Substrate preference poll

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Use to be 100% coco fiber, but now I use it only as a mix in. I use peat or a peat based potting soil mixed with coco fiber at about an 85/15 ratio.

 

So if you purchase a bag of substrate from a pet store you sterilize it?

 

I seem to have two types of 'shrooms. One umbrella type on a long stem that prefers the damper enclosures, and a phallic shaped one on shorter stem in the drier enclosures. The umbrella type grows up quickly, falls over and turns to mush if I don't get them out. The other is now even showing up on cork bark in some of my dry habitats. Though, now that you mention it, I did find an umbrella one in the dry H. mac enclosure on one occasion. Usually the isopods take care of stuff like that in my damp enclosures. Guess they don't like these 'shrooms.

 

It doesn't help with fungi. If anything, it promotes their growth.

 

How?

 

Fungi spores are everywhere. You're probably breathing them at the moment. Natural materials, like wood, soil and other stuff are usually more alive than you think, it's all full of microorganisms, that help in decomposition. When you sterilize the substrate, you kill all of these beings, so all that food remains in soil. When spores fall on it, they have everything available for themselves and they overgrow everything very quickly.

 

doesn't sterilization kill a big number of the spores in the soil too? If you use isopods the food avaible for spores is greatly reduced. More over If peat is used it should not be the ideal environment for fungi because it's slightly acid.
Not saying that this way fungi doesn't grow but i thought that it's more difficult for them to grow.

 

Thank you Hobo for sharing your experience about peat. Actually when i started using peat it was for my dart frogs terrariums that are an environment a lot more "alive" than a T one. I mean the soil. I had mushrooms too but i saw them only about 4-5 times in the past two years. That's why i thought to use and using peat with isopods. Never said it was the best but i choose that for the reason i said. In the near future i was planning to try coir but i don't like its consistency...it seems a bit too loose...but i lack of experience that's why i am interested in experiences like yours.
Hobo did you sterilized the peat before use?
(springtails are cleaners. )

 

That's one of the kinds of mushrooms I'm finding.
I've had the coconut coir behave similarly to the peat as far as shrinkage and difficulty to re-moisten. I've also had coconut fibre bricks from the same 3-pack 'reconstitute' differently. Most of them fluff right up when you add water. Some are still bricks after days of soaking.

You got prizes in your peat? I must have bought the wrong brand...

 

I know that you wanted to nuke anything. You were just sharing your experience

What prizes did you get in your coir?

 

That's how all of my coco coir behaves. Although, I think one from Ikea worked the best, because fibres were really short (and it was really cheap too).
Water always seems to be floating on top of coir for me, like it was held up by surface tension.

 

Omg that seems more rubbish than soil

 

using 75% organic potting soil 25% vermiculite

 

+1 Works Great!

 

I use vermiculite. I have a few containers with the coconut bedding and do not like it as it takes too long to absorb water. Vermiculite is awesome and has nothing organic to mold in it.

 

I'm kind of a newby so I haven't experimented although I never have mold issues with EcoEarth Coconut Coir