Dugitup said:

My question now is will birdseed and coir produce fruit?

---

Depends. Did you make clean spawn or dirty one?
Also plain coir is a better bulk substrate for beginners rather than poo.

Clean spawn is the nr 1 fruit producer in this hobby, forget about coffee and such

grimshadow99 said:

Don't sterililze you sub

---

Shroomism said:

There's several benefits.
The main reason is to add calcium carbonate and sulfur, which helps to stabilize PH levels to near neutral so it acts as a PH buffer as well as adding minerals which are vital for fruiting.
It also helps prevent grains from sticking and clumping.

---

RogerRabbit said:

Never make a casing layer OR bulk substrate without gypsum.  It adds dramatically to the performance and weight of your flushes.

Gypsum isn't a pH buffer.  It doesn't alter pH to a noticeable degree.

Gypsum supplies calcium and sulfur, both essential elements for good fruit body formation.  It also keeps the substrate or casing layer loose.

You don't really even want a 'long term buffer' such as limestone in a casing layer.  The life of a casing is measured in weeks, not months or years.  I recommend the use of hydrated lime to get an immediate pH correction.

RR

---

Mateah said:

Technically coffee is a nutrient source (nitrogen) and gypsum is not. That's also why coffee contams and gypsum doesn't. Either way you are still pretty much right about that both are unnecessary steps for home bulk cultivation

---

Duggstar said:

If the only reason for using coffee is for nitrogen, then why would you not use this instead rather than risking contamination?

---

Mateah said:

Duggstar said:

If the only reason for using coffee is for nitrogen, then why would you not use this instead rather than risking contamination?

---

You can't get around contams you're always gonna risk losing uncontested food source to competitors.
But when your spawn is 100% colonized (preferrabky the only food source in your bulk sub) $contams are no longer an issue. Clean spawn mixed with plain coir is pretty much as contam resistent as clean spawn.

Adding a little coffee to a tub full of grain is like supplementing a 5 coarse meal with a shot of milk. That's why I see it as an unnecessary step that increases the workload and chance of something bad happening. Tho I don't have anything against coffee or poo or other supplements. People who know what they are doing or who are experimenting understand that these things have a place in mushroom cultivation for sure. But for simply growing cubes at home just to have mushrooms I don't see much use for it.

---