fermentation in progress!!

JKim

JKim

Mecynorrhina
KakaoTalk_20190813_171457219.jpg

I've been pretty busy past couple months... no collection trip, no handling of beetles, just couple pinning works and couple image processing. Spent most of my time in job, and wrapping up current scarab researches.

Meanwhile, seven containers (1 container = 20 lbs pellet bag) are about to complete its fermentation process!!

Two are about done, five probably need a week and couple extra days.

However, I don't think this will be enough for this year, so I got four more bags soaked (nothing added yet) (not in the picture).

I will probably purchase some more and more bags in hand...

Six containers on the left-rack are all filled up and in progress, one container on the right-rack (at bottom-left) are also part of seven containers currently in progress. All other containers on right-rack are either empty or containing used substrate.

 
Goliathus said:
You're doing the fermentation process INDOORS?  How can you stand the odor?!
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Is the odor that bad to you? I can't really smell that much unless I actually open the lid... I used to keep container next to my bed, acting like table to place water bottle and my glasses as I go to bed. :D :D  When I was younger, I used to keep all the beetles in my bedroom, but as I get more and more beetles and preserved collections, I got a separate room just for insects. Now I have metal shed in backyard, so I keep all the extra substrate in the backyard.

This picture is indoor... of THAT backyard shed. It is metal shed, so heat builds up very quick and for a while, makes it great incubator-like environment. As long as there is no week(s) long continued thunderstorm/tropical storm expected, the shed seems to be warm enough even in the late night to early morning. A GREAT PLACE!!

Nothing alive is in shed though. It is not insulated, so it is VERY HOT in summer and quite cold in winter. I'm located in Louisiana, so summer here can easily reach over 100˚F, and can build up heat in that metal shed a lot more.

 
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Ratmosphere said:
How'd you get some to ferment properly without daily mixing in those totes?
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You don't have to mix it daily. (I mix it twice a week or just once a week. Mixing substrate is to provide air (ventilation) to the substrate of bottom in a container, as it gets less air compared to the top part. However, you also need to provide enough time for microorganisms to set on substrate and let them reproduce. If you have huge amount of substrate, in quantity of agricultural farm would work with... (like hundreds of gallons), then daily mixing won't hurt. But If you mix it every day for such a small amount (I would say... a bag of 20 lbs of wood pellet or less), the heat won't build up and heat will easily escape (and often) → microorganisms will have difficulty to set in substrate. Heat helps microorganisms to stabilize.

I just use my own hands and arms mixing in container. I sometime just pour them out on ground over plastic sheet (white plastic sheet, cheap inner curtain for shower/bath) to work on it, especially when I have multiple containers like right now. I also made a barrel mixer containing couple blades inside. So I just have to pour substrate into the barrel, and roll it couple times to fully ventilate. :D

 
Garin said:
Do you ever get mold only mixing it once or twice a week?

Thanks.
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Nope, I don't see a mold unless I leave it for several weeks (I'm lazy sometimes :lol: :lol: ). Other than that, when I actually do the work on time, I don't see any mold. Just in case, if you are referring this in the image below, it is not a mold. It is hyphae.

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Garin said:
oh ok, So I guess I am seeing hyphae sometimes. Is that bad?
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It is good! I'm not sure "why," but I don't always see them. I probably see them about 8 out of 10 times. This appears when fermentation is properly started. I usually see them after 3-4 days at the earliest, and a week and a half later at the latest in my past experiences. It lasts couple days, and disappears.

General appearance (as in the picture) is very similar to mold, or spiderweb-like with white color.

 
Garin said:
oh ok, So I guess I am seeing hyphae sometimes. Is that bad?
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I get it at some point with every batch (usually more than once). Makes the whole top layer kind of a clump; I just break it up and work it throughout the sub when I mix.

I've actually been doing this low-frequency mixing for the past year or so as well. I mix daily for about the first 3 weeks, then once or twice a week, and it's been working out really well. Granted, it is very hot in Vegas during the summer.

 
I've never had a batch of sawdust that didn't grow fungus on top very soon after the fermentation process was completed.  One time, I had a batch that I just let sit outdoors in a covered trash can for nearly a year, and a lot of mushrooms eventually grew from it.  Everything on the surface of the Earth is covered with a dusting of airborne fungal spores, just waiting for the chance to colonize something edible, and dead plant matter (especially if it's moist) is a favorite of theirs!  It's a decomposition process that's absolutely essential to the workings of the biosphere, of course.

 
In my experience, no it does not. Just take or skim the pieces off. Make sure to wear gloves and a mask and do it outside. 

 
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ruislerez said:
What if the substance is black or green instead of white fuzz? Does that ruin the substrate?
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@ruislerez The "mold" you see is not all part of it. It is a flowering portion(to spread mold seeds). Meaning fungal activities are already completely spread throughout the substrate. Just picking up that slight portion does not sole much. Dry it off completely and do the mixes again to re try it. or just dump it and make new ones. Green and black molds are molds. The white spiderweb-like thing I mentioned is hyphae, different from those molds.

 
I was going to make a post about seeing the white "mold" on my substrate when I checked this morning, but I'm glad I read through this first to see it was normal. Lol.

I also make mine indoors, the smell isn't bad at all. I kinda like the strong earthy scent. 

 
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Just to jump on this thread, do you ferment your soil multiple times? I'm curious how it's done. I started some flake soil 2 months ago and fermentation seemed to stop a 3-4 weeks into the process. The wood turned from light tan to medium brown colour. Do I need to add more bran+yeast to get it to ferment again?

 
Boris The Beetle said:
Just to jump on this thread, do you ferment your soil multiple times? I'm curious how it's done. I started some flake soil 2 months ago and fermentation seemed to stop a 3-4 weeks into the process. The wood turned from light tan to medium brown colour. Do I need to add more bran+yeast to get it to ferment again?
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I don't do more than once, simply because I don't see the necessity. Some says it makes it better substrate, some says doing it more than once won't make much difference. Fermentation does not double the microorganisms just because you are doing it again. The numbers don't build up. When the fermentation occurs again, all the existing microorganisms are completely being sterilized (or simply put, killed). Which is why I do not ferment my substrate more than once.

The darkness color difference occur per the temperature arose during the progress of fermentation. If it gets really high, it gets a lot darker than lower ones. Consider it as substrate is being burned. (Not literally). If you set a huge fire, an entire tree will be burned up completely to ash. However, if you set a small fire and extinguish it immediately, the tree will only get blacken, and that's all.

If you insist to ferment it again, yes you may add such things to start it. Just water and warm location is actually enough to start it, since there are microorganisms already established.

 
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