116 replies to this topic

[jkdeth]

It seems to me your aren't getting a nice even surface evaporation., a key pinning trigger. Hard to guess from a picture, but the sub looks overly dry, which is also a common source of mycelium bruising.

[FunnyFarmer]

It seems to me your aren't getting a nice even surface evaporation., a key pinning trigger. Hard to guess from a picture, but the sub looks overly dry, which is also a common source of mycelium bruising.

I'm not sure if you're referring to the PESA or Argentina pic I recently posted.

 

I use monotubs with 9/32" holes (rather than the traditional 1/4") drilled every two inches just above the sub line on the long sides and two 1" holes up high on each end. Today I covered half the holes on the long sides of both tubs and only have half of one large hole open on the ends. I cut way back on the fanning but continue to mist the tub only. Since the PESA seems to have started recovering overnight I put a towel over it to see if that encourages the mycelia to continue recovering.

 

The larger holes on the sides allow me to put 1/4" dowels across the sub for dunking and draining then remove for the next flush.

[DocOct]

What are you using as a substraight?

You should be having a canopy of very healthy mushrooms, not to say that you haven't experienced a successful grow. Obviously any mushroom production is a success.

I just feel that you could have more success from a first flush. Try giving straight coco coir as a bulk substraight a try. Eco earth is cheap and effective(1 gallon of boiled water per 1 block of coir in a bucket should do the trick)I really think you could get more production from your effort if you weren't messing around with pH adjustments.

Your shrooms and primordia look really sickly and the mycelium does not look aggressive and happy.

Either way you have experienced success so you are well on your way to full beautiful Canopies and 100% efficiency. Keep growing and learning from your mistakes and always push yourself. You will have more success.

I use manure based sub, a 2:1:1 mix of manure, verm, coir and the other usual additives, coffee grounds and gypsum.

I tried CVG once and wasn't impressed with the results. My problem with it is the lack of a source of nutrition for the mycelia besides the rye. There's nothing in the coir or verm for it to feed on. It's only function is to hold water and furnish a scaffold for the mycelia to grow on or in the case of manure to fluff it up.

This is the worse grow so far as to its appearance. I really don't know why its turned out this way. Either too much fanning or misting. I avoid misting the sub as much as possible but even that didn't help when the sub started bruising before it started fruiting.

I've got a tub of Argentina in FC growing concurrently with this one and so far it looks OK. DSC01820 (Medium).JPG

I've been growing for over a year and a half so far and have learned so much from lots of resources. I've even come up with methods to help with cultivation. I've gotten pretty good at SAB work including agar, LC and several kinds of transfer methods but really suck when it comes to fruiting. Spawning and letting it colonize is no problem just fruiting.

I regularly used coco coir mixed with earthworm castings and would get Canopies out the front, back, top, and sides.

I could usually get 6 ozs from 3 qts of spawn per mycelium block.

If you ever get tired of mixing manure you could always give earth worm castings a try.

Either way I'm sure you'll get your process down packed.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[FunnyFarmer]

DocOct: I've tried all kinds of grows before so I can always try this. What ratio and additives do you use for your sub and spawn to sub ratio? I had been using a 3:1 sub to spawn ration but backed off to 2:1 with the last three grows. I assume everything else stays pretty much the same after spawning. I found a relatively local source for the castings and they're in stock and it's organic. Thanks for your input and suggestions.

 

After putting the Amazon to sleep for the day, actually since last night, I checked it this evening and the mycelia recovery that started at the ends worked it's way across the middle of the sub. Maybe by tomorrow the whole surface will be back to normal. I've been thinking about putting a sheet of bubble wrap on it but haven't made up my mind.

Edited by FunnyFarmer, 14 January 2022 - 09:55 PM.

[FunnyFarmer]

Would it help if I put a 1/4" casing layer of verm on top after this flush ends or put it on the areas that aren't fruiting? I did go ahead and put the bubble wrap on top and it seems to have helped some.

Edited by FunnyFarmer, 17 January 2022 - 09:49 AM.

[FunnyFarmer]

Three Amazons and an Argentina from the current grows picked yesterday.

