HOW - Household Organic Waste

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B.0.1. TIMELINE
B.0.1. Second HOW test batch: transparent pot with a draining system Run through: 25.05 – 1.12.2019; Total batch weight: unknown; Bokashi fermentation proportions: unknown; HOW was minced in a blender; aerobic fermentation. During the fermentation process, the liquid forming underneath the HOW (the garbage juice) was drained regularly. A small amount of this batch was pressed during drying in the incubator at 65 degrees Celsius. This was done to test how sturdy the material would become. The result consisted of 4 relatively perishable HOW blocks of which 2 were buried into the ground on 29.08.2019. Following the HOW pressing experiment we concluded that mycelium forming is needed to process in obtaining a stable and sturdy HOW material. The rest of this batch was dried unpressed at 65 degrees Celsius in the incubator and used as a substrate for different experiments.
Experiment 12. 07. 2019: duration of growing a HOW material 8 medium Petri dishes were homogeneously mixed with the same composition, in total: 80g of ganoderma mycelium spawn + 80g of dried HOW from B.0.1. + a pinch of wheat flour. The dishes were put to develop at 25 – 30 degrees Celsius. Day 01 In this experiment we wanted to see if the duration of mycelium forming influences the stiffness of the material. Each pair of A and B dishes was stopped from growing 2 days later than the previous one. Day 03 Day 10 into the experiment. Samples during the drying process, positioned upside down. The longer the mycelium is left to form, the stiffer the HOW material. Pairs 3 and 4 of the experiment show optimal material bonding. Hence, the minimum time for mycelium to form a sturdy material mass should be no shorter than 7 days, in natural conditions. All samples have been incubated and dried at 65 degrees Celsius. Day 30 into the experiment. Top row: shortest mycelium forming period; bottom row: longest growing samples All B samples were buried into the ground on 29. 08. 2019 to see how long biodegradation will take. By 1. 12. 2019, after approximately 4 months, the samples are decomposed.
Experiment 14. 08. 2019: 2nd pH experiment ⌕ Does raising the pH of fermented HOW influence the course of mycelium forming? The pH of fermented HOW is acidic. After previous attempts in which HOW's pH was raised using sodium bicarbonate, we started to consider that the composition of the dried HOW could also play a role in the mycelium forming stage. This is because in previous pH raising attempts the samples died seemingly random. In all experiments so far, B.0.1 performed better than B.1.1. This experiment compares the mycelium forming stage when the pH of both these batches is brought up with sodium bicarbonate. This is done to find out if the composition of dried HOW matters. 4 medium Petri dishes were prepared as follows: All dishes were left to grow at 25 – 30 degrees Celsius. As of both batch sets (B.0.1 and B.1.1) only the dishes treated with sodium bicarbonate failed, we conclude that the ganoderma mycelium cannot feed on sodium bicarbonate and that in this particular case the composition of HOW doesn't matter in the mycelium forming stage. Day 10 into the experiment. Top: samples without baking soda. Bottom: samples with baking soda
Experiment 28. 08. 2019: a repetition experiment ⌕ Will repeating the same experiment lead the same results? ⌕ Does HOW material structure change when HOW and the mycelium spawn are homogeneously mixed or layered? In the weeks leading up to this experiment, HOW samples have not been developing very well. This experiment focuses on verifying if repeating the conditions of successful samples will give the same results. Additionally, mycelium forming direction and structure are tested. 8 medium Petri dishes were prepared, using HOW from all dried batches laying around at this point, in pairs. All 'A' samples were mixed, meaning that the ganoderma mycelium spawn is mixed homogeneously with the dried HOW. All 'B' samples were layered, which means that the mycelium spawn is laid at the bottom of the dish separate from the HOW substrate: Day 01 into the experiment. All samples. Left column: homogeneously mixed. Right column: layered samples. In all the pictures, the samples are arranged in the same way. Day 05 into the experiment. Day 13 into the experiment. Day 15 into the experiment. Samples ready to be dried. Samples B.3.2.1A (mixed), B.3.1.1B & B.3.2.1B (layered) failed. Day 15 into the experiment. Example of one of the samples. The batch samples from B.0.1 and B.1.1 grew the same as before. B.3.1 and B.3.2 were newly introduced and behaved differently in the repetition conditions. This could have to do with the composition of the dried HOW. Mixed samples became slightly curved towards the top, while the layered samples formed flat. A cause of this could have been that mycelium always forms its net upwards, thereby constructing a denser mass and tension in the upper part of the dish.
29. 08. 2019 Burying the HOW samples.
