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Not fanning/misting shrooms for a week?

A

acim

Greenlighter
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
42
Location
Massachusetts
Hey guys, my friend Sam has some fully colonized shroom jars that have been consolidating for nearly two weeks... He decided that the best opportunity to birth them would be now and is planning to dunk them tonight and put them into the fruiting chamber tomorrow. However, he'll be away for four to seven days (from this Saturday until the Saturday after, possibly) and won't be able to fan or mist at all. Will this hurt the mycelium or growth significantly? Is there an automated set-up he could use to avoid the problem?
 
Should be fine - it'll take em a week or two to start fruiting anyway.
 
Agreed, head to the shroomery, btw OP, we know it is you so in the future, just say "I" as saying "my friend..." or other SWIM-type writing isn't allowed.
 
I'll post on Shroomery, thanks guys! And it actually is my friend, though it's somewhat of a two-person project. Thanks for the help
 
Yes there is an automated set up that will take care of the situation for even up to a month!

It's the basics of a shotgun terrarium set-up using a mineral like perlite to slow-release water into the air. It just requires an almost-sealed chamber, with only some ventilation holes (always best to put a screening/filtering material there) for gas exchange.
The perlite is like kitty litter sitting at the bottom. About 3-4 inches should be enough for up to a moderately sized chamber. The perlite first needs to be wetted thorough, then excess water needs to be strained. This loads up the mineral with water in all holes/cavities. The more perlite, the bigger the total water capacity is.
Evaporation gets the air humidity in the chamber you use plenty high, like 90-95% or so IIRC. Maybe a little lower, it may tend to yield shrooms that have rupturing cap edges but other than that growth is fine. For perfect humidity I guess things like ultrasonic humidifiers are needed but the above technique is enough to do quite well. Not as an emergency solution but in general. It's what I did, apart from 1 kit I once used.

FYI perlite is used as as a soil constituent so it should be available from farming/grower sections of big stores - or more specialized ones. Here in the Netherlands I need to get it online (expensive) or from a farming store (cheap but you get a 100L bag, it weighs surprisingly little though.. being so porous and all). In the Nothern America region where there is big ...-Marts I don't know what the best play is.

can I consider this answered? :)
 
i would advise against. the cakes will either dry out or allow early take-over by molds and bacteria.

if you are ever going to allow cakes to go more then 36hrs without care, you NEED a "shotgun-style" terrarium which is more forgiving in that it creates a forced airflow/humidity to keep the cakes moist and fresh

edit: ^was beaten to the answer. take his advice!
 
^^
I dunno, I've always found a fully colonised mushroom cake is a ferociously tough thing - I've seen old cakes thrown in the bin still fruiting a week later - with no light and no humidity.
 
Plastic bag with gas exchange patch and some water (or damp perlite/vermiculite) at the bottom and misting is absolutely unneccesary... even for multiple flushes.
Though as Ismene pointed out, shrooms are hardy^^
 
He already has the fruiting chamber. Suggesting a method using perlite that will take care of the whole humidity factor seems smart to me. Never mind the 4-7 day leave. It will make it unnecessary to mist all the time and reduce maintenance.
And not addressing proper humidity levels at all is a foolish and neglectful way to go about cultivation, right? Not sure what is included of what you find unnecessary SerAg, and for what kind of period... but I wouldn't skip it all.

I guess vermiculite works as well but is really meant as a substrate ingredient. I'm guessing it has less capacity than perlite but better suited structure for the verm to grow in, on and through.
 
Solipsis said:
He already has the fruiting chamber. Suggesting a method using perlite that will take care of the whole humidity factor seems smart to me. Never mind the 4-7 day leave. It will make it unnecessary to mist all the time and reduce maintenance.
Click to expand...
Of course you're right.

Solipsis said:
And not addressing proper humidity levels at all is a foolish and neglectful way to go about cultivation, right? Not sure what is included of what you find unnecessary SerAg, and for what kind of period... but I wouldn't skip it all.
Click to expand...
I always had the feeling, that without proper enviromental control (at least a Hygrometer) the rather random misting is more damaging, than maintaining a stable, albeit sub-optimal humidity through perlite and/or water.
Personally I don't skip it either.
But seeing as one is not able to maintain propper care for possibly a week on end, I find haphazard misting to encourage mildew and other conditions.

Solipsis said:
I guess vermiculite works as well but is really meant as a substrate ingredient. I'm guessing it has less capacity than perlite but better suited structure for the verm to grow in, on and through.
Click to expand...
Surely Perlite is better suited. But more options, make life easier... who knows if every town with 400 souls, sells Perlite. In principal any water retaining mineral will do the trick...
 
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