u/Outlaw300

I’ve been developing a fully closed-loop substrate system, mostly as an experiment around reducing dependence on coir and other purchased bulk materials.

The basic premise is using diet-controlled humanure as the bulk input. I’ve been keeping my intake mostly grain-based lately, mainly brown rice, oats, millet, and sorghum, with the goal of keeping the output as consistent as possible from batch to batch.

The part I’m trying to figure out is the collection and processing side. Would it make more sense to collect directly into the pasteurization bucket to avoid toilet-side contamination, or is post-collection transfer generally fine as long as the material is strained and pasteurized afterward?

I’m also curious how people would handle urine in this setup. Since urine and feces are usually collected together unless intentionally separated, would that meaningfully change the substrate profile, or would pasteurization make that a non-issue?

The other limiting factor is that indoor processing is off the table for me now.

Has anyone experimented with human-derived manure in this kind of context, or found any useful literature on it? Mostly interested in substrate viability, contamination control, and whether this is even worth dialing in further.

Coco coir is getting expensive. I’ve been experimenting with becoming my own manure supplier by increasing my whole grain intake. Assuming proper pasteurization, is there any literature on human-derived bulk substrate? I’m trying to reduce production costs while making my cultivation process more sustainable.

The only real issue I’ve run into is transferring the material from the toilet to the pasteurization bucket. I end up with a lot of saturated toilet paper, which seems like unnecessary biomass. Does anyone have guidance on proper straining techniques, or would an all-in-one approach be more practical?

Ever since I started utilizing grain-to-grain transfers for my spawn, I’ve been on a big efficiency kick.

I’ve been on an exclusively whole grain diet for the past three weeks. Brown rice, oats, millet, and sorghum only. I even discovered that NBS mix makes for a pretty decent granola substitute.

Coco coir is getting expensive, so I’ve been looking into becoming completely self-sufficient. If I properly pasteurize my own manure, am I technically just cutting out the middleman?

Does anyone have experience pasteurizing human feces for use as a bulk substrate? Also, would it be better to defecate directly into the bucket tek? I’m worried about introducing contaminants by transferring the material from the toilet, since that seems like an unnecessary extra step. I also find myself having to strain out the pulpy chunks of toilet paper afterward, which feels inefficient.

Thanks in advance, and happy growing!