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Old 01-28-2010, 08:21 PM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Location: Lake Havasu AZ.
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How do you add humidty? i'm thinking a fogger or maybe thats to much to quik. or maybe its just a bowl of water inside that is evaporating? could have alid that opens and closes? not sure about this one.
with warmth and an enclosed growing area there should be enough humidity. Although different types of mushrooms have different temp needs as I understand it. Also I understand in some types of mushrooms they are triggered to fruit by a fluctuation in temperature. As for a setup for adding humidity on demand without adding to much, here is a short video that may give you some ideas:
YouTube - Fun with ultrasonic fogger

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i love the thought were worried about sterile, the we mix up some cow patties for food for the little guys.
Sterilization is extremely important in the beginning while getting the spores to the stage where it is introduced into the growing medium. The growing medium should also be sterilized before use. But once the two are put together sterilization would kill the fungi that produces the mushrooms. Also depending on the type of mushrooms being grown they can be harvested in less than 2 weeks.

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what is that really big one that they pick up here in teh northwest i see them or here about them getting a good chunk of change selling them.
I believe you you are referring to Shiitake mushrooms. These are a wood based growing medium mushroom. They are known for being grown in logs, and forested areas. I understand that they have the best flavor when being grown in logs, but are also commonly grown in sawdust blocks. I think the difference is that wood logs are much denser and probably provide more nourishment to the fungi. I think the type of wood could be important to them also. Here is a video on Shiitake mushrooms:
YouTube - Growing and Marketing Shiitake Mushrooms on natural logs

You may also be referring to Portobello mushrooms, they are known for being large with a meaty taste. These are also fairly common at the markets and are sold as the large mushroom or as the small baby Portobello mushrooms.

"Portobello/Button/Crimini Mushrooms
Portobello mushrooms rival shiitakes as the new popular "meaty" mushroom. Portobellos' size and shape lends themselves to stuffing and baking. What many people may not realize is that portobellos (sometimes known as portobellas) are simply the familiar button (the youngest, whitest, version), or crimini (slightly older and darker) mushroom, allowed to grow to maturity. Mushroom growers supply several kinds of Portobellos, and criminis grow well in various mediums."

I have not yet really looked into how Portobello mushrooms grow best yet.
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Seems like you need air control as well as adripp system for control. maybe even have buried dripp system to keep mold and such on the surface down. the water evaporating throgh the dirt may be the humidty needed and a small dehumidifier with a drain tube to the out side of the fridge would be the trick.
Indeed a drip system (water only) may be helpful for growing mushrooms but I can only see it being possibly necessary in large setups. As long as the humidity is OK there should not be enough evaporation to require any watering. You don't want to saturate the medium with moisture or the fungi will basically drown, not producing anything. Of coarse depending on the type of mushroom and method used for the growing medium a controlled water delivery system could be useful. Although I can only see it being that useful on large operations.

Even though the mushrooms need humidity they also need to breath, so air circulation is important. With more air circulation I can see the need to add more humidity back to the growing area to keep the mushrooms happy. This part I can see a big need for automating, but really only when growing more than you can eat. Mushrooms tend to grow in spurts and large numbers (depending on the type).

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I though musrooms grew when it was cold around here? or do they grow even better when there warm? i assume they would.
Well that really depends on the mushroom being grown. I don't think that any type of mushroom will do well in either extreme, but some like cooler climates and others only want to sprout when the weather starts to warm up. The best advice I have is to decide on the mushrooms you want to grow first, then you can see how they are cultivated. Then that will allow you to decide the best way to grow them as well as the best way to control the climate for the size setup your planning.
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