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dr_skipper
newbie
Registered: 06/17/01
Posts: 43
Last seen: 22 years, 7 days
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2wk old cakes, no fruit
#353575 - 07/12/01 08:36 AM (22 years, 2 months ago) |
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I think I must be doing something wrong and I'm getting discouraged.... I've had cakes going in my terrarium for two weeks, so far no fruit. I thought there might be pinners on one but they weren't. My humidity is high, well over 90%, at 26 degrees C (about 80 F). They have indirect light. They're covered in smooth white mycellium that used to be fluffy and now is just white and smooth. The cakes have shrunk a lot, they're very firm/hard to the touch. One has blue bruising where I squeezed it. Have I missed something? Is there something I'm doing wrong? Should I just crumble them and try casing? Any advice from experienced growers would be greatly appreciated. I'm ready to toss the whole thing out! Thanks
Edited by dr_skipper on 07/12/01 09:38 AM.
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patzee
enthusiast

Registered: 05/26/01
Posts: 233
Last seen: 18 years, 5 months
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Re: 2wk old cakes, no fruit [Re: dr_skipper]
#353590 - 07/12/01 09:06 AM (22 years, 2 months ago) |
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Same thing with me. This is my second time, different strain, .. I got desperate and cold shocked mine the other day. I have an ultrasonic humidifier so I was able to try it. I put a blue ice pack very close to the cakes. It immediately brings down the humidity..so that's why you have to compensate with the humidifier I had to be there almost constantly, rotating cakes, monitoring and humidifying. I did it for 51/2 hours. After I noticed some rhizos.. no pins..BUT... I have been blowing mist directly on the cakes since and they are fluffing again. Yours are dry like mine. despite the 99% humidity. So first try misting lightly and frequently. Then if you have a humidifier..do the cold shock as a last alternative. I'm more optimistic now because they are fluffing again..and getting rhizos poking through. --signs of life. Not sure if it was the combination of the 2 or just the water factor. I'll post you again if it works. Good Luck
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*HeGz*
old hand
Registered: 07/07/99
Posts: 512
Last seen: 20 years, 8 months
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Re: 2wk old cakes, no fruit [Re: dr_skipper]
#353613 - 07/12/01 10:07 AM (22 years, 2 months ago) |
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Haven't used cakes in ahwile, but it sounds like your cakes are drying out. Try setting them directly on the perlite. Also, quit picking them up and squeazing them, that can't be good for them. I would suggest you crumble those cakes and try a simple casing tek.
Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated Nothing to do Nowhere to go I wanna be sedated **Check out the FSR you may find something you like** PEACE HeGz
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MAIA
World-BridgerKartikeya (DftS)


Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 7,391
Loc: Erra - 20 Tauri - M45 Sta...
Last seen: 1 day, 5 hours
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Re: 2wk old cakes, no fruit [Re: dr_skipper]
#353633 - 07/12/01 10:40 AM (22 years, 2 months ago) |
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Did you miss something ? Read your post again and see if it says something about air exchange or fanning.
__ "Pictures in a box at home Yellowing and green with mold So i can barely see your face Wonder how that color taste" =)Free&Spread the Spores(= Support the FSR
-------------------- Spiritual being, living a human experience ... The Shroomery Mandala
 Use, do not abuse; neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy. Voltaire
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maria420
journeygirl


