|
Some of these posts are very old and might contain outdated information. You may wish to search for newer posts instead.
|
wygram
Myconaut
Registered: 01/28/07
Posts: 573
|
Grain in monotub or perlite fruiting chamber?
#6505569 - 01/28/07 05:08 PM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
This is my first grow. I'm going to have 6 QT's of rye berries. Now I need to figure out what is the best (balance of high yield/easy) way of casing the grain? Only concern is temperature, as the room has an ambient temp of 70...
Will a monotub with whole grain and verm/peat/lime casing work? Most monotubs I've seen are for "bulk" substrates, so can grain keep itself humid and still maintain enough moisture in the substrate? Second, I need to heat the casing for the re-colonization period. I want to be able to cold-shock my Amazons with a drop from 80's to 70's for fruiting. I've read that you can't directly heat the monotub tub with the substrate in it (as in TiT), because it will cause excessive evaporation and condensation on the casing. Is this really true and do I need a space heater to do a monotub, or can I build a monotub into a TiT set-up? If I pre-made the holes in the top tub for air exchange in the monotub fruiting chamber stage, would this be a concern while the bottom water-filled tub was still in place?
If a monotub isn't the best thing to get good yields from cased grain, then how do I heat a perlite fruiting chamber? Space heater or can I use an aquarium heater buried in the perlite?
|
MajorDick
notbeingadick
Registered: 10/14/06
Posts: 1,202
Loc: Westchestertonfieldville,...
|
Re: Grain in monotub or perlite fruiting chamber? [Re: wygram]
#6505579 - 01/28/07 05:13 PM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
70s is fine. Ya don't need to heat anything.
|
RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure
Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 42,214
Loc: Seattle
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
|
Re: Grain in monotub or perlite fruiting chamber? [Re: MajorDick]
#6505648 - 01/28/07 05:42 PM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
I would not do a monotub on your first grow. It would use up all your grain, and any mistakes you might make would wipe out the whole thing.
I'd suggest using each of your six quarts in their own small trays. Peat/verm makes a nice casing. A perlite terrarium will be fine. Just be sure to make a lot of holes in it or fan a few times per day. Agreed, you don't need to heat. 70 is great for fruiting. RR
-------------------- Download Let's Grow Mushrooms semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat "I've never had a failed experiment. I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work." Thomas Edison
|
wygram
Myconaut
Registered: 01/28/07
Posts: 573
|
Re: Grain in monotub or perlite fruiting chamber? [Re: RogerRabbit]
#6506066 - 01/28/07 07:40 PM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
I know that 70's are good for fruiting. I was trying to come up with a design that would allow for the easiest transition from an incubator to a fruiting chamber. If I go with the perlite fruiting chamber I should still build an incubator right? Would placing the uncolonized casings near a radiator could dry them out and expose to contaminants?
So you're suggesting six casings instead of one, because of possible contamination. Wouldn't a monotub be less exposed than fanning casings (even though fully colonized) during pinning in a perlite fruiting chamber?
Edited by wygram (01/28/07 08:10 PM)
|
Blutjager
Inhuman
Registered: 06/11/06
Posts: 9,220
|
Re: Grain in monotub or perlite fruiting chamber? [Re: wygram]
#6506112 - 01/28/07 07:55 PM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
Its one of those all your eggs in one basket situation,if the mono tub goes bad you lose everything,you shouldn't have an increase with contamination by fanning
|
MajorDick
notbeingadick
Registered: 10/14/06
Posts: 1,202
Loc: Westchestertonfieldville,...
|
Re: Grain in monotub or perlite fruiting chamber? [Re: wygram]
#6506519 - 01/28/07 10:01 PM (17 years, 2 months ago) |
|
|
>>>If I go with the perlite fruiting chamber I should still build an incubator right? Would placing the uncolonized casings near a radiator could dry them out and expose to contaminants?
Casings will still colonize at room temp. The temp drop is about the least important pinning trigger. You could (and should) stash your colonizing casings in a sweater box near that radiator. Unless it's really dirty or something. On a shelf high above the radiator may be better.
Edit: And if you think you can make a good monotub then go for it. You can always start over if it fails and you'll learn from it.
Edited by MajorDick (01/28/07 10:04 PM)
|
wygram
Myconaut
Registered: 01/28/07
Posts: 573
|
Re: Grain in monotub or perlite fruiting chamber? [Re: MajorDick]
#6527172 - 02/03/07 05:34 PM (17 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
So... I settled on a individual casings in a perlite fruiting chamber. Here is a picture of the proposed chamber:
The quality sucks, but I think you can see that the three bread pans fit pretty snuggly in the tub. I know that perlite needs space to allow for evaporation to effectively humidify the chamber, will that be enough space around the pans?
Second, which may actually be a solution to the first question... the bread pans are sized so that out of a one quart of rye berry the substrate layer will be ~1 inch. Is that too little? I can always use one and half jars for each casing, making the substrate layer ~1.5 inches. Using more substrate per casing would also solve the problem of having to fit three pans in one tub, because I would only have two per tub and plenty of space for perlite evaporation.
What do you think?
Edited by wygram (02/17/07 08:25 PM)
|
MajorDick
notbeingadick
Registered: 10/14/06
Posts: 1,202
Loc: Westchestertonfieldville,...
|
Re: Grain in monotub or perlite fruiting chamber? [Re: wygram]
#6527218 - 02/03/07 05:49 PM (17 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
1.5 inches of substrate will yield very disappointing fruits.
You should really look into spawning to a bulk substrate.
|
wygram
Myconaut
Registered: 01/28/07
Posts: 573
|
Re: Grain in monotub or perlite fruiting chamber? [Re: MajorDick]
#6527276 - 02/03/07 06:11 PM (17 years, 1 month ago) |
|
|
I don't need massive fruit bodies, lots of small mushrooms is fine. Plus, for a first time grow I want to be able to harvest everything in two or three flushes and not worry about contamination in later flushes. I've been reading scatmanrav and he seems to be doing pretty well with 1.5 - 2 inch grain substrate depths.
If all goes well, then I'll grab some myc into a liquid culture and then do bulk monotubs with compost.
Anybody have anything to add? Especially about the substrate depth.
Edited by wygram (02/03/07 08:35 PM)
|
|
|
You cannot start new topics / You cannot reply to topics HTML is disabled / BBCode is enabled
Moderator: Shroomism, george castanza, RogerRabbit, veggie, mushboy, fahtster, LogicaL Chaos, 13shrooms, Stipe-n Cap, Pastywhyte, bodhisatta, Tormato, Land Trout, A.k.a 8,468 topic views. 23 members, 118 guests and 88 web crawlers are browsing this forum.
[ Show Images Only | Sort by Score | Print Topic ] |
|