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ljb
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Registered: 10/01/15
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Require Help setting up my Gourmet Mushroom Business
#22371713 - 10/13/15 02:53 AM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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Hey guys,
I'm starting a journey into growing Mushrooms for a living. I'm working on a budget and don't have too much money. I'm growing Oyster Mushrooms on coffee grounds and I'm certainly no engineer so finding a way to fully climate control my hydroponic 3x3x2 tent is becoming quite a headache for me.
Basically I need help with what equipment I need exactly. I live in Australia, so Australian stores and links if possible would be greatly appreciated. At the moment, I'm planning on building my own humidifier based off a design I found on here. I'm getting a split system airconditioner and running it outside the tent to prevent spore buildup. I have two whisper silence fans (Image attached) That are the 150mm model. That I was planning on using to pump air in and out of the tent. Using a carbon filter to clean the air, and something cheap to prevent spores from clogging it up on the outtake.

My questions are this: - Are the fans I have way too powerful for that room in terms of growing oyster mushrooms?
- If so, what can I use to lower the output to suit my goals?
- Which device should I purchase to measure the temperature in my growroom, on a budget. That measures humidity and temp and that controls the fans to turn on and off when needed
- Will my Whisper silencer fans need to be on 24/7 or should I purchase an additional regulator to turn them on every now and again?
- Is lighting needed at all, and can I do without it?
- Can I inoculate and grow mycellium / fruit them in the same room, since I only have one tent?
I apologize for the numerous questions, I am incredibly keen on getting this started and beginning my journey so I can finally follow my passion, knowing it will take time and errors will be had. I sincerely appreciate any help and support with this. Thank you for taking the time to read.
Edited by ljb (10/13/15 03:00 AM)
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popok
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Re: Require Help setting up my Gourmet Mushroom Business [Re: ljb]
#22371915 - 10/13/15 06:25 AM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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> Are the fans I have way too powerful for that room in terms of growing oyster mushrooms? Depends on how much CFM or m3/h they blow. A good chance they are, for the same diameters mine make 360m3/h. As I said in the other thread you only need about 100m3/h
> If so, what can I use to lower the output to suit my goals? Depends on the type of blower, with some types you can add a voltage variator to adjust.
> Which device should I purchase to measure the temperature in my growroom, on a budget. That measures humidity and temp and that controls the fans to turn on and off when needed A temperature/RH monitor is useful to know what is happening. A humidistat helps a lot to control the humidifier and keep a steady RH. For the fans, I am not sure you need something. Maybe to over aerate when temp is high inside the GH and low outdoor. Some expensive CO2 controllers can control the fans depending on CO2 ppm level, but not sure it worth the investment. Some cheap CO2 monitor ($150) can help you understand what happens in there.
> Will my Whisper silencer fans need to be on 24/7 or should I purchase an additional regulator to turn them on every now and again? In my GH, I noticed that CO2 ppm level rise from 300 to 1200 in only 15 minutes. So it is better to run the fan 24/7 and adjust how much air it draws in.
> Is lighting needed at all, and can I do without it? Sure, a lot is needed for Oyster, didn't you read the growth parameters (but I cant find which light K temperature they like) http://www.shroomery.org/9410/Pleurotus-ostreatus
> Can I inoculate and grow mycellium / fruit them in the same room, since I only have one tent? Yes, I did that before. What I understand is better is to fill all the room at once, so you can tweak the condition depending on the development phase (no light for colonization, more moisture for primordia formation, less moisture after harvest, etc).
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Gr0wer
always improving


