peanut shells

[Tabs]

works better than vermiculite.

[laughingwillow]

Non-salted and crushed?

[Tabs]

Non-salted.
First you crack the peanuts open and eat 'em!  Just save the shells, no reason to crush them.
In fact, I think the fungus likes the dark nooks and crannies.

Boil a big pot of water and once it's boiling, put your peanut shells in there, stir it up, after 10 minutes, drain off the water.

Put your steamy nutshells in a bowl and sprinkle with brown rice flour, just to lightly coat the surfaces.
Fill up your jars with it.

The nut shells seem to have a natural anti-biotic or contaminant resistance.
And they retain moisture well.
I get healthier, more productive flushes.

[laughingwillow]

Do you heat the jars w/ water bath after filling, then cool and inoculate?

[Tabs]

After you load them with the steamy shells, go ahead and let them cool off 24 hours and them boil them jars for 40 mins or pressure cook or whatever you do.

Unlike the verm cakes, you don't need a dry verm layer on top or plain peanutshell layer on top, it needs none of that.

In fact, I've had perfect success just taking the jars out of the dishwasher, loading them with steamy shells, and not even cooking further, never had a problem.  That is why I say, it seems to me the peanut shells exude a powerful anti-contam naturally.

After the shells are in the jar and cool.   Course, you put foil under the lid.  I've had success using ziplock baggies too!
You just squirt your liquid culture over the shells so it drips down and it LOVES it.

I've used spores too, it works also, but if you make good liquid culture, and you spray it on there real good, your cakes will be done colonizing in like 7 days, literally.

[laughingwillow]

I'd like to know more about making a liquid culture......

I've had good success with shooters and bad with prints.

[Tabs]

You must be joking me laughing willow.
You've been a member here since 2005 and don't know how to make liquid culture?

It's just karo syrup and water in a baby bottle.
The nib of the bottle works perfectly as a self-healing port thru which you can insert syringe dozens of times to suck the liquid out and spray it into the jars.

If you're not pulling my leg, I have all sorts of expert mycology secrets for ya.
Liquid culture is definitely the way to go, spores take too long.
Using healthy liquid culture your jars will be done fully colonizing within 10 days usually, much faster than the 30 days it takes for spores.
You should only be using spores maybe once per year, or every other year.