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30rack
Stranger

Registered: 06/22/11
Posts: 27
Last seen: 11 years, 4 months
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My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber
#18651749 - 08/02/13 09:10 PM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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A couple years ago I started learning how to grow mushrooms. I started out with a clear plastic tote and cool mist humidifier hooked up with garden hose etc. I decided I wanted to pursue learning about mushroom cultivation from a scientific standpoint and ended up writing my undergraduate thesis on my cultivation experiments with Pleurotus djamor.
However in order for this to have any defendable relevance to the University faculty, I needed something a little better than plastic totes and spray bottles and relying on ambient room temperatures. Time to think outside the box.
Also, Im a big fan of "set it and forget it". With this I.C./F.C. I dont have to even look at it for over a week at a time, and thats only to top off the water bottle.
Meet: "The incubator" At first glance it looks just like an old beer fridge in the basement.

and then we open it up:

on the side you will see the climate controls:

The unit is made of a bastardized 20 cu ft refrigerator. I found it on craigslist for nice and cheap because it wasnt getting "cold enough" (low on freon. totally cool with me, I keep it at 26*C for incubation anyway!) As I understand it, most if not all refrigerators have both a cooling element (duh) AND a heating element for defrosting said heating element. All of it is controlled with a thermocouple and a few other simple electronic devices which we promptly removed-along with the separation between "freezer" and "refrigerator". I used furnace tape to "seal" the opening edges. At this point it is basically a heavily insulated plastic box with a heating and cooling element already built in with no way to control the climate. because the factory climate control devices were removed...
...And replaced with some Zoomed reptile pet products! (seen in the third picture-the zoomed "hygrotherm"). *the thermo portion of this control unit had to be re-wired, just a simple switch of the open/close relay on the circuit board. otherwise it would run when it wasnt supposed to and not run when it was. switch the relay; now it works with the refrigerator's built in heating and cooling elements after some creative re-wiring.
the zoomed hygrotherm controls a humidifier (atop the refrigerator) and EITHER a heating or cooling element. Since this chamber has both (and temperate Pleurotus species sometimes need cold temperatures to induce pinning), that portion of the controller is intercepted by a switch allowing me to run whichever I want at the flip of a switch and press of a few buttons. Flawless (until it malfunctioned 2 weeks ago and cooked the HELL out of everything inside. More on this in a bit).
There is also a switch to control the 12 feet of rope lights (more than sufficient to induce fruiting).
after I came home to some melted petri plates, it was time to beef up the temperature control portion of this I.C./F.C. I used the same thermostat as is used on my pasteurizer (linked at the bottom), and this time it controls both a heater and a cooler at the same time, which disallows anything to run out of control and kill everything inside while simultaneously being a massive fire hazard.
Temperature is held consistently within 2-3 degrees of whatever I set the thermostat and rH at +/- 1%.
There is also a stronger fan which now runs constantly, and at the bottom (not seen) is a nice and strong fish tank air pump to constantly pump out CO2. CO2 is heavier than air, mathematically I have like 15 full fresh air exchanges per hour. Yeah, I bought a pump which moves way more air than necessary. Why? because this is America.
The pasteurizer: http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/18651549/vc/1#18651549
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Rockhound
The Rockweiler



Registered: 01/19/13
Posts: 664
Loc: hell creek anticline
Last seen: 9 years, 7 months
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: 30rack]
#18651881 - 08/02/13 09:35 PM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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From plastic tote to this.Yeah,I would say you are hooked.Innovative use of resources at hand!
-------------------- Rocks speak to me, and tell me this:
The Hell Creek formation is a gigantic slab of rocks that covers several western states. It contains an account of the dinosaurs' demise. In the late Cretaceous period, the first Cannabis species appear, and soon after, all the non-bird dinosaurs disappeared. Obviously, marihuana killed the dinosaurs. That giant meteor that smacked the yucatan peninsula right afterwards, coincidence.
Edited by Rockhound (08/02/13 09:41 PM)
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Sagescruffy
CH



