Thanks, that is fascinating, I’m definitely gonna check that out. No microscope yet, but it is on my list of things to obtain, although a proper HEPA filter and fan/motor will come first though, haha! Kind-of wondering if I should switch majors, but I’m already in my 400 series engineering classes–oof.

Oh, that’s a great idea! I’m clearly new to mycology, so I’m just kind-of experimenting–but you’re right, we’re talking billions of spores, and only two need to meet in order to form a strain. Hmm…

I used the tip of a specialized tooth-brush, and I dipped it into water and then swiped-up spores from the sample. I wouldn’t recommend it though, because it turns out the brush fibers are too stiff and caught on the agar, pulling the plate around. It’s probably better just to stick to swabs and use the same method.

Side thought: a lot of people recommend the z-shape swabbing, but it seems kind-of counterproductive if you’re trying to select for the apparent speed and strength of mycelium growth.

Not to mention the periodic spore clouds, haha! It would be really cool if it were possible though!

I wonder if it would be possible to get some radiotrophic fungi to absorb IR and UV, so they could functionally act as a thermal barrier, cooling during the summer and heating during the winter…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus

Well, for a redneck FFU I would probably just be shooting from the hip–because I’d be building the fan from scratch–meaning it would be easier to build then measure the airflow rate of the custom fan, and then modify the design of the fan or modify the filter size until I get something good.

As far as resources, this seems to be on-point if you want to just buy the parts outright in a less redneck manner: https://learn.freshcap.com/growing/keeping-it-clean-how-to-design-and-build-a-laminar-flow-hood/

Haha, I’m an engineering student, so I understand the jargon struggle, haha! Well, cheers and mush luck on your adventures!

Nice! Yeah, I mostly want it for convenience of working with agar–but the need just isn’t there yet. I’m considering a redneck version using one of the 4" thick MERV 12 filters, which are rated to filter 0.3um particles, just not 99.99% of them. I know for a fact it would be much better than my SAB in terms of contamination risk, and I’m considering building my own wooden impeller fan, so if I can scrap an old high RPM motor–I may be able to finagle a basic FFU together for under $50.

Random trivia: it’s actually not the liquid water that matters, it’s the water vapor due to the pressure-temperature relationship of water in the gas phase (since gasses are significantly more compressible than liquids). It’s also important to note that water vapor does not behave like an ideal gas above ~1.5PSI, and it has a different temperature-pressure curve than gasses like N2, O2, and CO2, which is why you need to purge air at the beginning of the canning process in order to achieve a high enough temperature.

…and yeah, it’s crazy how altitude and atmospheric pressure matters, the weight of the air around us is literally pushing down on the rocker weight, affecting the relative internal pressure.

Thermodynamics is pretty awesome! XD

When I use the word “expanding”, I am referring to “increasing in volume”. So you could just “expand your spawn” (making more spawn), or “expand to bulk” (inoculating your fruiting blocks). Oh, and definitely try to find actual fuel pellets if you can, they’re usually much cheaper per pound than food-grade BBQ smoking pellets. I have found the basic fuel pellets at stores like Tractor Supply Hardware, but you have to ask an employee to check the stock in the back (since they’re out of season).

If you do end-up buying hardwood smoking pellets, be wary that some smoking pellets can contain additives like molasses, which means too much sugar for basic pasteurization with Lipa’s Tek–so always check the ingredients with smoker pellets.

A cheap and easy method for expanding spawn is Lipa’s Tek. Renegade Mushrooms goes over the method in this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD_k-dAyE5Y

Basically a 40 pound bag of Hardwood Fuel Pellets (make sure they’re hardwood) can go for around 6-7USD. If you’re in a pinch, want a specific species of tree, or want certified organic, you can find hardwood pellets for smoking meats that go for somewhere around 0.50USD/lb in 20-40lb bags.

The reason this method works is that fuel pellets have less sugars and starches, and they are already partially pasteurized in the pellet press. So, as long as your pellets are stored well, a two-hour pasteurization at 200F is more than enough to get rid of most of the competing organisms. This is especially true of Pleurotus sp. (the Oysters), and from what I’ve heard, Hericium sp. (Lion’s Mane, etc), but I’m currently waiting on some Pholiota adiposa (Chestnut) to fruit that seemed to do well in pasteurized HWFP.

Give it a try, it’s a lot cheaper in terms of dollar cost, energy use, and time than wet-sterilizing in a small Pressure Cooker–but it’s best for expanding from spawn into more spawn or for bulking. You won’t get the same sized flushes as with something like grain or Master’s Mix, but you can easily whip up a lot more substrate–so it all comes out in the wash. I just retired 6 spent bags of P. ostreatus and they all seemed to do pretty well, and fruited more than once.