Too test moisture content, you can buy a moisture tester for wood, the same tester that they use when drying wood in a kiln. Alternatively, grab 100grams and dry it in an Oven at 180 for 15 or so, then weigh again your saw dust, to work out your moisture content .
Hi Gary! Don't know if you'd still respond to questions from this old video, but I just recently found a source for unlimited hardwood sawdust. it's a mix of oak, maple, alder and cherry. no other woods are in it, and it's free. I'm wanting to supplement with soy hull pellets. I'm not finding many videos about using sawdust. should I hydrate the soyhulls, mix with dry sawdust, then add more water? not sure how to go about this. any input would be appreciated!
hey! That’s great a good free source makes things fun for sure! I did this for years until our demands increased but what I did was measure out my hulls dry first in the bag, then measured out the saw dust dry in the bag then added water to equal 65% moisture content (weight for weight with dry substrate to water)
@@FreshfromtheFarmFungi Hi Gary, some growers told me that for every 1 kg of dry substrate, we have to add between 1 and 1.2 liters of water. I think that this amount of water is very high because the ideal is for the substrate to have between 60-70% humidity. Therefore, if we want a substrate with 60% humidity, we would have to add 600 mL of water for every 1 kg of dry substrate. Normally the wood shavings or sawdust, even if they are dry, usually have approximately 10% moisture, so we would finally get a substrate with 70% moisture. Do you agree?
I have used "fresh chopped" oak sawdust, but i had 100pcent contamination. Since its fresh and not hardwood pellets that undergo some sort of heat treatment, what can i do despite proper asseptic technique at inoculation? sterilize for more time?
I have a question , is it even possible to get a full colinised jar from a grain to pure hydrated/sterilised sawdust? Without any nutrition, will the mycelium accept there is no nutrition?
Lisemarie Caron Yes. It takes a bit longer to colonize and has less yields but also risks less contamination - it happens in nature all the time in the form of trees or stumps with no nutritional supplementation. The purpose of supplementing with brand and other grains is to increase yields/speed of colonization MUSHLOVE
Jerome Calderone I have tried it before but didn’t notice a significant difference so I do not use it but I believe it is used commonly with grains to help keep them from sticking and as a nutrient supplement for mycelium
Great video... I know it's a year old but very relevant for me right now as I'm presently making a ton of cherry wood sawdust bags ...with too much water in each bag !!🤬damnit
Dude where do you find Wheat Bran I got everything else already when I go looking for it I end up in the animal feed sections of certain stores? They keep telling me it's like horse feed ????
Be careful to make sure wherever you’re getting your sawdust from. Does not use anything else besides wood in their machines mini machinists will put things like epoxy and various other materials through that will contaminate your sawdust. And hence your mushrooms
Too test moisture content, you can buy a moisture tester for wood, the same tester that they use when drying wood in a kiln.
Alternatively, grab 100grams and dry it in an Oven at 180 for 15 or so, then weigh again your saw dust, to work out your moisture content .
Thank you for sharing
From a 5lb of substrate how many lb of mushroom do to get, and in how many flushes?
Thanks
What do you think about using maize/ corn bran as an additive since rice bran is not readily available in my country
It could work well just make sure it’s from a good source 👍
Hey Gary! How long is this bulk substrate good for? Can this be stored for up to a month?
after its sterilized it can be stored for a long time as long as it’s sterile (I have used some from a year prior and it was ok)
Hi Gary! Don't know if you'd still respond to questions from this old video, but I just recently found a source for unlimited hardwood sawdust. it's a mix of oak, maple, alder and cherry. no other woods are in it, and it's free. I'm wanting to supplement with soy hull pellets. I'm not finding many videos about using sawdust. should I hydrate the soyhulls, mix with dry sawdust, then add more water? not sure how to go about this. any input would be appreciated!
