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Mycologue
Stranger

Registered: 06/23/20
Posts: 1
Loc: Southeast US
Last seen: 3 years, 7 months
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Cataloging my First Ever Grow
#26777366 - 06/23/20 05:19 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Hello, shroomery crowd. So this is going to be my long term post where I will continually catalog, plan, and (as a tertiary matter) solicit the sage advice of you experts regarding my first growing experience and perhaps experienced thereafter.
After looking for some of my favorite substances in my small rural area for nearly two years with scarce luck and high expense, I’ve decided to learn the arts and sciences of mycology. I’ve spent about two weeks doing the lurking and research and I’ve already made some purchases, which I’ll talk about in a moment.
A big part of me wanted to do a blog for entertainment and for my own documentation purposes, but I decided that instead of focusing on trying to get traffic from interested parties, I’d go to where the interested parties and fellows already congregate. That being said, this is my first post, so if I’m missing something regarding the conventions of this forum, please let me know and I will edit.
After watching about PF Tek and Monotub Tek, a part of me found the PF Tek tedious to start up. I understand now that it is amount minimizing risk and will likely try it in the future. But I elected to make my first run using a modified Monotub Tek because of the propensity for good yields.
My priorities are to minimize the risk that Monotub Tek (or the slight modification) presents with the following parameters.
- I cannot afford a laminar flow hood, which seems to me to be an exercise in opulence for someone growing strictly for friendly consumption.
- The room the unit is contained in is a relatively small room about 8 ft*12ft carpeted and in an old home.
- The room must remain discrete (to the home).
Items I already have:
- The Midwest Deluxe Spawn Bag Growing and Casing Kit, with contents viewable in their website. (Arriving soon). Yes there were cheaper and smarter ways to piece this together but I was eager to get started and splurged on convenience a bit after driving myself crazy with choices.)
- B+ spore syringe. (Arriving soon)
- A roll of linoleum (8x10) to cover the carpeted floor in the “sterile” part of the room.
- Painters tape and staples to connect vertices of clean room to make as air tight as possible for “at risk” periods like colonization of the substrate.
- Polypropylene roll to cover walls and ceiling in the “sterile” part of the room. (to mitigate risk during the colonization period)
- A HEPA air purifier rated for 150 sq. feet. Have it so I might as well put it to use.
- Painters suits, masks.
- Coir brick 650g, just in case I didn’t have enough substrate.
- Isopropyl 70%, Hydrogen Peroxide 35%, Bleach, Vinegar, Lysol, and other cleaners.
- A tote and set of rubber gloves which have been made into a “still air” box for injection.
I’m sure there’s a few things I’m missing, so I may add to this.
My challenges as I know them:
- I thought my kit came with a humidifier. Oops. Though I don’t yet have the specs of my kit, I think that it depends on vermiculite and constant fanning. I’m not down for that because of the risk factors of opening the container continuously. I feel like “set it and forget it” is the best way to go some I’m probably going to get
- Ventilation. I don’t want to spend the dough on a CO^2 filter and I’m unsure how much CO^2 (or dangerous spores) these things will produce. Would love advice for how much I need to worry about this.
- Perhaps there are more.
Some of this may seem like overkill, but I’m trying to reduce as much risk as possible. I read that a lot of people lose 4 or 5 tubs before they get it right. I’d rather spend the effort mitigating the risk factors than wasting hundreds on substrate and spores just to grow a nice batch of mold.
My next steps are of course to receive the kit and spores. I will be inoculating in a clean space (not my built “clean room”) using the still air box and over-cautious sterile technique. I hope to transfer the box straight to a safe place while the mycelium propagates.
During that several week window, I’ll be focusing on building the “room” and will not be setting the grain bags to the bulk substrate before I have the sterile room built. I hope to by that time find simple, budget, and effective solutions to my “challenges” of humidification, automation, and ventilation. I fully expect to have to spend some money on a humidistat, a timer, and probably fans.
Thanks for joining me on this journey. Can’t wait to read some feedback and continue to catalog this little op.
-------------------- Check out my post for the stories of an amateur cultivator.
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Psilanthropist
Noob

Registered: 06/23/16
Posts: 66
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Re: Cataloging my First Ever Grow [Re: Mycologue]
#26777401 - 06/23/20 05:34 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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You don’t need to build a clean room or purchase any of the stuff you anticipate having to buy.
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checkmatsis
morphicvibrantdarkness



Registered: 07/04/19
Posts: 105
Last seen: 2 months, 10 days
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Re: Cataloging my First Ever Grow [Re: Mycologue]
#26777464 - 06/23/20 06:03 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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You are going hard. Completely opposite of my way - "take it easy, but keep taking it." - Terance Mckenna. Anyway, good luck and excited to see updates on your progress.
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Thomsen



Registered: 09/27/19
Posts: 364
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Re: Cataloging my First Ever Grow [Re: checkmatsis]
#26777591 - 06/23/20 07:12 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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If you wanna go all in, you should just build a flow hood. That's actually all you need if you want to be sure to work 99% sterile.
I build my own for about $455 and it works really good. There's no need for a clean room unless you expect to be doing PCR on historical samples.
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