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 TasteTheSound
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Registered: 08/05/12
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 Outdoor Grow 
#16646241 - 08/05/12 10:59 AM (10 months, 7 days ago) |
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Ok, let me begin by saying hello to everyone and thank you in advance for this great site and any help given to me. To be honest there is such an abundance of information it's a little overwhelming. But I'm not going to let this stop me from diving right in and giving this a shot. In my experience you can ask all the questions you want but when it comes down to it, just doing it, and seeing what happens is the best way to learn.
Please respect my thread I plan on keeping this updated and letting everyone know how I am progressing. This will be my first attempt ever at Mycology. So yes I am new, but I have read the rules, the strain thread etc. I have actually spent hours over the last couple days researching this subject and feel confident to give it a go.
While researching I saw a lot of people catching flak, because they were asking basic questions that were easily answered in other threads VIA search function. I understand the frustration veterans and the old heads of the boards feel because of the ignorance of some people. I am not one of those people so please don't bash me or bring your negative attitude on my plane.
OK, enough with the introduction, lets get to the plan. I'm guessing its about midway through the season and hope to be able to get a decent grow with the time I have left. But I know the clocks ticking and as of today I will be ordering some PE and using the PF tek to get started. Once I am 100% colonized I plan on using a mix of potting soil, manure and Vermiculite.
I have included pictures of my planned grow spot.
I am estimating that I will have 10 1/2 pint cakes if I don't lose any due to contaminates. What i would like to do is rake away the pine needles and save of to the side. I'm going to dig about a 4x4 area a few inches deep and place a layer of my topsoil, manure and verm mix. Then ad a layer of broken up cakes topped with a light layer of my mix with more crumbled cakes making a layered effect. Once I have all my cakes used I will make a final layer using my mix and then recover it with the pine needles I put off to the side. Basically the idea is to be hidden in plain sight.
The area my plot will be at will never receives direct sunlight and I will have easy access to water it and keep the area moist. My only question is whether or not I will have to add lime to my mix. I don't know the ph level of the soil, but during my research saw that some trees make the soil really acidic and the shrooms may benefit from the lime. The trees I'm planting under, I'm pretty sure are white pines.
So basically that's the game plan. I would really like some feedback and/or suggestions. I am almost scared to ask questions and get flamed like I have seen others. Regardless I'm going for it wish me luck, and I will keep you updated.
Edited by TasteTheSound (08/05/12 11:44 AM)
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 dolomite
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Registered: 07/24/12
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Two things,
do you have a plan to deal with pests/animals who will do what they can to spoil your dreams?
I suggest saving a couple of cakes and fruiting them inside just to have something to show for your work in case the outside crop goes bad for whatever reason.
GL!
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GBurger717
Let me be me! I luv sum me!
Registered: 07/12/12
Posts: 182
Loc: USA
Last seen: 2 months, 16 days
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 Re: Outdoor Grow [Re: dolomite]
#16646306 - 08/05/12 11:20 AM (10 months, 7 days ago) |
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Good luck man...hope it all works out for you!! will keep checking back for updates
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"If only one party supports a bill, it's probably not a very good bill. If both parties support it, you can be sure that however good it seems on the surface, under the covers it's worse than you could possibly imagine" - Me myself and I 08-02-12
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty - Jefferson
The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first. - Jefferson
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TasteTheSound
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Re: Outdoor Grow [Re: dolomite]
#16646340 - 08/05/12 11:29 AM (10 months, 7 days ago) |
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Quote:
dolomite said:
Two things,
do you have a plan to deal with pests/animals who will do what they can to spoil your dreams?
I suggest saving a couple of cakes and fruiting them inside just to have something to show for your work in case the outside crop goes bad for whatever reason.
GL!
Does a 1200 fps air gun count? 
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Rahz
Dead Gone Forgotten
Registered: 11/11/05
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I suggest breaking the grow up into several patches. It's possible to get contams during colonization outdoors so you might not want to do a single large patch.
