mullugh said:

I've got a small bedroom air filter thats hepa and had an ionizer. I still get occasional issues with mould in winter because my windows are all closed. The fresh air in summer really makes a difference, but then I have to keep gnats at bay. Spawn obviously will be the number one vector, but I'm convinced fresh (more so than clean/sterile) Air is key.

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Or you could listen to this guy... up to you...

LotKid said:

It's your spawn. As much as you may not want to believe it... it is.

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Sonoluminescent said:

I've been sealing bags with bag clamps and (when I run out) tightly rolling them and stapling them shut. It  actually seals it up pretty well, but an impulse sealer is safer and a better seal, so perhaps I should invest in that.

Any other ideas?

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Hmm possibly cut out bags and move over to like gallon sized jars or something? Something you can easily steralize and ensure that nothings getting in. I'm sure staples work, but who knows if there's any contams over time that creep in with those Honestly I'm just trying to think of ways to do/touch/open things less.

Also, if you're ramping back up, this makes me think you don't have anything running right now. Have you thought about switching to shoeboxes? This will spread out your likely-hood of contamination and give you possible clean boxes and dirty one, so you don't lose everything in one box (i.e. monotubs), and possibly allow you to watch and see why X boxes have trich and Y boxes don't. You have a ton of monotubs, so this may be more hassle than it's worth though.

ShaperDreaming said:

Noob-ish here, take with a grain of salt from fresh eyes:

It sounds like you have a few extra things that just make contam more likely, my recommendation would be look at removing steps from your process and aim for as KISS as possible:

• Lots of things added to your substrate. What about just 100% coco coir, nothing else. Use a top/casing layer of just coir.
  
• You're using liners still. Maybe cut that part out and aim for surface conditions.
  
• What about switching to the "UnBODified" monotub tek? Less steps, less things to possibly add contam.
  
• That liquid inoculate tek you use has a lot of possibilities of adding contams. I know it likely saves you a ton of time, but maybe back down to just using agar dropped onto grains for a bit to aim for cleaner spawn?
  

I always try to go with the teks that are the most KISS type of things. The more you add the more likely you've carried a contam with you

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I use coir/verm for substrate.
I've gone back to using liners because it makes cleaning your tubs after a run WAY easier.
DON'T switch to an unbodified tub! Mushies like air and when dealing with lots of tubs flipping all the lids become ridiculous really quick. Holes with poly-fil and a fan to move some air around works great. I might have to mist a tub or 2 before the first flush finishes but for the most part they are set and forget.

I do recommend going agar to grain and cutting out liquids. I used to use a lot of liquids and now I rarely do. You can get a lot of expansion from plate->master jars->spawn bags->monotubs.






It could definitely be hiding in your culture. I've had similar problems with cultures before. They look great but would trich faithfully after the first flush. Every tub. It was the culture. It happens to the best of us. It's nothing to beat yourself up over. Aside from making a bunch of transfers on the culture you have going I recommend straking some spore and starting from there with a culture and not taking it to liquid.


I don't think switching to shoeboxes is gonna help.

I would stop using staples. That definitely sounds like a possible vector for contams. You're better off using zip-ties. They work well.

But if you wanna step your game up and play with the big boys...

https://www.amazon.com/AIE-305HIM-12-Handheld-Heat-Impulse/dp/B0093PL8YA/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1547838467&sr=1-1&keywords=aie-305him

LotKid said:

ShaperDreaming said:

Noob-ish here, take with a grain of salt from fresh eyes:

It sounds like you have a few extra things that just make contam more likely, my recommendation would be look at removing steps from your process and aim for as KISS as possible:

• Lots of things added to your substrate. What about just 100% coco coir, nothing else. Use a top/casing layer of just coir.
  
• You're using liners still. Maybe cut that part out and aim for surface conditions.
  
• What about switching to the "UnBODified" monotub tek? Less steps, less things to possibly add contam.
  
• That liquid inoculate tek you use has a lot of possibilities of adding contams. I know it likely saves you a ton of time, but maybe back down to just using agar dropped onto grains for a bit to aim for cleaner spawn?
  