 

 

So far the total for the second flush of the Amazon is 147.53g wet minus the cap from one that I'm taking a print from, that may add a few more grams to the yield. The Argentina is a little more pathetic coming in at 39.12g. I suspect the total flush from the Amazon won't be as big as the first flush. I went ahead a put a thin layer of verm on the bruised areas of the Amazon to see if that will help heal it.

[MushLuvR]

I do Coco/Verm patching all the time (doesn't require pasteurization) and works like a Charm.  I've never used straight Verm, might just work as well.

 

<edit>  I can't leave your thread without telling you that the surface level holes you are running are TOO big.  This is why your surface area is drying up like the Sahara (NO good for Pinning or Pinset).  Since you have already drilled out the holes, you could try doubling up on Micropore Tape for a slow evaporation of the Surface.  That much Air would KILL in a real Growth Chamber with a Humidifier.  

 

 

MushL

Edited by MushLuvR, 19 January 2022 - 01:58 PM.

[ElPirana]

Last year I tried a vermiculite-only casing for a few tubs cause I was running low on supplies. It was horrible, I would’ve been better off with no casing at all.

[FunnyFarmer]

I do Coco/Verm patching all the time (doesn't require pasteurization) and works like a Charm.  I've never used straight Verm, might just work as well.

 

<edit>  I can't leave your thread without telling you that the surface level holes you are running are TOO big.  This is why your surface area is drying up like the Sahara (NO good for Pinning or Pinset).  Since you have already drilled out the holes, you could try doubling up on Micropore Tape for a slow evaporation of the Surface.  That much Air would KILL in a real Growth Chamber with a Humidifier.  

 

 

MushL

I've already put electrical tape over half the sub line holes on both tubs and only have one of the upper holes on each end open. Probably need to go back to the poly fill during the winter, the humidity in the house is running around 27% right now but does go over 60 during the summer. I keep the tub sides and lid misted by going at it at least 3x a day but probably need to cut back on the fanning. Thanks for the comment!

[FunnyFarmer]

The second flush finished on the Amazon coming in at 212g wet, I gave it a good misting and covered with bubble wrap. The Argentina seemed to have stalled, the shrooms weren't growing at all and very slow on breaking the veils compared to the Amazon so I harvested everything and dunked it. First flush for that was 187g. Afterwards I fanned it for 3 minutes to dry the mycelia which came out nice and white then bubble wrapped it too. I'm gonna do a neglect tek for a few days on both and see how things go.

[FunnyFarmer]

The Amazon is  starting to show colonization in the areas that I put the verm casing on and the rest of it has recovered with white mycelia on top. I've got 1 good shroom coming up with a couple dozed other pins that aren't doing much. I'm thinking about flipping the sub over after I harvest the good ones and see what's going on there.

 

The Argentina on the other hand has a good (not excellent) amount of pins poking up and more developing so the second flush should be better.

 

Overall putting the bubble wrap on both and cutting back on the misting/fanning has really helped them recover.

[FunnyFarmer]

I got A shroom from the Amazon tub, it was a big one coming in at 20g for the stem alone (probably the biggest I've ever grown to this point) and taking a print from it. The cap is severely cracked so I'm gonna dunk the sub for a couple hours before going to bed. The rest of the pins were stalled, big surprise given the condition of the sub. I'm debating whether to flip the cake over or continue with the cake as is. I did that to a cake of PB and was surprised at the number of pins there, at least a couple hundred. Maybe I'll get lucky...

 

The second flush on the Argentina continues to perform better than the first with lots of pins over most of the surface. If they all grew at once I'd get a dense canopy down the middle but I'm not gonna hold my breath. Of all the grows I've done to date this is the most successful pin wise. I think I'm getting the hang of it.

 

Update: I gave the Amazon a two hour dunk followed by a 15 minute drain then fanned for more than 4 minutes with a final touch of bubble wrap. I'm still thinking about flipping it over in the morning as there was quite a bit of overlay developing at the ends of the tub. It turned into a gelatinous like cover after the dunk that would probably not be good for it.

Edited by FunnyFarmer, 29 January 2022 - 02:34 AM.

[FunnyFarmer]

This morning I went ahead and flipped the Amazon cake over. I was greeted with the sight of nice healthy mycelia instead of a sickly looking mess, not contamed just gross looking. I fanned it for a bit and replaced the bubble wrap. Now the waiting to see what happens...

