Go in there bare handed! Fully colonized spawn shouldn't contaminate at this point. Think about it. The bulk substrate isn't "sterile". This is just how I was taught.
It is rather rugged, ive seen videos out of south east asia where they are outside stuffing straw in recycled plastic juice bottles. The whole process was not very sterile, we tend to over complicate nature.
Nice video, though i would be worried about the mycelium absorbing some aluminum from that tray. Try looking for a glass dish at goodwill/thrift store, should be some old 70,s green or orange stuff sitting around. Ohh, you forgot to remove the tape inside the tote.
@@turgidity_city3204theres issues with plants picking up heavy metals, thats why its good to avoid certain products in the garden. Its possible it may pick up a bit, and over the years it can cause problems.
I like those aluminum turkey trays. I'll do multiple small ones in same tub. Do people really need gloves and alcohol at this point though? I usually don't. Once the grain is fully colonized there's not much danger 9f contamination...
So there is a great deal of contamination opportunities during this part of the process. Once fully colonized substrate you are pretty well blocked from most contams. One skin cell can have multiple contaminants on it so yes I use gloves and I even spray my exposed arms with alcohol
I hear ya. I wasn't trying to be a backseat mycologist, lol. Rubbing alcohol on my skin really messes up my skin, same with gloves. Don't get me wrong I have to use gloves and alcohol in the early stages, but as soon as I don't need them I get my hippy hands in there! I hardly ever get contamination, the blocks just peter out and shrink away after repeated fruiting and rehydration. It's surprising how much you can get away with once you have things standardized, open air inoculation included
I mixed my grains with my substrate and sprinkled some substrate on top of it....as seen in last week's video...and there still isn't anything visible happening on the surface yet... there is a slight bit of condensation on the sides of the tub...do I dare pop the tub open and poke in there with a clean fork or something to see if it's matting up below the surface yet or not?
@@psychonautstv yes! It actually filled out pretty good throughout the entire surface! I took it out of the cupboard today and moved it into a room with direct sunlight coming in, although the tote is only getting ambient light. My second tote in the table tub is almost ready for fruiting, too, but I figured if give her a few more days to get a little more coverage. Thanks for asking! 🙏💚