Also, IME contams are more likely to show quickly on the surface so a properly pasteurized casing would still be advantageous.
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rahz
comfort pleasure power love truth awareness peace
"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool."
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 Mush 4 Brains
about tree fitty
Registered: 12/19/07
Posts: 5,053
Loc: lesbians
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Quote:
TasteTheSound said:
Quote:
dolomite said:
Two things,
do you have a plan to deal with pests/animals who will do what they can to spoil your dreams?
I suggest saving a couple of cakes and fruiting them inside just to have something to show for your work in case the outside crop goes bad for whatever reason.
GL!
Does a 1200 fps air gun count?
Only if you're on guard all the time. You should fence things off with a little chicken wire and toss mothballs around at least, otherwise your patch is going to be a meal for you name it.
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dolomite
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I'm with mush, it is probably the biggest worry for outdoor patches. Look into getting some diatomaceous earth to help with bugs, snails, slugs, and all the small pests. Then think of a way to keeps small animals from getting at them as well. Maybe an automated, motion sensor turret, lol.
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TasteTheSound
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Re: Outdoor Grow [Re: dolomite]
#16646509 - 08/05/12 12:17 PM (10 months, 7 days ago) |
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Like i said its all so overwhelming but then you got masters like this make it seem so simple. I got access to both fresh horse and cow manure.... I will have plenty of time to figure out my plan of attack while my cakes are colonizing (hopefully). So any suggestions or ideas are much appreciated. I'm not so much worried about animals because my cat is always out in the grass waiting to pounce on something. And although I'm in a rural area there's not much of a pest problem. I am however worried about insects slugs etc... I will have to read up more on control measures for that including diatomaceous earth.
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chrissake
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Everything I ever tossed outside got ate up by ants/beetles. Definitely worry more about what you can't shoot 
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Mush 4 Brains
about tree fitty
Registered: 12/19/07
Posts: 5,053
Loc: lesbians
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No squirrels, rabbits, mice, raccoon etc.??
Check out my outdoor grow
http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/16435941
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TasteTheSound
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Quote:
Mush 4 Brains said:
No squirrels, rabbits, mice, raccoon etc.??
Check out my outdoor grow
http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/16435941
I just joined the forum it wont let me view the link.
As far as the DE that was recommended im definitely gonna check it out. I guess i could add it to the mix and then use a good amount of verm and DE as the casing. The only thing is that DE would need to be refreshed on the surface (obviously i wont be able to reapply below the surface.)
The one issue i have is that im trying to keep this low profile so fencing etc is not an option. I dont live alone and growing inside is not really an option besides waiting for my colonies to form because the can be easily hidden.
So as far as protection do you think it could be beneficial to place framing underground to protect insects from coming from underground and into the sides of my patch? Possibly adding gardening fabric on the bottom? And when i say underground i mean flush with the surface and then i can spread DE on top and around the framing.
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Rahz
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I wouldn't worry about pests until/unless it becomes a known problem.
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rahz
comfort pleasure power love truth awareness peace
"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool."
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TasteTheSound
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Re: Outdoor Grow [Re: Rahz]
#16646742 - 08/05/12 01:16 PM (10 months, 7 days ago) |
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Well i was thinking that too. It seems as though growing outside can really just be hit or miss. It seems those with grand ambitions ultimately fail and those who are just discarding old indoor grows or just winging it like what the heck are successful.
I've seen the quote "they were growing outdoors before we grew them indoors" alot in my reading. So that's why im just gonna go for it. My main reason for posting this is to share the experience and avoid any major mistakes or pitfalls on the way.
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Rahz
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Really dumb thing I did once was place about 40 gallons of spawned substrate on the north side of a shed. Seemed like a pretty good idea at the time. A couple days later there was a very heavy downpour and all the water that landed on the shed drained onto the patch. Never saw a single pin. 
