47 replies to this topic

[apokalypse]

Hey all, long time listener, many time caller for ridiculously obvious questions, but hey I'm just a slow learner with new things. But it looks like I'm starting to nail this hobby bang on now. They're growing out in some tinfoil trays in a bin sitting on perlite. I followed the old 'hongus tek' pretty much, nothing special, but I still want to share the progress of it, and get some insight. I have 5 trays going, one is SA the other 4 are all cambodians. Already I can see some pins creeping up, although there's one white blob that is probably an underformed mushroom. Thoughts/comments about how I can do this better? With the bin I have, I have noticed that it's hard to keep the moisture in there, the lid isn't very secure, so I put a box/fan on top to try and weigh it down. Fan 3/4 times a day, mist the sides that are dry and mist a shot 2ft over the bin, thanks to Lazlo's advice :bow:

Just a side note, mycelium in the first picture looks kinda funky, is this cobweb? I'm not sure, I tried putting some H2O2 on it to check it out but nothing really disappeared.

Another note, I have not done any scratching of the casing layer, or patching. Would this be necessary at all, if so, where should I? I will update in the morning with pictures from a far superior camera.

Frig, almost forgot. These were BRF cakes before, crumbled into small pieces after being dunked in ziplocs for about 20hrs. Done with the normal PF tek, each tray is approx. 1 pint, although I am pretty sure two pints went into the biggest tray (pic #5).

Tub dimensions are 30x16.5x6, I'm thinking the lack of extra room may play a factor in allowing shrooms to grow nicely, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I have a bigger bin thats about a foot high that I could always transfer stuff into.

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

[Lazlo]

Hmmm, that looks pretty damn good to me. Pic 1 in question looks nice to me too. You may want to fan and mist 2 times a day rather than 3 or 4 if the lid doesn't fit tightly. You're going to need some CO2 and proper humidity for a good primordia formation. Looking good!

[apokalypse]

I'm gonna try to put some more weight along the sides, or possibly even go pick up some foam and attach it to the sides where the lid snaps down, to keep it sealed nicely. Has anyone in the community ever attempted something to this effect? I used the same style tub for a bulk sub last summer and it stayed very humid, maybe its the temperature thats bugging out on it.. room temp is 25-27C (77-81F).

[Lazlo]

I wouldn't put any weight on the lid unless you've got gnats flying around your area. A loose lid is fine and allows CO2 to expell freely through the cracks. You're at the most important part of fruiting right now. I'd get up in the morning and would give the tub a fanning and misting. Set the lid on without weight on it and let it be. Then in the afternoon or before bed, fan and mist again. Pins will start to grow everywhere.

[1dumbmyco]

Do you have an RH meter? Trays like that seem to thrive in the 70-90 RH range with fanning and true air exchange by leaving the lid ajar in areas with sufficient ambient humidity. If the spawned trays are sufficiently moistened prior to birth, there should be sufficient moisture to maintain acceptable RH levels without misting or Perlite. Some wax paper over the trays until pinning will keep CO2 levels up a bit at the casing layer to help induce pinning. Nice pins in pic 3.

[apokalypse]

Hmmm, no I don't have an RH meter. Are there any two-in-one solutions that combine that as well as a thermometer, possibly digital, that anyone has seen? Pins in pic 3 do look nice, I just hope that big white ball turns into something delicious and trippy :)
edit: would something like http://cgi.ebay.ca/8...1QQcmdZViewItem suffice for a nice thermometer/humidity sensor?

[Lazlo]

I wouldn't worry with it personally. A tight sized container like that with saturated perlite will provide plenty of RH for pinning. Especially with rooms temps like yours. Just make sure to keep the perlite moist and the tub misted well. 2 times a day with the fanning and misting, with a loose lid and warm temps will be plenty.

[apokalypse]

I snapped up some new pictures from a better camera just now. The only issue I can see in the future is that the mushrooms can only grow 3inches before hitting the lid of the tub. Should I remove the perlite to give extra room, or just let it be? Can anyone identify what that ball is in pic #2?

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

[reverend trips]

It looks like a mutant to me, I've seen quite a few of them lately...BallOfun!

[Hippie3]

you could easily remove the perlite
and get by just misting as needed

[apokalypse]

I think I will transfer the perlite to another bin, and use it for cakes. There would be at least 2 inches of perlite then for that tub, and it's lid locks better.

[Milton Waddams]

Excellent job, looks good to me.:kewl:

[Lazlo]

I would allow this flush to finish first before doing that. I've grown in tubs where the mushrooms want to lift the lid up and it makes no difference. You have plenty of room in that set up. Don't allow your anxiety to screw up the projects performance.

[apokalypse]

So it's cool for the mushrooms to just push on a lid thats not gonna move? There's only about 2-3inches of leeway until that happens, then again I guess most mushrooms are around that size heh.

[Lazlo]

Yes. The mushrooms will grow along the lid and not upwards.

[Lazlo]

When the first flush is harvested, you can yank out the perlite and clean out the tub along with a rinse of the perlite. After you rinse the tub, put the trays in first and then the perlite for more height space in tighter tubs. Simply surround the trays with moistened perlite. The trays are on the tubs floor for a few extra inches of mushroom grow space and the perlite is still there to provide RH.

[altered_states]

Nice work, man!
I can't wait to see that bin when it's full of fat caps...
Just a few more short days.
Sweet :D

[apokalypse]

Thanks alot altered! I can't wait either.. in the next week or so I'm gonna have more trays of hawaiian going, and a few weeks after that some sexy sexy vanilla LC'd BRF jars. Only problem i've had insofar is with my widemouth jars, getting the cakes out is so painful, especially when growing invitro. The cakes just never shrink enough :/ ah well

[Hippie3]

just be watchful,
if the contact point between shroom and ceiling is wet
that can accelerate rot.

[apokalypse]

Lid of tub has never had moisture on it, will watch out for that though. Thanks for the tip Hippie3 :bow: