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richardcypher101 said:
Light gives a good pinset and gives the mushrooms good direction to grow, however...

Mushrooms are not photosynthetic so they do not require light. However, according to Agar, some light also gives them thicker stems.

Give them 12/12 as they grow the most in darkness. The 12 hours of light will give you good pin formation, a direction to grow towards, and some beefier fruits. 24/7 light may hurt the grow in the longrun.

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hyphae said:
Studies have shown mushrooms grow the most during the dark cycle. I my book this is an important clue.

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Indeed, they just take off in darkness.    I use an absolute minimum of light once pins have formed, just enough to signal direction and that's it.  A few hours under the fluorescent, or in the corner of your room where they can get some indirect light from a window is just right.

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I use an absolute minimum of light once pins have formed, just enough to signal direction and that's it

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TheLightIsOn said:
Gotcha, I read that post after I posted my response :-)  So, when you say "minimum of light" use approximately 1 hour of lighting every day if that?

-PEACE

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you could probably get away with even less.  mushies need extremely low amount of light.  They do most of their growing in the dark. 

They can also be grown with no light at all, but fruit size and color will be affected.

The light cycle is mainly used as a pinning trigger and mostly for fruit directioning.

I personally use a 12/12 because it is easier to set my timer for that, but you could use far less.

24/7 will not give you optimal results, IMO, because mushies do a good amount of their growth in the dark.  That would also mess with the temps in the terrarium as well as the RH level.  Bringing in too much dry heat.

so.... to the 24/7 cycle.