Imperative to read through OP and thread.
Thank you bodhisatta for this gift!
Please let me know ASAP of any errors and omissions.
Most of this was done with Copy & Paste, the use of 'I' = Bod
Bod’s Unmodified Monotub TEK
(Shroom Notes Version)This TEK is specific to these tubs: Sterilite® Air Tight Storage Tote - Transparent with Aquarium Blue Latch 32 & 54Qt sizes.
I use both 54q tubs which can use the same amount of substrate as traditional monotubs (one brick(650gram) of coir + 4-7q of spawn) and the 32q tubs which I usually use 1/2 brick of coir and 2-4q spawn with)
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/24077162#24077162Mix spawn and coir inside tub. No casing required. Level surface without compressing matrix.
Put lid on normally, no need to latch, but cool if you do.
Expose to light 12 hours on 12 hours off from day 1.
Check surface daily to check progress of colonization and surface moisture. If needed mist.
When 50-90% colonized (Bod prefers 80%) turn lid upside down to initiate fruiting.
Check twice daily: do what you need to do to keep the surface from being dry until you get your pins to be about an inch then I don't mist again at all. you can also cut off FAE to keep it from drying if needed. I maybe bottom water if needed once the pins get to an inch and don't mist.
If the surface is dry, mist. If it dries too quick put the lid on more or more often
I've left them alone for days at a time and am gone 8-10 hours a day anyway. If I'm home ill put them next to open windows lids completely off mist 'em every hour or two as needed.
Can also turn lid 90 degrees to tub or remove completely, but will require additional monitoring and misting.
If you stack them I rotate them 90° to each other so the stack looks like an X from the top view.
You can use a light from the side. You'll have to play around to see what it takes in your situation to get surface conditions where they need to be. In the very dry months I often leave the lids mostly on all day regardless.
Harvesting: I just raise the substrate you can fill your tub with water if it doesn't have monotub holes. Then take a big kitchen knife and harvest the whole thing in a couple minutes. Drain the water out with a siphon or pour it carefully with your hand on the substrate
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/24198162Timetable, Yields
spawn run is 8-10 days. pins in 10-14 days. harvest in 15-21 days.(best case)
Also I'm sure you could just leave the top on upside down and do absolutely nothing till the first flush if you get your fan or lack thereof and light(convection) right.
Bod keeps central air at 68F, no fan, 68-72f is great. 65-75 is too
When done with grow: I just blast my tubs out with hot water then sani them let them drip dry then fill up.
Experience is key to monitoring and misting.
Below are quotes from the OP and the thread that beancake found the most helpful and where you can find some specifics. Of course refer back to OP for additional information and details
bodhisattaTHE LID, MISTING & MAINTENANCEFlip the lid upside down.
This creates air gaps around the 4 lid locks which is important for allowing air exchange as well as substrate moisture regulation when you're away from home.
If you simply leave the lid upside down from ~80% colonization until you harvest the first flush chances are you will not need to mist at all or if you do you will only need to every other day or so. This method is extremely low maintenance. No fanning is required, mist if needed, which will be infrequently. If you can brush your teeth at home you have more than enough time to visit a tub once or twice during fruiting.
*
seemingly advanced technique*
when you are at home you can either take the lid entirely off, rotate the lid 90degrees(1/4 turn), or move it so that their are much bigger air gaps. this allows for much more FAE, but you will have to maintain the surface moisture of your substrate by misting as needed.
This can be several times a day if you leave the lid off. If the lid is turned 1/4 turn you will likely only need to mist 1-2 time a day to maintain surface conditions.
If you just leave the lid upside down you might only need to mist once a day to every other day or less, big difference.
*end advanced method*
If you decide to leave the lid just upside down the whole time it will be more set and forget and require little to no maintenance at the expense of a little less FAE.
As said above you may have to mist twice a day or once every few days. I average it out to every other day or so to keep the surface looking perfect during most times of the year.
I generally will flip the lid over as the substrate nears full colonization or anywhere from 50-90% colonization, generally I aim for 80% colonization. I am putting the tub into "fruiting conditions" a little bit before full colonization and this confuses a lot of people.
The more ajar you have the lid the more you will have to babysit and mist, the more the lid is just upside down and on top the less you will have to fuck with it.
surface conditions are very important. You can't simply whip one of these together and expect it to work with no experience, no eye for things, no mycologist's green thumb.
Skill plays a much of a roll as methods. You also need to be able to produce clean spawn and determine conditions.
When I was home I mist once a day when having the lid off
rarely mist at all
Yes but fae is an invisible thing it just happens by itself. Just having the lid upside down gets you enough FAE. You can have more fae if you move the lid partially off but you may need to mist or mist more if you have the lid more off
Walls only set during colonization or if I mist them. If you have the lid half off the walls will dry up in a less than an hour if they had any water on them.
If the surface is dry mist. If it dries to quick put the lid on more or more often
If you stack them I rotate them 90° to each other so the stack looks like an X from the top view.
You can use a light from the side. You'll have to play around to see what it takes in your situation to get surface conditions where they need to be. In the very dry months I often leave the lids mostly on all day regardless.
