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MycoFlora
Farmer


Registered: 10/06/14
Posts: 309
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Okay time for an update. Sorry it's been so damn long I've been in and out of town for the past few weeks/dealing with equipment issues.
The wood stove has been taken out of commission. It worked, kept the greenhouse in the 50's when it was in the mid 20's so I would consider it a success, but the amount of inputs was far greater than I expected in terms of the amount of fuel it consumed. for the same amount of money you could just as easily go with an electric option. Which is what I ended up doing. For those of you who are interested in using the same design, I'd only recommend it if you have a massive amount of woodland on your property otherwise you will be spending an assload on getting wood hauled or delivered. Also, a piped in fan to the barrel hooked to a thermostat would have made the whole ordeal much less stressful and hands free, so-to-speak. I wish you luck and hope to hear details of anyone who goes this route. For the mean time I have chosen a 11,000 btu window unit heater which has a thermostat built in and is quite efficient. Here is a pic of it mounted.
 So far so good.I plan on mounting a filter over the exhaust return.
I'm On another note, I came bAck in town to some absolute MONSTER shiitake. Very cool to look at but absolutely not what I am going for. Most of the blocks produced like this. Anyone have a clue why or have a similar experience? I am still dialing in my birthing which I suspect is the issue. 7ish weeks incubation (I think I need at least 8) and slapped and shocked for 24 hours in the fridge. Here are some pics.




Etc.
Any thoughts?
Also some awesome shiitake 75 logs that were frozen solid before I left and some turkey tail.


Hope everyone is well and had a great holiday break. More exciting updates to come soon.
-Scott
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MycoFlora
Farmer


Registered: 10/06/14
Posts: 309
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: keifnnugs]
#23960793 - 12/27/16 03:18 PM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
keifnnugs said: This thread is awesome! What else do you grow throughout the year?
Thanks dude. Most of my experience is growing elms, pinks, blues, that sort of thing. Possibly going to be acquiring an urban plot for growing produce this following year, so it will be exciting to add that back to the list. I sure do miss growing produce and flowers.



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RolledUhhp
Amateur Cultivator

Registered: 08/10/16
Posts: 246
Last seen: 3 years, 6 months
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: MycoFlora]
#23960844 - 12/27/16 03:43 PM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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This is an awesome setup, man!
I'm in the process of setting up on a similar scale, but a greenhouse isn't the best option in my area, so I'll be dropping another outbuilding within the next few weeks.
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drake89
Mushroom Magnate



Registered: 06/26/11
Posts: 4,168
Loc: TN
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: RolledUhhp]
#23960874 - 12/27/16 04:03 PM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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The big shrooms are just a function of pinset. Less pins, bigger shrooms, since there's still a lot of 'energy' in the block. You bad pinset could be a function of age, 7 weeks is not quite enough for me usually to get 100% browning. Could be strain as well, but you're running 3782 I think.
If longer incubation time doesn't solve it, temp and hu.idty could be the cause. I let mine pin in vitro for about 5-7 days at 50-60F. Then open and keep humidity around 95-99% until about 3 days before harvest.
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drake89
Mushroom Magnate



Registered: 06/26/11
Posts: 4,168
Loc: TN
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: drake89]
#23960876 - 12/27/16 04:05 PM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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Keeping humidity up, and even hosing the blocks once or twice a day, might get another set of pins going behind the first. That and at least get one good pinset on any blocks that lag behind the others.
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liloldme
( ͝° ͜ʖ͡°)つ=D



Registered: 05/15/04
Posts: 5,087
Loc: Zone 8
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: drake89]
#23961145 - 12/27/16 06:45 PM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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Too bad the woodstove ended up being too much work I thought that was cool ahaha
I converted a pellet stove to run on waste oil, doesn't matter what kind as long as it burns. Have used motor oil, waste veggie oil, automatic transmission fluid, contaminated diesel, list keeps going.. Not only that I can still run it on wood pellets if I so desire! Waste oil is freeeeeeeeeeeee.. I heated a 1200sq foot house with it, could get about 4-5 hours of burn time per gallon of oil and absolutely ZERO black smoke coming out the exhaust. Would be very easy to do your water heat tranfer with one of these setups.
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poofterFroth
Feel Like A Stranger



Registered: 03/15/14
Posts: 1,012
Last seen: 25 days, 9 hours
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: liloldme]
#23961170 - 12/27/16 06:55 PM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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ozzinated
Stranger



Registered: 07/09/16
Posts: 53
Loc:
Last seen: 1 day, 10 hours
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Absolutely stunning, makes me wanna change into this industry as well, all the best for your future operations !!!
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liloldme
( ͝° ͜ʖ͡°)つ=D



Registered: 05/15/04
Posts: 5,087
Loc: Zone 8
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idk what all that means aha
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Quadman
Challenged


Registered: 04/23/16
Posts: 2,529
Loc: IL
Last seen: 1 year, 3 months
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: liloldme] 1
#23961509 - 12/27/16 10:39 PM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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My Shiitake right now look the same. Had fruits in the bag way to soon. Hope they flush better on the second round.
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MycoFlora
Farmer


