![]() Humidifiers are especially common when using a martha, an indoor green house. Some cultivators use humidifiers which they pipe into the fruiting chamber. They are commonly soaked to saturation, drained and then poured into a fruiting chamber in order to evaporate. They are commonly used when fruiting from substrates that lack casing since they will maintain such a high humidity level. High surface area materials like perlite and geolite are commonly used in a fruiting chamber to maintain a maintenance free relative humidity. Mycelium and fruit bodies should never be directly sprayed with water. Misting is commonly used in order to replenish humidity after fanning for fresh air exchange or to replenish the moisture in casing layers. Misting with a spray bottle is not a humidification technique in itself so much as a supplement to other primary techniques. However, there are many different techniques which can be used to aid in maintaining proper humidity. The mycelium itself can create and maintain its own humidity relatively well, especially once it has fully colonized and fruit bodies are starting to grow. Relative humidity is carefully controlled when a fruiting chamber is used. A hygrometer can be used to measure RH, but many experienced cultivators can gauge relative humidity by examining water condensation on the walls of the fruiting chamber. The relative humidity(RH) of the air around fruiting mycelium should be at least 90%. The humidity with a fruiting chamber must remain high in order to encourage pinning and to all the growing mycelium to retain as much water as it can hold. Some fruiting chambers are outfitted with cool mist or sonic humidifiers in order to provide both FAE and higher relative humidity. Others simply open up the lid and fan with a magazine, but in a dirty grow room, this approach would increase risk of contamination. Some cultivators use a fish tank air pump on a digital timer to supply fresh air every other hour or so. The Shotgun FC was designed to provide FAE by hundreds of holes drilled in all sides. Also, some contaminants thrive in stale air with high CO2 levels, so FAE is also important for avoiding conditions favorable to some molds and bacteria.ĭepending on the type of fruiting chamber used, there are various ways to achieve optimum FAE. The more (clean) fresh air you can get into your fruiting chamber the better, so long as you are able to keep the proper level of humidity. Again, in nature when the mycelium reaches the outside of the dung pile, there is much more fresh air than inside the pile. Lower levels of CO2 are also a signal for the mycelium to create fruit bodies. This is undesirable as it can produce a fruit body that is stunted, as well as bottom and side fruit are often not seen, and allowed to mature, die and rot on the substrate allowing a potent vector for contamination. I have seen people paint the sides of their tubs to try to reduce side pins but that is just a misunderstanding of why you’re using the liner.) With the liner holding the sides of the “substrate brick” it will rededuce side pins. You should you use a liner in your tub so that the substrate doesn’t have a microclimate around the edges of the container. (EDIT: Light is not what causes side pins. If this is not done, side pinning and bottom pinning will occur. The sides of the fruiting chamber should have some method of blocking light from the bottom of the substrate to about three inches above it on the side of the chamber. There is debate as to whether any darkness is needed at all for successful fruiting, however it is not debated that at least 1 or 2 hours of light is needed per day. When using artificial light, a common approach to simulate day and night is to use a simple outlet timer on a 12 hours on and 12 hours off schedule. When using indirect sunlight, care must be taken to rotate the chamber so all sides get even amount of sunlight, or fruiting will occur more heavily on the sunlit side, thus reducing yield. Indirect sunlight and florescent bulbs (temperature 5500k) both work. In nature, light would tell the fungus that it has reached the outside of a dung pile and that where the light hits it is a good place to create a fruit body. Mushrooms do not use light in the same way that plants do (for photosynthesis) rather, light is a signal that tells the fungus to start its fruiting stage. Light has effects on growth and development but the details require more investigation.) Edit: (The following is debated because mushrooms can fruit in complete darkness. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |