Okay so I got a pretty good system going, makin some tasty cakes. All sterilized, inoculated and ready to be incubated at 83F for about 2 weeks (give or take). But I have a few questions im hoping you guys can answer. (This is my first attempt at growing, im new so bare with me) -During Incubation, should their be a certain level of humidity inside the container that holds the mason jars containing the substrate? -After incubation, when cakes are released into my terrarium, how much sunlight should they be receiving and would we be a good temp/humidity level to keep them at? -How do I keep humidity at a certain level? Humidifier? Or just spray them with mist daily? -Would a heat lamp be okay to keep temperatures good? -Once cakes are mature and placed inside my grow chamber, will my terrarium also have to be frighteningly sterile? Thanks -Jack
The more basic and casual i go, the better my success rate when dealing with contaminates. Some folks will tell you about needing to tweak things a lot, and given certain species and strains you may, but its a simple process. Dont complicate things. Now, i've never needed to watch humidity while incubating. Never once did i have issues with this. I wouldnt have any direct light. Just being able to see them is enough, as theyre not really using light for food, just as a trigger. With humidity in the chamber, ive always been simple with perlite to prop the cakes on, and water within said perlite. I never spray. A heat lamp is fine. Ive used them before. I dont anymore, but it works. The chamber should be sterilized prior to placing cakes in it. Other that, the cakes should hold their own rather well against disease. Penicillin is the only problem i ever see in a chamber, and that's when the cakes are mostly spent, and still a rare occurance in itself. Theyre are plenty of other molds to worry about, but penicillin is the only one ive personally had troubles with.
Im guessing that, this being your first grow, youve used the basic 1 part water, 1 part brf, and 2a parta vermiculite? Or some similar measure. I toss in about an oz of gypsum for every dozen jars. Sometimes 2oz. My "water" is always 5/6 water diluted coffee. Get a feel for growing them before you start adding things. Brf is nutritious enough on it's own. Ive moved on to pf tek morel experiments now, but that substrate mix is top secret.
Wow thanks a ton man, this helps a lot. But what is Perlite? (Sorry like I said, still a scrub at this)
Perlite is that white crumbly stuff found in potting soil. You can find bags of it for cheap at any garden store
i'm gonna try to answer your questions in order -you mean like the box or whatever you're keeping the mason jars in? then no. -uh direct sunlight can be too harsh. mushrooms do not need light like plants do. the only thing that mushrooms need light for is to tell them which direction to grow. i prefer a rope light. -humidity: spray with mist 3 times a day. i had set up where the mist wouldnt fall directly on the sub, but just humidify the air -a heat lamp? maybe to heat the entire room they are in, but not directly. -no because at that point if you ahve done it properly, the mushroom will be so dominating that there will not be any chance for contaminants to take hold.
Damn near, yes, but possible. My buddy and i have established outdoor patches, and we're getting mycelium with pf tek, but it tends to slow its growth before fully colonizing the jars. We've just to keep tweaking the substrate until it works.
