the_chosen_one said:

Thank you.

I like millet especially for fruiting direct from grains. It can be a little more susceptible to contamination when used for spawn. In that case I prefer pearl barley.
Most grains will work. They can fruit from a PF jar with BRF. Or you can substitute the rice with millet.


As for casing layers I've found them fairly forgiving. I typically use soil from my cannabis work. Even straight vermiculite will work. These were lacking FAE but otherwise fine after correcting.

I've never seen this species fruit invitro, so I've never tried without casing.

They enjoy a variety of substrates. I tend to keep it simple with straw but bamboo leaves, coir, yerba mate all work. I would imagine there's lots of other options. Vermiculite is about the only additive I've used consistently. Verm is your friend.


Temps ranging from low to mid 70s F are best for healthy fruits. They can go warmer but are more prone to abort.
I've worked with a few varieties, several cultures and lots of multi spore and found all of them able to fruit.
I believe the real key is the fruiting environment. Tubs and even my magic cookie jars can work. That's can. As with anything in tubs it either works or doesn't. Sometimes it's both at the same time. A lid drip is all it takes.


I've had great success with tubs and cookie jars but not quite the consistency of a grow tent. I feel the larger size of a climate controlled area reduces the shocks and abrupt changes that tubs are susceptible to. They need about the same FAE as it does to grow aesthetically pleasing oyster mushrooms to accomplish consistently perfect fruits. It doesn't have to be a huge area. These were grown in a 4x4 right next to oysters and some enoki.


I still feel my cookie jars keep me sharp though, so I won't be giving them up anytime soon.

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Wow amazing information TCO ... Here I got.. 1 pin popping up (and some more knots). A well it's something..

NotSheekle said:

Hows the bioassay?

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Potent to the extreme. I find the high similar to our local Azures. The peak is really intense and kind of comes out of nowhere. Where Azures have the gradual build up, Zapos hit really fast but don't really increase for a while. Then it's increase the RPM and shift gears to the floor you go lol. They're not quite as dark as Azures and a little more elative. The open eye visuals are similar with a silvery sheen. Both leave persistent closed eye visuals well after the eyes are open. Both take a day to recover from.

the_chosen_one said:

Potent to the extreme. I find the high similar to our local Azures. The peak is really intense and kind of comes out of nowhere. Where Azures have the gradual build up, Zapos hit really fast but don't really increase for a while. Then it's increase the RPM and shift gears to the floor you go lol. They're not quite as dark as Azures and a little more elative. The open eye visuals are similar with a silvery sheen. Both leave persistent closed eye visuals well after the eyes are open. Both take a day to recover from.

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NotSheekle said:

Nice! I have only ever eaten standard cubes but that sounds divine.. any headspace differences?

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I've always found cubensis to be a little dirty for lack of a better term. They tend to lack the clarity of most exotics. There's typically less body load with exotics and that leads to a better heady experience for me. Cubensis have a different kind of visual experience where nothing seems real. It's more shadows of what it is you think you're seeing where as Zapos are clear and very realistic.

The Subtrops are an entirely different story lol. It's not just very realistic.. it is real right down to the eyeballs on the trees. They're the only mushroom that has literally put me in two places at once. It's a very hard thing to describe. I think it was Adas who described meeting an insectoid life form. In my case they were more like octostumps in a prehistoric world right out of a 60's movie. I knew they were there. They knew I was there. They approached for a mind chat.
All this while watching the sweeping patterns on my ceiling vibrate to the rumble.
This is not something I experience on mushrooms but rather with cactus or even DMT. Everything wants to communicate with you. You can feel the rumble of existence and it even becomes quite audible at times. The peak is a state of awe that I've rarely reached with anything.. and that's a lot.

I always wanted to draw a picture of what I met, but it looks like someone else has been eating their Vivas and beat me to it.

0t0lerance said:

Yeey.. after scraping the casing with hundreds of aborts, recasing and weeks of waiting.. we finally have a dozen pins popping up... please send me some good vibes, hope I can pull it off after months of failure..

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the_chosen_one said:

NotSheekle said:

Nice! I have only ever eaten standard cubes but that sounds divine.. any headspace differences?

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I've always found cubensis to be a little dirty for lack of a better term. They tend to lack the clarity of most exotics. There's typically less body load with exotics and that leads to a better heady experience for me. Cubensis have a different kind of visual experience where nothing seems real. It's more shadows of what it is you think you're seeing where as Zapos are clear and very realistic.

