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Gnome_Grown
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Registered: 11/12/13
Posts: 105
Last seen: 11 months, 4 days
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Oops!
#21735470 - 05/29/15 02:56 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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So I misread something somewhere I believe.
My story is as follows-
I have 3 monotubs (and 42 more qts of %100 spawn i dont have room to use) and these three tubs reached %100 in inder a week each with a coir/verm/gypsum
However, I went for the "casing layer" and thought it said to use more of the substrate mix for an adde layer.
The new top layer of.. Well esstentially more substrate is nearly %50 and has been in fruiting conditions for 5 days.
Would it be best to kill the lights and FAE and allow to just finish up the top layer? Or let'R'BUCK?
gracias.
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Achillita
Back to the basics



Registered: 05/26/14
Posts: 4,565
Last seen: 3 years, 10 days
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Was your bulk sub coir? If so, it's not technically a casing since the myc will just eat it. If it's already in fruiting conditions, I'd probably leave it there but it might benefit from restricting airflow to finish up colonizing.
With all that extra spawn, maybe you should make a monotub with just wbs and no bulk... That'd be cool to see Or just store them in the fridge so they don't start pinning.
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Gnome_Grown
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Registered: 11/12/13
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Quote:
Achillita said: Was your bulk sub coir? If so, it's not technically a casing since the myc will just eat it. If it's already in fruiting conditions, I'd probably leave it there but it might benefit from restricting airflow to finish up colonizing.
With all that extra spawn, maybe you should make a monotub with just wbs and no bulk... That'd be cool to see Or just store them in the fridge so they don't start pinning.
Yeah, all that really happened is I turned my 3 inch tubs into 4 inch tubs
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Mad Season
hookers and blackjack



Registered: 09/16/12
Posts: 12,666
Loc: Canada
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Lots of people use CVG casings. Some actually add a layer during spawning and it pins before full colonization of the top layer. Just keep it in fruiting and give it time and let it do its thing
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Achillita
Back to the basics



Registered: 05/26/14
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Last seen: 3 years, 10 days
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Well a dialed in monotub doesn't really need a casing layer anyways. If you really want one though, 50/50 peat moss and verm works pretty well. Put only .25-.5 inch. You might wanna raise the PH of it with lime though. I've heard eggshells can work as well but I'm not 100% sure.
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Achillita
Back to the basics



Registered: 05/26/14
Posts: 4,565
Last seen: 3 years, 10 days
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Quote:
Mad Season said: Lots of people use CVG casings. Some actually add a layer during spawning and it pins before full colonization of the top layer. Just keep it in fruiting and give it time and let it do its thing 
People do it, but it's not really a "casing". The mycelium will consume it, which defeats the purpose of a casing layer. A casing layer isn't supposed to be consumed or colonized. It is supposed to provide a microclimate for the pins to grow better.
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Mad Season
hookers and blackjack



Registered: 09/16/12
Posts: 12,666
Loc: Canada
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That's true in theory but show me a casing where cube mycelium doesn't eat through it. Peat moss gers eaten through, so does verm. We wait for 30% colonization of the casing layer before fruiting them so it's not really much of a difference. I love them because they're maintenance free and give awesome pinsets. I live in a drier climate so a casing with no top holes stuffed gives me the best results
I've been using straight cactus soil lately which is peat moss based and although it doesn't get colonized, there's mycelium all over the surface. You should see what can be done with coir casings. Coir used to be a casing before people started trying it for substrates
Edited by Mad Season (05/29/15 03:52 AM)
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Achillita
Back to the basics



Registered: 05/26/14
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Last seen: 3 years, 10 days
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My first casing attempt actually was just eaten by the myc. But here is one that I found. It's a late casing strategy as well. I don't do casings often, but I don't usually get it where it colonized the whole casing anymore.
I made a mini cube patch in my yard and had only 1/4 inch of dirt on top of it. The myc didn't colonize the dirt but fruited through it. Pretty much a casing IMO.
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Mad Season
hookers and blackjack



