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pico11653
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Registered: 04/28/06
Posts: 8
Last seen: 17 years, 8 months
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4x4 hydro tray grow
#5568719 - 04/28/06 10:02 PM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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I am currently using a 4 foot square hydro tray as my grow chamber. I built a pvc frame and enclosed it with black and white poly plastic. I have a 4 ft. flourescent light inside. I also have a ultrasonic humidifier outside of the unit blowing in.
The first flush went pretty good. Rye grain cased with peat moss in a tray and put inside the grow chamber. I started to get contaminants in the casing towards the end of the first flush. See pic...

as you can see for the second flush it got real bad and I tossed it out after that.

Now I am getting green mold and the grey cottony mold as well. I seem to be getting it after I case and while the casing is still in the incubator on most of my trays. If they don't get it then, then they get it in the grow chamber. I just read that the green stuff is spores so I will clean everything out with alchohol to get rid of that.
How do I prevent this from happening? Am I not getting the casing sterilyzed enough? I have tried in the pressure cooker and I have also tried pasturizing it. Maybe I am not getting that done correctly.
Any advice?
thanks a lot.
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RogerRabbit
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Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 42,214
Loc: Seattle
Last seen: 11 months, 3 days
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Re: 4x4 hydro tray grow [Re: pico11653]
#5573665 - 04/30/06 10:50 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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That's trichoderma. It's in the air everywhere, so every casing or cake you do will be exposed to it. Trich likes warm, wet, still environments, which is exactly what you have in an incubator. Personally, I do NOT recommend using an incubator with cased substrates. Use room temperature(72F-76F). The extra day or two it takes to colonize will pay dividends in lower contamination rates.
The key to avoiding trich is air exchange. Since the spores will land on your project no matter what you do, prevent them from germinating and growing by giving your project plenty of fresh air exchange. The mold such as in your second picture can only grow in a stale, wet, warm environment. It's also important to pasteurize your casing material, never sterilize. If you sterilize your casing material, not only will your pinsets suffer, but the casing is much more likely to contaminate. The beneficial bacteria that survive the pasterurization temps(150F in the core of the substrate for an hour) will help prevent molds. Sterilization kills these beneficial bacteria, increasing your chances for green molds to form later. RR
-------------------- Download Let's Grow Mushrooms semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat "I've never had a failed experiment. I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work." Thomas Edison
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pico11653
Stranger


Registered: 04/28/06
Posts: 8
Last seen: 17 years, 8 months
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Re: 4x4 hydro tray grow [Re: RogerRabbit]
#5576209 - 05/01/06 01:51 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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What should I do to clean out the fruiting chamber?
I am guessing I should get rid of all my trays inside there and start over. Should I spray down the walls with alchohol?
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RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure


Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 42,214
Loc: Seattle
Last seen: 11 months, 3 days
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Re: 4x4 hydro tray grow [Re: pico11653]
#5576496 - 05/01/06 07:28 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Just wash well with soap and water. Any tray that is in with all that trich is going to get it too. The important thing to remember is to toss out trays at the first sign of green. If it's warm enough outside, they can be buried in a shady spot with some manure and sometimes they fruit a few weeks later. RR
-------------------- Download Let's Grow Mushrooms semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat "I've never had a failed experiment. I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work." Thomas Edison
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pico11653
Stranger


Registered: 04/28/06
Posts: 8
Last seen: 17 years, 8 months
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Re: 4x4 hydro tray grow [Re: RogerRabbit]
#5578582 - 05/01/06 07:40 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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So currently my average temps are around 60-70 during the day and 40 at night... Is that too cold? It will be getting a lot warmer very soon.
Also, how should I bury the tray? Manure on bottom then tray with casing side up? Maybe put a little more peat moss on top? Should I wet it down?
Thanks for all the help.
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