Registered: 10/06/14
Posts: 309
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: Quadman]
#23962537 - 12/28/16 11:33 AM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
drake89 said: Keeping humidity up, and even hosing the blocks once or twice a day, might get another set of pins going behind the first. That and at least get one good pinset on any blocks that lag behind the others.
Thanks for that pointer, drake. Think I'm going to try pinning in the bag on this next run. 8 weeks and they are like 90% browned. How long on average is your typical incubation for 3782?
liloldme- funny you should mention that, I was going to switch the stove over to waste oil! May still do it in the future. The concept is so simple, and as you said waste oil is free. I just got tired of faffing around with diy stuff and opted for a prebuilt proven unit. I'm busy enough with a one man operation on a good day
Quote:
ozzinated said: Absolutely stunning, makes me wanna change into this industry as well, all the best for your future operations !!!
Thanks a lot man!
Quote:
Quadman said: My Shiitake right now look the same. Had fruits in the bag way to soon. Hope they flush better on the second round.
sorry to hear that quadman. I'll report back after birthing this next round. Hopefully the results will be something we both can learn from!
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liloldme
( ͝° ͜ʖ͡°)つ=D



Registered: 05/15/04
Posts: 5,087
Loc: Zone 8
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: MycoFlora]
#23962567 - 12/28/16 11:47 AM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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+5
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liloldme
( ͝° ͜ʖ͡°)つ=D



Registered: 05/15/04
Posts: 5,087
Loc: Zone 8
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: liloldme]
#23963278 - 12/28/16 04:53 PM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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I notice you have the AA75x. I currently have the AA25x and can fit 4 one gallon bags in it at a time, how many can you comfortably load into the 75x at once? 6 maybe?
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RolledUhhp
Amateur Cultivator

Registered: 08/10/16
Posts: 246
Last seen: 3 years, 6 months
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: liloldme]
#23963347 - 12/28/16 05:23 PM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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Ive been keeping an eye out for a decent pc on craigslist, but no luck yet.
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MorePies
Stranger
Registered: 02/09/16
Posts: 808
Loc: TX
Last seen: 1 month, 3 days
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: liloldme]
#23963536 - 12/28/16 06:37 PM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
liloldme said: I notice you have the AA75x. I currently have the AA25x and can fit 4 one gallon bags in it at a time, how many can you comfortably load into the 75x at once? 6 maybe?
When using fuel pellets, I can fit 6..5lb bags into a 75x. When using cabinetry shop and sawmill dust I can fit 5, it's way fluffier. I forget how many jars, some folks take out the insert to do jars. I tried that once and had 1 break on me, but I think it's because the water was t0o low. I'll try again with the water covering the bottom of the jar by an inch.
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MycoFlora
Farmer


Registered: 10/06/14
Posts: 309
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: liloldme]
#23963609 - 12/28/16 07:05 PM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
liloldme said: I notice you have the AA75x. I currently have the AA25x and can fit 4 one gallon bags in it at a time, how many can you comfortably load into the 75x at once? 6 maybe?
I get 9 5lb bags in each per load. Which is absolutely packed to the brim. I reinforced the rack on the bottom with steel tie wire and a few solder reinforcements to handle the heavy load. And because it's so dense I try to sterilize for 2.5 hours once at pressure. Done 100's of blocks and no issues or contamination. Also, I only use the insert when I do agar or jars.
Gotta maximize those fixed assets. I'm also building a trough steamer which is a cross between chef and gr0wers design. Will post when I get it all finished up.
Edited by MycoFlora (12/28/16 07:07 PM)
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MorePies
Stranger
Registered: 02/09/16
Posts: 808
Loc: TX
Last seen: 1 month, 3 days
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: MycoFlora]
#23963990 - 12/28/16 09:38 PM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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Nice! I'm on the lookout for a 15cuf chest freezer or 3 myself.
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MycoFlora
Farmer


Registered: 10/06/14
Posts: 309
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: MorePies]
#23964071 - 12/28/16 10:07 PM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
MorePies said: Nice! I'm on the lookout for a 15cuf chest freezer or 3 myself.
Like for a steam box? that could prove to be very interesting... Any details on the idea?
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liloldme
( ͝° ͜ʖ͡°)つ=D



Registered: 05/15/04
Posts: 5,087
Loc: Zone 8
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: MycoFlora]
#23964114 - 12/28/16 10:19 PM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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How much volume would you say your 5 lb bags are each? Around 1 gallon? I'm filling my bags up with two 1/2 gallon mason jars worth of grain and can fit only 4 in my AA25x, just trying to see if it's worth it before I spend the cash.
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MycoFlora
Farmer


Registered: 10/06/14
Posts: 309
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Re: My Small Scale Mushroom Farm [Re: liloldme]
#23964235 - 12/28/16 11:01 PM (7 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
liloldme said: How much volume would you say your 5 lb bags are each? Around 1 gallon? I'm filling my bags up with two 1/2 gallon mason jars worth of grain and can fit only 4 in my AA25x, just trying to see if it's worth it before I spend the cash.
The 5lb bags I was referring to were fuel pellet bags. For my grain bags I do 6 lb bags and still got nine in each, so with both cookers full that's over 100lbs of grain. It's definitely worth the investment. I was skeptical at first but those aa75x's have made my life so much easier! once up to pressure I just turn the timers on and walk away. No messing around with propane like for the 941's.
And as for your volume question..volume of a gallon is .134 cu. feet and the rough volume of my bags is .422 cu. feet. When filled the bags are a little over 1/3 full which is around .140 cu. feet. So yea, my bags are a little over a gallon. That's my best educated guess on the volume...i do everything by weight.
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