Registered: 10/30/09
Posts: 2,011
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 4 months, 3 days
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: 30rack]
#18651889 - 08/02/13 09:36 PM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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Holy shit! Good job bro! I wonder if you could successfully fruit Azurescens and Cyanescens with that
Edit: forgot about it not being able to get "cold enough" but if it could, it would be interesting to see a fruiting attempt of those.
Edited by Sagescruffy (08/02/13 09:43 PM)
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elasticaltiger
Like Tigers in Coitus




Registered: 06/24/13
Posts: 8,438
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: 30rack]
#18651895 - 08/02/13 09:37 PM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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That's awesome man. You should publish detailed pictures / descriptions of how you made it from start to finish. I bet there's more than one person around here with a spare fridge they'd like to 'fix'
-------------------- First time growing cakes? DON'T make a Shotgun Fruiting Chamber
The Shmuvbox. - The Old TC's Like it
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Pastywhite's Easy Agar Tek (PastyPlates)
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EZEKIEL 23:20
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30rack
Stranger

Registered: 06/22/11
Posts: 27
Last seen: 11 years, 4 months
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: elasticaltiger]
#18651932 - 08/02/13 09:45 PM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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Thanks! I am glad somebody else can appreciate things like this.
I have a major advantage of having a father who happens to be a genius electrical engineer. Combine that with my knowledge of horticulture and biology, we came up with this. I sort of regret not taking "work in progress" pictures because this was one of my favorite projects that we did. seconded by the pasteurizer.
BUT this is just a super small model of what I will build in the future. The original designs involved a wood frame, foam insulation, painters tarp, and countless other items (mostly acquirable from Home Depot) (and about 30 design iterations). Then one day It hit me: a refrigerator! it already IS an insulated box, and it comes with heating and cooling devices... for much cheaper than can be purchased a-la-carte.
the next I.C./F.C will be about 170 cu ft: not quite as insulated as it is going to exist for just a few test runs in the garage. if successful, It is on to a warehouse and venture capitalists. Then I get to have some real fun with engineering.
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Sagescruffy
CH



Registered: 10/30/09
Posts: 2,011
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 4 months, 3 days
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: 30rack]
#18651949 - 08/02/13 09:49 PM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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Maybe one day anyone will be able to grow any type of mushroom with your idea.
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30rack
Stranger

Registered: 06/22/11
Posts: 27
Last seen: 11 years, 4 months
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: Sagescruffy]
#18652014 - 08/02/13 10:05 PM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
Sagescruffy said: Maybe one day anyone will be able to grow any type of mushroom with your idea.
I do have a plan to do some serious expansion on this idea to allow cultivation of obligate mycorrhizal symbionts for a graduate degree. I will be talking with a professor hopefully next week about possibly taking me on for a masters with said idea. It will require a LOT more space, way more power, and at least a couple years' time, but I really think it is possible. I already have the plans drawn, and in theory, it will work.
Edited by 30rack (08/02/13 10:08 PM)
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30rack
Stranger

Registered: 06/22/11
Posts: 27
Last seen: 11 years, 4 months
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: Sagescruffy]
#18652023 - 08/02/13 10:07 PM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
Sagescruffy said: Holy shit! Good job bro! I wonder if you could successfully fruit Azurescens and Cyanescens with that
Edit: forgot about it not being able to get "cold enough" but if it could, it would be interesting to see a fruiting attempt of those.
It CAN get cold "enough".
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Sagescruffy
CH



Registered: 10/30/09
Posts: 2,011
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 4 months, 3 days
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: 30rack]
#18652098 - 08/02/13 10:26 PM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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Well man I wish you the best of luck! Your intentions seem good
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arp180
student of life


