38 replies to this topic

[bugs]

Just this morning I looked in on some HAWs, and found one with a 'sploded stem! All the rest on the cake looked fine.

I vote for the water theory. This cake is an experiment, using a porous clay saucer (like goes under a plant pot) to hold the DEC cake. Moisture from the Hydroton wicks up through and keeps the cake nicely hydrated. Maybe too nicely?

I don't think it's high CO2; there are two airstones in a fairly small FC, and they're fanned 2 or 3 times a day.

[meatwad]

nice
i have seen those happen on big fruits that i had that had no more space to grow
like it bumping to the sides of the tub or onto the substrate
it could be because the mushroom still wanted to grow but had no more space so the stem pushed itself and then it broke :)

+1

I grow strictly invitro, and at least 50% of my boomer look like that

they just get so packed they hit hte sides, and turn and rip open

Looks kinda cool, somtimes i'l have like a solid stem halfway up, then right before hte cap it'l turn into like 10 stems goin to the cap

[goldenteacher1163]

I just wanted to comment that I have seen this happen before and it seemed to be attributed to the over use of cleaning agents in the air which I never thaught to be a bad thing but now being more carefull this mutation has not been seen. I am no pro but hope this helps someone.

[Clamp]

When I grow Creeper on elephant poo they do that.

[doobydoobydoo]

it can definitely happen more freaquently with certain strains... I agree that it didn't happen very much with the tex... but every once-in-awhile a cake will spit one or two out. nothing to be worried about like soliver said, just happens. :)

fahtster

Tex loves water and sucks it outta the substrate like none other. I have pins form underwater when dunking all the time. They just love it. tex tex tex tex tex tex tex tex :D

[SWIM]

There was a woman who did a book back in the '70s on home production of button mushrooms. She always used composted elephant poo. I reckon zoos are glad to get rid of the stuff.

[Tactile Tunafish]

+1
I grow strictly invitro, and at least 50% of my boomer look like that they just get so packed they hit hte sides, and turn and rip open.

Multispore PBflo cased with wet Jiffy Mix and a deep hpoo substrate is doing this exact same thing. Only the casing layer may have been much too thick too, since the only fruits are appearing in a ring at the very outside edges (nothing at all in the center) - much lower yield on this batch than we hoped.

Some seem to be missing veils and the caps are much smaller than my friend's (who cased with verm and fans every hour on the hour - and got a much bigger yield - although some of those did split too). Aside from the Jiffy Mix and the different strain, this didn't happen with previous grows (much slower strain) on coir/verm + verm.

is PB normally extremely hollow ? Could it be that they are they growing much too fast?

The hollowness and splitting makes it tough to pick, and even tougher to get the jiffymix off !

No chemicals were used anywhere in the process.

PS Addendum : However, after reading the sub threads listed above, it could very well be vert - maybe from the Jiffy Mix?

[Jake420]

:kewl:

[Tactile Tunafish]

Here is one going right now !

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[myco-curious]

Another possible suspect to consider is wild temperature fluctuations. if you pins formed in relatively cool climates - low 70's (F) for example- and then when the fruits were actually maturing it warmed up a good deal - maybe in the low-to-mid 90's (F) - then what you could be seeing is the growth rate causing the splitting.

Mushrooms will fruit at an accelerated rate in tropical climates but they'll often be hollow, thin and relatively weak bodied whereas mushrooms fruited in slightly cooler climates tend to create thicker, more dense bodies. I've seen a hot afternoon sneak up on me and the ones that shoot up fast during those times split their stems not being able to keep up with how quickly the mush is trying to grow.

I can't rule out extra moisture though because through warmer temps comes the innate ability to hold more moisture in terms of RH...but my RH is generally pretty well maintained through my homegrown humidifier... :shrug:

[Hippie3]

interesting case.
i'd guess there are a couple factors in play,
the water and a sudden growth spurt
combined with a larger-than-normal hollow stem.
cf. http://mycotopia.net...llow-stems.html

[TVCasualty]

Only the casing layer may have been much too thick too, since the only fruits are appearing in a ring at the very outside edges (nothing at all in the center) - much lower yield on this batch than we hoped.

How thick is the casing soil? And the substrate?

That effect can be caused by the casing soil's pH being too low, it could be too wet or too dry, or the air in the FC could be too dry, IME. If the environment is perfect but the casing is too dry, for example, it'll fruit around the perimeter like that. Does the Jiffy mix package say anything about added lime, and was it dolomitic? Too much magnesium isn't good for them...

