13 replies to this topic

[Mycol]

Fellow myconauts I have a few questions and I am sure we will find more as we go down this path . I am moving my research to a new location with an unfinished basement that I will be taking over .

I have never had a basement before, let alone used a basement to grow anything in . It is unfinished and in need of some cleaning . It has a concrete floor and a the ceiling is just the floorboards from the first floor. Lots of cobwebs and dust down there . A couple sump pumps. Furnace and water heater are down there so that could cause some heat issues . It’s got a door that I need to seal in so that I can minimize flying insects in there . It’s got a few windows too . I have a dehumidifier and will probably be upgrading that too .

Does anyone here use A basement similar to this or have experience they could share with me about problems that I might encounter and how to manage them ?

I’m going to get a UV lint that has a sticky trap on the back behind the bulb to trap bugs . I’ve got a portable ac unit that I can use down there too to keep it cool .

Thanks in advance Mycotopia

Edited by Mycol, 08 September 2020 - 03:38 PM.

[onediadem]

UV lights are not something I would recommend running for periods of time. Be very careful with them and do some research. Your best bet in a basement would be to build a structure that you can fully encapsulate in plastic sheeting. You can make some pretty awesome ones with 1x2's or 1x4's then cover in decent visqueen, or buy grow tents. And use a pond fogger for humidity. That keeps your grow and your basement safe from moisture damage.

 

Like this..

 

https://www.amazon.c...2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

 

or if you have the money..

https://www.amazon.c...aps,227&sr=8-53

 

And the plastic..

https://www.amazon.c...tag=googhydr-20

[Mycol]

I’ll have to get a hygrometer to measure my humidity .

I guess I should’ve clarified what I intend to grow and how .

I’ve been doing monotubs with good success . So my humidity levels should be ok in the tub . I was more worried the humidity levels outside of the tub being gnome low enough to draw humidity out of the tub to stimulate pinning .

[TVCasualty]

I'm guessing the "UV" light is just a "blacklight" type to attract bugs and is not a germicidal light, but it's important to know for sure so you don't give yourself cataracts or skin cancer.

 

One thing that will give you a huge advantage in a basement is if you can figure out how to rig a HEPA filter to draw air in from outside the space (the room upstairs would work), HEPA filter it, then blow it into the basement room to create a positive-pressure lab space that will keep the airborne contaminants out (of which basements have a lot, being the lowest space in the house). Don't forget to leave a space near the floor with a very fine mesh screen over it for the air to escape (be sure the exit duct or hole is small enough to ensure the room is pressurized, which just means more air is pumped into it than can escape at the same rate).

 

I set up a system like that and it worked amazingly well (lower contam rates than a regular upstairs bedroom without positive pressure). I'd also painted the masonry walls with a fresh coat of white masonry paint, sealed the floor with gray epoxy paint, and covered all the wood with plastic panels. Don't insulate the spaces between the joists if you enclose them in plastic panels or sheeting (it causes problems later). You can also clean all the exposed wood, seal up all the gaps with caulk or expanding foam, and paint them with a few coats of white paint instead of adding paneling. In my case I covered the ceiling with FRP, which worked but was a nightmare to install and one of the more expensive (but permanent) options. It looks like shit since it's like tacking a very heavy wet noodle to the ceiling, but it's a basement grow space no one else is supposed to see.

 

To save yourself the trouble of a basement renovation (which you probably wouldn't want to do in a rental property; you didn't specify if it's owned or rented which makes a difference in how to approach it) you can build a room within the space with PVC pipe and fittings and enclosed in plastic sheeting. If you have the space you might consider making two PVC rooms, one for the lab and one for fruiting (both with positive pressure air filtration).

 

I guess all this is to say that what to do will be determined by whether it's owned or rented, your goals in terms of output, and your budget.

[Mycol]

I’ll own this one so I can make it look like a diy versus a pro remodel . I’d kind of thought about framing with some pvc and getting the poly sheeting to cover it didn’t think about using a hepa filter to make the frame a positive pressure box but that’s a good idea .

How big of a hepa filter would you need to make your whole basement a positive pressured space ? Mine is pretty big at least 800 square feet . Thanks TVCasualty

[TVCasualty]

In my case I just added a duct to my first flow hood (the smallest one Stamets sells) and used that to pressurize the room:

 

 

The air is being drawn into the flow hood from the occupied space of the house upstairs. I had to get creative in making an intake that was stealthy while also being large enough to prevent the air from making too much noise as it was being sucked into the duct. There would sometimes be people in the house who could not know about what was up in the basement.

