I've tried searching around but I cant find much info on this and was hoping a few long time growers could chime in with any evidence they might have, anecdotal or otherwise.
What I would like to find out is how weather conditions and time of day affect the spore count/load in the air. For example if it has been snowing for 2 weeks all over the country I think it would be safe to assume that the spore count will be a lot lower than average since everything is encased in a foot of freezing powder and ice, trapping and slowing the spore producers. However on a very hot windy day after some rainfall I'd think that spore counts would be a lot higher since these are great conditions for spreading spores far and wide. These are just assumptions, it could well be that the main molds we have to worry about are more abundant at less obvious times so if anyone has more solid info in the subject it'd be great to hear it.
Another thing I noticed is that when living on the 6th floor in a recently renovated building I managed to get away with open air g2g but whilst living on ground level in a different, lower part of the city I consistently ran into problems working in a SAB. I think that if we could identify a particular time of day along with optimal weather conditions for us to do our sterile work we could reduce the risk of contamination by a little and help those in the midst of the battle.
Heres a little info I've found through googling:
"The use of a power-operated suction trap, in which spores are impacted on the sticky surface of a slowly moving slide, made it possible to estimate accurately the concentration of different kinds of spore in the air at any given time. In an open field at 2 m. above ground the catches often consisted predominantly of small hyaline spores, of types rarely caught by other kinds of trap. Changes in the types of spore caught at different times of day showed that some species have well-defined diurnal periodicity; the catches also reflect changes in weather. In dry weather, pollen grains and spores of such fungi as Cladosporium, Erysiphe, Alternaria, smuts and rusts, are the main components of the air spora; they are most abundant in the afternoon and least in the early morning. Phytophthora infestans and Polythrincium trifolii also occur, but reach their maximum concentration before noon. Prolonged rain removes most of these spores, and for a time there are few in the air. Within a few hours of the start of rain, the typical dry-air spora is replaced by hyaline spores ; few of these can be identified, but they include splash-dispersed types, ascospores and basidiospores. Except after rain this damp-air spora occurs in quantity only at night when dew is formed, and the greatest concentration is reached between midnight and dawn. Basidiospores were at times the dominant type of spore. Hyaline forms, often mainly Sporobolomyces sp., rapidly reached large numbers in the early hours of the morning, particularly when there was heavy dew, and then disappeared almost completely. Coloured basidiospores mainly from the Agaricales were also commonest at night, but their occurrence depended less on weather than the hyaline forms and their diurnal periodicity was less pronounced." Source(sciencedirect.com...)
"The release of conidia followed a diurnal periodicity with peak spore release occurring between 0900 and 1600 hours. Spore release was positively related to temperature and negatively related to relative humidity and to leaf wetness. Significant spore loads were present only when the canopy was dry or nearly dry. Also, major spore-release episodes occurred 2 to 5 days after a 16-h or longer period of leaf wetness. depending on temperature." Source(www.tandfonline.com...)
"One reason is that the number and types of spores actually present in the mold count may have changed considerably in 24 hours because weather and spore distribution are directly related. Many common allergenic molds are of the dry spore type—they release their spores during dry, windy weather. Other fungi need high humidity, fog, or dew to release their spores. Although rain washes many larger spores out of the air, it also causes some smaller spores to be propelled into the air." Source (weather.weatherbug.co.uk...)
Edited by Bloby (06/17/16 05:25 PM)
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