floors

post-9832-0-13920200-1414898257_thumb.jp

This is the dusty box I keep my jars in next to the door

post-9832-0-76606000-1414898286_thumb.jp

This is the micropore tape on my rusty lids, also a layer in the inside

post-9832-0-43516400-1414898320_thumb.jp

This is the growth at 4 days with a foil dust cover (all jars are on par)

post-9832-0-85376100-1414898387_thumb.jp

Don't overthink it bro! Use quick sterile moves and wipe your shit down properly and you'll be fine without engineering lids like mcgyver!

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Nope, I've never thought that... Seriously, what's wrong with micropore tape if you want something cheap/abundant?

If you're using micropore tape as a filter, it's not a bad option as long as you autoclave it once it's on the lid. Haven't had many hassles with it

Do replace it every so often

The only thing working against it is it attracts paper mites. If you have a ton of paper/ cardboard in your work area already, the added risk of micropore tape filters is negligible

However- I'd seriously advise against using micropore to close petries, especially those you keep for a long time, and especially those in the fridge. Once it gets old it does start to go fungusy and manky, and when you peel older tape off yout lovely sterile container clouds of spores can be released into the air. I've seen it here- never again

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id say try not to work in the kitchen too, the toilet was always my friend lol

Kitchens, toilets and bathrooms are the filthiest rooms to do it in.

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toilet isnt a room :P
I would say that a bathroom is probably cleaner than a kitchen too... Well mine is anyways haha

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toilet isnt a room :P

I would say that a bathroom is probably cleaner than a kitchen too... Well mine is anyways haha

Bathrooms tend to be humid and wet frequently which is a great environment for mould. Don't want them mould spores gettin all up in yo grill!

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