hey! That’s great a good free source makes things fun for sure! I did this for years until our demands increased but what I did was measure out my hulls dry first in the bag, then measured out the saw dust dry in the bag then added water to equal 65% moisture content (weight for weight with dry substrate to water)
hi Gary :) how much water for 1kg of beech pellets ?? im trying to make a substrate for lentinula edodes thank you so much for sharing your knowledge
try starting at 600mL and adjust accordingly
@@FreshfromtheFarmFungi thanks a lot ,one grower of my town say me 1 kg pellets to 2 l water
@@FreshfromtheFarmFungi Hi Gary, some growers told me that for every 1 kg of dry substrate, we have to add between 1 and 1.2 liters of water. I think that this amount of water is very high because the ideal is for the substrate to have between 60-70% humidity. Therefore, if we want a substrate with 60% humidity, we would have to add 600 mL of water for every 1 kg of dry substrate. Normally the wood shavings or sawdust, even if they are dry, usually have approximately 10% moisture, so we would finally get a substrate with 70% moisture. Do you agree?
If you chuck a normal mixer on a scale and subtract the weight of the mixer you will be able to measure the substrate weight before and after mixing
How has your bulk substrate mixing changed since this video? I'd love to see how you do your operation now.
yes these were the humble beginnings - now I use hwfp and soy hull blend
@@FreshfromtheFarmFungi I'm still in the humble beginnings and your videos are crazy helpful. Are you still mixing your substrate by hand?
@@FreshfromtheFarmFungi Hi Gary, what is hwfp? Thank you.
@@josealvarez8566 Hard Wood Fuel Pellets
@@mattnelson9123 thank you.
Hi again Gary, have you used wheat bran? Does using soybean hull blend increase biological efficiency? Greetings.
yes I like wheat bran for shiitake and I think soy hulls are better for other varieties
I have used "fresh chopped" oak sawdust, but i had 100pcent contamination. Since its fresh and not hardwood pellets that undergo some sort of heat treatment, what can i do despite proper asseptic technique at inoculation? sterilize for more time?
sterilize at least 90 minutes at 250F/15PSI - it will vary based on elevation and the volume of the substrate
I have a question , is it even possible to get a full colinised jar from a grain to pure hydrated/sterilised sawdust? Without any nutrition, will the mycelium accept there is no nutrition?
Lisemarie Caron Yes. It takes a bit longer to colonize and has less yields but also risks less contamination - it happens in nature all the time in the form of trees or stumps with no nutritional supplementation. The purpose of supplementing with brand and other grains is to increase yields/speed of colonization MUSHLOVE
Gary do you ever use gypsum in any of your substrates for any reason? Thanks.
Jerome Calderone I have tried it before but didn’t notice a significant difference so I do not use it but I believe it is used commonly with grains to help keep them from sticking and as a nutrient supplement for mycelium
Great video... I know it's a year old but very relevant for me right now as I'm presently making a ton of cherry wood sawdust bags ...with too much water in each bag !!🤬damnit
What if i compost it for 7 days before sterilized , dose the yield of oyster mushroom change,
Im not sure but I don’t think it would change much
Dude where do you find Wheat Bran I got everything else already when I go looking for it I end up in the animal feed sections of certain stores? They keep telling me it's like horse feed ????
yes I get it from feed stores
can the sawdust be mixed? or no mix(oak or alder sawdust only)
they can be mixed yes I think a healthy blend makes stronger fungi
Do you have a solid formula now for the sub ratio?
yes I do one part soy hulls, one part sawdust and 2 parts water by volume
Where do you go to get wheat bran?
murdochs
Be careful to make sure wherever you’re getting your sawdust from. Does not use anything else besides wood in their machines mini machinists will put things like epoxy and various other materials through that will contaminate your sawdust. And hence your mushrooms
👍
What size (type) bags do you use for your fruiting bags?
Dune1000 Nobleman We use 5lb biodegradable bags from Meyers Mushrooms
Look up Unicorn bags, best quality and that where Myers gets his from, buy from the source no need for middle men