sup guys, i have a mini greenhouse setup, with right now 4 22"x11" trays, i have all my pvc setup for my ultrasonic to pipe in my humidity, and i also have a small ventelation fan hooked up to the pvc for air exchange, now, this fan will probably do a full air exchange in 30 seconds, it really moves the air around, but anyways my question is, do you think i should place a hepa filter over the intake of the blower? i had planed on this, seeing as how i will have 8 trays total in the greenhouse at one time, i think a hepa might be a good idea to ensure the air being pumped into the greenhouse is not going to contam anything, and i feel with a hepa on the intake this would make me feel much better about my casings staying uncontaminated. also I am ready to case them with verm, do i pasteurize or sterilize the verm? im gonna end up just tossing it in the oven with a bunch of water and bake it, so i could probably either sterilize it or pasteurize it. any suggestions? thanks again guys, this is setting up to be a huge success for me so far! preciate all the help thus far guys.
Q about air ex.[humidistat]
Started By
tempest2003
, Jun 06 2005 10:12 AM
13 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_Peter Cottontail_*
Guest_Peter Cottontail_*
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Posted 06 June 2005 - 10:19 AM
There's no need to filter the air entering a growing environment. They do just fine left open to the normal airflow. The main thing is air exchange and humidity.
Pasteurize the casing material. The oven is a poor choice for pasteurization, but if you use it, be sure as said the vermiculite is moist, and insert a meat thermometer into the verm. Start a timer when the material reaches 160F, and let it remain there for one hour. Adjust the temp of the oven so the vermiculite maintains 160F. I would recommend mixing the verm 50/50 with peat. Performance is better and it's much easier to read the moisture content by color with peat added.
RR
Pasteurize the casing material. The oven is a poor choice for pasteurization, but if you use it, be sure as said the vermiculite is moist, and insert a meat thermometer into the verm. Start a timer when the material reaches 160F, and let it remain there for one hour. Adjust the temp of the oven so the vermiculite maintains 160F. I would recommend mixing the verm 50/50 with peat. Performance is better and it's much easier to read the moisture content by color with peat added.
RR
#3
tempest2003
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Mycophage
Posted 06 June 2005 - 10:26 AM
think so? man, so many ingredients, i already have 50lbs of rye sitting in my closet, lol
#4
tempest2003
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Mycophage
Posted 06 June 2005 - 10:42 AM
im concerned with the sterility of the environment though, my whole house is carpet, i have the floor in the closet covered with plastic, but still, im deff going to use some kind of filter, what do yall suggest? i have about a 6x6" hole to cover with some kind of ventelation material. thanks guys!
#5
tempest2003
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Mycophage
Posted 06 June 2005 - 07:42 PM
also, how wet should the casing material be? give me an idea, thanks!
#6
Guest_Peter Cottontail_*
Guest_Peter Cottontail_*
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Posted 06 June 2005 - 08:33 PM
I've been growing in a silly condo with hardly any ventilation and wall to wall carpet everywhere, including my bedroom which is also the lab, complete with a bed, clothes in the closet, jars and other crap everywhere, cameras and tripods, microscopes, etc., gawd it's a mess. I can't even run the hepa vacuum cleaner I bought because there's so much shit piled up on the floor, but you've all seen the pictures. Mushrooms grow just fine in all that mess. I used to run whole room hepa's from sears in every room of the house. I no longer do. They're all tucked away in a storage building because quite frankly, they're not necessary.
The thing to remember when doing sterile work, be EXTREMELY sterile. Once your grains are inoculated and safely tucked away inside filter disk protected jars your sterile work is finished.
Trich and cobweb are your enemies in the fruiting chamber. Neither will grow in an environment with fresh air that circulates. Both want still, stale air with a high CO2 level. Provide the air exchange your fan will give, and you'll never see green. What you will see is dry casings and cracked caps on your mushrooms if you can't also provide enough moisture in that rapidly exchanging air. That is your challenge. Provide enough air exchange to ward off the trich, while providing enough moisture to prevent drying out. If a 6 x 6 opening is all you have, that's probably not enough. My mini-greenhouse extends from the floor to the ceiling, and the door is simply a piece of plastic sheeting that covers the entire front of the darn thing with no attachment except at the top. On the bottom is a piece of PVC pipe that holds the plastic in place by gravity. The entire 8' of both sides is unsealed for air exchange. There is two 6" x 6" holes cut for cameras to shoot time lapse videos through so air exchange is not an issue. I use two cool mist humidifiers located inside the greenhouse for humidity. Both are connected to a humidistat that is set for 80%. They cycle on and off to maintain that humidity level. I have no fan to provide fresh air. The horribly loose fitting door and the camera holes provide enough. I'm only 50 miles directly downwind from a very large rain forest that is the birthplace of most of the trichoderma in north america.(that's an exaggeration, but it makes my point)
To repeat: Air exchange is the key to your growing environment. Sterility is the key to your inoculation procedures. Don't confuse the two. I hope this has helped.
