Grow Room Plans, Comments wanted.

[Cooper Trouper]

Hey guys, Just thought i would run a fungi grow room plan by you all.

I have a full body tyvek suit and face dust mask to keep myself from bringing in too much contamination to the room or either tents.

I plan to set aside a room in which i will place 2 tents. One tent will be my lab and the other my grow room.

Both tents will be 1.4m by 1.4m by 2m, with probly fluro battens.

In the lab tent will be a food grade stainless steel table(for anti baterial properties) and on the table will be my AA 75X sterelizer(althougth when i am running it will be in a more open room and be carried in as it cools) and a Captair Pyrimid. Also some form of stool.

In the second tent will be 2 steel grate shelving racks with 4 shelves each. One on either side of the tent allowing a gap in the middle for access.

I will run some sort of humidifier in the tent or on the outside running into the tent.

What do you think?, pictures of the actual products i have mentioned are below.

[LD50]

If I were you I wouldnt buy any of that crap. It sounds like you havent even grown before so I would advise that you skip all that. For starters there are two very important items you will need to be successful. The first being the PC which you mentioned you have, the second being a flowhood. If your willing to shell out that kinda jing for crap you dont even need then splurge on a nice hood from FP. I have the series one hood and its great for tabletops. And another thing your not gonna need a suit bro, this aint like nuclear grade cleanroom stuff were talking about here you just want to be sure your sterile subs stay sterile thats all!

[Coughing_Anon]

Get into the hobby before you spend a lot of money on it.
Skill/experience > equipment.
You can build all that equipment yourself. Just get into the hobby cheaply and you'll start seeing places you can cut costs easily.

[Yetti]

I would go for the tent and shelving , only coz it would come in handy for my operation,
but yes start small and work your way up .

[Cooper Trouper]

I have had a couple runs with BRF cakes just in plastic tubs with sucess. Spending no money at all virtually. Just fanning and misting. Im now looking to get a more clock work like harvest and a bit more automated with humidifiers and such. I see the tents and racks as being very convienant is all.

I just got a pressure cooker and have ordered some wide mouth pint jars that ill have a few grows with hip's super cake mix. Trying to maximise my yield and gain more experince before i move into grains.

I get what your saying tho, i guess i am trying to rush a bit.

I would love a flowhood but couldnt find one, in australia and saw this pyrimid as a cheaper substitute. I will do some more looking ,could someone possibly point me in the right directiom?

[August West]

Originally Posted by Freaky

Mycotopia Web Archive: The Makings of A Flowhood One of the best threads on building a flowhood imo. Highflyer's thread.


Mycotopia Web Archive: How to wire a squirrel cage blower fan for flowhood This is good for information on wiring if you need it.

Mycotopia Web Archive: Some laminar flow info Good information and a short read.

Mycotopia Web Archive: My flowhood If you want a larger size project.

Mycotopia Web Archive: Laminar Flow Hood A very helpful thread.

Now those links are from the Archives.

This is the link to the section in the Vaults.
Gloveboxes & Flowhoods - Mycotopia Web Forums

Good luck and have fun! Hope those links help you out.

[Glasshopper]

Get some seed starter shelves that have a zipable plastic cover then get trays to fit the shelves.

Also procure humidifier hoses and timer.


Your on the right track making a good isolate.

[Cooper Trouper]

Thanks Glass.

I took in what you said about if im going to spend the money i migth aswell get a flow hood.
I think i have found the flow hood i will get an "AURA mini". I have requested a quote, im just not sure if they will sell to me due to my lack of a business.

Heres hoping.

Link to the unit
http://www.biocabinets.com.au/lab-co...aura-mini.html

[roscoe]

well if yer hell bent on spending way too much money. i made my lam hood from links here on the site and it cost me about $250, im sure you could make one for less if you have some of the parts already. home made and so far all my clean work has stayed just that. clean.

[Cooper Trouper]

I am going to have to save for it for a few months, its not like i have lots of money. I just know in the end it will be worth getting a commerical model.

I know if i tried to make one id screw it up somehow.

It doesnt matter, Ill just let you know how i get on later.

Ill be starting a cubensis, hip's supercake pint cake grow soon. So keep an eye open for it.

[Myc]

All you need are the glovebox and eventually the flowhood.
The glovebox is more versatile - you can work with both clean and contaminated cultures.
The flowhood is limited - easier to work in front of - but you can't work with contaminated cultures or you'll just spread them around with the airflow.
Start cheap with the glovebox and move forward as your budget allows.