Registered: 10/17/08
Posts: 1,449
Loc: Macondo
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: Sagescruffy]
#18652758 - 08/03/13 01:13 AM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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I'm all about automation, but I don't see this "thing" being an optimal setup in anyway shape or form. I don't even see any fruits.
-------------------- "Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing, I would choose pain." William Faulkner
"That which exists without my knowledge exists without my consent."
-A quote from the Judge in the novel Blood Meridian; or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
"Let there be light" My Quick Reference Guide to Lighting
My AutoMono (11oz First Flush)
My Monster Mushroom Mono (9.3oz First Flush)
  
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arp180
student of life


Registered: 10/17/08
Posts: 1,449
Loc: Macondo
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: arp180]
#18652771 - 08/03/13 01:20 AM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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Don't get me wrong, experiment away.
You said, "However in order for this to have any defendable relevance to the University faculty"???????
There is nothing new about your setup, besides it's inefficiencies.
-------------------- "Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing, I would choose pain." William Faulkner
"That which exists without my knowledge exists without my consent."
-A quote from the Judge in the novel Blood Meridian; or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
"Let there be light" My Quick Reference Guide to Lighting
My AutoMono (11oz First Flush)
My Monster Mushroom Mono (9.3oz First Flush)
  
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30rack
Stranger

Registered: 06/22/11
Posts: 27
Last seen: 11 years, 4 months
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: arp180]
#18654182 - 08/03/13 11:52 AM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
arp180 said: Don't get me wrong, experiment away.
You said, "However in order for this to have any defendable relevance to the University faculty"???????
There is nothing new about your setup, besides it's inefficiencies.
Calm your titties, internet badass. Show me how yours is better.
And inefficiencies? Please. This is a proof of concept and it holds climactic paramaters tight enough to produce scientifically relevant data. all for under 400$.
You dont see any fruits because -GET THIS- I dont have anything growing at the moment.
I also never claimed it was "brand new and innovative and nobody had ever done it before." But it is really cool, and you probably dont have one.
Earlier in the year, this came out of said I.C./F.C.:

here it was growing in a bread bag

Keep your drivel out of my threads.
Edited by 30rack (08/03/13 12:07 PM)
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krypto2000
Unknown


Registered: 12/05/06
Posts: 11,579
Last seen: 5 years, 2 months
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: 30rack]
#18654263 - 08/03/13 12:16 PM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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I think his point is just that it's no better, and possibly even worse, than a dialed in monotub, atleast for cubes. Cubes already prefer the temperature our homes are typically kept at and the only other thing to control is humidity/air exchange, which is as simple as making your holes the right size and stuffing them with the correct amount of polyfill. This is a cool idea, however except for a mass produced or large scale one I just don't see the practicality of it, and even as far as large scale goes why not just build a green house at that point?
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30rack
Stranger

Registered: 06/22/11
Posts: 27
Last seen: 11 years, 4 months
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: krypto2000]
#18654386 - 08/03/13 12:49 PM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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I dont grow cubes.
and with this set up I can grow everything from polypores to blue oysters to pink oysters.
It allows temperature stratification and day/night cycles. Monotubs dont.
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Rockhound
The Rockweiler



Registered: 01/19/13
Posts: 664
Loc: hell creek anticline
Last seen: 9 years, 7 months
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: 30rack]
#18658161 - 08/04/13 10:37 AM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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This thing has potential.I got an old 'fridge,and some spare time coming up soon.Humm.
-------------------- Rocks speak to me, and tell me this:
The Hell Creek formation is a gigantic slab of rocks that covers several western states. It contains an account of the dinosaurs' demise. In the late Cretaceous period, the first Cannabis species appear, and soon after, all the non-bird dinosaurs disappeared. Obviously, marihuana killed the dinosaurs. That giant meteor that smacked the yucatan peninsula right afterwards, coincidence.
Edited by Rockhound (08/04/13 05:59 PM)
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30rack
Stranger

