Grain Jars Stopped Colonizing

[blue.magic]

Hey Blue magic how do you find your incubator is working?

I have tweaked the incubator several times, last updates being:

- smaller heating mat placed inside
- insulation/padding below the jars
- AE holes lining top and bottom part of walls of the tub (bottom for CO2 release)

There was a condensation inside jars from temperature being too high, followed by drying of the substrate. Now that I made AE holes and used smaller heating mat, the temperature is just okay for colonization and there is no condensation.

So far I made 4 grain jars and two batches of BRF jars in the incubator, so it seems to work.

I am thinking about an Exo Terra Incubator as a future upgrade for growing during winter. This incubator is cheaper than lab ones and seem to have enough space for 4 jars.

 

[Amphiprion]

My opinion..

I think you are overthinking and overdoing things with regards to temperature..

Cubensis Mycelium is quite forgiving, It will colonize jars from above freezing, to 30C.

I would stay away from heat pads/mats and rather use a space heater to heat the entire room that your jars are in. You will get less condensation this way.

I have a small room with a space heater with my jars/bags hanging around 24c-27c. If the temp stays in this range its ideal, but not mandatory for success..

 

[blue.magic]

My opinion..
I think you are overthinking and overdoing things with regards to temperature..

Cubensis Mycelium is quite forgiving, It will colonize jars from above freezing, to 30C.

I would stay away from heat pads/mats and rather use a space heater to heat the entire room that your jars are in. You will get less condensation this way.

I have a small room with a space heater with my jars/bags hanging around 24c-27c. If the temp stays in this range its ideal, but not mandatory for success..

I am a bit concerned about energy costs so I used the small heat pad I already have and not needing to buy an expensive direct heater, which also consumes lot of electricity (kilowatts instead of 10s of watts).

I also use the room for storing various (mostly volatile) chemicals in racks, that's another reason why I am concerned about heating that room... mushrooms occupy just a small part of that storage space.

I recently found this "LightHouse ECOHEAT" heater which is used to to prevent plants from freezing in small spaces like greenhouses - it radiates heat in all directions and seems to be energy efficient:

Anyway, the mycelium seems to do just fine. The only issue is that some jars are hot to touch and some are cold. It's hard to heat them evenly - I know the myc. will withstand wide range of temperatures, but the huge temp. gradient might be a problem (e.g. 15-20 degrees difference from side to side of the same jar) as well as huge day/night temperature differences. So any kind of local space heater will probably be an improvement.

Of course, I don't need to heat it at all, though this will extend colonization time and invite more contamination.

 

[dmusicaltrancistor]

that ecoheat moddual looks nice let me know if you get one and it works well i would love to switch from the space heater i am using currently

 

[Amphiprion]

but the huge temp. gradient might be a problem (e.g. 15-20 degrees difference from side to side of the same jar) as well as huge day/night temperature differences. So any kind of local space heater will probably be an improvement.
Of course, I don't need to heat it at all, though this will extend colonization time and invite more contamination.

Ya, condensation will be an issue with such a temperature gradient over such a small distance. Lots of condensation hanging around inside jars= bacterial issues. Day night temperature swings wont cause this because there will be no temp differential/gradient.

Try out that small heater you got there and see how you go at getting the room temp stabilised to acceptable levels, although it looks a bit underpowered..

You could always also look at insulating the room.

 

[blue.magic]

but the huge temp. gradient might be a problem (e.g. 15-20 degrees difference from side to side of the same jar) as well as huge day/night temperature differences. So any kind of local space heater will probably be an improvement.
Of course, I don't need to heat it at all, though this will extend colonization time and invite more contamination.

Ya, condensation will be an issue with such a temperature gradient over such a small distance. Lots of condensation hanging around inside jars= bacterial issues. Day night temperature swings wont cause this because there will be no temp differential/gradient.

Try out that small heater you got there and see how you go at getting the room temp stabilised to acceptable levels, although it looks a bit underpowered..

You could always also look at insulating the room.

Okay. I will see whether to invest in it as it's not very cheap and I already spent a lot for the thermostat and heating pads.

Furthermore, spring will come in 3 months or so anyway.

 

[sauSage]

My opinion..

Cubensis Mycelium is quite forgiving, It will colonize jars from above freezing, to 30C.

I have a grow going right now and it's quite cold where I live, there have been stretches of several days where the temp inside the house is 50-55. Growth becomes slow AF, but it still moves... i have 1 bag of grain that's been colonizing for the last 7 weeks...

there's really no need to be in a hurry with them, they will grow...