How do you guys seal your FC/terranium?

[ishkaboo]

Hey I recently had an outbreak of gnats which I suspect was because I used a small trash bin with some plastic wrap on top for 1 cake and I think the gnats were able to go under the plastic wrap and lay eggs in the wet perlite since there was a small puddle of water on the bottom which I thought would keep the perlite moist longer. So this next time I want to make sure the FC is absolutly sealed and I am thinking about putting some BT in the mixing bottle to spray on the perlite to make sure they cant breed. Im also going to hang one of the sticky fly things on top of the FC. I really cant have another outbreak of gnats because I have OCD and I am am really obsessing over it and it's making me have really bad anxiety since I can't see the bugs but I can hear them whirring. So I need to seal my fruiting chamber. The FC is a terranium made for reptiles so it had wire mesh on the lid, I tore the wire mesh out and I plan on plastic wrapping the lid and taping it so it stays together (unless someone has a better idea) but I dont know what to do with the corner there. I want to make sure there is NO WAY for anything to crawl in there, and if you know about fungus gnats they are VERY small, nearly invisible, so they can get in small places. Any suggestions?

[camMyco]

Try a screen top with a moist towl for the top. Mix a lot of salt in the water you hydrate your perlite. Do not set your cakes directly on the perlite.

Good luck!

For more tips see:
http://forums.mycotopia.net/fungi-gr...gus-gnats.html (Fungus Gnats!)


WooHooo! post#2000

[Mad_Hatter]

Pull out the cakes, dump the perlite, bleach the chamber and rinse it well.

Wet your fresh perlite in a strainer; just run water over it until all the water drains through, and you're good. Too much water attracts bugs and contams (obviously).

Don't put anything chemical inside that FC. If you wouldn't want to eat flypaper, don't put it in the vicinity of your grow.

Get yourself a cheap $5 air pump at your local aquarium supply store. You'll want to run the hose into the tank, under the perlite, preferably through your (relatively) sealed roof. Soak a rag in alcohol and let it dry to a dampness, then wrap it around your pump. This will facilitate your air exchange in a relatively clean way and create positive pressure inside your FC so that the air is constantly blowing out of any cracks that you might have.

Next, go boil a bunch of water. Take a half cup of baking soda to each drain in your house followed by a full cup of vinegar. Wash it down with some boiling water and finish with a half cup of bleach. Gnats and fruit flies start there, and this way all you'll have to worry about is your chamber.

[ishkaboo]

Should I get some poly fill to put in the hose so the gnats cant get in through the air pump?

[TVCasualty]

You could just wrap a large piece of polyfil around the pump. It probably already has a small filter on the intake and it's unlikely gnats could get in that way in any case.

I personally do not seal any FC's anymore at all. I prefer to use ultrasonic humidification set to turn on for one minute every 20 minutes (need a repeat cycle timer for that) and I cut a section out of the lids of the bins and cover it with screen, then a piece of polyfil cut from a roll (not the loose stuff, I use the rolled up sheet version), and finally I cover the poly with some plastic (a piece of clear plastic bag is fine). The poly makes the plastic sit just high enough off the screen to allow a gap for air exchange. When pins are forming I leave the plastic covering most of the poly. When they are set and getting bigger I move the plastic to expose more poly-covered screen otherwise as the mushrooms get bigger they elevate the humidity too much (for cased trays). For cakes I just leave the plastic on the whole time. I don't use perlite or do any fanning and can go about a week without even checking on them.

[ishkaboo]

How much would an electronic humidifier cost? Like something to completely eliminate the need for perlite. I think it would be worth the money in the long run because I am sure an electronic one does not attract contams like perlite does. The gnats nested in the perlite and layed eggs in the excess water sitting on the bottom because the perlite doesnt really absorb it it just gets water on its surface.