When you’re scaling up mushroom production, a basic fruiting chamber won’t have the space and control you need. For this we move to our mid-tier fruiting chamber, an indoor 4 shelf greenhouse with humidifier piped in! This is surprising simple to setup and still relatively affordable for its function.
The Fruiting Chamber Setup
To setup the mid-tier fruiting chamber you’ll need a few things. All of these are easily purchased online or from a hardware store.
Materials:
- A 4 shelf indoor greenhouse
- A humidifier (Smaller or larger ones can be used based on your needs)
- 2 standard 1″ PVC pipes
- A 1″ 90 degree PVC connector
- Some plastic sheeting
- A thermometer hygrometer combo
Assembling Your Fruiting Chamber
The bulk of the fruiting chamber is assembled with the greenhouse itself. It does not need much more done to it. The only complicated part is setting up the humidifier to pump air from outside the chamber into it. This allows your mushrooms to get fresh air, which they need, and keep CO2 from building up.
Before setting up the humidifier make sure you place down plastic sheeting beneath the greenhouse. This will catch any condensation that leaves the fruiting chamber over time.
To attach the humidifier, measure the height between the top of the humidifier and a few inches below the top of the greenhouse. This will be the length of the vertical PVC pipe that will move humid air from your humidifier into the greenhouse. Make a slit into the the green house covering where you will be inserting you PVC pipe. Now, measure the second PVC pipe so it only just enters the greenhouse, usually less than 12″.
Connect your two PVC pipes together using the 90 degree coupling. Depending on your humidifier you may be able to attach your PCV pipe in different ways, but this works simply set over the top of the humidifier outlet. Insert you PVC pipe into the greenhouse and attach to your humidifier.
Now simply place your thermometer/hygrometer into your chamber and you’re good to go!
Using your Fruiting Chamber
You would use this fruiting chamber just like you would any other. The advantages of this type is the size and humidity control. It’s very easy to adjust your humidifier to put the correct amount of moisture into the fruiting chamber without too much worry. The fruiting chamber also helps keep your temperature stable, which is a huge plus when growing mushrooms indoors.
Different mushrooms have different requirements, so make sure you don’t skip on setting up your thermometer/hygrometer. The one’s recommended above come in a 4 pack for under $20, so it’s ridiculous to skip monitoring of something so critical.
Additionally your mushrooms will need some light. The amount and type depends on the species. If your mushrooms need any UV light you can use LED grow lights directly in the chamber as needed. However, most mushrooms will grow just fine with fluorescent shop lights outside of the chamber. Never put florescent lights in the chamber as the humidity can cause them to short out which may be hazardous.
Get Growing!
This fruiting chamber is the perfect setup for anyone looking to expand their operation and start growing multiple flushes of mushrooms all at once. The solution is cheap (~$100) and works great, assuming you have the space for it. The next tier up from this is setting up a larger indoor greenhouse or simply building your own grow room. I’d recommend starting here and working your way up!