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rahz
comfort pleasure power love truth awareness peace
"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool."
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Mush 4 Brains
about tree fitty
Registered: 12/19/07
Posts: 5,053
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Re: Outdoor Grow [Re: Rahz]
#16646870 - 08/05/12 01:46 PM (10 months, 7 days ago) |
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Quote:
Rahz said:
Really dumb thing I did once was place about 40 gallons of spawned substrate on the north side of a shed. Seemed like a pretty good idea at the time. A couple days later there was a very heavy downpour and all the water that landed on the shed drained onto the patch. Never saw a single pin.
Really? I had something very similar and had really great results. One difference is i didn't get the heavy downpour til weeks after putting it in the ground. I wrote about it a while back.
Quote:
My first outdoor grow taught me a lot. I had what was originally an indoor project contaminate. (I believe it was coir coffee using two quarts of spawn) A little bit of green maybe the size of nickel on an otherwise fully colonized and healthy tray. I decided to toss it outdoors. Aside from the trich the sub was fully colonized and otherwise healthy looking. I dug a little hole the size of the sub and tossed it in whole. I covered it with a light layer of hpoo and dirt.
I watered it frequently but didn't see any results for maybe 3 weeks, and what i did finally see was disappointing. Two tiny mushrooms the size of my thumb, i was really discouraged. I chalked it up as a failure and forgot about it. Two or three weeks later we had a tremendous thunderstorm. Left pools of water in the streets, and turned lawns into ponds.
Where i had planted the mushrooms was submerged in several inches of water. It took about a week for everything to dry up, a week of ridiculous humidity. I noticed days after the storm that lawn mushrooms were popping up everywhere i looked in town. They were thriving. I thought to myself maybe i'll check the mushroom bed i made. I really didn't expect to see anything but when i looked on the side of my shed, my jaw dropped.
I wish i had taken a picture. I couldnt believe the GIANT cluster of golden beauties in front of me. One mushroom had a cap the size of a tea plate! Unfortunately since i already deemed the grow a failure i didn't check on the area earlier. Some of the mushrooms were a little weathered and had to be discarded. I only grabbed the ones that were in good condition. One single mushroom wieghed 7gs dry!
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Rahz
Dead Gone Forgotten
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More time before the downpour probably would have helped, but yes it was a total failure and my largest single attempt.
When I first started growing outside I used a post hole digger, dug holes to 7-8 inches. Filled with spawned sub, covered with dirt and let them go. Fairly inconspicuous even out in the open, and most of them produced multiple flushes.
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rahz
comfort pleasure power love truth awareness peace
"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool."
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MorPhyscher
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Thats always exciting to plan an outdoor grow ;-) Refer to another thread that is up right now for SWIM's experience on the subject: http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/16644839 ;
However, I noticed something about your planned spot... namely that it is below pine trees. I think I remember RR advising that pine needles are one of the best natural fungicides, and so, should be avoided. Anyone else have any knowledge about that?
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MorPhyscher
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Maybe cedar is the fungicide!?
Edited by MorPhyscher (08/05/12 02:09 PM)
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Rahz
Dead Gone Forgotten
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That was the pasteurized substrate. A whole day of cooking in the kitchen. I tried to let the thread die but someone asked how things were going. Oh the shame.
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rahz
comfort pleasure power love truth awareness peace
"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool."
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Mush 4 Brains
about tree fitty
Registered: 12/19/07
Posts: 5,053
Loc: lesbians
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Re: Outdoor Grow [Re: Rahz]
#16647024 - 08/05/12 02:17 PM (10 months, 7 days ago) |
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Quote:
Rahz said:
That was the pasteurized substrate. A whole day of cooking in the kitchen. I tried to let the thread die but someone asked how things were going. Oh the shame.
Ouch thats the worst, very infuriating 
Also about the pine trees, notice how nothing or not much really grows under them.
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