[FunnyFarmer]

I didn't have a camera handy for a pic of the Amazon before flipping so here's one of the bottom after flipping.

 

 

 

[FunnyFarmer]

Today was a productive day for the Argentina bringing in 345g and adding in the first flush harvest of 187g makes a total of 532 so far with more to be harvested in the next couple days. I'm a happy camper. The Argentina was one of the first varieties I tried a year and a half ago but didn't have much luck with, this is more like it! After this flush is finished I don't know whether to dunk or just give it a good misting and cover with BW (bubble wrap). I'm gonna dedicate a portion of this harvest to MD caps. I made some .1g caps from PB but they turned out much more potent than what I anticipated. Lets just say that the first time taking one made for an interesting visit with a funeral director planning my dad's funeral.

 

I'm hoping the Amazon will recover from the flipping and deliver the goods in due time but first it needs to develop primordia. It is showing signs of throwing up some side pins but they're heading the wrong way.

Edited by FunnyFarmer, 31 January 2022 - 12:30 AM.

[FunnyFarmer]

I decided to finish the flush on the argentina, it was getting to the last few shrooms and nothing else was coming up. So I flipped the sub, took off the liner and found some snake like shrooms on the sides. Then I put a couple qts of water in it, not enough to cover the new top but enough to soak the old top. In a couple hours I'll do the same routine with this one that I did to the Amazon.Final figure for the second flush is 407g to add to the 1st flush total of 187g. It puts me at a few grams short of 600. Next up is to dry this flush.

Meanwhile the PESA is doing well with no signs of contams and mycelia is fluffing up the surface.

[FunnyFarmer]

After nursing the Amazon for a while its time to retire it, it no longer smells like shrooms, in fact it doesn't smell like anything. The only other thing I can think of to do is thinly slice the top and bottom off to see if that would jump start it. I know there's more life in it but the overlay has gotten pretty bad.

On the bright side the Argentina is doing well, its into its third flush now with more pins waiting their turn.

[MushLuvR]

Sometimes you just have to Cut bait and Move on with Subs.  I had my first sub not do Anything, looked great, surface conditions wonderful, BUT Nada.  First time for everything they say.  Bound to happen with all the projects and experiments I do.

 

Sounds like your other tub is doing well, 3 flushes are nice, I don't go to the third if 1 and 2 are BIG Givers.  I do think in my experience that 3 is the sweet spot tho', you can go further, but it's not really flushes at that point, more like a few here and there.  I know a fellow grower (not here) who pushed his sub out to 7 flushes (manure based).  Took a long time, but when it's all personal, WHO cares at that Stage.  Just happy to be harvesting.  

 

MushL

Edited by MushLuvR, 07 February 2022 - 02:47 PM.

[FunnyFarmer]

None of the flushes have been big so far so I feel comfortable letting it go, so far I've gotten a little over 121g for the 3rd flush with more on the way. This is from a 35qt tub. Yes, happy to be harvesting after so many failures.

My favourite subs are manure based too and constantly refining the prep for them. I've moved on to a double boiler type of pasteurization from the pillow case dunk. Losing too many nutrients to the water with that method. I managed to acquire a slow roaster from my dads estate when he passed this past summer. I put the sub in a turkey roasting bag, put that in an aluminum roasting pan then float it in the roaster for 3 to 4 hours at 170 F. I put the sub in a bag to keep it from over hydrating during the pasteurization. I might be able to eliminate the bag by putting a layer of aluminum on top of the sub...

[MushLuvR]

If you have quart jars and a PC, it's the fastest and most efficient way to pasteurize.  Nothing is faster than jars cooking and cooling off.  90-minute cycle and spawning in under 4 hours.  Gallon Zips aren't too bad either, takes longer (cook and cool), but not as long as two full Unicorn bags (seemed like forever, but in real time, Hours, but a HUGE amount to work with (can hold 5-7lbs each)... Always a Trade Off).  All the best, a SOLID QP of fruits is nothing to sneeze at.  Congrats  

 

MushL

Edited by MushLuvR, 08 February 2022 - 06:17 PM.