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Anno
Experimenter



Registered: 06/17/99
Posts: 24,168
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Vermiculite water holding ability TEST
#1161256 - 12/21/02 11:56 PM (22 years, 1 month ago) |
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It has been a consent among the users of the PF-Tek, that the fine vermiculite can hold more water than the coarse variety.
I wanted to quantify this, and made a test:
120 ml of vermiculite were measured, weighed and then water was added to it until the vermiculite was saturated.(according to the PF-Tek for Simple Minds).
The 2 varieties used are the ones in this photo:
Test results:
Fine variety: 120 ml vermiculite, weighs 14 g, can hold 54 ml water. Coarse variety: 120 ml vermiculite, weighs 14 g, can hold 46 ml water.
As you can see, the water holding ability varies considerably between the 2 varieties. If you don?t take this into account when preparing substrate, it will be either too wet or too dry.
Edited by Anno (12/22/02 12:05 AM)
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Cow Shit Collector
Patty Poacher

Registered: 02/14/01
Posts: 1,959
Loc: Random Field
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Re: Vermiculite water holding ability TEST [Re: Anno]
#1161292 - 12/22/02 01:17 AM (22 years, 1 month ago) |
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Would you say the fine variety takes longer to colonize?
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Compiler


Registered: 11/03/01
Posts: 162
Loc: USA
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Post deleted by Administrator [Re: Anno]
#1161296 - 12/22/02 01:21 AM (22 years, 1 month ago) |
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-------------------- Compiler
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Anno
Experimenter



Registered: 06/17/99
Posts: 24,168
Loc: my room
Last seen: 4 days, 19 hours
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Re: Vermiculite water holding ability TEST [Re: Compiler]
#1161318 - 12/22/02 01:48 AM (22 years, 1 month ago) |
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5 minutes.
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Anno
Experimenter



Registered: 06/17/99
Posts: 24,168
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Last seen: 4 days, 19 hours
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>Would you say the fine variety takes longer to colonize?
I only used is one or two times 2 or so years ago and I don?t really remember how long it took. With the coarse variety I have consistent colonization times from 9-11 days, depending on the spores. But I will run a comparative test soon.
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shirley knott
not my real name

Registered: 11/11/02
Posts: 9,105
Loc: London
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Re: Vermiculite water holding ability TEST [Re: Anno]
#1161357 - 12/22/02 02:46 AM (22 years, 1 month ago) |
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i seem to remember that the consensus is: coarse verm better for substrate, fine verm better for casing.
would you go along with this, or does it not matter so long as the moisture content is optimum in both scenarios?
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Anno
Experimenter



Registered: 06/17/99
Posts: 24,168
Loc: my room
Last seen: 4 days, 19 hours
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Re: Vermiculite water holding ability TEST [Re: shirley knott]
#1162047 - 12/22/02 09:50 AM (22 years, 30 days ago) |
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Well, you can have good mycelium growth with both fine or coarse vermiculite, if the water content is right. The coarser vermiculite provides more cavities in the substrate, more air, something mycelium seems to like.
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Angry Mycologist
Spontaneouslycombusting

Registered: 11/24/02
Posts: 1,282
Loc: Galapagos
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Re: Vermiculite water holding ability TEST [Re: Anno]
#1162133 - 12/22/02 10:31 AM (22 years, 30 days ago) |
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Interesting. Do you think PF is correct when they call their fine verm recipe the "maximum fruiting formula"? I'm guessing this is only referring to the actual fruiting stage instead of colonization speed. Thanks for the info Anno.
-------------------- The proper penalty of ignorance, which is of course that those who don't know should learn from those who do... - Plato
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Anno
Experimenter



Registered: 06/17/99
Posts: 24,168
Loc: my room
Last seen: 4 days, 19 hours
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>Do you think PF is correct when they call their fine verm recipe the "maximum fruiting formula"? Could be.
> I'm guessing this is only referring to the actual fruiting stage instead of colonization speed. Definitely.
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Zen Peddler


Registered: 06/18/01
Posts: 6,379
Loc: orbit
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Re: Vermiculite water holding ability TEST [Re: Anno]
#1178538 - 12/30/02 12:20 AM (22 years, 23 days ago) |
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Where i am verm comes in four grades ranging from D=powder to A=thick grade. From reading puscle's post when i started out it became quickly apparent that the fine grade held water better. Although the courser stuff was good for air exchange, it often dried out before full colonisation. Stick with the fine grade - worked great for me. I literally use this stuff with everything i do other than agar plates - its great for moisture retention of any substrate - even shock horror! Shiitake blocks!
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