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redfishbluefish
Registered: 09/27/07
Posts: 132
Last seen: 7 years, 4 months
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few newb questions
#7461439 - 09/27/07 06:17 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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Hello, first time posting. Been reading the site like mad over the last month. I am now about 2 weeks into a PF-TEK similar half-pint jar grow (with BRF + vermiculite) and I have some insecurities about things already. The jars were left in varying temperatures (~60 on a few nights I'd guess to ~78 during the days) for the first five days. They have now been regulated in a closet with a space heater on a timer. Range 74-83 degrees.
First, I overwatered half (6 out of 12) of the jars. Rookie mistake. I'm having a difficult time telling whether or not I have 'wet spot' or simply very wet jars. A couple of these very wet jars have some mycelium growth at the inoculation points, but not quite as much as the proper ones. I'm not sure whether there is a way to salvage these or just see how it goes. If some do have wet spot then I'm unsure if the mycelium can overtake it or if they will stall each other and reduce further colonization. I plan to case if this has any relevancy. I can probably post a picture if this is a serious problem that has chance of salvation.
Other than that my only other serious concern is my fruiting chamber, which is more or less a feeble-minded amalgamation of a few different chambers posted here. I purchased most of the materials after reading this site for only about 8 hours in total, should have been more patient!
Anyhoo, it's a clear plastic box/bin (roughly 20"x20"x48") with two holes cut in the middle of the ends for 7/16" clear plastic tubing and two more holes (dime sized) in the top for ventilation. I have a holmes ultrasonic humidifier attached to the two clear plastic tubes running to either end and I have it set on a mechanical home depot timer. I also have a small computer fan I plan to put about 3/4ths of the way up the box in a corner at about a 45 degree angle pointed toward the bottom center. Other than this I have a 13 dollar walmart humidity/temperature gauge that reads up to 90% humidity that seems fairly reliable.
Hopefully thats understandable, but my question is thus. If I aim to case (60/40 verm/coco coir, 2 jars per casing) will this set up be sufficient for air circulation (co2 dispersion) and humidity regulation? As near as a quick hour or two of testing could tell me (not using the fan mind you) I plan to have the humidifier be on for 30min (minimum cycle) and then off for an hour and a half, leading to 2 hour total cycles. I'm unsure if I should need the fan on all the time or just have it on while the humidifier is running (keep it on the same timer).
Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated. It is my first time posting and I've only been a *frequent* visitor for the past couple months (thought randomly in the past for years), but I feel I'm fairly well versed in most things. Done plenty of free-time reading (unfortunately much after purchase of materials). Apologies for the length, and thank you *very* much in advance! Now lets see... insert smiley face... ... Job well done!
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veilbreaker
Sour girl



Registered: 06/12/07
Posts: 528
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Quote:
The jars were left in varying temperatures (~60 on a few nights I'd guess to ~78 during the days) for the first five days. They have now been regulated in a closet with a space heater on a timer. Range 74-83 degrees.
If you've got the temperature regulated now you're good.
Quote:
I'm having a difficult time telling whether or not I have 'wet spot' or simply very wet jars. A couple of these very wet jars have some mycelium growth at the inoculation points, but not quite as much as the proper ones. I'm not sure whether there is a way to salvage these or just see how it goes
Pictures are super useful. Do those jars smell?
Fruiting chamber sounds alright... you'll see how well it works when the time comes. Adjust as needed.
Quote:
If I aim to case (60/40 verm/coco coir, 2 jars per casing) will this set up be sufficient for air circulation (co2 dispersion) and humidity regulation? As near as a quick hour or two of testing could tell me (not using the fan mind you) I plan to have the humidifier be on for 30min (minimum cycle) and then off for an hour and a half, leading to 2 hour total cycles. I'm unsure if I should need the fan on all the time or just have it on while the humidifier is running (keep it on the same timer).
Sounds okay to me. Just try it and check your humidity reading. See how your casing fruits.
I think you're going to do fine.
Welcome to the Shroomery
-------------------- People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
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redfishbluefish
Registered: 09/27/07
Posts: 132
Last seen: 7 years, 4 months
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Thanks very much for the reply. Eases my mind quite a bit. I will take a few pictures of the wet spot jars and post them tomorrow. I smelled the one that I thought seemed the most likely wet spot candidate and found no odd smells. Couldn't smell anything really.
And thank you for the welcome, glad to be here! Should be here for a long while to come.
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shroom_daddy
Stranger

Registered: 08/23/07
Posts: 112
Last seen: 16 years, 2 months
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I'm a newb too and have a question,
How long can I leave sterilized PF jars without inoculating them?
The reason is because I have 21 jars made but I don't know if my two syringes will be enough. I need to know what to do with the left over jars.
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Pr0_X
CultivationLifer



