Hello everyone! I see a lot of new faces here but some of you may remember me from about 6 months ago when I grew from cakes for the first time. Anyway, my second growing attempt, but first casing attempt, has been a huge success! Today I counted over 120 pins on a casing that is about 9"X10" large, 70 of which are bigger than the rest. A couple more days and I think I will be ready to harvest. For those of you wishing to case, try my method:
Substrate: 50/50 casing mix, with lime added.
I think it's also important to note that the lime was not sterilized. When I was sterilizing the mix I left the lime somewhere else. So I only but a very thin layer of 50/50 on and then I ended up mixing a tablespoon with the leftover mix and making the casing a little thicker a few days later. The shrooms are doin fine. I probably used a total for 7 or so cakes, cut into slices. Humidity: I am using perlite, and it appears to be quite humid inside, maybe above the recommended 85% or whatever it was. There is a lot of condensation, but it is being aired out around 6 times a day. I think the airing out is making a BIG difference. Today I poked two holes near the perlite on either side of the tupperware container in an effort to reduce humidity.
Sterility issues: They are being kept in a very dirty place, but in the cleanest room in that place, and there is a hepa air filter right next to it. Also, a few of the jars were contaminated on the bottom, so I just cut out that part and cased the rest. None of the pins appear to have any discoloration/contamination. BTW, I microwaved my substrate to sterilize.
All Comments, Suggestions, questions are encouraged. Does anyone think that the non-sterile lime will be an issue? My reasoning is that lime raises the ph so I dont really think mold is likely to grow on anything acidic or basic. Also, a few of these guys look ready to harvest. Will picking one of these cause all of the other pins to abort? Or just the surrounding pins?
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sounds like you're doing great for your first casing attempt!
i'm not shure but i don't think that the unsterilized lime should be a problem.
as when to harvest. Harvest them all at once, when the majority of the shrooms viels are tearing away from the stem.
as for the cutting out of the conatminated sections of your cakes, i say it's better just to toss the whole jar then to risk it, but it sounds like you got away clean!
good luck, have fun, and be safe when enjoying your crop!
peace, -=To0dLeS=- TM
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TM
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Well a lot of people SAY that it is better to throw out the whole jar but I decided that it would be a waste to throw out all of those jars, and most of the people that say that probably have never tried what I did. So I am just one person showing that mushrooms can still be grown from cakes that were partially contaminated (but with the contaminated parts cut out) BTW, my crop is for "research purposes" only but I will be sure to post if my friends cat dies or gets sick from these little mushies ;)
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