Experiment 16. 09. 2019: colouring attempt 03 ⌕ Can the HOW material be coloured? ⌕ Which pigments can be used without being decomposed by the fungi enzymes during mycelium forming? This experiment focuses on testing if different colour dyes preserve during the mycelium forming stage, and if colour dye hinders mycelium forming when the HOW substrate is present. 15 medium Petri dishes were prepared; 10 dishes containing HOW substrates from all batches laying around at the time, and 5 control dishes. The red and blue silk dyes were poured on top of the dishes after the mycelium spawn and the HOW were mixed. As yellow dye, turmeric powder was mixed homogeneously in the mycelium control dishes. Day 01. Red control & all samples Day 01. Blue & yellow controls Day 04. Blue & yellow controls Day 09. Red control & all samples Day 16 of the experiment. Examples (left to right): samples B.3.1.2B, B.3.2.2A, B.3.3.1B & Yellow B The red silk dye preserved during mycelium forming in most situations. The blue silk dye was decomposed during mycelium forming, the colour dissapeared until the end of the process. Of the 3 yellow dye control dishes, the C sample didn't grow. This experiment concluded that colouring the HOW material is possible but the exact conditions in which this must happen are yet to be researched.
Experiment 9. 10. 2019: 3rd pH experiment ⌕ Does raising the pH of fermented HOW influence the course of mycelium forming? Previous to this experiment we tried to see how raising the pH of the fermented (and acidic) HOW substrate will influence the mycelium forming phase. All previous pH experiments were inconclusive: we couldn't assess the extent to which (1) the substances used to raise the pH (baking soda and dishwashing detergent) or (2) the default substance composition of the HOW substrate inhibit mycelium forming. Dried fermented HOW substrate has a pH of approximately 4. In this experiment two new substances are used to raise this pH gradually: disodium phosphate (Na₂HPO₄) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH), both capable to significantly raise pH levels. 4 solutions were prepared using these substances: Solution pH=8.44 → Na₂HPO₄ + water Solution pH=9.43 → Na₂HPO₄ + NaOH + water Solution pH=10.89 → Na₂HPO₄ + NaOH + water Solution pH=11.81 → Na₂HPO₄ + NaOH + water To assess if the default substances in the composition of dried fermented HOW also play a role in mycelium forming, we chose 2 batches to experiment with: B.0.1. (best performing batch), and B.3.1. (one of the worst performing batches). 26 medium Petri dishes were prepared. Dried HOW was soaked in water or the solutions indicated above. We expected that the pH would keep changing over time, however these initial measurements are used to indicate the gradual pH difference between the samples. Samples 'C' and 'D' are layered, which means a layer of ganoderma mycelium spawn is laid at the bottom of the dish and another layer of HOW substrate (with varying pH values) is laid on top: Day 01. All samples Day 10 of the experiment. Serie B.0.1. Top: front of the samples; bottom: back of the samples. Positioning (left to right): [top line] B.0.1.9A, B.0.1.10A, B.0.1.11A; [bottom line] B.0.1.9B, B.0.1.10B, B.0.1.11B Day 10 of the experiment. Serie B.3.1.3. Top: front of the samples; bottom: back of the samples.Positioning (left to right & top to bottom): B.3.1.3A, B.3.1.3B, B.3.1.3C & B.3.1.3D Day 10 of the experiment. Serie B.3.1.4. Top: front of the samples; bottom: back of the samples.Positioning (left to right & top to bottom): B.3.1.4A, B.3.1.4B, B.3.1.4C & B.3.1.4D Day 10 of the experiment. Serie B.3.1.5. Top: front of the samples; bottom: back of the samples.Positioning (left to right & top to bottom): B.3.1.5A, B.3.1.5B, B.3.1.5C & B.3.1.5D Day 10 of the experiment. Serie B.3.1.6. Top: front of the samples; bottom: back of the samples.Positioning (left to right & top to bottom): B.3.1.6A, B.3.1.6B, B.3.1.6C & B.3.1.6D Day 10 of the experiment. Serie B.3.1.7. Top: front of the samples; bottom: back of the samples.Positioning (left to right & top to bottom): B.3.1.7A, B.3.1.7B, B.3.1.7C & B.3.1.7D This experiment tried to assess mycelium forming in correlation with the pH value of HOW, the substances in the composition of HOW, and the type of growing (mixed or layered). All samples were left to grow at 25 – 30 degrees Celsius, followed by being dried and incubated at 72 degrees Celsius. All samples in this experiment were successful. Generally, samples with higher pH values tended to grow better and slightly faster. Layered samples grew slower than homogeneously mixed samples. Notably, B.0.1. didn't perform better than B.3.1., which may indicate that the HOW composition doesn't matter in the mycelium forming stage.
1. 12. 2019 HOW decomposed after 3 months