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OfflineShakedown Street
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Registered: 09/05/20
Posts: 383
Last seen: 2 months, 22 days
Trichoderma in monotub on first try + OMG the gnats!
    #26919518 - 09/05/20 02:47 PM (3 years, 4 months ago)

Hey there everybody, long time lurker first time poster here!
Big problem with my first attempt at set-n-forget mono-tubs.  Here is what I did in a nutshell.

Background

In 2018, I grew cubes using the PF-tek method.  I was very pleased it worked.  But not pleased that the ultrasonic humidifier I used to keep the shotgun-fruiting chamber humid also made it easy for mold to grow in the room where i kept it.  I learned to wipe down the mold w/ a mixture of half bleach and half water wearing rubber gloves.

In 2020, I learned to grow mycellium on agar.  In order to do this I first built a SAB by following SpitballJedi's tek at
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/20048771#20048771

Before transferring agar to agar, or agar to grain jars, etc., I always moved the jars & dishes into the SAB, sprayed them w/ isopropyl alcohol, covered the arm holes with saran wrap, took a shower, shaved, & washed my hair, donned plastic gloves that I sprayed with isopropyl alcohol before doing the SAB work.  And yes, I used a flame sterilizer for my scalpel between agar dishes outside my SAB.

Eventually I learned to do one of three things with contaminated agar in petri dishes:   
  • excise mold spores from a dish before they take over and fill the
  • agar hole with hydrogen peroxide, OR
  • transfer a clean slice of mycelium to fresh agar, OR
  • flush the contents of the dish down the toilet
.


Teks used

Then I decided to try my hand at monotub grows.  I found two monotub teks that I followed:

Willy Myco's "Set it & forget it! ~ Fully automated monotub" May 31, 2020 at

I installed the computer fan in the lid but never turned it on.  I never bought the Monsoon automated electric fogger either.

and Pastywhyte's Ez dialed mono-tubs at
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/26140339/fpart/1/vc/1/nt/13

So I made one tub following Willy Myco and the other tub following Pastywhyte.  Both are Sterilite 66 qt. tubs with clear lids.

For both tubs, I made CVG (coir, vermiculite, gypsum substrate) for substrate following Spitball Jedi's tek @
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/20469910

I also learned sterilized grain jars aren't necessarily viable six months after sterilizing them in the pressure cooker, even if you never open them.

I spawned the two tubs to substrate almost a month ago, after dripping the CVG to field capacity in a pillowcase overnight.

I filled one tub with wild-bird-seed grain spawn jars; the other, popcorn spawn jars.

Results so far

I never saw mycelium above the substrate in either tub.  However, since the holes in the boxes were covered only with micropore tape, there has always been some gas exchange.

Yesterday, unfortunately, I found trichoderma in the WillyMyco monotub.  So I took it outside and dumped it into the compost pile.  Then I put it in the bathtub and washed it.
What a major disappointment that was!

When I dumped the tub, I noticed white mycelium growing slightly (less than an inch) in the substrate, not enough to reach the surface.  I should add that the only time I shook the grain spawn jars to break up the mycelium was immediately before mixing them with pasteurized, cooled CVG substrate.

The only time I had the mono-tubs open since spawning them were about 20 minutes a day (one monotub at a time) to remove gnat eggs and gnats that found the substrates in both tubs to be wonderful homes, much to my disgust.  I eventually quit after a couple weeks trying to get rid of them.  I wrapped the perimeter of the tub lids w/ saran wrap to keep the gnats out, but that only slowed them down.

So one of my two mono-tubs failed.  I have one left that is full of gnats, but no mycelium is yet visible.

My question is, what must I do with the contaminated sterilite tub to make sure all trichoderma spores are killed before replanting it with new CVG substrate and  fully-inoculated grain spawn?

I guess removing all the micropore tape from the holes and throwing it away would be the first step.  But what else?  I have a spray bottle filled with 30 mL bleach mixed in 220 mL water.  Will that work?  Or would it prevent mycelium from growing afterwards ? 


I have no idea where the trich. came from.  I found brown fungus growing in some of my agar dishes, but this was my first experience with green or blue mold since my PF-tek jars two years ago.  Well,
at least  since I learned to eat cream cheese within a  week of unwrapping it!


Is the micropore tape supposed to be on both sides of the sterilite box, or just on the outside?

Both tubs were exposed to window light and room temperature in the 70's.  Now the remaining tub is.

I am not sure how I failed to conquer the trichoderma monster.  I really need to find out.  It got my monotub in only 17 days.  I am open to suggestions.

Thank you for reading this.


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Offlinetryptkaloids
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I'm a teapot


Registered: 02/08/15
Posts: 12,641
Loc: Exact Center
Last seen: 2 days, 10 hours
Trusted Cultivator
Re: Trichoderma in monotub on first try + OMG the gnats! [Re: Shakedown Street]
    #26919727 - 09/05/20 05:08 PM (3 years, 4 months ago)

Wash it with dish soap and a sponge


--------------------
"Remember, kids, the difference between science and screwing around is writing it down" -adam savage
Flowchart for Recommended plan of action.
Learn the tried and true way to grow mushrooms
Use the Damn search engine
After you know what you're doing, take a break 
Pick a book, Make some chips!
Josex said:Don't take the site seriously bro, ain't worth it.
 