Registered: 09/16/12
Posts: 12,666
Loc: Canada
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Even a late casing still has mycelium through it after first flush. It definitely colonizes everything even soil. Hell people use soil for substrates, or so I've been told lol. Cubensis is a weed mushroom and can eat through a lot of things. The theory of casings not being necessary with cubes is because of their resilience.
The way casings work was developed for mushrooms not in this hobby, and although it still applies as a moisture barrier, we can't deny the fact cubensis colonizes basically anything and still pins prolifically. So essentially the op should he fine no matter what he chose to do lol
Edited by Mad Season (05/29/15 04:16 AM)
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Achillita
Back to the basics



Registered: 05/26/14
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Last seen: 3 years, 10 days
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Okay agreed, but if you look at open air mushrooms, they need casings or the sub will dry out. Stone producers also require a casing to fruit, so they work in this psychedelic hobby.
Cubes can grow everywhere. I've seen cubes colonize the dirt below a tossed out cake.
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Mad Season
hookers and blackjack



Registered: 09/16/12
Posts: 12,666
Loc: Canada
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it seems in nature they have their own casing layers. I notice on manure species they usually have a dried layer or an uncolonized layer on the outside of the manure and it's fruiting through it. We are kind of mimicking that and that's the reason why I use casings for cubes, that and because imo they help a lot
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lutherarkwright93
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Registered: 03/26/15
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Last seen: 8 years, 6 months
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I'm new to this, so my knowledge and experience are EXTREMELY limited. However I continue to read and assimilate knowledge on these boards and am starting to get a feel.
With my recent monotub grow, I considered the idea of casing my tub. I would have followed Frank's Tek on this, simply using a remainder of the same blend of coir and vermiculite he advised using for spawn. I eventually decided against casing. Going forward uncased, what I found was that once my tub was more or less fully colonized, a few pins surfaced before I introduced fruiting conditions. Those pins became my first mushrooms, but were well ahead of the rest. Since then it's been a continual but weak flush where I have many mushrooms in various stages of growth, and every day or so I'm picking a handful. I notice that once the more mature fruits are removed, the smaller fruits begin to flourish.
One problem with this scenario is that I continue to damage the surface of the medium no matter how carefully I twist or cut the fruits. I fear one of the breaks where I've harvested will end up with contamination before I'm able to cull a decent yield off the project.
I wonder that if you can let the current grow until a certain point and then harvest everything, a new even flush will begin again, and so on. But in my case it seems like the tub doesn't know where to put its energy with all my mushrooms in different stages of growth.
I suspect that a casing would have "standardized" the playing field, so to speak. In addition to adding a protective barrier of moisture, the casing over the forming pinset might have allowed a larger more even pinset across the tub.
Just a hypothesis.
Quote:
Achillita said: Well a dialed in monotub doesn't really need a casing layer anyways. If you really want one though, 50/50 peat moss and verm works pretty well. Put only .25-.5 inch. You might wanna raise the PH of it with lime though. I've heard eggshells can work as well but I'm not 100% sure.
I'd like to know more about PH and its role in casing. Any links worth recommending?
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Achillita
Back to the basics



Registered: 05/26/14
Posts: 4,565
Last seen: 3 years, 10 days
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This is a good way(with a bit of practice) on how to harvest and not tear up your substrate. I use it with great results. It just sounds like you're substrate is just producing 2 separate flushes at the same time. And the reason that the smaller mushrooms take off right after you pick the larger ones is because the mycelium is putting the energy to shoot spores everywhere. Once it's picked the second set begins to grow so it can do the same. It's kinda how it works in the wild. But if there were pins before other pins, even with a casing layer you would have gotten those pins growing faster. BEcase they had a head start.
Well there isn't much to know about the PH of casing other than that an acidic casing has a higher chance of contaminating sooner than a balanced casing. It's because many molds grow better in an acidic environment.
Oh and don't worry about your substrate contaming if you rip up the sub. It won't contam any easier, but it will take longer until it'll form knots and be able to fruit again.
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Mad Season
hookers and blackjack



Registered: 09/16/12
Posts: 12,666
Loc: Canada
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 that's some quality advice!!
In terms of pH you're looking for a pH of 8-8.5, do that next time around. Trich won't germinate past 8 and cubensis tolerates up to 8.5, so that's your window to work with
Edited by Mad Season (05/29/15 01:56 PM)
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