Stalled (?) ART

Hello everyone, I've been having great success creating spawn from LC to both RGS and Millet. I've had a few failed attempts so far after the spawn to bulk stage and Id really like some input. This particular substrate is in 1:1:.01 Coco/ Dung / Gypsum (PC for 2hrs in bags). Mix is roughly 3:1 with 3.285lb spawn to 10lb substrate in a "Boomr Bin" from North Spore. I colonized for exactly 3 weeks at about 75f and at that point it seemed almost to stall so i went ahead and put it into fruit. I'd say colonization was at about 60-70%. I'm on 12/12 light and I remove the lid daily for FAE and all the openings have been replaced with filters.

This is at one week of fruiting and I'm just not sure I'm on the right track. I feel I'm not differentiating between mycelium growth and whispy molds.

I don't want to throw this away if it's just a matter of waiting.

thank you so much.

Just wanted to add that the black spots are substrate.

Hello!

I've checked your cake and fortunately, I don't see any signs of mold. So don't worry about it

The only questionable area is here - a tiny circle in the top left corner (see the red circle in the attached photo)

Could you pls take a photo closer? I need to double check it to make sure it's healthy.

And show me pls your fruiting chamber

here's a close up of the top left and the whole chamber. Thanks!

It's fine from that angle, but... I still can't see the texture of that small patch in details :-(

I need a close photo of the exact circle (perpendicularly) or like this photo example

What should you do next?

1. FAE - yes!

2. Skip misting at all for the next 4 days! Don't mist the tub unless the walls are almost dry. Avoid misting on mycelium, mist the walls only!

3. Show me your cake and tub in 3-4 days. I'll check it again. Okay?

That's it!

Oh, and ofc, it needs some time and your patience ;-)

Excellent thank you I'll be sure to vent and not spray the next few days. I'll try to get a better photo of that spot, also.

here's top left corner, top right corner, and full subatrate as of today.

i seem to me having issues loading more than one photo at a time, here's top right:

The questionable area is fine so far 👌

Don't mist the tub!

And try to avoid water pools on the mycelium!!!

excellent thank you! haven't misted. unfortunately i did get some water when it dripped off the lid while doing FAE. Is it worth trying to dab that water off with a clean paper towel or would that just risk contamination?

conversely I could also blow it around and at least distribute it a bit.

thanks again for your help!

You can use a paper towel to absorb water pools. Just be gentle pls!

No! Don't blow/fan the mycelium!

In order to avoid water dripping from the lid use WD-40 trick -> find a paragraph WD-40 trick in this write up

https://shroomok.com/en/wiki/Bacterial_brown_blotch_disease_on_mushrooms

Great information, thank you.

I've got sodium hypochlorite ordered and already have WD40 on hand.

Side note: many people dont realize that "WD" actually stands for "water displacement", and it was the 40th itteration in the product development.

I wonder if products like RainX or ceramic paint products would have a similar effect?

So interesting! I had no idea about that WD-40 fact. Thanks for sharing 👍

I assume any product with silicone or wax should work. I haven't try them though. So you can test and share your experience ;-)

Good news, I've got pins forming!

I'm assuming i was spraying too often/keeping the humidity too high. before?

Hooray, so nice!

I think the cake just needed more time. It's been about 2 weeks since fruiting conditions, and it's absolutely on track. Some strains take much longer.

Could you tell me what strain it is? It looks like one of the Albino strains.

Maybe you'll get blob-like mutated shrooms (see Mutations), but they're safe to harvest. So, we'll see within the next few days.

Keep me updated pls :-)

Sure is! Albino Rip Tide. Its taking off so far; this is today:

and another:

Pins look great 🔥🔥🔥

A few here with black caps are most likely aborts (see Aborts), but it's absolutely fine

Understood! I read all the abort information. I'd imagine it's due to the density in that area. Everything looking great so far.

Thanks again for the help along the way!

Yep, it's absolutely normal to have some aborts in such a big cluster.

Now pins look so cool!

Please, share more photos. I love watch them grow day by day. This is the most exciting period in growing 🤩

Definitely the most entertaining part so far!

Woo-hoo 🤍🥳🔥

Thank you!

Here's today!

Soooo nice! Thanks for the update 🤩

I'm curious how one could keep humidity lower in a relatively sealed container? I imagine that would only be possible with relativly constant FAE by means of controlled fan? I thought my digital thermometer/hygrometer was malfunction but it of course has a slight delay in reading so it's not constantly fluctuating.

I imagine a very slow fan speed over a filter cold create a somewhat linear FAE and potentially maintain a lower RH?

Here's today.

Beauties 🔥🔥🔥
Waiting for more updates ;-)

Why do you need to lower the humidity? Your tub and your shrooms are absolutely fine in this kind of environment.

If you have air vents, it’s not a sealed environment, and there are natural air currents going through the vents and they work properly. That’s much better than using a fan! Usually, growers end up with drying issues and mycelium bruising when they use fans.

Here’s an example in this thread: Probably failed grow?

Understood. I'm definitely happy with how everything is going, just wondering if lowering humidity is better for fine tuning, as it seems to be widely recommended for fruiting.

Here's today, looking great!

whoops, here's the photo:

Whoop whoop 🤩

When you reduce humidity it increases water evaporation from the cake, which promotes pinning. So you're right, that's make sense ;-)

However, excessive evaporation and extra fanning can dry out the substrate and mycelium. As a result, we won't get pins at all!

Even if the humidity in the tub is high, sometimes it still needs a little misting to reduce evaporation and moisture loss.

So you need to maintain balanced environment all the time. A relative humidity of 85–90% is good during the pinning period (for the first week). After that, you can slightly increase it to 90–95% during the active fruiting phase to help preserve more moisture in the substrate for mushroom development. As you know, mushrooms are about 90% water, so they need it during active phase of growth!

If you’d like to monitor the basic parameters you can buy a simple hygrometer. Usually it comes with a thermometer. Something like this would be fine Amazon

Ok perfect. I should be fine as it seems I'm staying between 95-99.

I've got some that seem to be opening up, early.

Should I pick the ones that have the veil opened or just wait on everything else?

I've read that this strain doesn't really drop spores like most do.

Looking good!

Looking great!

You can pick already some of them with opened caps, no problem. Albino strains do produce spores, but they are white or transparent

Here's today, and a bonus photo of RGS getting ready for another tub. ;)

Nice! Some shrooms look a lil bit dry, but it's fine for this 1st flush. The next flush after rehydration will be way better ;-)

The jar is ready to go 👍 What is RGS strain abbr?

It's Albino Penis Envy "Rye Grain Spawn" 👌

Oh, okay! Thanks for clarification. This RGS abbr is smth new to me lol How's your RipTide growing today? 🙌

At least this is still doing well!