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Offlinetryptkaloids
Learner
I'm a teapot


Registered: 02/08/15
Posts: 12,641
Loc: Exact Center
Last seen: 2 days, 10 hours
Trusted Cultivator
Re: Trichoderma in monotub on first try + OMG the gnats! [Re: tryptkaloids] * 1
    #26919728 - 09/05/20 05:08 PM (3 years, 4 months ago)

Also, you did a lot of unneccesary shit, Willy myco is a hack


--------------------
"Remember, kids, the difference between science and screwing around is writing it down" -adam savage
Flowchart for Recommended plan of action.
Learn the tried and true way to grow mushrooms
Use the Damn search engine
After you know what you're doing, take a break 
Pick a book, Make some chips!
Josex said:Don't take the site seriously bro, ain't worth it.
 


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OfflineThat_guy90
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Registered: 08/20/19
Posts: 69
Last seen: 7 months, 1 day
Re: Trichoderma in monotub on first try + OMG the gnats! [Re: tryptkaloids]
    #26919770 - 09/05/20 05:30 PM (3 years, 4 months ago)

I agree with trypt wash it out with soap and start over too many steps and variables. take everything back to square one and start over with Pastys ez agar and Pastys ez dialed monotub

Gnats are disgusting little buggers


--------------------


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OfflineShakedown Street
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Registered: 09/05/20
Posts: 383
Last seen: 2 months, 22 days
Re: Trichoderma in monotub on first try + OMG the gnats! [Re: That_guy90]
    #26924216 - 09/08/20 07:32 AM (3 years, 4 months ago)

Okay, then I will do these things:
1.  Remove the micropore tape from the plastic box and throw it away.
2.  Ditto for the black plastic bottom sheeting.
3.  Wash my hands w/ soap & water.
4.  Scrub the plastic box w/ soap & water.
5.  When the box is dry, put new micropore tape over all the holes on
the outside of the box only.

before starting over again with new materials and new mycelium in that monotub that had trichoderma.  Will also look at Pasty's agar tek
you linked to this thread to see if I can improve my anti-spore operations somehow.

Thank you for guiding me.

I am also going to buy more isopropyl alcohol to squirt gnats, and more
metal ball jar lids to make more fruit-fly traps.  I see that they kill gnats too.  YAY!


Edited by Shakedown Street (09/08/20 07:47 AM)


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Invisiblesh4d0ws
LSx
I'm a teapot User Gallery

Registered: 02/26/08
Posts: 12,086
Re: Trichoderma in monotub on first try + OMG the gnats! [Re: Shakedown Street]
    #26924230 - 09/08/20 07:44 AM (3 years, 4 months ago)

Yellow sticky traps work wonders for adult fungus gnats. Like these : https://www.amazon.ca/Dual-Sided-Holders-Outdoor-Insect-Catcher-Mosquitos/dp/B08C2475BX/ref=sr_1_4_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=gnat+traps&qid=1599572577&sr=8-4-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExOUE1RUhONzQ0MUw1JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjk1NDk0M1IzSUdHTUM3WjVZSiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMjQ3Mjk2M0daRko2MVkzTEkwRCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

You'll also need to toss any tubs where they are breeding and laying eggs.

I took a few months off and left about 10 spent monotubs in my basement sitting for a while...the gnat infestation was gnarly!


--------------------


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OfflineShakedown Street
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Registered: 09/05/20
Posts: 383
Last seen: 2 months, 22 days
Re: Trichoderma in monotub on first try + OMG the gnats! [Re: sh4d0ws]
    #26928969 - 09/10/20 08:22 PM (3 years, 4 months ago)

Sept. 10


In addition to the maggots in two Petri dishes of agar, I saw two
spots of mold on top of the Pastwhyte monotub's substrate.  Definitely
not white.  One gray spot.    One brown spot.  So I figured it was
mold of some kind, and dumped the second whole monotub into the compost pile.  I washed out the second plastic box (66 qt. Sterilite 2028) onto back porch to dry off.  What a major PITA!  I restarted generic Prozac.

After dumping the substrate onto the compost pile, I fondled it
with a gloved hand.  It felt dry.  Could the maggots have absorbed
all the water from the substrate?  I looked for white mycelium but
saw none.  Could the maggots have absorbed enough water from the
substrate to deprive the mycelium of water and kill it?


Maggots in my agar dishes was the proverbial straw that broke the
camel's back.    I have no idea how the gnats got inside because
the outer edges were all sealed with parafilm.  But I have seen
gnats in several rooms, so I guess I need more spiders in my room.

Is this kind of behavior--insects taking over a monotub -- typical
when staring one in the summer ?    Should I wait until later in
the fall when cold temperatures have killed all the insects?  Or
is fall a hard time to get mycelium to grow?    I will try to buy the
yellow sticky insect traps before redoing the monotub.  I will stick
them inside the monotub next time I introduce spawn & substrate in it,
if that's the right thing to do.

What am I doing wrong insofar as mycelium not colonizing the substrate?

  But I have many more agar dishes of mycelium,
so I will start again eventually.  Is that the end of the goddamn gnats?
I hope so.

I guess I should have put fat pantyhose from the Dollar Store around
the monotub when I spawned it, to keep insects out.  But I forgot.

Before I do, I would like to learn from my mistakes.  I would like
to think I can avoid making the same mistake twice. 
Where did I go wrong? I don't know.

Could it be that my decision to shake up the WBS and popcorn jars
just before spawning was a bad idea?    Should I have waited a few
days until I saw the grains turning white again before spawning?

What is the quickest, most foolproof way for a newbie like me to go
from white mycelium to fruits?

It is time for a shower. :frown:


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