Basic Principles of the Shotgun Fruiting Chamber (SGFC) - Mushroom Cultivation

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SpitballJedi
Ancient Astronaut

Registered: 10/13/12
Posts: 8,598
Loc: Nibiru

Basic Principles of the Shotgun Fruiting Chamber (SGFC)

41
#20195542 - 06/27/14 06:45 PM (10 years, 8 months ago)

This is part of my series "The Basics"

Principles and construction of Shotgun Fruiting Chambers (SGFC):

This guide is not focused on PF/BRF cakes per se. It's really just the basics of how the SGFC works. Having the basic concept of how it works is a good foundation to build on.

How it's made
A properly made SGFC Is made of a clear/transparent tote with 1/4" holes on all 6 sides about 2" apart in a grid pattern. All 6 sides means the 4 vertical sides AND top AND bottom.

They need 4"-5" of damp perlite. You may need to rinse the perlite a few times to get rid of the dust. The dust can accumulate at the bottom, clogging the holes. A few pieces of perlite may fall through the hole, but only a few.

Principle of operation
A properly made SGFC uses natural air currents to create high relative humidity (RH) and constant fresh air exchange (FAE).

The fresh air flows in through the bottom holes and rises up through the damp perlite assisting in evaporation. This evaporation is where you get your humidity.

Because humid air rises, it flows up and out the other holes, thus allowing more fresh air in through the bottom. This is how you get constant FAE without sacrificing humidity.

And yes, fresh air also comes in through other holes as well, but without it coming in through the damp perllite, your SGFC and cakes will dry out faster, the perlite becomes practically useless, and your FAE is reduced.

Some Things to Consider
The SGFC must not sit directly on a flat surface. It needs to be elevated. If not elevated, air can't flow in through the bottom and the whole system breaks down.

You can set your SGFC on some half-pint wide-mouth jars to elevate it. I would say at least 2 inches is minimum.

I made a little stand for mine out of some PVC I had laying around. It's about 4" tall

Running a fan in the room with your SGFC will also disrupt the natural currents and dry everything out too fast.

Because of the constant FAE, your cakes will dry out if not misted regularly.

Mist your cakes till they glisten with moisture. There is a magic time when your cakes are no longer glistening, but they still appear moist, this is when you want to mist again. The Misted Cake Project is a thread for pics of cakes to show what they look like at various stages of growth before and after misting. This thread will hopefully help you understand when to mist.

Mist as often as required. Schedules may vary slightly from region to region, but 3-6 times a day is pretty common. Misting and then evaporation off the cake surface promotes pin formation.

Mist cakes directly with a fine mist. The over-spray helps keep your perlite damp. Misting the walls serves absolutely no purpose.

Only fan after misting. The reason for fanning is to empty the SGFC of humid air. The is jump-starts evaporation from the cakes. If you fan between misting, then you risk drying the cakes out too much too fast. It's debatable if fanning even really makes a difference. I don't fan. If you do fan, it only takes a couple waves of the lid to empty the chamber.

Condensation
Condensation forms on the inside walls when the temperature inside the SGFC is higher than outside the SGFC. A properly made SGFC shouldn't have enough of a temperature difference to cause condensation. If it does, then you are not likely getting good FAE. In other words, condensation is not a good sign of proper humidity, instead it's more of a sign of low FAE.

Tub Size
Your SGFC needs to have enough room for 4-5 inches of perlite plus 5-10 inches of head space for cakes and growth. I use a 64 quart Sterilite 1928.

Really big totes can cause cakes on the outer edge to dry/evaporate faster do to uneven circulation. Really small totes are not big enough to create it's own circulation system.

Word to the wise: Don't get too bogged down wanting to know why stuff is done the way it's done or coming up with your own clever modifications or methods. Instead, do what is known to work and figure out why later.

RoggerRabbit's SGFC VIdeo(part 3 shows the SGFC construction process)

Edited by SpitballJedi (04/21/16 08:40 PM)

Extras:

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