 

That was overkill for the space (~300 sq. ft.), and a much smaller fan/filter setup would work since all you need to do is ensure air flows from inside the room out (it doesn't need to be high pressure, just positive). I'm mostly winging it with this stuff, so I'm not really sure how much volume and pressure is enough; if there's a slight breeze flowing out under the door of the lab it'll keep out airborne contaminants but if it's more like a strong wind then it might keep out gnats and flies as well.

 

A few more details about the setup pictured above: https://mycotopia.ne...-2#entry1409835

[Mycol]

Just got back from dropping off a load of stuff to the new spot. One room in the basement looks kind of finished . The ceiling is done and the walls have masonry paint on them . I will probably do the floors with that gray epoxy paint .

It should work out well if used an upstairs room to inoculate my sub And incubate, Case then they’d be colonized and have the lids on them when I brought them Down to that room to fruit . It works in my head at least ?

[TVCasualty]

That's a good plan assuming the room upstairs is clean.

 

Ideally we'd have the lab space and the growing/fruiting space in separate buildings, or separate rooms if that's not possible. But the vast majority of us have to do both in the same room, which makes having good technique essential. I'd guess that we learn faster when forced to do everything in one room since mistakes become apparent real fast.

 

If you can install a positive-pressure HEPA air filtering system for your lab space in the basement then that would be superior to an upstairs room that doesn't have one (IMO). This doesn't require a laminar flow hood, just HEPA-level filtration so it can be built for less than a hood. I just used my old one (which was overkill) since all I had to do was mount it on the wall, add a duct, and plug it in. If making one from scratch I'd use a much smaller filter element and blower since all it needs to do is maintain a slight flow of air out of the room (it's only "pressurized" in a technical sense).

[Mycol]

Thanks for the input TV, really appreciated .

I’m going back In a few days and I’m getting a clearer visions each time , I’m pretty sure I could rig one of my store bought hepa units to draw air from upstairs and exhaust it into the room with some rigging . It’ll be a couple months before in can start that project but it’s good to flesh these ideas out ahead of time .

[Mycol]

Well an update on the basement is probably due . We have been inundated with water around here and that water has found its way into the basement coming in from tiny cracks in the walls and floor. In some spots I’ve got water sitting there in a puddle abiut an inch deep . Some spots are dry as the floor is uneven . The little room lets water in from the wall where a window used to be but is now cemented in . It hasn’t been too fun at all and just maintaining that has cut into my mush time significantly.

I’ve got another spot to do things in for the time being . I’ll post here when I make some more progress .

[TVCasualty]

That sucks about the water. Sounds like you have some digging to to. Hopefully there's enough slope for a french drain.

[Mycol]

Yeah going to need some gutters. I’ve been moving dirt away from the property and trying to make slopes where it goes away from the house .

[TVCasualty]

I'm in the same boat, almost literally.

 

One of the reasons I had so many mold problems over the years is that whomever graded the property to build the house I live in was a moron, so as a result when it rains a lot for several days I get an indoor pool down in the crawlspace (the highest water line is ~4" off the dirt at the top of the slope; it's almost two feet deep at the bottom). The flooding pushes the plastic sheeting off the dirt, so then the space stays at 90+% rH constantly until I go fix it. The floor joists are kind of furry. So the fact that I still managed to pull it off so well for so long means it forced me to adopt some OCD-level sterile technique. If you can grow in my house, you can grow ANYwhere.

 

I know the builder was a moron because my house is on a South-facing, ~15-20 degree constant slope (and he used dynamite to make the hole for the septic tank). There is NO reason for the crawl to flood except that it was graded to resemble a funnel with the house at the bottom. They moved too much goddamned dirt, in other words. So I'm on a relatively steep hill but get flooded anyway.     [/END RANT]

Edited by TVCasualty, 23 February 2021 - 05:53 PM.

[Mycol]

Oy vey TV. We are in the same boat and we are taking on water . I wish I had some steep terrain we are flat as a board around here .
The previous owner was a real handy guy but some of the Decisions he made or ignored has made me scratch my head a few times .

That ice covered tree picture I have is a beautiful ornamental but the bed it’s in has a slight grade toward the house and no gutters over there . I’m trying to delicately trench around it And get the water moving away from the house . Not that that will be the total solution even after I get gutters on that side of the house since our water table is probably like tweet feet.