The Subtrops are an entirely different story lol. It's not just very realistic.. it is real right down to the eyeballs on the trees. They're the only mushroom that has literally put me in two places at once. It's a very hard thing to describe. I think it was Adas who described meeting an insectoid life form. In my case they were more like octostumps in a prehistoric world right out of a 60's movie. I knew they were there. They knew I was there. They approached for a mind chat.
All this while watching the sweeping patterns on my ceiling vibrate to the rumble.
This is not something I experience on mushrooms but rather with cactus or even DMT. Everything wants to communicate with you. You can feel the rumble of existence and it even becomes quite audible at times. The peak is a state of awe that I've rarely reached with anything.. and that's a lot.

I always wanted to draw a picture of what I met, but it looks like someone else has been eating their Vivas and beat me to it.

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scapo said:

0t0lerance said:

Yeey.. after scraping the casing with hundreds of aborts, recasing and weeks of waiting.. we finally have a dozen pins popping up... please send me some good vibes, hope I can pull it off after months of failure..

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Nice! Good luck!

What are you casing with?

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0t0lerance said:

the_chosen_one said:

NotSheekle said:

Nice! I have only ever eaten standard cubes but that sounds divine.. any headspace differences?

---

I've always found cubensis to be a little dirty for lack of a better term. They tend to lack the clarity of most exotics. There's typically less body load with exotics and that leads to a better heady experience for me. Cubensis have a different kind of visual experience where nothing seems real. It's more shadows of what it is you think you're seeing where as Zapos are clear and very realistic.

The Subtrops are an entirely different story lol. It's not just very realistic.. it is real right down to the eyeballs on the trees. They're the only mushroom that has literally put me in two places at once. It's a very hard thing to describe. I think it was Adas who described meeting an insectoid life form. In my case they were more like octostumps in a prehistoric world right out of a 60's movie. I knew they were there. They knew I was there. They approached for a mind chat.
All this while watching the sweeping patterns on my ceiling vibrate to the rumble.
This is not something I experience on mushrooms but rather with cactus or even DMT. Everything wants to communicate with you. You can feel the rumble of existence and it even becomes quite audible at times. The peak is a state of awe that I've rarely reached with anything.. and that's a lot.

I always wanted to draw a picture of what I met, but it looks like someone else has been eating their Vivas and beat me to it.

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Reminds me of a talk from Ann Shulgin.. recall her mumbling about the shadow and some animals. Octopus was one of them.. look it up on youtube.. interesting. EDIT: took me a while, but I found it!

Hm, regarding the cacti thing..I recall CaptainFuture mention it's mescaline-ish vibe. and that it resembled Psilohuasca.. I have never experienced mescaline and have no clue what it's like.. but from your story I understand zapotecorum are a different beast?

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Hindsight said:

Those look great 0t0!!! I have a tray that are at the exact same stage. Fingers crossed for you.

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Unfortunately another massive abort wave. A well, I'll have to digest this setback and try something else .. I just don't know what.

Hindsight said:

Noooo!

Couple questions:
1 - What is your latest fruiting setup and how stable is it (IE do you have to constantly adjust or mist things)?
2 - Have you put your culture to LC to see if it is at all bacterial?
3 - What are the surface conditions like?

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Let me share a few pictures, I think that says more than words. Air goes through the bottom, full blast 965 liter per hour (tote 45l)
21,4 x turnover per hour. The fogger is on for 15min every 1,75 hour (bubbler pushes humidifier air into the tote). Cake is lifted from the bottom and sits on a rack an inch above the bottom, just enough space for the hose underneath

The tote is not heated though (bubbler water is heated to 25 celcius).. temperature swings between 18 - 22 celcius.. if the tumble dryer is on it heats up pretty quickly at the attic. Indirect light (removed the top tote so you can see water evaporated from the lid).. maybe too dim with a tote on top.. ?

1. So yes.. temperature swings.. humidity should be constant.. maybe insufficient light for the fruits
2. no I haven't tested for bacteria to be honest ( I do see 'black lines' on the stipes of the fruits...)
3. surface "should be" moist.. but, I fear the air circulation is poor.. maybe the moisture never reaches the fruits as it gets trapped underneath the cake (bit like the slim air tubing I initially used).. a lot of of water pools underneath the cake). I do not see moisture on the fruits themselves. 

I can try to cut up the cake into 4 squares? and just remove 2 chunks.. to see of more space all around solves it? O man.. these things are testing me.