Hello all, my first flush arrived a couple of days ago, VERY pleased with the turn out..however, its my first time growing, and I feel I may have made a mistake...instead of plucking them, I used a sterilized knife to cut them from the base...well, while in a trance on my new cubes, they told me this method caused them pain...is plucking them the best way? And please no criticism, I'm a first-timer with growing cybes. Also, do all the mushies have to be picked and gone before the next flush flourished? Thanks everyone!

I didn't realize i had posted a picking question previously, so I guess consider this Pt.2 of that post.

You should twist off the fruits at the base. Cutting them and leaving stumps will probably negatively affect future pinsets, worst case scenario the stumps will rot and cause some major problems. Get 'em out of there!

(a lot of plants work this way, instead of trimming something and leaving a nub you should usually just take the whole appendage as it makes regrowth a much smoother process)

What are you growing on?

I've seen suggested many times in nature/grass to pinch/cut the bottom of the mushrooms not too close to the root so as not to affect the mycelium underneath.

On the standard rye grow kits ive always twisted at the root as that's what the instructions have said.

I've also found with the grow bricks it's best to pick the mushies before they drop their spores, as soon as or just before the veil opens, so you may get some more flushes coming through.

after the mushrooms have been picked, do they begin a second flush? Cuz its pretty bare in there, i just collected the last of the pickables, and it doesn't look too awesome in the bag...still white, less tho, with just a few pinheads...should I wait?

Sorry, missed that ?....I'm actually growing on 3lbs of kowanite, spawned on rye-grain seeds...everything seemed fine until I cut them...a couple of days later, I twisted out all the greening stumps, so now it looks pretty okay inside...how long should I expect the second flush to take?

How humid is it in there?

I always have to keep it all very moist & respray a lot for the 2nd,3rd flushes, sometimes dunking the brick in water overnight can help to squeeze another small flush out too.

Chronic, you're a genius...can I trickle water onto it, or any other methods? I dont have a spraybottle, and am totally broke. =/

If you have a humidifier you could throw it in a rubbermaid with the humidifier to jack up your rh. I wouldn't advise trickling water down or otherwise exposing it to anything but mist sized water droplets.

Hmmm...gonna be tricky, but do u think its the water level? It IS pretty dry in the bag...and I wont lie, I used an ezgro mushroom kit (i know, i know, its just my fam barely put up with me extracting dmt in the house, so a full-fledge mushroom gro is somewhat out of the question, until I transition) It worked fairly well, I'm just questionable on the yield, but if the flush is based on need-for water, then im sure that was the prob....has anyone experienced the universe pushing them away from dmt and towards shrooms? According to my over-soul, I have failed the mission I have come here for, and in order to evolve, as opposed to re-entering the birth and death cycle, I must begin to work with the mushroom in symbiosis with one another...it has its own personality and everything, very strange, supposedly has been alive and aware for aeons...it likes to laugh, likes to have sex, likes to be social and active, and it an essentially kinder teacher than dmt...its telling me I have too much spiritual pain to move forward with the Earth mission I was given, and that by letting it occupy a portion of my consciousness, it will help me in achieving the states of being I was striving for...needless to say, the failure is painful, even more so that it is real...and now it's whether I trust this aspect enough to let it help me...I'm very confused, very sad-hearted...=(

To cite my growkit instructions:

1. Water
Carefully open one corner of the lid of the box. Gently turn on the tap and let the box fill up with water. Make sure the substrate is fully submerged. Close the lid again and let the box stand for 12 hours.

2. Let the excess water run off
After 12 hours, carefully open one corner of the lid and let all the excess water run off.

3. Growth
Wash your hands, remove the lid and place the box inside the grow bag. Fold the top of the bag and attach the paper clips to keep it closed. Do not throw the lid away, clean it and store it. You will need it again later on.

Put the grow kit in a warm spot (20-25°C) in the light, but not in the sun or above a radiator. Temperatures of around 25°C will allow for faster growth of the mushrooms. Leave the bag closed and the first mushrooms will appear in 14 days. These will mature in about 7 days.

4. Harvesting
Mushrooms do not appear continu­ously but in so called ‘flushes’. Preferably pick them when the veil on the underside of the cap begins to torn. If you wait too long, the caps will open and the mushrooms will drop their spores. These will colour the mushrooms and the inside of the bag black/purple. This is just a cosmetic problem however. Pick all mushrooms at once, except when one or two are growing much faster than their brothers (*). Small mushrooms between the substrate and the side of the box are best left undisturbed.

5. Next flush
Immediately after harvesting, the box needs to be watered again for the next flush. Remove all mushrooms that failed to grow out, but try to keep the substrate intact. Put the lid back on the box, water it again and let the water run off after 12 hours. Put the box back in the bag and close it. The cycle of watering, growing and harvesting can be repeated until the substrate is depleted. Often this is after four to five flushes, with the second flush generally giving the best results.

TIPS: Before harvesting, carefully wash your hands with soap. Open the bag and take out the box. Harvest the mushrooms by grabbing the stem at the base and perform a twisting motion while lifting it upwards, out of the substrate. Touch the substrate as little as possible.

I've followed those simple instructions and my first Mazatapec flush is now on its way (it's only been around 5 days since I soaked the substrate). It couldn't get easier than this, really. Mushrooms are 92% water, so yes, moisture is VERY important.

Okay, I have them growing in a bag....you seriously mean to fill the entire bag with water, and let it sit for 12 hours??? I believe you, just trying to clarify...cuz yeah, since I picked 'em, the substrate looks dry as ****.... =/....

Yea...I guess that would be akin to dunking jars/trays...personally I don't except when it seems absolutely necessary as I've found it to lead to premature contamination on occasion. In this case though, it might make sense.

Not the entire bag, just the soil needs to be submerged in water...now it depends on your subtrate composition, as well as temps. I don't know how you prepared your substrate (aka if there are enough spores left for another flush), but the general idea should remain the same. If new shrooms will start growing (give them about a week), then it's good to go!

By the way, another method of getting the substrate going again is to spray it good with one of those plant sprayers (if you have doubts). Of course, make sure everything you use is very clean.

Spores don't dictate flushes, the mycelium and environmental conditions do.

There shouldn't be any soil in a mushroom grow (unless you're referring to a casing...but I've only heard of a few people casing bags, most don't afaik).

A plant sprayer or humidifier sounds perfect if it's not bone dry/dunking is not tenable...dunking doesn't need to exceed 2-3 hours though, imo.

Everything seems to be going well, other than little green spots...not mold, but where I picked the mushrooms...I keep trying to clean it out, but it seems i didn't get the aborts out, so they started to get weird...some grew underneath the bag, making it near im possible to get them out, and they just mature and start to get old looking..I'm at my wits end...I've picked out all the green leftovers, I've sprayed it with a water bottle...the temp seems perfect, warm and humid...there are some newbies pokin up, but not too many... =/

So then I'd think again if the knife you used was really sterile.

Is this what you're referring to as "green spots"? http://shrooms.com/contamination_info.htm

If that's the case, then contamination is a possibility, no?

I would recommend forgetting about any knives next time when harvesting. I've seen most people recommending that the right way of picking mushrooms is by twisting and pulling them slowly until they alone come out, instead of cutting with a knife. That way the mycellium remains intact and contam-free. It seems easier for me to avoid touching the substrate with my hands than handling a knife around them. It's also a matter of respect for the shroom, the way I see it.

Well thankfully, none of that on the page is what's goin on, so no contamination...I agree about the knife, never again...lol