I've always found it a bit of challenge to tell when the veil is about to break on the mushrooms in my monotubs. It's tricky to see under the cap, and using my finger to feel is not really reliable or sanitary. Solution: dental mouth mirror, the round one on a stick. Now I can easily inspect without touching anything or contort myself into a pretzel to look underneath the cap.

Is this for taking prints, or attempting to let the mushroom grow to its maximum weight before the veil breaks and begins dropping spores?

The second. You don't want spores all over your substrate since it makes it go dormant and hinders further flushes. I've also seen arguments that alkaloid content, by weight, is the highest at this point.

I like it! Simple, effective, and it eliminates the need to become a contortionist just to get a glimpse! I have a home dental kit in my bathroom closet with one of those mirrors in it. I'll have to whip it out next time I go on a growing adventure!

Another random tip for anyone who stumbles on this post: If flushes in a monotub grow are maturing unevenly and you don't want to disturb the other nearby mushrooms yet, you can slice off the entire cap, leaving the stem behind until the rest of the flush matures. I like to use an X-Acto knife for ease of cutting (plus I already have them around for agar work). Then take those caps for prints or drying or whatever and harvest the rest when they are ready.

I've read this may be a myth. And in the recent cases where I've accidentally let spores drop, it didn't seem to hinder flushes. But I do agree there is no point in letting the cap drop spores because it does make a mess.


Yeah, I do this regularly. Either when maturity times are different or when I don't have time to carefully remove the whole shroom. I like to take my time to avoid tearing up the substrate. Kind of sad to chop off their heads though.

BTW, I love shoebox tek. Shoebox is basically a little monotub but more convenient to work with for harvesting, changing locations, dunking after flushes, isolating in case of contamination, running comparison experiments, et cetera.

It may be a myth, but plenty of anecdotal reports of it stopping pinning. It doesn't seem consistent, so there may be other factors at play as well. I'll say better safe than sorry, and having your shrooms all black with spores is not very attractive.

Great idea, many thanks!