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Poor Man's Pod

The Poor Man's Pod is a fruiting chamber for cakes with the benefit of automatic airation and humidifucation.



The Poor Man's Pod is a fruiting chamber for cakes with the benefit of automatic airation and humidification.

Place two bubblewands ain a rubbermaid size of your choosing (though 52 quart or larger is best depending on what kind of yield you want).

Make two small holes about 4.5" from the bottom of the container just big enough to fit the tubing for the air pump in(hot nail works best)and connect bubble wands to the pump hoses ran through the side of your rubbermaid,and fill up rubbermaid with 2" to 2.5" of water and then fill with perlite or grow rocks or lava rocks till you have 1" to 1.5" of space between the water and top layer of perlite/grow rocks.

Cut two small hole on or near the lid of the rubbermaid for fresh air exchange.Connect hoses to air pump and turn on pump!

The air pump works by giving of a wall of oxygen rich air bubbles wich help to wick a mixture of air and water up to the perlite/grow rocks wich also wick water into the air creating humidity,while at the same time the fresh air being pumped into your fruiting chamber lifts the C02 out of your fruiting chamber so there is no need for fanning or misting.

It's a completely automated fruiting chamber and you can't lose with it!

See the AirpumpFAQ to determine how strong an airpump to buy.


Put two airstones in a rubbermade size of your choosing.

Hook up your hoses and put in the geolite (3 1/2 inches deep). I ran them through the side.

I added water till it was an inch from the top. Plug in hoses

add the cakes and go.


The geolite you will want to buy at a local hydroponics store because it will cost
a lot to ship that stuff.
Most of the other stuff can be found at local hardware stores or garden and pet shops.

The original thread is here:
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php?Number=1303334

by Magash

Is there any way to add heat to the pod?

Yes, a submersible heater can be put under the water and geolite. This little bit of added heat can cause the water to eve a little faster and you may need to add water a little more often.

Where can I find geolite?

Geolite can be found in most hydroponics stores.

Is there a vent for CO2 to escape?

Yes the vent holes are I the top. They are put in the top for a reason. The fundamental principal behind using air entrainment is to sufficiently mix the two (fresh air and stale air) together and then re-distribute them back into the environment in a more balanced way that is then more beneficial to the mushroom crop. Without this sufficient mixing of the gasses present within the grow space, the crops will remain stunted and will likely never reach their optimum potential.

With the poor mans pod, the settling co2 air is met and diffused by a curtain of fresh air rising from beneath the Geolite surface. This rising flow of air is created from the air diffuser rod situated below the Geolite surface, which is powered by the air pump. The rising air pattern not only prohibits the heavier co2 air from settling down onto the bottom surface as usual but it also simultaneously diffuses the co2 with fresh air as it is distributed back into the environment or grow space where it can be put to good use.

In this way, the poor mans pod creates the same desired phenomenon as offered by more conventional means of air entrainment found in much larger-scale commercial applications where a mixing box is commonly used to accomplish this important task.

Can anything besides geolite be used?

Lava rock the kind you find at home depot or at land scapers supply stores can be use and works just as well.

Can you put the cakes directly on the geolite or lava rock?

Yes, it works like putting the cake in a lid of moist verm in that the cake can wick moisture from the geolite.

Do you still have to fan with the pod?

No, the air pump handles that

Do you still have to mist?

No, the humidity levels are constant.

Can humidity be controlled?

Yes, when putting the two holes in the top make sure you have two pieces of rubber or something that are large enough to cover the hole. I is use screw to hold the rubber pieces in such a way that they slide over the holes. By making the holes larger or smaller you can control the humidity levels.

Is it necessary to put a Tyvek or polyfill filter on the holes in the top used for air exchange?

No, with the pump on 24/7 there is always a positive pressure going or air is always blowing out the holes not allowing contams to fall in.

How does the pod work with casings?

Well that depends, if there are enough casings to cover most of the geolite surface it can prevent the geolite from putting out enough humidity.

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