I have chickens, who create quite a bit of poop I can use to grow mushrooms, but I’m not sure how to pasteurize/sanitize it. I was thinking pressure cooker?
I ordered some spore syringes and I’m not sure if i should get premade bags with injection ports or if I should make my own bags. It’s the same cost to buy bags and a used instant pot, and I already have coco coir. Once I get some mushroom colonies going I was planning on keeping it going by breaking it up and mixing it with fresh substrate, but I don’t want to keep buying pasteurized manure.
How do people do this? I’m very new
Not with chicken manure, kinda hard to grow stuff with it (it’s probably possible, but not for newbies). I’m assuming you are growing coir lovers, not gourmet mushrooms? Generally a pressure cooker is good, but it can depend on the media. If you are new, look into brf teks, they’re a pretty decent place to start, and I’d recommend jars in the instapot, not bags.
I have some magic syringe cultures but I’m hoping to grow some edible stuff too. Why would chicken manure not be as good as cow? Why are jars better than bags?
Cow manure is effectively slightly digested grass, and is pretty easy to sterilize. Chicken not so much. Jars are better because they can be reused, and the bags can occasionally melt if they touch the sides of the pressure cooker.
Also, different blends are required for gourmet than magic, generally either wood blends or maybe straw. Depends on the type, would recommend starting with oyster mushrooms.
Thank you!
No problem, hope it helps! If you want more tutorials, try checking out the shroomery message boards, bunch of knowledge over the decades (both for coir and gourmet). Happy growing!