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yeah, I have been looking for hydrated lime and did in fact find some but don't like it as much as calcium carbonate. Upon further research I think that chalk and limestone flour are essentially the same. Thanks for the response!

Just wondering if anyone can help me out ? Can I use food grade chalk in place of limestone flour? I was @ a home brew store and saw 1 kg bags of what they called calcium carbonate and in parenthesis (chalk). Can't seem to find a descent source of limestone flour other than the Fluker's calcium for reptiles which is much more $ than the chalk.
thnx!

Good luck!! Sucks when your water supply is wonky!! Gonna case some jars this weekend might try to check the ph of the casing just to test mixture ratio!!

do you test every time you mix your casing or do you just trust your ratios?? Just wondering how important ph is and why it should be in the 5-6 range, is it similar to plant / nutrient uptake or is it something else?? 

yeah I have seen those testers always wondered!! what is the ideal ph for casings?? Just about to case some pf jars and was curious???

Hey! I'm new to this forum but have used the info held within it for a while and was just wondering what is the most accurate way to measure casing ph? I know that the cheap soil analogue meters are exactly that cheap and I don't think I would trust their readings . Just wondering what you guys prefer??

Thanks for all the help! Inoculation night tonight wish me luck

Got ya! I never thought of that. Was maybe thinking of using a bubble wand with hydroton expanded clay in water  and a small layer of perlite on top of that. That should give me about 6 inches from the top of the cake to the top of the chamber. Just got my syringes can't wait to start. Thanx for the reply!!!!

Thanks for the advice. I am not too worried about the the rh in the fc because they are relatively small chambers and i'm hoping that it won't be too hard to maintain proper humidty!! I'm planing to use mostly brf cakes and possibly case a few cakes as well. My main concern is that with the cakes in the fc I only have 6 inches from the top of the cake to the fc lid. Maybe it's wishfull thinking that my fruits will outgrow my chamber:)!! Thanks again     

Just new to the mushroom game and had a question about my fc. I am trying to be stealthy about my fruiting and am trying to conceal the chambers in a small closet. The question I have is have, how much room to the top of the fc is required? I understand that some strains will grow larger that others but in general how much "headroom" is needed? Can the tops of the shrooms touch the top of the fc? The fc dimensions are 23x17x12 (50 liters). If I use the suggested amount of perlite (3-5) inches I will only have approx 6 inches to the top of my fc is that too short??? can I use less perlite and just try to maintain propper rh in the Chamber? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanx