tree frog said:

Can you take a closer picture of the pins?  Because both dry and bacterial caps can bruise.  The solution for the former is to run the fans less.  And the solution for the other is to lower humidity.

And some minor bruising is fine.  They're called blue meanies largely because they bruise easily.

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Here a closer look at a bunch of different clusters around the tub.





What is your verdict doc

SignedinStranger said:

I think you should ditch the fogger and just use a hand mister. With the holes as small as they are, you should only have to mist 2 or 3 times per day (my guess is 2). Or if you want to keep the fogger, dont just set it based on humidity readings but actually monitor the tub / surface conditions. I would try to find time where you can check on the tub frequently for a full day or 2 and figure out a time based misting schedule according to when the substrate looks to be evaporating and in need of a mist. Like 5 minutes per hour as a general starting point, maybe more maybe less.

I also feel like you should drill larger holes down low and use micropore tape to control airflow. Like (2) 1.25" holes, low on each side. This has worked well for me, and has yielded at least some fruits without much trouble, and each successive tub gets better as you start to dial it in.

Although I will say, success can be had from unmodifed tubs so I am not saying your current setup can't work.

I do wonder about the overlay though. If I recall, you had some overlay and then recased it right? Rather than removing the overlay? I wonder if the knots / pins are still trying to form under that layer of overlay or if new knots formed on top of the overlay. I honestly dont know the answer but I would guess the pins are not coming from on top of the overlay now. If they are underneath that layer still, I am thinking they are starved of air and the surface is not evaporating effectively.

I have heard that pins cannot physically push through overlay, which may be true but: is it that they cannot push through or is it that the dense overlay closes off the layer underneath and creates unfavorable conditions for further pins or fruit development?

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SignedinStranger said:

I have heard that pins cannot physically push through overlay, which may be true but: is it that they cannot push through or is it that the dense overlay closes off the layer underneath and creates unfavorable conditions for further pins or fruit development?

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It depends on how dense and dry the overlay is.  As well as the variety/species.

To dense.  So I recased and added grass seed.



Same species (SA02 - i.e.  Mystery SA/tea tree/beach pan).  I'm sorry for the photo quality it's an old picture.  But this pin did push up through the slight overlay



And some species never overlay as the mycelium is to thin to cause that issue.  Like the West Coast bisporus.

tree frog said:

I would stick to the 6 qt shoeboxes personally because the footprint is smaller, the lip is lower, and I can fit more of them in my chambers.

But I'm sure the 12 quarts can work.  I like to dub tub those and use them for shelf fruiting when the weather is warm.

That said if you mix the two of them you may want to put the higher lipped ones closer to the fan, and further from the fogger, to account for depth.

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Anomalocaris said:

I just found those in my house that I had allready.

The bigger one would be good for 2-3 qt of spawn and the smaller one 1 qt I guess?

They arent too tall?

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I am currently running the same tubs (PE tubs with extra holes for the 12's in my situation), the 12's you will need 3 quarts and 2 for the 6's.  I don't run extra holes in the small 6qt, I may do one 6 eventually to test (1/16th holes), but I don't have an air problem with the smaller ones, and can unsnap the lid, flip it, offset it... all in different stages of growth.  A couple of pics of Peace River Pins poppin'

   


 
 

Anomalocaris said:

What is your substrate recipe for the 6 qt one for something like ttbvi

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I play around with a lot of different substrate recipes.  Mojave's CV+ works well.  As does faht's modification of adding about 10% worm castings.  I like these options as they're accessible and less prone to contamination.  So I would say they are my standard, just because of ease and reduced contamination risk.

But I think manure and straw is the gold standard, but it's more prone to contamination if the manure isn't aged well.  And field aged manure is less accessible in the city.  This is a mix of hemp and manure.



If not using straw you can go higher on the spawn ratio (up to 1:2).  If using straw you can go lower (as low as 1:10).

Deeper trays can do deeper substrates, but if you go deeper than a couple of inches, something for aeration can be helpful.  Such as perlite or charged biochar.  But pockets of air seem more prone to side pins.



Right now I'm playing around with homemade bioflower, which is peat/coir and perlite/biochar with mojave's liquid nutes.  But you can see here how it was prone to side pinning.  I'm rerunning it with better compression, as I don't like using liners.



Even cased popcorn can work for sus jars or quick top fruiting if you want to play with breeding or a lot of varieties.  Though I did add some worm castings to the casing.





So, I like to play and experiment.  And what works best for me and what's accessible to me, might not be what works best for you.

But straw/manure grows speak for themselves as far as fruit morphology.  Which is a lot of what gulis has been posting.