Registered: 01/18/06
Posts: 617
Loc: Igloo's and polar bears
Last seen: 16 years, 1 day
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Sterilized jar's should be allowed to cool to room tempature and then inoculated asap.
-------------------- It's okay to hurt my feelings cause you know, they're so numb anyway. but I guess it's what I get for being to fuckin stupid to stay away - Jake - Support the FSR at www.fsrcanada.com and www.fsre.nl
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redfishbluefish
Registered: 09/27/07
Posts: 132
Last seen: 7 years, 4 months
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Re: few newb questions [Re: Pr0_X]
#7462702 - 09/28/07 12:33 AM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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I forgot to mention the fan puts out 3.8 CFM (cubic feet/min). Is that sufficient air circulation if it's cycling on 30 minutes off 90 minutes or should I change it?
I'll post pictures of possible contam jars after work. Hehe, posting with my PSP at work right now.
Thanks again.
edit: The fan has multiple power settings so it goes down incrementally to about 1 CFM. Just wondering what ya'll would suggest. 1 CFM constantly maybe?
Edited by redfishbluefish (09/28/07 12:49 AM)
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Skeeblix
Dave Thomas



Registered: 01/28/07 
Posts: 1,745
Loc: Wendy's
Last seen: 8 years, 3 months
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There's no such thing as too much FAE, as long as you can keep your relative humidity high. Try test running the FC with your monitoring instruments (thermometer, hygrometer) inside and check the conditions you get.
Run as much fresh air into the chamber as you can while still maintaining humidity above 90%, as this is best for fruiting conditions. In fact, if you can keep it higher with the blower running, go for it.
As long as you stay humid, there's absolutely no harm that FAE can bring about, and it actually helps deter some kinds of contamination.
-------------------- This post approved by:
Premedman1 said:
I just shat my pants.
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redfishbluefish
Registered: 09/27/07
Posts: 132
Last seen: 7 years, 4 months
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Re: few newb questions [Re: Skeeblix]
#7462951 - 09/28/07 02:54 AM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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I don't have polyfill or tyvek over the exhaust holes. Should I get some or is it mostly unnecessary?
Much appreciated by the way.
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redfishbluefish
Registered: 09/27/07
Posts: 132
Last seen: 7 years, 4 months
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Here's pictures of my possible contams. Best I could get them but they're fairly clear in some shots. Hehe.
Maybe wet spot? It was an overwatered jar, no immediately apparently smells.

Since a day after I inoculated there has been this mass on the bottom of a few (overwatered) jars, I believe its some of the BRF that settled. Can I still get a successful cake? Also maybe possible wet spot but not as likely as above.

Another one of my cakes has a couple odd spots on the growing mycelium. I can't tell if its verm or BRF or just odd coloration but I wouldn't think it would be contam growing on top of mycelium. But any ideas are helpful!

And last a jar (out of 4 or 5) that seems to be doing perfectly normal. Except that only 1-3 spots inoculated show growth on all my jars. I guess the spores weren't mixed well enough in the syringe. I'm unsure if this will mean my entire cakes will just take longer or if they will take so long they are practically doomed.

Any advice you guys can give would be great. I'll give back to the community when I learn a bit more. Thanks!
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aspore
myconaut



Registered: 07/10/07
Posts: 663
Last seen: 11 years, 4 months
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Those jars look very wet. I am doubting a full colinization. The excess liquid is probably from your spore injection.
You still might get pretty far in colonization, I had that problems with a few of my first jars. Keep us posted and maybe it's still salvagable.
--------------------
c l i c k m e
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redfishbluefish
Registered: 09/27/07
Posts: 132
Last seen: 7 years, 4 months
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Re: few newb questions [Re: aspore]
#7465023 - 09/28/07 05:24 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
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I'll post more pictures if anything else develops. I don't smell anything odd.
If they don't colonize all the way, what are my options? I very nearly yesterday sterilized the hell out of a fork and was going to open up a jar, scoop off the dry verm, and stab and mix the hell out of it to see if I could mix up the mycelium and disperse growth. I decided against it.
If they stop growing would I have any luck breaking one out and in very sterile conditions hacking off chunks with growth and trying to make a mini-casing out of it? I ordered one spore syringe online and was looking forward to making my own (far more dense with spores of course). To do that I should only need a couple caps.
Thanks much again, folks. I appreciate all the help immensely. I'll post if anything else goes sour or if I find some mysteriously unknown way to salvage doomed jars.
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