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Yamidude
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Registered: 06/15/06
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Martha RH and droplets?
#5911829 - 07/29/06 11:52 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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Heres my situation/query..
I have a martha setup with a cool mist running 24/7. My humidity guage (taylor brand, pretty accurate) is telling me an average of between 90-95% RH. It provides me plenty of FAE.
The issue im wondering about is that on the wire rack there is constantly water droplets. Fine that's one thing. I pulled a few of the small casings out and looked closely for pins and i noticed micro droplets on the surface. Kinda like the ever popular term " glistening" but there is actually tiny little speckles of water.
Now i have since noticing, unzipped the front a little further to reduce RH a little bit.
Should these tiny little droplets be a problem or is it ok? They are really no larger than it i was to mist with a misty mate..
I have had one small casing in there for a week now with no pinning but just yesterday some of the spots started have some rhizmorphic growth spikes.. I think it's close to pinning but who knows.
fyi my card reader is jacked so no pics right now..
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Tippinthru
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Registered: 04/07/05
Posts: 1,131
Loc: "The Garden"...
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Re: Martha RH and droplets? [Re: Yamidude]
#5911954 - 07/29/06 12:47 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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A slight GLISTENING is a good thing.
Over saturation, or dripping drops, is not.
If you can raise the FAE slightly, yet maintain that micro-mist that cause the glistening effect.
Your crops will do well.
-------------------- Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time... [
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Yamidude
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Re: Martha RH and droplets? [Re: Tippinthru]
#5911960 - 07/29/06 12:48 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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cool thanks for the input. I was thinking that since they are sooo tiny of drops that they would probably be allright.
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RogerRabbit
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Registered: 03/26/03
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Re: Martha RH and droplets? [Re: Yamidude]
#5912048 - 07/29/06 01:18 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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The tiny drops won't hurt, but if they build up, you're in for problems. This is a very common problem when running cool mists 24/7 because the air can't absorb all the moisture you're pumping into the greenhouse. If your casing layer becomes waterlogged, it won't pin.
Ideally, you would mist your casing layer until it 'glistens', then allow it to dry out a tad before misting again a few hours later. This steady rate of evaporation of moisture from the casing is a major pinning trigger.
I used a coolmist as you are for a year or two before settling on the way I now do it, with the coolmist sitting directly on a shelf inside the greenhouse. You'll need to connect it to a humidistat or timer to keep it from saturating everything inside.
Right now, I'm fruiting Reishi from uncased substrate blocks so I need a very high humidity. I'm running my coolmist 30 seconds on, three minutes off. This provides 90 to 95 percent humidity with no water droplets forming whatsoever.
When fruiting cased substrates, I run it one minute on, six minutes off. Of course, these figures are based on my unique setup, so you'll have to experiment to find the sweet spot in your operation.
I have several large slits, and even a few holes cut in the plastic for air exchange. In fact, the door is simply a large sheet of plastic sheeting hanging from the top, with a weight on the bottom to hold it down. The full length of both sides is not connected, so two large slits run from the ceiling to the floor of the greenhouse. The more air exchange you can give the better, as long as you can maintain humidity. That is the reason I moved the coolmist into the inside, rather than on the outside.
The unexpected side-benefit to this system is my cheapo vics humidifier is now a year and a half old, and hasn't failed yet. When I was connecting hoses from the coolmist to the greenhouse, they would fail almost like clockwork at ninety days. I suspect it's the slight amount of static pressure that develops when using hoses, which forces moisture into the motor bushings. They would always get noisy, then fail, and you can't return them to the store for credit because they've been modified. The timer I now use is the repeat cycle timer near the bottom of this page. http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/accessory/controls2.shtml
I also have the humidistat they sell on that same page, but if you order it, be very careful to always harvest before a major spore drop occurs, because the spores will jam up the mechanism, causing the humidistat to fail. The cycle timer mounts outside the greenhouse so it's safe. Also, the humidistat won't provide over 80%, which is fine for cased substrates as long as you put a sheet of wax paper over the casing layer during pinning initiation. 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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Yamidude
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Registered: 06/15/06
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Last seen: 15 years, 5 months
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Re: Martha RH and droplets? [Re: RogerRabbit]
#5912123 - 07/29/06 01:46 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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thanks again RR.
I think i really need to put my coolmist on a timer. Eventually im going to get that one you have and move the coolmist inside. For now i think im going to put the current setup on a timer.
How long do you think it would take the little droplets to evaporate off the casing? I think i'll put it to run for 2 hours then off for an hour?? opinions?
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RogerRabbit
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Registered: 03/26/03
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Re: Martha RH and droplets? [Re: Yamidude]
#5912132 - 07/29/06 01:51 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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All I can suggest is to experiment. Put wax paper over your trays to keep water droplets from landing on them. With wax paper, you really don't need the humidity in the greenhouse over 70% to 80% because the wax paper will hold near 100% right on the casing surface.
I've found short cycles work better for a humidifier than long cycles. If you want a 2/1 ratio, try running it for half an hour, then off for fifteen minutes. You can get 15 minute increment timers very cheap at hardware stores. Short cycling will cut down on the excess moisture. 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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Yamidude
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Last seen: 15 years, 5 months
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Re: Martha RH and droplets? [Re: RogerRabbit]
#5912138 - 07/29/06 01:54 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
RogerRabbit said: All I can suggest is to experiment. Put wax paper over your trays to keep water droplets from landing on them. With wax paper, you really don't need the humidity in the greenhouse over 70% to 80% because the wax paper will hold near 100% right on the casing surface.
I've found short cycles work better for a humidifier than long cycles. If you want a 2/1 ratio, try running it for half an hour, then off for fifteen minutes. You can get 15 minute increment timers very cheap at hardware stores. Short cycling will cut down on the excess moisture. RR
yeah the wife and I are heading to the fish store anyways, last time i was there i noticed 15 minute timers. Im gonna get one and run it like you suggested..
oh and water droplets aren't exactly landing on them as oppsed to formin on them. They are very tiny droplets. damn i think i may have to get another card reader while im out so i can load my pics.
Edited by Yamidude (07/29/06 01:55 PM)
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Yamidude
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Registered: 06/15/06
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Last seen: 15 years, 5 months
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Re: Martha RH and droplets? [Re: Yamidude]
#5912576 - 07/29/06 04:56 PM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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heres some pics I just took, they are pretty big so you may have to zoom in to get a good look at the tiny droplets forming. I think they are probably allright though. Anywho. I also bought a timer that i can do 15 minutes off 30 on all day long so we'll see how that works out.


