yay Posted March 20, 2003 How good is straw substrate for Cubensis? heard some reports that its pretty good. also how important would it be to sterilise it. Is it just possible to soak it overnight (have heard that the straw generates its own heat and kills any spores. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ferret Posted March 20, 2003 you would wana pasteurise it - sterilising apparantly opens the straw up to bad contams. submerge in 65 degC water for 1 hr, weigh the straw down with something so its not poking outta the water. cool to room temp then spawn. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spiders Posted March 22, 2003 Straw is a pain in the arse - i prefer compost or manure as a bulk substrate - better size and potency too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted March 23, 2003 opinions vary perhaps due to the variable quality of straw many find it a very useful bulk substrate problems are mainly incidence of trichoderma in bad and under pasteurised straw (forest green mould) seed germination again is bad straw benefits are very cheap and accessible single ingredient bulk substrate easy to work with no funky smells quite liked by a number of popular mushroom species so in the end its a matter of finding good quality straw - no seeds and clean n golden the lime tek is also very useful for alkaline tolerant species for pasteurisation BM is right though - if you want the ones that stain blue you cant beat compost - its like synthetic dung and IMHO superior for all dunglovers - dung is usually already inhabited by a number of competitors where cows feed in natural pastures feedlot manure would probably be better ive found in my agaricus naturalisation experimnets that dung alone is too wet and causes dieback mixing in leaves or in your case straw with dung makes a more airy substrae and healthier mycelium Ive seen dungs benefical effect on suppressing mould contam in pasterusied straw substrates take effect even when the straw is simply subjected topasteurisation in a hot cow dung 'Tea' , that is just enough dung is added to diffuse the colour and juices into he straw structure - dont know what its is but ive seen a noticeable effect in the rate of contam and what does occure seem only to be Trichoderma - bloody menace it is the protective effect may be bacterial and i have not compared pasteurised and sterilised dung treatment yet this said ive not fully solved my dilemma but im a stepcloser [ 23. March 2003, 06:33: Message edited by: reville ] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