I've left them alone for days at a time and am gone 8-10 hours a day anyway.
If I'm home ill put them next to open windows lids completely off mist em every hour or two as needed.
Maintenance is really up to you. But most of the time I set em so it's worry free no maintenance mode.
Every hour? I mist like 3-5 times ever if I just flip the lid
and if I do the sideways lid thing it will get a misting that day
You will have to adjust as necessary to get everything just right so the surface does not dry out in between the times you're able to visit your grow.
I brush my teeth twice a day so I can handle looking at my tubs once or twice a day. Often times there needs be no adjustment at all, and every other day on average a misting.
I put colonizing tubs on the top of the stack since heat rises they'll stay perhaps a bit warmer than the rest.
No fan [in room] but central air is running periodically
Air movement is fine but maybe you have to mist three times a week instead of one of two.
LIGHTINGThe light on the top is a 26W 6500K spiral florescent and provides a minimal amount of heat which aids in convection. Sometimes I use one light like this per tub.
you can use tube fluorescent lights for multiple tubs. There's far more than one correct way to arrive at great results.
I have more tubs than lights I find that using 1000-1500 lumens per tub in lighting works well. With the bulbs being 1-2 feet away.
You can use lighting from the sides then. Florescent T8 4 foot long tubes work well
The Spectralux 901616 4 ft. - 32 Watt - T8 - 6500K - 2900 Lumens - High Output bulb works well in a appropriate fixture. You don't need the exact same lighting setup but you want florescent and 6500k and about 800-1200 lumens per tub at a distance of less than 2 feet or when using a single tub I just put the single CFL light in a reflector lamp on top as shown already.
I do 12/12 lighting. Sometimes it's 24 on sometimes 24 off sometimes it's 18/6 but try to do 12/12 or get a timer
Right now I have more tubs than I do lights so I'm lighting some of them from the side and rotating the tubs every other day or so
RELATIVE HUMIDITYI fruit these just fine in 10-20% RH indoors so I suggest skipping the casing layer, but some people need have their ways. Do what works for you always.
if you're getting static shocks in your room it's too dry, yes I would run a humidifier for sure, leave it as far from the tubs as possible like 3 meters or more. same with the heater. and point them away from the tubs.
alternatively you could buy a warm mist humidifier and see if that helps any some of them have 16 hour run times on a full tank of water. they work by kind of boiling the water so they heat the room a little bit as well as humidify it.
CASINGI almost never use a casing layer myself, On occasion I will use a top layer of coir 1/8-1/4 inch thick. With varieties like PE that take a bit longer to pin this can aid some people in keeping conditions good. The top layer of coir is more of a pesudocasing
most of the time I opt to just go with straight up mixed spawn+substrate with no top layer at all (grains showing on the surface)
LINERWhen spawning I have in the past used a trash bag as a liner. I mixed in the trash bag and then put into the tub. and then pushed it flush to the corners and tried to make the surface as level as possible
you should give good attention to making your substrate surface level.
Currently I completely avoid use of a liner at all period. If you look at my harvest TEK you'll see I get no side pins even without the use of a liner.
Using a liner is a crutch to help with side pinning, side pins can be avoided by proper surface conditions and a nice flat even level surface. If you chose to use a liner a clear one works just fine, it works by preventing a micro-climate at the sides, light has nothing to do with side pins.
TEMPERATURE68-72f is great. 65-75 is too.
I'm usually between 18-20c
I'm always at room temp. or within a few degrees. 20C is "room temp" but 66-72F is most peoples room temp. and that's just fine.
sgfccchamberI don't use holes in my tubs anymore. I leave the lid cracked about a half an inch during the day, and close it up at night. When I say I "leave the lid cracked" I mean that instead of putting the lid on the tub so it's closed, I move the lid off center by about a half an inch.
The way my lighting is set up, is the bulb above each tub is about 6 inches away. This creates warmer air inside the tub than outside the tub, which in turn creates convection currents within the tub. The warmer air exits through the 1/2" opening on one side, and as it exits, pulls fresh air in through the 1/2" opening on the opposite site. So during the day it gets, more or less, constant fresh air while still maintaining a very high RH (RH is controlled by the size of the gap created by having the lid offcenter...which I can easily make larger or smaller by simply moving the lid closer to or farther from being completely closed).
I've stopped modifying my tubs for a couple of reasons, the first being that once I've modified them with holes and whatever else, they become kind of single purpose, in that I can't really use them as regular tubs anymore for things like storage. Second, they look weird as hell and are hard to explain to people asking why I've got tubs with holes all over the place. Third, I've found great success not putting holes in them...in fact, much more success than I had while putting holes in them. Fourth, moving a lid back and forth is a lot easier than messing with "polyfill density". What I mean is, it's hard to accurately measure from one grow to the next "how dense the polyfill was" the last time when you had a good grow. The offcenter lid method is easily measurable...in that you literally measure how far from centered the lid is, and it's easily repeatable.
I give a good fanning just before I seal the tubs up at night. I mist whenever I see that things are dry or on their way to approaching being dry.