Edited by Yamidude (07/29/06 05:11 PM)
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Yamidude
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Registered: 06/15/06
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Last seen: 15 years, 5 months
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Re: Martha RH and droplets? [Re: Yamidude]
#5917415 - 07/31/06 01:06 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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found some pins today..

I would assume at this stage they are called pins..
Edited by Yamidude (07/31/06 01:08 AM)
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Tippinthru
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Registered: 04/07/05
Posts: 1,131
Loc: "The Garden"...
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Re: Martha RH and droplets? [Re: Yamidude]
#5917429 - 07/31/06 01:11 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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PINS, those are.
-------------------- Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time... [
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Yamidude
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Registered: 06/15/06
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Last seen: 15 years, 5 months
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Re: Martha RH and droplets? [Re: Tippinthru]
#5917431 - 07/31/06 01:12 AM (17 years, 6 months ago) |
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w00t. I was soo happy when i saw those babies this morning. I have 2 other trays that are 1 day behind that one so hopefully i spot alot more soon..
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Yamidude
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Registered: 06/15/06
Posts: 957
Last seen: 15 years, 5 months
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Re: Martha RH and droplets? [Re: Yamidude]
#5920334 - 07/31/06 10:57 PM (17 years, 5 months ago) |
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more pics of my babies for anyone that cares. I know im excited. I found an assload new ones today..

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