Do you reuse the perlite? Like for the second flush I would take out the cakes, dunk and roll, but do I need to get all new perlite or just rehydrate it. I used an entire bag on these guys

Peroxide kills mycellium

Rehydrating perlite with peroxide will not provide sterility

Peroxide is used to kill cobweb mold in small patches because it is sometimes possible to recover from.

Well then let me quote someone far better at this craft than I.... Roger Rabbit...

http://www.shroomery.org...Number/10961027#10961027

I thought I read somewhere putting a tiny bit of peroxide or bleach in the spray bottle keeps it sterile? It doesn't make sense to me anymore. But I've already been misting with my water bottle sized sprayer with about 1 spray of bleach in it. Do you think it did any damage? How often do I mist?

Is there a way to pause growth? I will be missing 11 days in a row, in which I can't mist or fan. Should I harvest before I leave then put the cakes in the refrigerator? Or should I harvest before I leave then I just resaturate the cakes and the perlite even though I can't mist or fan? I just don't want to have to quit after 1 flush. Any suggestions?

If you must be gone, IMO your best bet is to harvest and then stick them in the fridge. Fruiting requires temps to be warmer, so hopefully that'll keep your cakes in stasis.

Ideally, if you can, make the temp in the 50˚F range if you can - dunno that might not work as I assume you keep other stuff in that fridge.

I can use a mini fridge so ill make the temp 50. Thanks a lot. What do you think would happen if I went the other route? Would there be a large risk of contam?

Here's my first sign of pinning! Saw these babies this mornin.

I think it would dry out and be crap.

Congrats on the pins... it's so satisfying to see those little ones pop out.

I bought this moisture absorber to get my shrooms completely dried out. It was the only thing close to what I was looking for in the store. http://www.damprid.com/p...ture-absorber-4lbs-fg50t it seems like it isn't used for the same purposes? It's to remove humidity, would this work? Or even be safe?

All it says about the warnings and chemicals included is the usual eye irritant and harmful if swallowed. It contains calcium chloride. To me it really just looks like pure CaCl but I'm not sure.

Those pins look lovely!

I'm pretty sure it should be safe, as long as it doesn't touch any of the shrooms. I don't have any first hand experience with this sort of thing though, so you might want to get another opinion.

Living in a dry climate I can airdry shrooms on a sheet of aluminium foil, though I finish it off with putting them in the oven at low heat for about 20 minutes with the door open, just to be sure they're dry enough. The longest I've gone from drying to eating is five months and the shrooms were just fine.

24 hours after last pics

Update. 24 hrs later.

There are 2 cakes in each container showing no growth or pins.... If its contam I don't want it to spread. But they may just be late bloomers, late boomers

Also that white fuzz on the big boy, that's just mycelial right...nothing dangerous

lookin good. they may just be late bloomers, keep your eye on them for visual signs of contamination - they may just not have been fully colonized (most likely explanation)

2 things...

- The fuzzy myc reachin' for the sky is asking you for more FAE - so mist and fan more

- long stipes and small caps also are telling you ---> more FAE please

I would say you'll be having a very nice munch here soon... excellent!

contamination?

I cut off the green spot on the cake and picked off al the shrooms with green on them..., except the last one I'm not sure if this is contam

Did it appear after aggressive misting or picking up/touching the cake? If so it could just be bruising. Drying out can also cause bruising. If I was betting money - that's what I'd bet on.

Patience really is rewarded in mushroom cultivation.

Yeah I thought it was bruising but it looks more green not really blue. And it is on the bottom part of the stem and when I picked off the cap the top part of the stem was also green, so I'm not sure. Can bruising travel inside the mushroom and stop at the top where the cap is? Or is it infected. Also the cake has some green on it too. Ill wait a couple days then if it gets worse just toss it.

yeah, light bruising blue can look green... its difficult to tell sometimes.

Anywhere you have mycellium... you can have bruising (mushrooms being comprised of mycellium). After you've seen it a few times you'll get more of a feel for it. I had the exact same issue/concern on my first cake grow - I think many do.

SHROOMIEZZ!!


Looking good man!

And contamination isn't the end of the world, especially when you're in the final phase of the project. Like PT said, those discolored spots were probably bruising. It happens regularly, and often cubes will bruise more greenish than blue. It can look quite like mold. The mold that turns green starts out looking quite like mycelium. It's white, but has a bit different texture. If it reaches the green phase, it's pretty much too late to get rid of it, and you'll just have to live with it. It often won't spread to fast, unless your cakes are getting older, running out of food and weaker.

Oh, and you may know this, but the right amount of FAE decreases your chances of mold. So, it's a tricky balance between maintaining humidity, and fresh air. Isn't growing shrooms so much fun? Talk about a challenging and (hopefully) rewarding process.