I always try to go with the teks that are the most KISS type of things. The more you add the more likely you've carried a contam with you

---

I use coir/verm for substrate.
I've gone back to using liners because it makes cleaning your tubs after a run WAY easier.
DON'T switch to an unbodified tub! Mushies like air and when dealing with lots of tubs flipping all the lids become ridiculous really quick. Holes with poly-fil and a fan to move some air around works great. I might have to mist a tub or 2 before the first flush finishes but for the most part they are set and forget.

I do recommend going agar to grain and cutting out liquids. I used to use a lot of liquids and now I rarely do. You can get a lot of expansion from plate->master jars->spawn bags->monotubs.






It could definitely be hiding in your culture. I've had similar problems with cultures before. They look great but would trich faithfully after the first flush. Every tub. It was the culture. It happens to the best of us. It's nothing to beat yourself up over.

I would stop using staples. That definitely sounds like a possible vector for contams. You're better off using zip-ties. They work well.

But if you wanna step your game up and play with the big boys...

https://www.amazon.com/AIE-305HIM-12-Handheld-Heat-Impulse/dp/B0093PL8YA/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1547838467&sr=1-1&keywords=aie-305him

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vikingsc said:

I like the price on that one. Now I got hankerin' for a new sealer. So many goodies to buy.

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LotKid said:

A lot

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Thanks for coming in and filling my gaps in knowledge! Greatly appreciated

LotKid said:

Gotta tell ya from someone else running a bunch of monotubs... quit focusing on your fruiting room. No matter what you do there you're still gonna be getting trich. Tenting off your tubs in a room is pointless. Trust me.

It's your spawn. As much as you may not want to believe it... it is.


Focus on transfers and getting a clean culture.

You don't need a special casing layer for classic cubes. Just keep some sub to the side to put a light top layer on your sub to act as a casing.

And if you're worried about pollutant spore load in the house you can always get 1 or 2 large room hepa filters and run them in your house. They sell them wally world. If you live in the US.

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Nice tub politics tho lol..
If flipping a lid is tedious do it from day one. But stuffing Holes isn't tedious lol. My tubs get more airflow than monotubs with polyfill. The gaps are bigger surface area than the holes in a mono and they're not stuffed with anything.

Protip: they both work great. And require almost no work

JHOVA said:

Post your agar before inoculation

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aghabheegy said:

Did you ever figure this out? I'm in the same boat, nothing but trich, all the time.
I just can't see how it's my spawn... I've left jars to colonize for weeks, and never a spot of green until spawning to bulk, and close to first flush. I've lost 90% of my grows for the past year, and it's really starting to get to me.

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gt40 said:

Man, it's obvious and I agree for sure. But there are cases when simplicity of "revisit you agar" just don't work.
I did a ton of agar work during the year, transfer to LC then tested LC on dishes again - clean for the most of the time.

I bet that this air vent thing may be initial case since agar sterilization (but more more likely grain - as hardest thing for steam penetration). That's why I suggest to check that thing.

Generally it's same advice as go and check you clean procedure but in specified form

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aghabheegy said:

I appreciate all the input. I'm 100% ok with admitting I'm the problem... I just can't see where I'm fucking up since my plates stay clean, my jars stay clean, etc.

Yes, I properly vent my PC. I have a 2x4 laminar flow cabinet (from a lab) in front of which I perform all work. I us d to have an SAB, and had decent success there, but if I fucked up, it was obvious: plates would go green, jars would go green etc. Since I've had the flow hood, I have tested it both with just agar (no streaking / anything, just agar plate open in front of hood for 20 minutes, seal plate, wait for weeks, no growth), with grain (same thing, no spores or anything z just open a jar of sterilized grain in front of hood for 20 minutes, close it up, shake it around, wait for a few weeks, no contams), and also with inoculated mediums (grain in jars, agar), left to colonize, no green (though often slow colonization times).

Only thing I can think of is that my mycelium is weak / carrying bacteria / not colonizing fast enough, so when I spawn it to bulk (I use BOD's coir bucket tek exactly) it can't fight the bacteria and the trich at the same time.

I'm going to go back to the beginning, start with a streaked plate, and isolate a pure, strong culture, then fruit it and see what happens.

Can anyone confirm my thinking here? Are you saying that even though I never see the green in my jars / agar, that it's hiding there and not sporulating until I spawn to bulk?

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