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invitro


Registered: 05/03/13
Posts: 2,529
Last seen: 1 month, 21 days
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Alfalfa as supplement for straw
#23506692 - 08/03/16 05:56 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Hay: yea or nay?
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chefjrd
Strangerer

Registered: 05/20/16
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Last seen: 7 years, 4 months
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: invitro]
#23506882 - 08/03/16 06:37 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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I've been adding about 6 cups of Standlee alfalfa pellets to about 15 lbs of dry straw pre pasteurization. It adds a nice bit of protein and I get nice thick caps on my 3015 strain. That's probably pretty normal for the strain though.
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Mycolorado
Hobbyist


Registered: 07/23/16
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: invitro]
#23506902 - 08/03/16 06:42 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Hey Invitro, yep, I've been using alfalfa cubes...they fall apart upon soaking/pasteurization making it easy to mix in. Check out my cloning Colorado oysters thread and also the pink contam thread. Both were straw with alfalfa and gypsum. Also, check out Buckeye Oysters' straw log supplemented with alfalfa and newspaper thread. His oysters look like no other and he was pulling big yields.
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chefjrd
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Mycolorado]
#23507229 - 08/03/16 07:58 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Yep- Buckeye is where I got the idea from originally. His grows are amazing. I wonder where he is. He hasn't been here or on YouTube for about a year.
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anthiawe
friendly stranger


Registered: 05/18/16
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: chefjrd]
#23507319 - 08/03/16 08:25 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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alfalfa is good for nitrogen, careful going over 20% of your substrate as nitrogen will create heat. Also, consider other micronutrients that the mushrooms may enjoy in alternative supplements or fertilizers.
-------------------- TEK compendium
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Mycolorado
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: anthiawe]
#23516176 - 08/06/16 02:28 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Couple pics of the golds popping on alfalfa-supplemented straw. This is a commercial strain and is a monster pinner. The entire block is covered in dime-sized tubers. Not sure how much of a role the supplementation is playing but these are looking really happy.
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micelio
Song of Silence


Registered: 04/22/14
Posts: 1,547
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Mycolorado]
#23517295 - 08/06/16 10:38 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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They do look happy...
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chefjrd
Strangerer

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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: micelio]
#23518227 - 08/07/16 09:39 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Very nice!
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Mycolorado
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: chefjrd]
#23518396 - 08/07/16 10:41 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Today. They're maintaining their color very well.
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Mycolorado
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Mycolorado]
#23522002 - 08/08/16 01:10 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Only pulled 2 decent clumps of golds. Definitely too dry in my fruiter would be my guess. Also, there were so many tubers the fruiting energy was spread too thin...lots of aborts. They put on some size since yesterday but lost half their color. It'll be interesting to compare them to those grown on wood sub. Here's a pic with some wild grays mixed in.
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Mycolorado
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Mycolorado]
#23543324 - 08/15/16 09:38 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Second flush of golds on straw and alfalfa. This strain produces tons of tubers...not sure if this is common to the golds or just this particular strain. I only poked a couple holes to see if fewer clusters would grow larger though I don't think it had any real effect as there are so many tubers.

Also, here's the block of wild oysters I spawned with Brewers grain. I've been letting them grow for about a week.
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Quadman
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Mycolorado]
#23544219 - 08/15/16 02:08 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Those wild oysters are looking mighty fine.
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Ferather
Mycological



Registered: 03/19/15
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Quadman]
#23546025 - 08/16/16 05:24 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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The water you misted them with, was it 100% clean and fresh. For example not more than 6 days old, and boiled.
Water contams will totally destroy a fruit body.
Fruit bodys are 80%+ water content. More rich than water alone.
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Mycolorado
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Ferather]
#23546138 - 08/16/16 07:07 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Hey Ferather, it's fresh but not boiled. I fill up the bottle every few days. Why the concern?
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Ferather
Mycological



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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Mycolorado]
#23547432 - 08/16/16 04:46 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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I'm wondering how they grow out so far then abort to low humidity. Don't worry I was just checking if there was another reason.
I boil my water and add it to my sprayer hot.
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Mycolorado
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Ferather]
#23547880 - 08/16/16 07:02 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Right on....the golds? I think it's just that...lack of humidity. I'm getting another humidifier in there soon so hopefully that will help. It's been very dry lately. Here's the larger clump on this second flush.
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Ferather
Mycological



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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Mycolorado]
#23548966 - 08/17/16 04:14 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Thats better, They might get a bit big if they are bringing up water. Substrate water content will drop faster though. Keep misting.
They should be touch damp, and very soft
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PsilocyBen17
Pin Pornographer


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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Ferather]
#23550949 - 08/17/16 07:20 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Nice flushes Myc. Loving the colours man.
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Mycolorado
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: PsilocyBen17]
#23552655 - 08/18/16 08:56 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
PsilocyBen17 said: Nice flushes Myc. Loving the colours man.
Thanks, PsilocyBen! Ferather suggests that lower temps and bright light are key to good color in the golds and I think he's correct. The fruiting chamber stays between 64-71F and the lights are extremely bright. In fact, I think they're too bright for the wild oyster strain and may be inhibiting fruit development. I'm going to pull one of the lights and see what happens.
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PsilocyBen17
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Mycolorado]
#23554449 - 08/18/16 06:55 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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yeah, I think low temps are the way to go with oysters, both for colour and meaty fruits. When RR grew oysters he only grew them in the spring and fall with temps >50F. You'd see less problems with contams this way too. Way to go Myc.
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weetsie
unlicensed tub surgeon