Registered: 06/02/01
Posts: 59
Loc: Midwest, USA
Last seen: 14 years, 10 months
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Re: 2wk old cakes, no fruit [Re: MAIA]
#353645 - 07/12/01 10:55 AM (22 years, 2 months ago) |
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mist from birth to pin
Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone. Support the FSR!
-------------------- Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone. Support the FSR!
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dr_skipper
newbie
Registered: 06/17/01
Posts: 43
Last seen: 22 years, 7 days
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Re: 2wk old cakes, no fruit [Re: MAIA]
#353651 - 07/12/01 11:01 AM (22 years, 2 months ago) |
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Sorry! I should have mentioned my terrarium is a large aquarium divided in half lenghtwise. One half is filled with water (6inches) and has a 20inch long tube bubbler in the bottom. The other half is empty excpet for the cakes. The tank has a tight fitting plastic lid. I feed the bubbler with three aquarium air pumps through a small hole in the lid. The air circulating should help to exchange air, but I also fan at least once a day. Should the 'empty' side have 50/50 perelite/verm on the bottom perhaps? Thanks!
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psilocybian
enthusiast
Registered: 10/19/00
Posts: 153
Last seen: 21 years, 5 months
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Re: 2wk old cakes, no fruit [Re: dr_skipper]
#353655 - 07/12/01 11:08 AM (22 years, 2 months ago) |
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I'm not sure how bubblers work, but you should've just used perlite. Humidity does need to be in the 90's, but not too high, or the cakes will fluff. Try lowering the humidity just a tad, and fanning three or so times a day. Also, put the cakes directly on the perlite, or use a straw tek or something to rehydrate those cakes.
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dr_skipper
newbie
Registered: 06/17/01
Posts: 43
Last seen: 22 years, 7 days
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Re: 2wk old cakes, no fruit [Re: psilocybian]
#353802 - 07/12/01 03:55 PM (22 years, 2 months ago) |
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I think tonight I'm going to redo the terrarium using perelite tek. I might dunk the really dry old cakes for the hell of it and see what happens. Worse case I bury em in the yard and hope for the best! =)
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Ram85
journeyman
Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 80
Loc: USA
Last seen: 21 years, 5 months
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Re: 2wk old cakes, no fruit [Re: dr_skipper]
#353825 - 07/12/01 04:37 PM (22 years, 2 months ago) |
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You also might want to try cold shocking your cakes..sometimes that will get them to pin
"It lasted for a million years and for a split-second. But it's over and now it's your turn." -Timothy Leary Support the FSR Keep Shroomin'!
-------------------- "It lasted for a million years and for a split-second. But it's over and now it's your turn." -Timothy Leary Support the FSR Keep Shroomin'!
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BrownPastures
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Registered: 03/15/01
Posts: 968
Loc: here
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Re: 2wk old cakes, no fruit [Re: dr_skipper]
#353827 - 07/12/01 04:43 PM (22 years, 2 months ago) |
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Your cakes seem to be "overgrown" . You say they appear "smooth"...this is a layer of DEAD fungus... i suggest you scrach your cakes with a fork and hope for the best.
"A Wise One like me should not charge for her services....The one who charges is a liar. The wise one is born to cure, not to do business with her knowledge."-Maria Sabina
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aluminum_can
addict
Registered: 05/18/01
Posts: 695
Loc: california, orange
Last seen: 21 years, 2 months
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Re: 2wk old cakes, no fruit [Re: dr_skipper]
#353830 - 07/12/01 04:51 PM (22 years, 2 months ago) |
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i usually use perlite for humidification and when the perlite gets dry i throw in the fish bublier for a while. since i have the "airtight pf tek lid" it has to be tilted a little for the hose to go through. this works great because the fish bublier get humidity and fresh air circulating around and it also waters the perlite. i use a 10 gallon aquarium always and i think this works the best. i can never get an airtight lid for tupperware and the big ones are too big and the small ones are too small. i got my aquarium at a walmart for 8 bucks so its not like thyre expensive. for the lid i took an old frame from this cork reminder board thing i had and wraped around this wierd thin plastic stuff made for windows or something that i got at the loacal hardware store for $2.89 for like 2 and 1/2 feet by 3 feet. it works great. i think that the problem you have is that you have too much fresh air circulating. shrooms like fresh air but the cakes need CO2/carbon dioxide to fruit. carbon dioxide gets built up when you have an airtight aquarium that you dont fan alot. the fungus will pin and then you fan it. those pins take in the fresh air/oxygen and turn it into carbon dioxide, just like the cakes did. the pins get bigger and since you havent fanned for a while some more sprout. its a continous cycle that you need to figure out for yourself from trial and error. some strains like more CO2 and some dont, you have to figure this out for yourself because what might be right for the shrooms over here in california where i live might not be right for where you live. what i would do if i were you is id buy a 10 gallon aquarium. make an airtigh lid with saran wrap or clear plastic. put in an inch of dry perlite at the bottom of youre aquarium. take that inch out and put it in a large ziplock bag. (the bag should be close to full) add 3 cups of water to the bag and 4 sponfulls of hydrogen peroxide and let it sit with the water in it for an hour and make sure the water is getting evenly soaked up. after the hour the perlite should be really moist and clumpy. pour the perlite in the bottom of the aquarium and put on the lid. the day before you do all this you should put the cakes back in the jars and fill up the extra space with water. leave the cakes like this for twenty four hours (this tricks the mushrooms into thinking it just rained and that it is time to fruit) after the 24 hour dunk you put them on top of the jar lids that are wrapped with saran wrap so they dont rust and put the jars atop the perlight and put on the airtight lid. give them some sort of light and depending on how many cakes you have you should fan it as much as it needs. i would fan it once when you go to bed and once when you wake up. it doesnt matter how much light you give it just give it some. if there seems to be aborts or fatasses i would start fanning it more often. i dont know how long it will take to start pinning but it should be arond a week or less.
Why am i surrounded by idiots???
-------------------- the little kridders of nature; they dont know that thyre ugly!
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