Newb question about jars

Started by Quintessence, February 06, 2007, 01:23:22 AM

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Quintessence

I have a newb question about caning jars. I live in South Africa so we don't have quite the consumer choice that US & UK residents have. I've searched high and low and the only jars I can get are pint jars. (They are tapered with wide mouth. I had to drive 150km to get them too!)

I know that the half pint jars are recommended for PF Tek, but can I not just fill the jars half way and leave a lot of air space at the top, or does the jar have to be completely full? The only problem I forsee is getting a needle long enough to reach into the subtrate.

anno

>The only problem I foresee is getting a needle long enough to reach into the substrate.

Yes, this will be a problem.
You CAN use full pint jars, but expect them to take longer to colonize, and as thus the chances for contamination are somewhat bigger. Also, the pint jar depth sometimes causes the bottom of the jar to get too little gas exchange, and not colonize at all.

But try it and report.

psilocybin warrior

I used full pint jars 1 out of 8 of them have a slight contamination I am waiting a couple more days to see if the mycelium will fight it off, and yes they do take much longer to colonize.

Quintessence

Thanks for the replies.

I've just finished preparing 12 pint jars and my syringes have been ready for 4 days or so, so probably going to inoculate tommorrow.  I have a question about temperature. In the different PF Teks I've read, I heard anything from 70-86 deg fahrenheit for optimum mycelium growth, with the jars themselves being 4 deg warmer than the outside temp. What do you normally use as your optimum temp?

The other problem I might have is with excessive heat. The temp right now is around 75 so it should be perfect, but last week it was 95+ and I expect in the next 3-4 weeks it will get there again. I know how to raise the temp using 2 containers and an aquarium heater, but is there any way to lower the temp? Would a small pc fan help?

Thanks again

psilocybin warrior

I have to reg temp for mine, anywhere between 72-78 for me but my mycelium is growing great it just takes time.  But if your using a little fan I would think that you would blow in a little bit of cooler air, but ive had jars colonize under 70 it just takes longer i dont know about it being too hot tho.