RR
The thing to remember when doing sterile work, be EXTREMELY sterile. Once your grains are inoculated and safely tucked away inside filter disk protected jars your sterile work is finished.
Trich and cobweb are your enemies in the fruiting chamber. Neither will grow in an environment with fresh air that circulates. Both want still, stale air with a high CO2 level. Provide the air exchange your fan will give, and you'll never see green. What you will see is dry casings and cracked caps on your mushrooms if you can't also provide enough moisture in that rapidly exchanging air. That is your challenge. Provide enough air exchange to ward off the trich, while providing enough moisture to prevent drying out. If a 6 x 6 opening is all you have, that's probably not enough. My mini-greenhouse extends from the floor to the ceiling, and the door is simply a piece of plastic sheeting that covers the entire front of the darn thing with no attachment except at the top. On the bottom is a piece of PVC pipe that holds the plastic in place by gravity. The entire 8' of both sides is unsealed for air exchange. There is two 6" x 6" holes cut for cameras to shoot time lapse videos through so air exchange is not an issue. I use two cool mist humidifiers located inside the greenhouse for humidity. Both are connected to a humidistat that is set for 80%. They cycle on and off to maintain that humidity level. I have no fan to provide fresh air. The horribly loose fitting door and the camera holes provide enough. I'm only 50 miles directly downwind from a very large rain forest that is the birthplace of most of the trichoderma in north america.(that's an exaggeration, but it makes my point)
To repeat: Air exchange is the key to your growing environment. Sterility is the key to your inoculation procedures. Don't confuse the two. I hope this has helped.
RR
#7
buggyboy
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Mycophiliac
Posted 06 June 2005 - 10:13 PM
Not to jack this thread but this is what Ive been toying with today and I would like to know where you get a humidistat that controls your coolmist??? It would really help me out. Also if you use an external coolmist doesnt it also provide air exchange at the same time. Thread jacking over, wont do it again.
#8
tempest2003
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Mycophage
Posted 07 June 2005 - 12:47 PM
good info Rodger, see its the things like that that no one ever says that make people like my self so concerned with sterility. okay so now my question is, how often should i do a full air exchange? and do i only need to do 1 full air exchange?? or let it run for a while? i dont want to dry them too much. thanks again rodger, this thread thould stay up top for a while, cause you're right, we've all seen what youve done, i never had any idea what your enviro of your condo was. a+
-temp
-temp
#9
chill
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celtic tiger
Posted 07 June 2005 - 07:56 PM
I agree with buggyboy, if you are using an external coolmist you should get both air exchange and humidity. I don't imagine you will need the fan much if at all.
Run the ultrasonic and monitor how much humidity you are getting. Put the ultrasonic on a timer and adjust accordingly.
Cased trays only need about 70% RH if I remember correctly.
Run the ultrasonic and monitor how much humidity you are getting. Put the ultrasonic on a timer and adjust accordingly.
Cased trays only need about 70% RH if I remember correctly.
#10
tempest2003
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Mycophage
Posted 08 June 2005 - 04:25 PM
not using an external coolmist, just an ultrasonic with my fan for air exchanges, im thinking 2-3 times a day for full air exchanges. sound okay? or should i do more? the greenhouse is packed with trays.
#11
chill
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celtic tiger
Posted 08 June 2005 - 09:52 PM
By external, I mean the humidifier sits outside the greenhouse so it is pushing air AND moisture into the chamber at the same time.
I don't think you'll need the fan but if you want you can run the fan once or twice to blow the whole thing out but you'll also be reducing your humidity at the same time.
I don't think you'll need the fan but if you want you can run the fan once or twice to blow the whole thing out but you'll also be reducing your humidity at the same time.
#12
tempest2003
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Mycophage
Posted 09 June 2005 - 09:43 AM
okay then ill run it 2x a night early morning, and late night, the sucker is loud anyways. i guess ill just have it come on for a mine each time.
#13
Hippie3
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DUNG DEALER
Posted 10 June 2005 - 10:46 AM
a timer is handy to dial the humidity in exactly
#14
Guest_Peter Cottontail_*
Guest_Peter Cottontail_*
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Posted 10 June 2005 - 11:58 AM
A good cycle timer costs more than a humidistat. A humidistat will cycle on and off several times per hour to maintain the setpoint. My cool mists only run for 30 seconds or so at a time, once each five to ten minutes depending on the ambient humidity and whether or not the lights are on. With the lights, you need to run the humidifiers more than without the lights on, so a humidistat really works well. You can find both at the link below. Scroll down to the pre-wired humidistat and the pre-wired cyclestat timer. Take your pick.
RR
http://www.littlegre...controls2.shtml
RR
http://www.littlegre...controls2.shtml
