![]() This portable and discrete option uses a small High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter blow clean air into a large trash bag. When we started growing mushrooms we’ve used this method for inoculating our cultures for over a year with great success.” “Personal note: a still air box, or better known as SAB, can be used as a cheap variation of the glove box. If an open flame is present, a fireball can erupt inside the box.” Caution is advised when using alcohol to spray the glove box interior. Once the glove box is loaded with materials, close the lid and spray the interior with a disinfectant to “scrub” the air. Prior to working in a glove box, wash all interior surfaces with soap and water and then with a disinfectant. A tall (around 1 m) box is recommended to accommodate for the height needed to easily inoculate tall containers, such as polypropylene filter patch bags. ![]() Permanent gloves can be installed in these holes to reduce air currents. Arms enter the box through holes cut in the front or sidewalls of the box. A variety of glove box designs exist but all should be big enough to allow mobility of the users hands, be well sealed from outside drafts, allow the user to clearly see inside, and be easy to clean with a disinfectant. This technique prohibits the use of heat sources commonly used to sterilize tools.Ī popular option, glove boxes are clean and (semi) sealed wooden, plastic, or cardboard containers that host a viewing window and (optionally) gloves. Once loaded, the bag is tied off and the materials are manipulated from the outside. Here, materials are placed inside of a fresh, transparent trash bag that has been sprayed down internally with a disinfectant. Once the oven has cooled to a point where it is comfortable to work within it, transfers can be performed inside of it as long as the air is noticeably warm. Setting an oven to high broil for 20-30 minutes will clean the air inside the oven. This makeshift sterile field works well for capturing cultures in a backcountry setting, but it is impractical for most other techniques. When a Bunsen burner or propane torch is pointed upward, a convection current forms that pushes air-born competitors up and away from the area directly below a flame, creating a small sterile field. Several types of transfer spaces are listed below in order of lowest to highest cost and ease of use. Clean transfer spaces ensure the lowest rates of contamination as they minimize the movement of airborne competitors into the sterile interior or substrate containers. Often this is done in a dedicated clean room and/or at a small station. For several cultivation protocols, mycelium must be moved from one container to another under aseptic conditions. Before you begin cultivating, I strongly recommend getting each of the following workspaces properly set up and to acquire all the materials needed for your desired techniques. Large farms designate discrete rooms for each work area while many home cultivators place all of these spaces together in a garage, shed, or large closet.Īs with any trade, access to a well-designed workspace heavily influences one’s excitement in honing that trade. The size and proximity of these spaces is dependent on the requirements and limitations of a given project, its location, and the relationship of these spaces to each other. At the minimum, a typical aseptic mushroom operation requires three designated areas for the major stages of cultivation: a clean area where mycelium is transferred, an incubation area where the fungi myceliate their substrates, and a humid environment for fruiting mushrooms.
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