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 Under_net
enthusiast
Registered: 12/08/01
Posts: 228
Loc: kentucky
Last seen: 21 years, 11 months
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 terrarium? Recommended method? 
#498476 - 12/22/01 04:51 AM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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I am building my first terrarium and am curious about what is an effective way to construct it without getting too extremely complicated.
For example I was thinking about getting a rubbermaid container, cutting a large portion of the top out and epoxying plexy overtop of it. Then getting a small light bulb sized fluro light, that ive been told can be attained, and mounting it about 4 feet over the terrarium. Then layering the bottom of the terr with perlite& water.
Does anyone have any suggestions about setting up something like this. Also, when using perlite, is there a recommended ratio of mixing it with water & should i use h202 in with the water/perlite mixture & at what concentration.
I am growing indoors, so outside light is not an option, if I should use some other source of lighting I'm open for suggestions.
If I were to setup something like ive explained, at what temp is recommended to store it @.
Any info in this area would be greatly appreciated
Thanx in advance
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BeppoMarx
old hand
Registered: 09/01/01
Posts: 1,131
Last seen: 11 days, 20 hours
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 Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: Under_net]
#498493 - 12/22/01 06:57 AM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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sounds awesome. lemme try to answer some of those questions.
put a layer of about 1" in the bottom and add water until it is 'wet'. i know that sounds kinda general but just add until you see moisture around it all but not so much as its floating all over. then puur in some H2O2; again i never measure exactly just pour in a litle bit, like 1/4 cup. i pour straight from the bottle; just 'glug glug' and im done. if you keep the top clear you probably wont need any additional lighting if its in your room and you have light on in your room at least a few hours a day. if you want to try it, fix a flourescent light up above your terrarium but at least a foot or two above it unless you want to try to warm the terrarium with the heat from it. and on another note it sounds like you may be just beginning; is that correct? if so you do not need a terrarium until your jars are fully colonized and ready to birth. if not you need to keep the temp about 85* Fahrenheit until you take them outta the jars; then the ideal temperature is 75* Fahrenheit. so if the terrarium setup is in fact what you want; get one of those reptile terrarium sticky thermometers that you can stick to the side and show temp for like $3.99. they are accurate and cheap and read like 60-85 degrees; right where you want it (at 75).
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Fantazee
journeyman
Registered: 11/24/01
Posts: 94
Loc: New England
Last seen: 17 years, 7 months
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 Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: BeppoMarx]
#498515 - 12/22/01 08:47 AM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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Great response Beppo...No attitude, no "do a search"...Just good solid info!!!
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BeppoMarx
old hand
Registered: 09/01/01
Posts: 1,131
Last seen: 11 days, 20 hours
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Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: Fantazee]
#498524 - 12/22/01 09:47 AM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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i try :) posting useful info sure beats sitting here at work and actually doing work. especially when you have to do customer servive all day for MORONS in georgia. no offense to all the decent georgians but DAMN THERE IS A HUGE ABUNDANCE OF IDIOTS IN GEORGIA!
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Anonymous
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Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: Under_net]
#498536 - 12/22/01 10:28 AM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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Don't worry so much about the lighting, they are not pot plants and get nothing from the light other than a sense of direction. Just lifting the lid to look at them a few minutes each day is enough.
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BeppoMarx
old hand
Registered: 09/01/01
Posts: 1,131
Last seen: 11 days, 20 hours
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Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: ]
#498545 - 12/22/01 10:46 AM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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i hear a lot about how more right light will give larger and darker caramel caps. i just recently put my terrarium in my closet as it is much warmer in there but zero light. i look at it every day though which requires ~10 min of light per day and im finding that the pins are much longer and skinnier with very small heads forming and my friend whose cakes always recieve minimal light are always have 2-3 times more mushrooms on them but less than half the size. were both doing maztec and he gets 30 mushrooms or so per flush that are as tall as my pinky finger if that whereas i normally get 5 or 6 mushrooms ranging from 8 to 20 wet grams.