Body suit - not necessary - or any other particle-free clothing for that matter.
Just clean your hands and your bare arms - scrub to the elbows.
Labware can be a waste of money in some cases.
Invest your money in lab tools - scalpels, needles, petris, etc.
Maybe even a bacti-cinerator if you're feeling $$$ loaded.

[LD50]

Hey bro notice how you cant "add to cart" that hood? Thats because that one your link shows is going to run like 5k or more I bet. Seriously if you dont want to build one you can still have one shipped. I know the shipping would be a killer but its still much better than trying to buy what your looking at. Since you live australia you should try to build one for yourself. Trust me you dont need that commercial one.

[Soliver]

Keep it simple - you don't need a flowhood to have a regular crop, a homemade glovebox
will work just fine, even a clear plastic box with a towel draped over the front is a good
start... expensive stuff won't replace coherent procedure, and that's something you
probably won't pick up without experience.

Move from cakes to grains, do some casings, monotubs, etc., THEN, if you still feel
the need, buy all that $$ stuff, which is, IMO, not necessary (but still very cool).



soliver

[Cooper Trouper]

I think will start saving some money with that flow hood as a goal but in the meanwhile just make do with a plastic tub glove box.

As you say it is very coo. sciencey and all.

That is so me tho, always getting ahead of myself.

[Coughing_Anon]

I just made my glovebox out of a plastic tub last night. Really easy.
Took 5" PVC couplers from Homo Despot, traced their outline.
Took a blowtorch and used it to heat up a butterknife, which melted the plastic to cut it. (BE CAREFUL, I dropped some molten plastic on my foot and it's all swollen and angry at me still!)
Epoxyed the couplers in place, and sealed the holes with silicone after the epoxy set.
I plan on attaching tyvek sleeves (made from some kite tyvek I have lying around) and wearing a new pair of gloves every time I use it.
I'll be using it soon for some agar work. I'm excited!

[DrDee]

CT,
This is a general piece of advice...and speculative at that. So take it with a grain of salt.

I'm a noob but I've had amazing luck with almost zero contam. One thing that I have going on is a ganja garden which includes a very substantial carbon scrubber to handle plant smells. My thinking is that the air pump running 24 hours a day recirculating my air through a large activated charcoal canister is leaving my air very clean and pollen free. I think incorporating a carbon scrubber or a good air filtration system would be useful.
Peace,
Dee

[Cooper Trouper]

DrDee, interesting, sort of a air cleaner / purifier. ill look into it.

For now i have just bought the captair prymid as a glove box.

My pint jar's and vermiculite arrived today, i have drilled holes in the lids and placed a synthetic filter disc inside it. I have one question tho, i ordered grade 2 medium verm but it looks very fine to me. In the picture does it look the same as everyone elses?

I also have most of hip's super cake ingredients, the ones i couldnt find i will go without. I still need to pick up some BRF and then i should be ready to go.

Think ill will start with some B+.

[Cooper Trouper]

Also Coughing_Anon that sounds like a mad glove box, sorry to hear about the hot glue on your foot

[roc]

Originally Posted by Soliver

Keep it simple - you don't need a flowhood to have a regular crop, a homemade glovebox
will work just fine, even a clear plastic box with a towel draped over the front is a good
start... expensive stuff won't replace coherent procedure, and that's something you
probably won't pick up without experience.

Move from cakes to grains, do some casings, monotubs, etc., THEN, if you still feel
the need, buy all that $$ stuff, which is, IMO, not necessary (but still very cool).



soliver

KISS technique has served me well and I could not have said it better Sol.

[Cooper Trouper]

Thanks to all who commented. Your advise has all been taken in, I will try to keep it cheap and simple but I might just get the better of myself later on, after I have done a quite a few grows. I might even change my perspective with experience.

I have decided against the tents and furniture. I’m going to just use a plastic tub and my tropic aired humidifier along with prelate in the bottom, fanning and misting for a FC and the primed for a glove box cause it is just so handy.

[TVCasualty]

Seen this thread?
http://forums.mycotopia.net/photo-ga...substrate.html (Puck Tek -- Pressed Substrate)

Also, don't overdo any chemical disinfection. I haven't used lysol in years, and between each grow I bleach-mop the ceiling, walls, windows, door, and floor w/ a 15% bleach solution, and when I'm sitting at my work table I wipe it with 70% isopropyl, but that's it for chemical use. I also added a UV sterilizer to my HVAC duct and have a stand-alone desktop model running in the room 24/7. When I incorporated UV, my contam rate dropped down to insignificance.

