This is at 2 weeks after inoculation. Half are 1 week since inoculation. My plan is 2 chambers of 5 starting next week, and the other half the week after. Unless they are all colonized in a week.

It's been a long time they should be ready. But there are a few stubborn ones that aren't colonizing fully

There are 2 cakes showing a yellowing spot. It's very faint and I think it's safe to leave alone for now. Any opinions?

looking good Philosopher.

It looks like you will be having a very pleasant spring

I think you're cool.... just keep an eye on it.

Good job! Looks like things are going along quite well

I saw some similar yellow spots on my jars the last time I grew Golden Teachers. As long as they don't turn black/grey/green you should be fine. But yeah, just keep an eye on it.

Seeing those beautiful jars realllly makes me want to grow again...

All i've learned indicates that that yellow is mycelium "piss" and is benign and won't affeect your grow.

Thanks guys!

Are those standard BRF/verm cakes? Planning to just fruit them in a tub, or mix into a bulk substrate?

BRF cakes. Ya I was just gonna put them in the tub. I know the other way is better, but I already know how to do it this way from a lot of researching. Not sure if its too late to change the method anyway

Should I still dunk the cake before I separate it

I believe that if the bulk substrate is at 'field capacity' (just a few drops of water are produced when you squeeze a handful) then the dunk should be unnecessary.

If you're going to spawn some or all of the cakes to bulk, read up on proper pasteurization techniques as well as bulk substrate recipes and colonization.

Also consider that when you spawn them to bulk you open a whole new window of opportunity for contamination in that the fully colonized cakes are contam resistant, but the sub you crumble them into will take anywhere from about 8-20 days (ballpark estimate) to colonize and during that time are more prone to contam.

Of course, you'll get bigger yields going to bulk, but there are less things to go wrong just fruiting the cakes.

Just my 2 cents... happy cultivating!

oh also.... if you do spawn them to bulk, dunking the cakes isn't necessary.

I'm gonna play it safe this first time and go with the cakes. Next grow ill be educated enough for bulk.

Homemade FAE unit.

Where the air comes out is a black rectangular shape. I could glue a small piece of hepa filter on there to help sterilize the air. But I don't have any hepa, is there some other thing I could use?

I'm thinking micro spore tape but probably not.
Some kind of cloth like material?

Also I need some advice. I am birthing the cakes tomorrow and they say to expect mushrooms in 1-2 weeks. In 2 weeks I will be going out of town for 11 days....what do I do. If I pick them too early It would be a crime against humanity, but if I allow them to stay too long they may die. Also I won't be able to FAE or spray these guys if I'm outta town. I will resaturate the perlite before I leave however. Do you think they will be ok? Or should I put them in the fridge and just start the grow in 3 weeks. Ps I really wanna grow now

Also, my mycelium has been growing very slowly, I think they shrooms may do the same. So I think if I harvest when I come back it should be ok, but ill have to see the status in 2 weeks.

I've never put a fan on a fruiting chamber. Not that some don't and have success, but be careful not to dry everything out with that. I'd put it on a timer and run it maybe for 5 minutes every 4 hours - probably 2-3 minutes would be plenty. It's really something you'll need to monitor and get a feel for. BE CAREFUL - I'd hate to see those cakes turned to myc jerky now.

No need for any HEPA or anything. When you take the cakes out of the jar, the sterile chain is broken. Remember.... fully colonized cakes are contam resistant. Plus you're going to open that to mist and fan many times over the life of the cakes, letting in non-sterile room air as well.

Let the cakes colonize for a full week afer they LOOK 100%. You can't tell if it's colonized to the core by looking - this gives the cakes a better chance to be absolutely 100% colonized.

Once you birth them, you could have pins in a couple of days... or... it could be 10 days. I've read of some folks having it take longer. You'll also get 2-4 decent flushes over a period of time, so you're just going to have to go with madre nature's flow here. Read up on birthing/fruiting cycles - and I have an idea.

Get someone else to weigh in, because I'm not sure of this but - it may be cool to just leave those in the jars until you're back from out of town. It may be a little long - so like I say, get other opinions on that - but it might just be your best bet. 11 days is a long time to be away from baby mushies. You need a month where you're not going to be away from them to get the most out of the plan.

Yeah I'd only use the fan a cpl minutes a day. Not throughout. I birthed the cakes a little while ago. I think that the timing may be just right to harvest, then try to get a flush to grow while I'm gone by rebirthing right before I leave. I guess we'll see what happens. Even if I don't get full potential from this grow it will be perfectly acceptable for me. When I bought 2 spore injections they gave me another one free. So I just went and made 10 cakes. I am going to eat all of these mostly myself over the course of probably a year so i really don't need too much.

I'm just gonna do cakes this first time around. Next try ill definitely try bulk.