Registered: 05/08/11
Posts: 572
Loc: United Kingdom
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Mycolorado]
#23554621 - 08/18/16 07:42 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
Mycolorado said:
Quote:
PsilocyBen17 said: Nice flushes Myc. Loving the colours man.
Thanks, PsilocyBen! Ferather suggests that lower temps and bright light are key to good color in the golds and I think he's correct. The fruiting chamber stays between 64-71F and the lights are extremely bright. In fact, I think they're too bright for the wild oyster strain and may be inhibiting fruit development. I'm going to pull one of the lights and see what happens.
Low temps, bright lights make for the best colour in my experience too. It's quite cool in my grow room at the moment and with a metal halide for lighting my pink oysters are practically blood red, even when mature. Can't wait to see what my blues look like in there.
-------------------- Active grow logs: Oysters on Straw Pellets Trade list
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Mycolorado
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: weetsie]
#23554981 - 08/18/16 09:01 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
weetsie said:
Quote:
Mycolorado said:
Quote:
PsilocyBen17 said: Nice flushes Myc. Loving the colours man.
Thanks, PsilocyBen! Ferather suggests that lower temps and bright light are key to good color in the golds and I think he's correct. The fruiting chamber stays between 64-71F and the lights are extremely bright. In fact, I think they're too bright for the wild oyster strain and may be inhibiting fruit development. I'm going to pull one of the lights and see what happens.
Low temps, bright lights make for the best colour in my experience too. It's quite cool in my grow room at the moment and with a metal halide for lighting my pink oysters are practically blood red, even when mature. Can't wait to see what my blues look like in there.
I've been wondering also about spectrum and possibly using LEDs to see what effect, if any, different wavelengths have on fruit body morphology and color. Currently I'm using cobs which kick out a ton of light. The interesting part is these are 3000k (red/warm)color temp where mh, I believe, is closer to 5000k (blue/cool). Keep us posted on how they do under the mh...my pinks definitely weren't blood-red. How many watts is it? Like I said, I'm removing one of my fixtures as I'm pretty sure it's too much for my wild strain.
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weetsie
unlicensed tub surgeon



Registered: 05/08/11
Posts: 572
Loc: United Kingdom
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Mycolorado]
#23555599 - 08/18/16 11:58 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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70W so no monster but still quite a bit of light compared to T5s and such.
I harvested my pinks yesterday so these are the stragglers that I left to grow on a bit. This photo is straight out of camera with standard colour profile and auto white balance:


The colour is much deeper than when I was growing them in natural light and warmer temps.
-------------------- Active grow logs: Oysters on Straw Pellets Trade list
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anthiawe
friendly stranger


Registered: 05/18/16
Posts: 652
Last seen: 2 years, 7 months
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: weetsie]
#23555856 - 08/19/16 04:05 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Phoenix and pink like warmer better. they will fruit in cooler temps but not as well. They are tropical species remember. Kings and pearls like cooler, wont even pin unless the temp is 15 degrees Celsius - I think blues are in that category as well. Lets not group all oysters together, yellows are unique and have their own characteristics.
-------------------- TEK compendium
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drake89
Mushroom Magnate



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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: anthiawe]
#23556031 - 08/19/16 07:10 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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There is no way you have too much light. The sun is 1000w/Sq meter
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Mycolorado
Hobbyist


Registered: 07/23/16
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: drake89]
#23556220 - 08/19/16 08:47 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Hey drake, you may be right but I'm simply going on observation and deductive reasoning. The wild oyster blocks really pin up where shaded. My wild oyster straw log's second flush happened on the backside of the log which was shaded. The other real culprit seems like insufficient humidity which I know is an issue in my fruiter. Also, as I'm sure you know, p. ostreatus tends to grow in shaded river valleys...the wild specimen I'm growing came from such a place. Either way, one of my lights should be plenty as they produce 9000 lumens each and are directional...fluorescent tubes are like 3000 and the photons are sprayed in all directions. Thanks for the input and I'll update on any change in the wild strain.
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Mycolorado
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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: weetsie]
#23557176 - 08/19/16 03:11 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
weetsie said: 70W so no monster but still quite a bit of light compared to T5s and such.
I harvested my pinks yesterday so these are the stragglers that I left to grow on a bit. This photo is straight out of camera with standard colour profile and auto white balance:


The colour is much deeper than when I was growing them in natural light and warmer temps.
Those sure are pretty; crazy deep color! After thinking on drake's comment and very little digging it could be the 3000k temp that is the issue. I've got another cob I use for veg and starts that is 5000k...I'll switch it for one of the 3000ks and see if it's a better mix. Gut says yes. Thanks for the input, gentlemen. Don't want to creep off topic so maybe I'll start a separate thread.
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Ferather
Mycological



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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Mycolorado]
#23557693 - 08/19/16 05:50 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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This is Golden oyster @ 10°C (50°F) - 70% Rh, outdoors:

This is Golden oyster @ 24°C (75°F) - 40% Rh, outdoors:

The second sample had copious sunlight.
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Quadman
Challenged


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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Ferather]
#23558477 - 08/19/16 09:53 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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All my reading said to use the cool white. 5000-6500 range. Warm white falls in the 3000 range. Of course you need enough so they don't have to stretch for the light.
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Ferather
Mycological



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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Quadman]
#23559130 - 08/20/16 04:27 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Mycolorado
Hobbyist


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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Ferather]
#23559515 - 08/20/16 09:49 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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Around 6500k looks about ideal.
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Ferather
Mycological



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Re: Alfalfa as supplement for straw [Re: Mycolorado]
#23560450 - 08/20/16 04:28 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
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A higher spectrum will have the most effect. 10k LED would be amazing. Direct sunlight would only kill due to heat, not the colour.
Growlux lights are blue-purple and cold.
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