There is some interesting information coming in on the subject of testing how good your disinfection routine is. 
The use of hydrogen peroxide (H202) is well known as a powerful cleaner due to its oxidising properties. When it comes into contact with ‘live’ material it starts to react producing small bubbles of oxygen or severe fizzing in the presence of live organic matter and this includes spores and mycelia debris.

Using this product is a really useful and quick indicator to any farm to establish how ‘clean’ key areas are. It is a way of checking how good the clean down operation really is, without having to do lots of checks with agar plates.
Simply take a 1L plant spraying bottle, fill with 100ml of hydrogen peroxide (35%) and top up with water. Test surfaces by spraying and observing what happens over a 10-15 minute period. The more fizzing and bubbles means there is live organic matter present, so the area needs further investigation. No response means all is clean.
This can be a labour intensive process, but it is very worthwhile to know what is really going on and if there are issues, they can be pointed out to the people responsible for the cleaning operation.

Interestingly some clients of ours in USA are adding hydrogen peroxide directly to the Sporekill as they are doing their cleaning process. In this way, the person who is cleaning down can see how effectively the disinfection process is going as the process is done by looking back at the areas just cleaned. 2 jobs in one!

A note of caution, Sporekill is stable and compatible with hydrogen peroxide but if you consider using other products, you must check first with your supplier about this to ensure that mixing is safe to the user and equipment. Also PPE must be used when handling hydrogen peroxide as it can ‘burn’, so read safety data sheets first before handling. Hydrogen Peroxide on it own breaks down to water after reaction and Sporekill with hydrogen peroxide will leave no residues that can affect the mushroom and crop itself; a big plus!
On the subject of cleaning down, we wanted to point out how Sporekill is particularly effective on concrete surfaces.....WHY.....

If you look at concrete surface you will see many small cracks and holes depending on the age of the concrete and the finish.
These areas are perfect locations to trap spores and mycelial debris and these are not killed easily. For example, when you cook out houses, the floors will rarely reach the same temperature as the rest of the house, so things are not killed off as you would imagine. Air movement or activities like brushing and washing can bring these into the air and act as infection sources. This is especially important for Verticillium. So floor hygiene is just as important as the cooling cycle is for the compost.

We at Nutrigain have always been aware of this and it is why we add components into Sporekill which are extremely ‘sticky’ to spores and debris, trapping them in the soapy matrix as it dries on a surface. In the case of concrete, the barrier formed is an “insoluble” sealed surface which means it cannot be washed away and will in fact build layer on layer with repeated use. A TRAPPED SPORE is a SAFE SPORE. 

We would like to acknowledge Mr Nikodem Sakson who is the author of this method of testing. For more information please go to www.nutrigain.com for details and contact details.