41 replies to this topic

[petri]

What works for you? When casing a bulk substrate , do you not allow air exchange as per Stamets, or do you give it fresh air during the casing run as others have suggested? I've gone with the little to no air exchange and feel like I'm playing roulette with my bulk substrate. I'm Fing tired of not knowing whether I'm going to lose my work or not.

[I_am_me]

During the spawn run I've seen good success with loose fitting lids. Such as, if you spawn to some trays cover them in foil and poke a few small holes in the top. If its a bulk in a tub you could put the lid on but leave one side no closed all the way, just something to keep a tab bit of air exchange without getting too much light in.

[1dumbmyco]

I agree with both posts above, though of differing opinions, as when I use foil it is tightly wrapped and I check it once a day then mist lightly with 10% peroxide. With small tupperwares I leave the lid tight with a couple small holes and open daily for a sec to see if any contams have gained an adavantage and mist lightly with peroxide/water. I think the myc benefits from a dash of fresh air and CO2 levels quickly recover. This is just what has worked for me and my friend.

[Hippie3]

the casing layer itself will do most of the trapping of the needed co2,
that is after all
one of its' primary functions.
now are we talking
bulk substrate runs
or casing runs here
as they are different ?
a casing layer should just be grown thru
not fully colonized
so i like a little air just to keep the molds at bay,
i'll take a day or two delay in pinning
over a tray of green
any day of the week.

[SgtFRP]

I fruit my cakes in footlong and half foot wide trays with 7 inch plastic domes. I fill the bottom of the tray with about an inch of pertlite and fan and mist a few times daily.

I am at the point where I am probably going to be fruting 5 or 6 of these domes at any one time. As you can imagine, this will drastically increase the amount of time per day it takes me to fan and mist. I have a nice airpump with 4 air outlets that I use to run my hydroponics resevoirs off of. I was wondering if I could run an air tube from this into each of domed trays and set it to run once every hour. Would this be enough to push the co2 out of the tray (through the crack between the tray and the lid)? Can anyone think of a way that this 4 outlet pump might be utilized in automating the fanning process?

[smegma]

I fruit my cakes in footlong and half foot wide trays with 7 inch plastic domes. I fill the bottom of the tray with about an inch of pertlite and fan and mist a few times daily.

I am at the point where I am probably going to be fruting 5 or 6 of these domes at any one time. As you can imagine, this will drastically increase the amount of time per day it takes me to fan and mist. I have a nice airpump with 4 air outlets that I use to run my hydroponics resevoirs off of. I was wondering if I could run an air tube from this into each of domed trays and set it to run once every hour. Would this be enough to push the co2 out of the tray (through the crack between the tray and the lid)? Can anyone think of a way that this 4 outlet pump might be utilized in automating the fanning process?

Yes, hook 4 hoses to it and the domes and put it on a timer. If it doesn't move much air, just run it all the time.

[python]

i was actually thinking of doing some auto for cakes myself,

my plan was to utilize some type of filters (maybe hepa) and tubing, and a fan.......i was thinking that having the fan sucking air OUT of the rubbermaids would be better than blowing in....... with a small hepa or some type of filter on each hole in the tubs......i think humidity could maintain itself nicely with the perlite and morning/night-time misting.....

i was also thinking of having a hepa blowing into a set of multiple hoses that run into the lower part of the tubs with either multiple small air outlets at the top, or one bigger air outlet with a filter up high on the tote.....

i have also tossed aroung the idea of some plastic that will lift and fall with the air exchange, as the air goes it blows up and allows circulation/exchange, and as the air stops it falls gently over the filtered hole and provides a little more closure to keep RH optimum......

but i dont know, i got to figure this one out as well.......

[python]

maybe a humidifier would work better for this too........

do you think a cool mist/ultrasonic could work for automation of air exchange for multiple tubs

i know some people use the humidifiers so that humidified air goes in thus reducing the risk of RH becoming too low.......

[python]

also wouldn't it be optimum for the air exchange holes to be located near the tops of the tubs?

[SgtFRP]

Python: I have considered attatching some sort of piece of pastic that open with the force of the air coming out of a hole, but have not found something suitable yet. I was wondering if you had an ideas you might want to share, as I'd like to test this out in the nmext few weeks. If it works, maybe its something we could both use.

[maliki]

On all my setups I double up on humidity. I use the perlite mothod with a cool mist humidifier . I run the cool mist into the my bin and run a small tube 1/4 inch out of the bottom side corner of my bin just above the perlite layer. The cool mist is timed to run for 15 minutes Once an hour. When the cool mist is runing there is a nice slow steady breez that exits the the 1/4 inch line.

[anticheffy]

I run 3 air pumps in my aquarium 24/7 and it works fab ......but I case not cake

[python]

thanks for the replies guys, pics are always nice too.

SGT FRP, i will construct something myself and post pics sometime soon........

[chill]

I just run a tube from my air pump into my tub and I don't even fan anymore. The cakes fuzz up nice and good and there seems to be lots of humidity. I still mist but its out of habit really.

Running the cool mist results in lots more work IMO. It's a fire hazard if it runs out of water. Can result in too much water in the tub and so on. If you want lots of humidity just increase your perlite. I use 3 inches in my tub and have no problems at all. Much simpler than the cool mist setup that I originallly started iwth.

[nomoreusmc]

just remember as rr has pointed out that fruiting chambers need not to be stairal. No need for heppa filters, just an added expenese

[the_other_chap]

I'm currently considering putting a small fan (probably a CPU cooler) in the top of
my terrarium to automate the air exchange process.
My main question is:
Should I have in on full power and a timer (15 minutes per hour?) or should I drop the speed and run it continuously?
Will it make any difference?

I'm intending to build a small filter box, and have the fan draw the air through this and blow down towards the bottom of the tank. I'm thinking that the downdraft of air will mix any CO2 collecting at the bottom into the main volume of the tank.
I could also mount the fan in a duct and suck air from the bottom of the tank, but that might make filtering the incoming air problematic (many small gaps for the air to get in through).

Any suggestions or advice welcome. :)

[reverend trips]

hey chap, a cool mist humidifier on a timer may work better for ya, i have one of these and it works great, it draws in filtered air too.
http://www.kaz.com/h..._humidifier.htm

[the_other_chap]

http://www.comparest...-humidifier.asp
Yep, I have one of those (same model, different brand), and it just happens that 22mm drainpipe fits neatly into the outlet when you remove the nozzle :)
The fan in the unit delivers about the right amount of air, and if it's the only source, about the right humidity (turned to minimum). However, I use water in the bottom of the tank for both temperature and humidity, so I'd rather not use another source of moisture if I can avoid it.
The unit's pretty useful elswhere too, so I don't really want to tie it up.

I have used it as an air exchanger and humidifier for the terrarium, but it takes up a lot of space and I'd rather have something I can fit under the fishtank hood.