You can sterilize the jars but that doesn’t do any good because they will get sterilized in the PC.
My favorite sized tub is 16 X 12 X 7"… I put anywhere from1.5 to 2 quart jars of grain into that substrate that is approximately 3.5-4 inches deep. I just make up substrate, pasteurize it and use what I need (I always make too much). The leftover, I keep in a sealed bucket and just re-pasteurize it for the next round.
Same size I use. The ones I buy fit perfectly on the shelf of a martha tent (2 side-by-side per shelf.)
Yup. So @TT I buy two of the same size. I use one as the bottom and one as the top. Get clear totes and all you have to do is line the bottom with a black trash bag or spray paint. I don’t spray paint now because the paint eventually starts chipping off.
I’m about ready to fire up a grow now that the risk of my syringes freezing in the mail is almost gone. Will probably order B+ later in April.
I havent done the process yet but i painted the bottom of my first monotub and then read its an outdated tech and to just use black bags as liners too. Mostly because the substrate shrinks back and exposes the sides risking side pins and aborts. Is this correct @Caligurl
It does, but my experience has been that the substrate sticks to the bag and pulls the bag in with it as it shrinks and pulls away from the sides.
Yeah thats what i meant. The bag allows for less issues as apposed to painting the bottom of the tub.
I haven’t had issues with the bag moving with the substrate as it shrinks…
What i read was that the bag is a better tech because it will shrink with the sub preventing side pins that can be an issue with just painted sides
I’ve personally never seen side pins as much of an issue. I just harvest them like any others and clean up any aborts between flushes.
Sometimes its a treat when you take the cake out and theres a 40g monster along the bottom.
Alternatively, if you roll you cake in verm and place it on the rack in a martha tent you increase your fruiting surface area by 100%.
I plan on doing monotub tech and grainbags and skipping jars all together. Or is that not a good choice?
Do you mean colonize grain a grain bag and transfer that to bulk for colonization of bulk? It would work well.
Otherwise:
You can colonize and fruit a block from grain bags, but you will have a far more productive grow if you colonize jars and then use the jars to colonize bulk substrate.
You may be disappointed if you try to colonize a monotub with syringes. It will take a very long time (months) to colonize a bulk tub from spores, increasing your chances of contamination.
I colonize jars and then transfer to bulk. It takes a month to 6 weeks to colonize quart jars (I use popcorn,) then it takes an additional 2 to 3 weeks for the bulk to colonize.
Agree 100% its always better to not put all your mushrooms in one basket so to speak. If you make one big bag, a single contamination could cost you everything, where as you make several jars and one fails its not the end of the world.
LOL…so this is funny. Just finished a first flush and half the tote, the substrate pulled away and the other side, the black bag is moving with it LOL…
Id preferably like to use my own bags, but from what i watched, you definitely need a pressure cooker for those right?.. omgosh look what i found today!! An old The Magic Seal canner 14-21.
Thank you 
i book marked so i dont lose it lol
Yes, so the grain jars need to be pressure cooked. The substrate only needs pasteurization which is literally just putting the substrate ingredients in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid and pouring boiling water over it.
Need a pressure cooker for any grain, regardless of the vessel it is in.