You might get a nice flush or two off this grow by tossing it in the yard under a bush and watering it with the hose if the weather is too dry. I do this quite often, with great results, even if the casing was contaminated with trich.

Here's one that was getting a bad trich infection when I tossed it. Rain washed a lot of it off, and then this flush appeared. I toss a piece of screen over them to keep most of the bugs off. The pics were taken a couple of days apart.

Unrelated Tanget: the bucket with the giant ziptie holding the screen on is my mosquito trap (they lay eggs in the water but adult skeeters can't get out of the screen so all their breeding energy is wasted- there's a zillion larvae jiggling around in there but none will escape).

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[Tactile Tunafish]

Yes, sounds from all of your responses that there are probably several things that could cause what we are seeing. Thank you all for such speedy input and for sending me in the right direction. Topia ROCKS ! :bow:

And have to admit that FC temps are higher than recommended (due to A/C expense - but guess I'll have to grin and bear it if I really want to get results that reflect the amount of time and effort put into it) and the casing layer was pretty wet initially...

Substrate is probably 4.5 or 5 inches deep, casing 1.5 -2.

The Jiffy Mix says it has lime added - will have to get back to you on this. and it must have dried out as the top of the tub weighed much less. Which is strange because there's about 4" of wet perlite in the FC. As a result of this thread, I flooded the whole thing for a few hours, took the temps down a bit - and will eagerly await any new developments.:eusa_pray

However getting the Jiffy Mix off the crops is harder than verm (short of rinsing in tapwater!)

You might get a nice flush or two off this grow by tossing it in the yard under a bush and watering it with the hose if the weather is too dry.

I would LOVE to be able to plant outside, however, it's s not an option, as this area only gets 2 inches of rain per YEAR. I can't even keep catnip alive. However, it does make for effortless drying of crops. (wet laundry dries overnight too).

Tempted to flip the whole tub over (put back in the FC) and grow it out as a gigantic massive cake - there are hundreds of pins on the sides but they would be pointed downward. :horse:

Really appreciate everyone taking the time to post on this...

[Tactile Tunafish]

Unrelated Tanget: the bucket with the giant ziptie holding the screen on is my mosquito trap (they lay eggs in the water but adult skeeters can't get out of the screen so all their breeding energy is wasted- there's a zillion larvae jiggling around in there but none will escape).

Can you keep a couple frog tadpoles/fish in there - sounds like a good source of meals !

Nice bucket -- how many cats do you have ?

[TVCasualty]

All cats belonged to ex-girlfriend. When we went our separate ways, the deal I insisted on was that she took the cats and I got the buckets (I got no prob with cats, just don't want any pets of my own). Since the screen is tightly secured with the ziptie, I don't think anything else should be put in there, as it works by preventing any escape and the water gets pretty stagnant, which only attracts more mosquitos. It worked amazingly well during this year's extreme historic drought, since it was about the only standing water around.


For getting casing off the stems, I usually just wipe with a clean, dry paper towel (only wipe one direction, from top to bottom). This way grabs most of it, and if there's some left that just won't come off (and you require perfect, gleaming white stems), a very thin outer layer of the stem will peel right off, taking all the soil with it. Also, if they are dried (and I mean cracker-dry) with the casing still attached, most of it will fall off if you put them in a bag or bowl or something and shake them gently (all the soil/dust will be at the bottom). With that said, eating a little casing soil for dessert won't hurt you.

Outdoor can be done anywhere the temps are above 60 degrees F or so for most of the day, I've found. This summer I got great flushes during a long period of 100-104 degree high temps and very low humidity. The key is keeping the direct sunlight off the patch and enough irrigation. I watered my patch several times a day with the hose, and when I didn't have them in a bin covered by a wet towel, they were on the ground covered with about 2 inches of straw (it's time to water when the top inch of straw is dry, which took 6 hours at the peak of the drought). When the temps are more reasonable I just cover a patch with a piece of window screen.

It's worth a try with a "spent" substrate- dunk or otherwise hydrate it really well, then bust it up into chunks and put it outside out of direct sun and covered with straw. You might be surprised. Don't forget to check often; I've neglected to check them in the past and later arrived to find a large, beautiful clump of massive shrooms, all black with spores and buzzing with flies because I missed them by only 8 hours. Saying "I'll get them in the morning" has cost me a lot of otherwise perfect specimens.