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4sak3n
Stranger

Registered: 11/15/12
Posts: 13
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Help please - lack of condensation in fruiting monotub
#19215969 - 12/02/13 05:45 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Hello, hello everyone.
I have my first monotub in the fruiting stage but have some concerns about its conditions. Specifically concerns about the lack of condensation on the sides of the tub.
First a brief history for completeness' sakes. I can go into more detail if required.
I inoculated quart jars of rye with spores from a multispore PE syringe after preparing them according to RR's method and PCing for 90 mins. Standard polyfil stuffed holes in the lid for GE and self-sealing silicon-ed 'noc port. They took a few weeks to colonize including a single shake at ~20% colonization.
I spawned at a 1:3 ratio to pasteurized coir/verm mix at field capacity (as described in RR's videos) in a 66qt tub. The pasteurization method used was the basic one recommended by RR and Frank (amongst others) of jars in water in a pot on the stove, cut off heat at ~140F and start timer for 90 mins with temperature never going over ~160F. The substrate was fully colonized in 14 days (I'm guessing it went relatively slowly because of the low spawn ratio) after which it was put into fruiting conditions. No visible sign or smell of any contams at any point from jars through to colonized sub.
The tub has a total of 4 2" holes just above the substrate on the long sides stuffed with polyfil as tightly as possible and 2 more 2" holes near the top of the short sides stuffed lightly in the manner that Frank recommends. There is a fan on in the other side of the room and a 6400K CFL light on about 4 feet above the tub. There is also a rectangle of bubblewrap across the surface of the substrate just in case my tub conditions aren't 100% perfect.
In other words, apart from the bubblewrap as standard and as textbook as a newb can get.
After 7 days of fruiting conditions I have plenty of knots so things seem to be on track but I am worried about the (apparent) lack of condensation. There was a lot of condensation during colonization but it all seemed to dry up after I put the tub into fruiting. The existing condensation dried up in rings around the polyfil tuffed holes but the dry rings got bigger and bigger each day. Eventually I stuffed the two top holes a little bit more tightly and moved the fan further away from the tub. I misted the walls a bit just to get them wet in order to see if they would dry up again. The wall moisture has stayed pretty stable since then with a stable 2" or so dry ring around the polyfil but there is no new condensation at all. All the existing moisture is in the form of fine, fine droplets from my misting.
I'm just concerned because when I look at pictures of tubs here on the Shroomery I see walls that are positively dripping with condensation. I see water running down in streams and it is clear that there is a lot of moisture in constant motion between gaseous and liquid phases within the tubs. I'm worried that the lack of moisture on my walls indicates a problem with too much FAE or too little humidity. The average ambient temperature is about 80F but that shouldn't affect condensation because the inside of the tub should always be hotter than ambient regardless of what ambient is because of the mycelium putting out heat.
So, how normal is it to have 0 condensation? Could the CFL be putting out enough heat from 4' away to prevent it forming? Or is it a sign that my conditions aren't good?
Edited by 4sak3n (12/02/13 07:16 AM)
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RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure



Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 42,214
Loc: Seattle
Last seen: 11 months, 4 days
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Re: Help please - lack of condensation in fruiting monotub [Re: 4sak3n]
#19215992 - 12/02/13 05:56 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
I'm just concerned because when I look at pictures of tubs here on the Shroomery I see walls that are positively dripping with condensation.
It's one of the biggest causes of fail.
There should be minimum condensation on the walls of a monotub, and zero condensation on the walls of a shotgun terrarium.
Condensation only means the walls of the tub are at a temperature equal to or below the dewpoint within the tub.
The fix is to more closely equalize the temperature between inside and outside your monotub. Substrates produce heat so the inside of the tub is warmer, thus the condensation forms. It is also more humid in the tub so when this humid air hits the cold wall, it condenses.
Provide more fresh air now that pinning has started. Remove or loosen the polyfill so air can circulate. This will simultaneously lower the humidity in the tub and equalize temperature between inside and outside.
In short, what I'm saying is nothing is wrong and you don't want a lot of condensation, especially if it's to the point of running down the sides.
Move your light closer. It should be within a few inches of the tub. Place it above and to one side. 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
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Stromrider
This must be the place



Registered: 06/02/13
Posts: 7,326
Loc: Dept of know what I'm say...
Last seen: 18 hours, 14 minutes
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Re: Help please - lack of condensation in fruiting monotub [Re: RogerRabbit]
#19215999 - 12/02/13 05:59 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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4sak3n
Stranger

Registered: 11/15/12
Posts: 13
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Re: Help please - lack of condensation in fruiting monotub [Re: Stromrider]
#19216014 - 12/02/13 06:09 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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That's good to know. Thank you RR.
i followed that writeup closely Stromrider. In fact, it is the reason why I was concerned because it states that "A good indicator of good FAE is a line of evaporation running down one or both sides of the tub from the top holes." Because I don't have any condensation on the sides with the top holes, I somehow felt that my FAE might be off. I guess, in hindsight, I got the concept of a need for FAE and the presence of condensation mixed up, connecting the two in my mind. Basically I confused cause and effect (I think).
Another reason for my concern over the disappearance of my moisture was the following (lifted from Frank's writeup again): "If the walls dry up during the first flush, adjust your poly in the top holes and make sure your fan is not too close to the tubs. Mist the walls if they've dried up, do not mist the substrate however."
Anyway, consider me suitably reassured. :P
Edited by 4sak3n (12/02/13 06:12 AM)
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RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure



Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 42,214
Loc: Seattle
Last seen: 11 months, 4 days
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Re: Help please - lack of condensation in fruiting monotub [Re: 4sak3n]
#19216026 - 12/02/13 06:18 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Just a note here: Misting the walls of a tub doesn't do squat. The plastic isn't growing mushrooms. If the substrate needs moisture, mist it. As the substrate evaporates moisture, that becomes your humidity source.
Fresh air exchange is the number one pinning trigger. There needs to be a slight evaporation of moisture from the substrate for best pinning performance. If there is condensation on the walls it tells you that you're already at the dewpoint so you need to increase fresh air to keep the substrate evaporating moisture. 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
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monoculture
Mycaddict



Registered: 10/16/13
Posts: 246
Last seen: 9 years, 5 months
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Re: Help please - lack of condensation in fruiting monotub [Re: RogerRabbit]
#19216416 - 12/02/13 09:22 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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I worried about the humidity a few times when there were no mushrooms yet, but at the moment I got mushrooms, the humidity was close to 100% immediately. They generate their own climate when they start popping up.
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