Well, first question. I've noticed lately my mushrooms have been falling off the cake(like i find them in the perlite in the morning) and they look like the base just rotted and broke. Its brown and mushy(not good mushy) where it breaks off. I have to pull a little off the cake that looks the same as the end of the mushroom. I've been saving the good portions of these mushrooms, are they safe to eat?
Next. green mold green mold green mold. I can't make it go away. It used to catch my cakes near the end of their life so i wasn't worried, but now its getting new cakes. I just have a terrerium with perlite at the bottom. Should i perhaps just take all the perlite out, sterilize or replace it and clean the whole thing?
Third, I bought some agricultural limestone from the store. It says "derived from: agricultural limestone" "Gaurenteed content: Calcium Carbonate 53.94% Magnesium Carbonate 45.36%" Is this the stuff talked about in teks for casings(i'm hoping to move up in the world)
-------------------- "To do right is to know what you want. Now when you are dissatisfied with yourself it's because you are after something you don't really want. What objects are you proposing to yourself? Are they the objects you really value? If they are not, you are cheating yourself. I don't meant that if you chose to pursue the objects you most value, you will attain them; of course not. Your experience will tell you that. But success in getting after much labor what you really don't care for is the bitterest and most ridiculous failure." -George Santayana
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The rotting could be caused by having wet cakes. I've found it before at the base of mushrooms where they turn brown and rot. Did you perhaps dunk the cakes too long or otherwise squirt water on them to the point of saturation? Another cause of this is setting the cakes directly on the perlite, where they wick up excess moisture. If you suspect bacteria, be sure to boil any mushrooms into tea before consuming. The boiling will kill any live bacteria that might give you a case of food poisoning.
Green mold. If you've tried to save projects in the past by cutting it out, bleaching, salting, etc., it has allowed millions or even billions of trich spores to build up in your grow area. You'll have to dump everything out, including the perlite and wash with bleach. The perlite is non-nutritious so doesn't contaminate, but it can harbor contaminant spores. The main line of defense against green molds is proper air exchange. Trichoderma will not grow in fresh, circulating air. It requires stale, still air.
Ground limestone is ok, but I personally prefer hydrated lime, which will go to work almost immediately. With hydrated lime, it's extremely important to mix it with the dry ingredients prior to adding the moisture. You also want to pick up some gypsum, which is as important as the lime for a good casing layer texture and mineral content. RR
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