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Shroomboofer
Stranger


Registered: 06/05/20
Posts: 100
Last seen: 1 year, 5 months
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Why does my agar keep drying out?
#27808809 - 06/06/22 08:00 PM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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I incubate my agar in a cooler with heater controlled with an inkbird setup, set to 80F. After a week or two, a lot of water from the agar will condense on the lid. This increases the risk of contamination from water sloshing onto the agar and it changes the nutrients ratio in the agar. This doesn't happen to agar I leave on the counter. I feel like it's because the incubator cycles too much. It's set to kick if below the target temp by 1 F, which I thought would reduce temperature extremes and reduce this type of condensation. Any ideas?
Edited by Shroomboofer (06/06/22 08:07 PM)
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PBJ710
Strangler


Registered: 07/05/19
Posts: 3,301
Last seen: 7 hours, 8 minutes
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Re: Why does my agar keep drying out? [Re: Shroomboofer]
#27808815 - 06/06/22 08:09 PM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Well you're heating it, so that kind of explains why it's drying out. Now the question is why you feel the need to heat it when it does perfectly fine at normal room temperature?
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Infinite Monkeys

Registered: 09/01/21
Posts: 276
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Re: Why does my agar keep drying out? [Re: Shroomboofer]
#27809029 - 06/06/22 10:27 PM (2 years, 7 months ago) |
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Could you rephrase your question? I'm confused about what you're asking.
It sounds like the cooler/heater setup is drying your agar out.
You could set your heater to 75F instead of 80F. The temperatures inside the petri dishes may be reaching higher than 80F.
Where have you placed the thermometer? Keep in mind that heat rises so you should measure from the top of the setup.
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Healing Oakland
Mushroom Co-op

Registered: 06/03/22
Posts: 146
Last seen: 4 days, 5 hours
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No need to incubate your agar, it is causing more problems than it is helping. It is 100% the reason your agar is drying out. The excess condensation where there was little to none before is evidence of this. The moisture has to come from somewhere, and it's coming from the water content of your agar. Also, condensation doesn't cause contamination, contamination causes contamination. Like PBJ said, room temp is fine. I could see this being a conversation if you live in a cold place with no HVAC, but it's June, even Canada is hot right now. Patience, and room temp is all you need. The incubator isn't your friend in this instance.
Good luck amigo 
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Shroomboofer
Stranger


Registered: 06/05/20
Posts: 100
Last seen: 1 year, 5 months
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Thank, I think you're right. I think I'm going to start with what Infinite Monkeys said and lower to 75F and keep a close eye on condensation. I think there is also a draft because the cooler isn't air tight. I taped up a hole that I believe is the big source of the draft.
All that said, if it appear to be condensing faster than it should, I'll turn off the heater. With it on, I'll have an extra 5 F that should in theory speed up the process right?
A note on the contamination, I think the lid is a more likely spot for contamination to collect because it's stored inverted. So if there's water sloshing around, it could contaminate the agar.
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Shroomboofer
Stranger


Registered: 06/05/20
Posts: 100
Last seen: 1 year, 5 months
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Yeah I'll try your recommendation and lower to 75. The thermometer is stored near the top of the cooler.
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