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Shroomok avatar Shroomok

@ghastcreep, there were small mushroom cakes. The overall volume of each one was only ~1Qt (1 Liter). I didn't mix spawn with bulk. For making cakes I crashed grain spawn in flat plastic boxes and cover them with pseudo casing layer (coco coir, verm, gypsum, lime). The top layer was ~1/2 inch (1.5 cm).

You can check the whole process and details on the previous steps of this guide.

Shroomok avatar Shroomok

How was your trip with nutcracker @The real Sean?
How much did you take?
Did you have any specific purpose for using shrooms?
Could you please describe the effects? Any side effects?

Shroomok avatar Shroomok

@kupjv, you DON'T need powerful full spectrum lamps for plants.
Moreover, additional light for Cubensis is optional.

There are several options for you to choose from:
- natural light in your room (but NOT direct sun light)
- LED lamps white-blue spectrum (~435-480 nm)
- fluorescent cold white light 6000-6500k lux power

At which stages to use? Fruiting period!

Shroomok avatar Shroomok

@Bademeister Ratios by volume is a standard practice in mushroom cultivation (brought from edible mushroom growing).

For instance, for making a bunch of blocks you can find recipes with main ingredients in ratio like 5:3:1:1 by volume. You can use cups, jars, buckets or… wheel barrow. Up to you, just follow the ratio and prepare as much as you need. A little more or less of some ingredient is not critical. It doesn't need to be precise to the gram.

For actives, like Cubensis, we usually use the whole coco brick for substrate and it's easy to follow the ratio by volume. But yeah, for small amount the recipe looks weird due to non-integers for measuring the volume of each ingredient.

Special for you I've tested the recipe to get perfect field capacity :)
By WEIGHT I've got the following:
130g - coco coir
46g - vermiculite
15g - gypsum
850g - water

Regarding excessive water in your bulk substrate…
It may vary. Could be perfect match with the recipe, or too much, or not enough water. It all depends on how dry main ingredients are. Coco bricks could have 10-20% of moisture from the start. Coco and verm left open for a while could absorb additional moisture from the air.

You’re right! In your case you can squeeze out some water. Or just add more vermiculite to the substrate to ensure a proper field capacity. If there is not enough water, you can add more chilled boiling water and mix the substrate well.
You need to check it every time you make a substrate 🙃

Wish you a great cultivation journey🤞
Looking forward to good news and updates from you 😉

Shroomok avatar Shroomok

@question No problem, you can dry them additionally for a few hours in dehydrator.

Or add 5-10 packs of food-grade desiccant (aka silica gel, moisture absorber) in each storage jar. You can also use a white rice instead (add 3-5 tbsp in each jar). After 1-2 days, excess moisture will be absorbed and the shrooms will become crispier.

Desiccant/rice helps to keep mushrooms dry and absorb the slight moisture in shrooms. It’s a great to add them for long-term storage to prevent such ‘flimsy’ state. Also use airtight jars/bags to store shrooms.

All the best :)

Shroomok avatar Shroomok

@Albe Yes, you can prepare a mix of grains for your spawn. But note that different types of grains have different cooking time. It is better to cook them separately (should be perfect al dente grain, not too wet and too dry), then mix, fill the jars/bags and send to the PC/autoclave for further sterilization.

Bademeister

In my opinion, this CVG recipe was still too wet:
For 1 qt spawn jar (shoebox tek, small mushroom cakes, bottle-tek): 130g coco coir (1/5 coco brick), 1.6 cups vermiculite, 1/5 cups gypsum, 3.6 cups of water (0.9 qts).
So I had to squeeze some water out. Excited about the results. 🤞 Fingers crossed

I'd also recommend adding all quantities in weight (g) and not in volume. That way u don't have to be eyeballing if the level of the liquid or solid stuff like vermiculite matches the stripe on the measuring cup.
Using a weight scale and raring for every added ingredient is so much easier. My two cents;)

Albe

Have U experimented with mixing substrates? I mean like rice and rye together for inoculation.
It's Something i came up with and i would be interested to know if someone has ever done it.

question

Hey, I am another grower - I don't think I completely dried mine and noticed a weekish later that they were flimsy. I dont see anything else wrong, can I throw them in a finish drying?

axlotl

Along with psilly girl, these guides are the most thorough and well documented resource i have found. I lost a couple grain bags to contamination along the way, but now have a run of four productive batches (Penis Envy, Golden Teacher, AA+ Leucistic, and an "APE" that was actually something else browner and smaller and milder, but which works just fine at volume. (all from innoculatetheworld). I tried spore prints and pressure cookers in the mid-90's with spotty results, but the state of the community and ease of cultivation have multiplied exponentially. Thank you.

Joe

How long did it take you to get yours to pin I have mine in fruiting conditions for 7 days and haven't seen any

blazeaglory

Hello. Why do some spore prints stick to the side of the beaker when added to sterile water and during the syringe filling process. Ive had nice dark prints wasted due to no spores being sucked up and all were stuck to the glass beaker! I was told to add a bit of "jet dry" or similar water wetter and that did seem to help but I dont want to have to add anything such as that. Some prints mix great and fill up nicely but some dont. Thank you