Registered: 06/22/11
Posts: 27
Last seen: 11 years, 4 months
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: Rockhound]
#18660959 - 08/04/13 09:50 PM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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Get after it! It was a really satisfying feeling when I finished building this thing and found it worked way better than I ever thought it would. Not having to do ANY maintenance to one's grow frees up a lot of time.
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PhosCap
Gratuitous Heavenly Grace



Registered: 06/09/10
Posts: 975
Loc: Tartary
Last seen: 1 year, 8 months
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: 30rack]
#18661231 - 08/04/13 10:36 PM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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If you running this idea to VC's then just keep in mind it would be a niche product. Great thing about it is you can climatize it at will.
You mentioned that CO2 is heavier, which it is, but apparently the cO2 just mixes with the whole air in the FC and not necessarily just the bottom.
The drawback is cost of operation. Right now im using a plastic tote with holes for FAE and indirect sunlight. Everything is energy free
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PussyFart
Retired Cultivation Extrodinaire



Registered: 04/08/12
Posts: 22,502
Loc: Orbiting Earth
Last seen: 7 months, 28 days
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: PhosCap]
#18661433 - 08/04/13 11:03 PM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
30rack said: Not having to do ANY maintenance to one's grow frees up a lot of time.
Yes it does....which is why I do not incubate and I use monotubs.
Set and forget all the way baby.
Quote:
phosi said: You mentioned that CO2 is heavier, which it is, but apparently the cO2 just mixes with the whole air in the FC and not necessarily just the bottom.
True...co2 does not settle out of air, and does not sink to the bottom of a fruiting chamber.
--------------------
THIS HOBBY IS NOT FOR THE IMPATIENT! PLEASE BE PATIENT, DON'T BE A PATIENT!
A Tale of 10 Isolates, GT Cluster Clone Monotubs, RR's Let's Grow Mushrooms DVD,
SGFC(Shotgun Fruiting Chamber), Monotub Tek, Damion5050's Coir Tek, TL's Tek List, Frank's Tek List,
EvilMushroom666's Pasteurization Tek, How It Should & Shouldn't Look - NEW CULTIVATORS GUIDE
*** *** AFGHAN KUSH GROW LOG *** ***
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freebananas



Registered: 04/28/13
Posts: 504
Last seen: 10 years, 9 months
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: PussyFart]
#18661648 - 08/04/13 11:53 PM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
Notahacker420 said:
Quote:
30rack said: Not having to do ANY maintenance to one's grow frees up a lot of time.
Yes it does....which is why I do not incubate and I use monotubs.
Set and forget all the way baby.
Quote:
phosi said: You mentioned that CO2 is heavier, which it is, but apparently the cO2 just mixes with the whole air in the FC and not necessarily just the bottom.
True...co2 does not settle out of air, and does not sink to the bottom of a fruiting chamber.
CO2 does not settle out of air because its soluble in air. However, if the air inside of the fruiting chamber was still (not gonna happen) then the CO2 would settle to the bottom due to density.
-------------------- “To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me.” Isaac Newton

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Rockhound
The Rockweiler



Registered: 01/19/13
Posts: 664
Loc: hell creek anticline
Last seen: 9 years, 7 months
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Re: My scientifically relevant incubation/fruiting chamber [Re: freebananas]
#18662251 - 08/05/13 06:00 AM (11 years, 5 months ago) |
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Compared to a dialed-in monotub,of course this is ineffecient and over kill.For cubes. But op doesn't even grow cubes,and for species that require tighter parameters,more control over temperature,rh,fae,this is what would be needed.I love it,myself,but then again I don't do cubes either.I sure wouldn't throw out my monotub in favor of this,FOR CUBES!
-------------------- Rocks speak to me, and tell me this:
The Hell Creek formation is a gigantic slab of rocks that covers several western states. It contains an account of the dinosaurs' demise. In the late Cretaceous period, the first Cannabis species appear, and soon after, all the non-bird dinosaurs disappeared. Obviously, marihuana killed the dinosaurs. That giant meteor that smacked the yucatan peninsula right afterwards, coincidence.
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