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criminulmindid
SoLja
Registered: 11/22/01
Posts: 102
Last seen: 20 years, 1 month
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Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: BeppoMarx]
#498614 - 12/22/01 01:38 PM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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so which yields more you or your friends? im planning on doing 10 hours light 14 dark because in the wild this is about what they would get. also is h2o2 necessary for perlite?
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dont make me pop a cap!
Edited by criminulmindid (12/22/01 01:39 PM)
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BeppoMarx
old hand
Registered: 09/01/01
Posts: 1,131
Last seen: 11 days, 20 hours
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Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: criminulmindid]
#498631 - 12/22/01 02:10 PM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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actually his usualy yield more; but this is very limited experience on both our parts and his room is at least 5 degrees warmer at all times. he cranks up his waterbed to heat his room basically and i have no waterbed and my bedroom is on the far corner of our house which is always pretty cold (usually about 68). its even worse cos my parents use a kerosene heater in the living room (where our thermostat is) and when thats in the house my room recieves no heat from the furnace. thats why i moved to my closet like i said because the wate heater is right behind it and that small space is usually kept much warmer if i keep the door closed.
EDIT
no H2O2 is not necessary but adding 100-200 ml to your perlite sure as hell helps A LOT imho.
Edited by BeppoMarx (12/22/01 02:11 PM)
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Under_net
enthusiast
Registered: 12/08/01
Posts: 228
Loc: kentucky
Last seen: 21 years, 11 months
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 Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: BeppoMarx]
#499608 - 12/23/01 07:54 PM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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Thanx for all the good info Beppo.
Yes I am new, but what ive been doing to get started is starting a set of jars every week. So now I just started my 3rd set of jars, and my first set is 2 weeks into it. I know that may be dumb, but I'm trying some different things on 10 jars/week to see what seems to work best.
At the end of this post is a picture of the Terrarium that I constructed out of the Rubbermaid container I spoke of. I think it looks pretty good, and I also picked up a couple bags of perlite, a humidity guage and I have a thermometer that I use to measure the ambient temp of the room but I will add one of those stick on ones to the inside of the chamber.
As far as setting up the jars, I have done a lot of reading and found some conflicting information. For example I have read that to use both 4 and 2 holes in the jar lids. Ive read to both tighten the jars while in the pressure cooker and during coloniation an to leave them loose. Ive read to Pressure cook my Jars for anywhere to 20 minutes to an hour. Will over pressure cooking effect the humidity level inside of the jars, especially is the lids are loose?
I guess I need to figure a lot fo this out for myself. Also since direct light isnt necessary, I just got one of those fluorescent standard plug in light bulbs to put in my main room light, and I figured that would be sufficient, especially since Ive read somewhere that too direct of a light source can be harmful.
Again, thanks for all of the hekpul info, and if anyways has anything else to add it would be appreciated.
Thanx
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straightbangin
member
Registered: 11/09/01
Posts: 168
Last seen: 21 years, 1 month
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 Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: Under_net]
#499631 - 12/23/01 08:32 PM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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I'm at the same stage....about ready to go from jar to terrarium. I thought you wanted no light for the shroomies. i was thinking of getting one of them long 6" high sweater box tupperware containers to slide under my bed (ya know save space and all) but....again they are 6" hight. has anyone used these? any problems, will the shrooms hit thier heads on the lid and if so will they just grow crooked or die? and what is H2o2 and where do i get it? what is it? lol
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 blahblahblah
Mad Scientist
Registered: 10/24/01
Posts: 1,022
Loc: South America
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Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: straightbangin]
#499828 - 12/24/01 12:59 AM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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I dont know if anyone has mentioned this yet but I would get some weather stripping for the edges of the lid. I had one of those rubbermaid terreriums and it didnt keep the humidity high enough even with the perlite in the bottom and me spraying it a few times a day. I suspect the reason for this is because to much humidity was escaping from the loose fitting lid.