Registered: 09/16/03
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Loc: El Paso, TX
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Re: Require Help setting up my Gourmet Mushroom Business [Re: popok]
#22372316 - 10/13/15 09:21 AM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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Scratch the carbon filter. You want a particle filter like for a house HVAC unit. You can even just run a screen on your exhaust, you just need to keep bugs out. The most basic humidifier is a tote filled with water and have some ultrasonic misters floating inside and your intake ducting blowing into it. You can make your own little ultrasonic barge with some styrofoam. I made a humidifier out of a 5 gal pail placing the misters on the bottom and have a $7 swamp cooler float valve to maintain water level. I use a AGPtek WH8040 digital humidity controller to control the ultrasonics. Be sure to seal up the connection and back side of the wires on the probe with RTV as its prone to corrosion, also dont spray the sensor directly. I placed my sensor in a short section of PVC to protect it.
With the fans have one for intake one for exhaust. You want a slight vacuum on the chamber to exhaust all the spores outside. A quality 6" fan like yours should be big enough for your chamber even with filters restricting flow.
For lighting in that size one or two 4' fluorescent fixtures should be sufficient.
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ljb
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Re: Require Help setting up my Gourmet Mushroom Business [Re: popok]
#22376952 - 10/14/15 03:37 AM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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Thanks for your replies guys,
Popok sorry buddy I have a hard time understanding exactly how to measure m3/h, this type of stuff is incredibly confusing to me. How would I know if I can add a voltage variator onto these fans without causing some type of problem? I appreciate the link, and the answer to the fact I can grow them in the same room. What do you mean by more moisture for primordia formation, do you mean more humidity? Sorry if I sound stupid.
Thanks Gr0wer I appreciate the reply and knowledge / insight, I will definitely follow it up.
What I would really love some insight into is how easy the people from the TedX speak "The Courage To Ask" make growing oyster mushrooms sound. They say they just pop the coffee and oyster inoculation together, wait 3 weeks, then add humidity and they grow. How did these guys do this to get their business started without climate control? They live in California so they have similar weather to my state currently.
Here's the link to the Youtube TedX chat I'm talking about https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=C4qtfgrTwLc#at=638
Is it feasible doing this without climate control? Am I going about this the wrong way? This video is making me re-question my entire setup :/ Which is adding to the confusion unfortunately.
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drake89
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Registered: 06/26/11
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Re: Require Help setting up my Gourmet Mushroom Business [Re: ljb]
#22377526 - 10/14/15 09:09 AM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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Those 'business people' are nothing more than charlatans.
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popok
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Registered: 07/31/13
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Loc: athens, greece
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Re: Require Help setting up my Gourmet Mushroom Business [Re: drake89]
#22378344 - 10/14/15 12:22 PM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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M3/h or CFM of the fan is in the fan specs. For oyster you need 8 air change per hour, according to stamets. Space volume=3mx3mx2m=18m3 x 8 changes= 144m3/h. You need 144m3/h of fresh air, sorry I said 100 earlier. So your inlet and outlet fans must provide at least this. If you take into account the back pressure from filters, you need even more, let's say 1.5x times (You can calculate this exactely if you have pressure curve of your fan and pressure of your filters), that gives 216m3/h or 127 CFM. Easy to find at 150mm, some fans can blow up to 500m3/h.
The specs should mention the voltage as well. If it can be variated it will be a range like 20v-220v, rather than a value like 220v. Some are called RVK type or NVK.
When I said more moisture for primordia formation, I meant air relative moisture.
When I started cultivating indoor I was not controlling the moisture, only providing air, it worked well in the winter. I leave in Greece, so climate is similar to california. I also have quite good harvest outdoor in my balcony (especially the last weeks) with no climate control at all, the weather impact a lot and you get shorter seasons. With climate control, you extend the harvesting season and provide more favorable conditions. So why not, that some guys can make it with no climate control or outdoor.
This how my balcomy look like. Blocks of coffee ground, with some straw and pellet, with P.ostreatus, P.pulmonarius, Hypsizygus ulmarius, topped with vermiculite or perlite, watered 3 times a week :
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Gr0wer
always improving


Registered: 09/16/03
Posts: 6,056
Loc: El Paso, TX
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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Re: Require Help setting up my Gourmet Mushroom Business [Re: popok]
#22380943 - 10/14/15 09:23 PM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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Also your volume of air exchange requirement will vary with how stuffed your grow chamber is. With every additional bag or tube you will get more co2 and heat that must be pushed out.
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ljb
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Registered: 10/01/15
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Re: Require Help setting up my Gourmet Mushroom Business [Re: Gr0wer]
#22400993 - 10/19/15 01:43 AM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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Have just worked out my fans are 500m3/HR pumping 390 CFM. This is probably way too much. I am seeking ways to lower the overall output if you guys have any idea of devices that can lower this output that would be amazingly appreciated.
Popok those Mushrooms look amazing O.o Seriously! Thanks again for you both replying! I'm getting there now. I'm finally making some ground because of YOU TWO!
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RogerSmith

Registered: 01/29/15 
Posts: 365
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Re: Require Help setting up my Gourmet Mushroom Business [Re: ljb]
#22401299 - 10/19/15 05:54 AM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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Gr0wer
always improving


Registered: 09/16/03
Posts: 6,056
Loc: El Paso, TX
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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Re: Require Help setting up my Gourmet Mushroom Business [Re: RogerSmith]
#22403330 - 10/19/15 12:25 PM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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I have that same exact controller on my ventech 6" fan. Also realize 390 CFM is at 0 backpressure. Add a pre filter and some ducting in there you're probably more like 2-300 cfm. Depending on the strains your growing that might be about the right CFM without the speed controller.
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ljb
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Re: Require Help setting up my Gourmet Mushroom Business [Re: Gr0wer]
#22406718 - 10/19/15 11:44 PM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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Roger Smith you're a life saver! I spent 5 hours today running from store to store trying to get what I needed, none of which provided. But I'm not stopping now! Thankyou man! I was literally thinking the exact same think Gr0wer! I'm applying a HEPA filter onto my fan, and will be ducting it from the outside so now I'm requesting if a controller is needed! Experimentation will be the key, but the ability to know where to buy a fan speed controller is always handy incase I truly need it!
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Gr0wer
always improving


Registered: 09/16/03
Posts: 6,056
Loc: El Paso, TX
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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Re: Require Help setting up my Gourmet Mushroom Business [Re: ljb]
#22410752 - 10/20/15 07:09 PM (8 years, 3 months ago) |
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you don't need HEPA to feed a grow chamber, just a good air filter is all. And HEPA will make a ton of back pressure unless you get a thick $$$ one. KISS
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