Other handy tips to minimize contamination include keeping your refrigerator clean (normally one of the most contaminated places in the house), taking out your trash often (before it starts to smell), not leaving bread or anything else out that harbors mold, and never wearing shoes that you wear outdoors into your clean room (seems obvious, but we get in a hurry sometimes). Also, minimize the amount of furniture in the room; there's no need for a stool or chair IMO. I kneel on a stack of folded towels when I do my sterile work, which I do on a folding table w/ plastic top. A stool or whatever is just one more thing to clean, but the towels are simply tossed into the washer w/ some bleach and I can use them to clean up spills right away since they're already sitting there on the floor.

Good luck, and rest assured that the fungi will test your commitment. Keep working through the problems that pop up and one day you'll notice your success rate is routinely near or at 100%, but it'll be hard to say exactly why... There's something about experience that brings success even though your procedures might not be noticeably different from when you first began. It's weird, but I'm ok with it! Good luck, and also be assured that reading the vaults and asking questions here will speed that process up a lot.

[Oblivion]

Here's what mine looked like before I built it.

As a starter, I wouldnt go this far until you know what your needs are and you're sure you enjoy the hobby.
Myc's sugestion is a good one.

[TVCasualty]

I'd love to have a custom grow room built on a slab that's floating in the sky! (they'd never find it, bwahahaha)

uhh, anyway... Is that a room you built inside another room? (no header over the door and using 2X4's for the ceiling joists implies the walls aren't load bearing)

What program did you use to draw the plan, and how easy is the program to use (if you don't mind my asking)?

[Soliver]

That verm will work just fine Looks just like the stuff I get from the hardware store..



soliver

Originally Posted by Cooper Trouper

DrDee, interesting, sort of a air cleaner / purifier. ill look into it.

For now i have just bought the captair prymid as a glove box.

My pint jar's and vermiculite arrived today, i have drilled holes in the lids and placed a synthetic filter disc inside it. I have one question tho, i ordered grade 2 medium verm but it looks very fine to me. In the picture does it look the same as everyone elses?

I also have most of hip's super cake ingredients, the ones i couldnt find i will go without. I still need to pick up some BRF and then i should be ready to go.

Think ill will start with some B+.

[LD50]

Originally Posted by Cooper Trouper

Thanks to all who commented. Your advise has all been taken in, I will try to keep it cheap and simple but I might just get the better of myself later on, after I have done a quite a few grows. I might even change my perspective with experience.

I have decided against the tents and furniture. I’m going to just use a plastic tub and my tropic aired humidifier along with prelate in the bottom, fanning and misting for a FC and the primed for a glove box cause it is just so handy.

Cooper I think your right on now! I saw your pics and you nailed it with your PC and jars. One thing you may want to consider though is to be using quart jars not pints. I dont know how big your PC is but I think your gonna find your quickly going to out grow that jar/PC size. I use a AA915 with quart jars using plastic lids and Syth disks too. I can only get 7 jars per load and only 2 4lb bags per load. Kinda small but it works. I saw your verm and its perfect! that is the best kind to work with in your subs and your casings. The substrates I think you kinda went overboard tho, your gonna spend tons of cash on that chit and you dont need too. Use WBS any kind with no birdkote or chemical coatings. Figure what you need to fill your jars that will fit in a PC for one load. Then take that seed and put it in a big bowl and fill it with water. Soak for 24 hours and then place in a strainer rinse it and when the grain stops dripping then load the WBS into your jars PC for 90 min and let COMPLETELY COOL before taking out of PC. Try that its sooo simple and works. Anways your on the right track your gonna learn from your mistakes and eventually you will streamline your setup. And as far as getting a big elaborate grow room setup going, you would be surprised what you can grow in a very small space! Keep us posted!

[Cooper Trouper]

Thanks LD50, I have 60 quart jars and 60 pint jars, figured id try some BRF cakes in pints then move over to rye berries in quarts ( i picked up 20kgof rye really cheap). I have the all american 75X sterilizer so it fits quite a bit =).

Will be making a LC of B+ later this week and then nocing the BRF cakes. Im excited to see some white again.