Edited by blahblahblah (12/24/01 01:00 AM)
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straightbangin
member
Registered: 11/09/01
Posts: 168
Last seen: 21 years, 1 month
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Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: blahblahblah]
#499837 - 12/24/01 01:07 AM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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cool, i was thinking that ;)
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BeppoMarx
old hand
Registered: 09/01/01
Posts: 1,131
Last seen: 11 days, 20 hours
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Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: straightbangin]
#499941 - 12/24/01 07:21 AM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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under_net: first off i dont think that humidity gauge was worth whatever you paid for it. almost all are inaccurate after 85% anyway and perlite is almost fool proof in a sealed environment. furthermore; especially if youre doing cakes you want humidity as close to 100% as you can get it so 'regulating' the humidity is almost pointless as higher will just about always be better. and wet perlite will disperse moisture and keep your terrarium as humid as required; there is almost no screwing it up.
4 or 2 holes? depends on how fast you want your jars to colonize. 2 holes will give you 2 innoculation points and 4 will give 4 points of growth in your jars. having only 1 hole will work and having 10 holes will also work.
pressure cook jars for 45 minuted to an hour. yes 20 min will work decent for BRF/verm but you still may incurr contaminated jars and you probably will need more time if/when you ever move to whole grains. lastly; you can pressure cook for 2 and half hours and it wont ruin your jars or their humidity or moisture content so long as you dont spill any water in there or tip the jars over wether the lids are loose or not. dont worry; once you do it once youll realize how easily this hobby will explain itself to you. its kinda like riding a bike. except riding on a bike on shrooms is much harder :)
straightbangin; i just birthed 5 cakes into one of those uder the bed things youre speaking of except its pretty big; about 10" tall. not sure yet what will happen when they touch the top but im sure ill find out. H2O2 is hydrogen peroxide. get it at any drugstore for 79 cents.
blahblahblah: yes weatherstripping will seal it off bertter and retain humidity better. use it if you like but USUSALLY it is not necessary. i stress usually because its not 100%. but from the looks of under_net's terrarium setup i dont think it will be needed. especially if you heat it somehow to keep it at 75*. the heated water in teh perlite will keep it up real nice.
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michael_ahji
newbie
Registered: 12/24/01
Posts: 33
Loc: HAWAII
Last seen: 22 years, 5 months
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 Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: BeppoMarx]
#500160 - 12/24/01 02:26 PM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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is a rubbermaid container that is 7" in height too shallow to use as a fruiting chamber? will the mushrooms be alright if they touch the lid of the container? if not could someone tell me exactly what dimensions(meaning height-gallon size) will be suitible for the mushies to happily grow. oh and i had a question about the exhaust holes for the outlet of co2. how big? and how many exhaust holes do you need? thanks guys .
love peace and ganjah
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michael_ahji
newbie
Registered: 12/24/01
Posts: 33
Loc: HAWAII
Last seen: 22 years, 5 months
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 Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: blahblahblah]
#500162 - 12/24/01 02:32 PM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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where could i buy one of those temperature/humidity guages(digital?)? i need something to monitor the relative humidity on the inside of the fruiting chamber? thanks for all the useful input guys. keep um comin'
peace love and ganjah
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crispyburrito
member
Registered: 08/29/01
Posts: 135
Last seen: 22 years, 8 months
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Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: michael_ahji]
#500285 - 12/24/01 06:17 PM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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Sears has one , $20.00 very accurate, displays up to 100% hummidity , also the temp . Seems to be durrable no problems ,, yet anyway . Not all stores carry them check the hummidifier section .
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This statment or question is fictional and for fun not to be used in real life. Just a hypothetical situation..
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Anonymous
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Re: terrarium? Recommended method? [Re: crispyburrito]
#500404 - 12/24/01 09:46 PM (23 years, 1 month ago) |
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Just a few things:
6"....not high enough
2 - 4 holes.....just take the lid off and quickly innoculate, no holes or tape needed. A holes a hole, 2, 4 or one big one from taking the lid off makes no difference...you're not in a room full of mouldy bread, right?
pressure cooking...20 minutes in plenty long enough....tighten those lids when in the pc! Or else the steam will enter the jar and screw up your water ratio. Nothing wastes more time then a too wet substrate.
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