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Post by oldmobie on Feb 27, 2015 21:54:58 GMT -5
Just the other day, we bought a steam mop with a lift out hand steamer. The next day, I steamed the inside of my little seed dryer. One more precaution. I'm pretty confident that it's safe, but I'll keep taking precautions as I think of 'em. I intend to make it an inhospitable place for germs, if I can still keep it seed friendly.
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Post by oldmobie on Aug 24, 2015 19:00:59 GMT -5
My seed dryer (the old incubator) has met it's match in watermelon seeds. Putting the seeds into the little muffin tins and stirring several times daily was taking so long to dry that I was afraid they'd mold. I gave in and spread a single layer on some paper towels until they were too dry to stick together. Those seeds then went into their own cup in the muffin tin and were replaced with other wet sticky seeds. Continued rotating until they quit sticking. They're still drying down for storage, but shouldn't mold.
Here's the idea I'm toying with for the next batch, as well as cukes, maybe. I didn't have freshly harvested watermelon seeds to test with, so I tossed a handful of my drying seeds into some water, then poured 'em right into this hopper. ~Two hours later, there were two seeds still stuck together. The rest are loose. Looking forward to trying it on just harvested seeds.
It's an old gem-stone tumbler. The original hopper was lost, and I needed more airflow for this anyway. The new tumbler is 1/4" hardware cloth and a couple lids. (Cottage cheese and chinese takeout.) A few of the seeds fell out the sides, so I lined it with screenwire.
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Post by philagardener on Aug 24, 2015 20:09:07 GMT -5
oldmobie , at the moment is the only airflow through your incubator convective exchange (hot rises, cold sinks) through that port at the top? I looked at the specs for this model on line and the door is sealed with a gasket and I don't think there is any air entry at the bottom. This is because it is an incubator, built to hold the set temperature, not a drier. As a result, you put your seed in and it gets very humid inside and mostly sits there and doesn't dry very effectively. (Not to take away from your tumber - that is a very creative alternative solution!) One thing you might try (if there is no vent to open at the bottom) is to run a cheap aquarium air pump hose into that top vent to increase the air changes (the warmed, humid air will rise out the top port - you are just driving some cooler, drier air into the unit). That should help increase the rate at which your seeds dry.
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Post by oldmobie on Aug 24, 2015 20:42:44 GMT -5
oldmobie , at the moment is the only airflow through your incubator convective exchange (hot rises, cold sinks) through that port at the top? I looked at the specs for this model on line and the door is sealed with a gasket and I don't think there is any air entry at the bottom. This is because it is an incubator, built to hold the set temperature, not a drier. Actually, it has a hole at the bottom. It's smaller than the top hole, looks about 3/8". The top hole was corked when I got it, with a glass thermometer through the cork. I left that out to allow airflow. I've thought of adding a fan, but it doesn't seem convenient. Seems that a computer muffin fan would be about right. They run on a low voltage. I didn't want to fuss with a transformer or mounting the fan. So it's still convection only. |
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Post by reed on Aug 25, 2015 5:22:02 GMT -5
I'm going to have to look into this. I'v saved beans, tomatoes, peppers, radishes and other things for years just air drying and never had a problem but like you now that I'm getting larger amounts it is becoming a problem. I dried my 3/4 cup of peas on the floor in front of the frig where the warm air blows out. It apparently worked as they germ tested 100% after freezing a couple weeks. Now I got way too much corn to do that not to mention the floor covered in seeds might not go over too well. Currently they are on racks in front of the window air conditioner upstairs and seem to be drying well but enough to be ready to freeze? I think I might try a sample and if they germ test OK after go ahead and do the rest.
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Post by oldmobie on Aug 25, 2015 16:42:52 GMT -5
oldmobie , at the moment is the only airflow through your incubator convective exchange (hot rises, cold sinks) through that port at the top? I looked at the specs for this model on line and the door is sealed with a gasket and I don't think there is any air entry at the bottom. This is because it is an incubator, built to hold the set temperature, not a drier. As a result, you put your seed in and it gets very humid inside and mostly sits there and doesn't dry very effectively. (Not to take away from your tumber - that is a very creative alternative solution!) One thing you might try (if there is no vent to open at the bottom) is to run a cheap aquarium air pump hose into that top vent to increase the air changes (the warmed, humid air will rise out the top port - you are just driving some cooler, drier air into the unit). That should help increase the rate at which your seeds dry.  This is what happens when you go and put ideas in my head like that. philagardener is gonna be on Mrs oldmobie's list for sure... She doesn't even know yet that I have my eye on a thermal switch for it on ebay! (I remembered my "universal power supply", and the old computer parts in the attic. Every power supply had a muffin fan. The transformer already has it's own housing, so I didn't really have to fuss with it.) |
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Post by philagardener on Aug 25, 2015 19:13:17 GMT -5
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