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 babyshroom
addict
Registered: 09/09/01
Posts: 456
Loc: Florida
Last seen: 19 years, 6 months
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 Crushed Oyster Shell 
#590013 - 03/26/02 01:10 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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For those of you who add this to your casing mix, can you tell me where you are finding it? I live in a big city with a wide variety of retailers, so merchant names would be a great help. I've seen posts saying that it can be purchased in pet stores, but what is it used for, and which pet stores carry it?
Any information regarding retailers, packaging, usage, etc...... will be greatly appreciated. I just had some huge shrooms(for me anyways - the bigger ones ranged from 35 to 45 grams wet) fall over, just as their caps began to open. Since they fell into casing, I couldn't get any nice, sterile spore prints. The caps were 2+ inches across on some, and it broke my heart to miss out on the prints.
My casing just wasn't strong enough to hold them up, but I really like growing the bigguns. I ordered some crushed shell online yesterday, but I would love to find a local source. Thanks in advance for any help.
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I don't really know anyone who grows mushrooms. I just come here for fun.
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suzie_girl
journeyman
Registered: 10/31/01
Posts: 127
Loc: The Proud and Ignorant So...
Last seen: 15 years, 6 months
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Re: Crushed Oyster Shell [Re: babyshroom]
#590101 - 03/26/02 02:48 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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What about using crushed egg shells?? They are mostly calcium carbonate.....And should be readily available
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zodiac312
journeyman
Registered: 02/11/02
Posts: 58
Last seen: 21 years, 2 months
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Re: Crushed Oyster Shell [Re: babyshroom]
#590123 - 03/26/02 03:11 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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Petsmart has a brand called Hagen Crushed Oyster Shell. It is in the section with the bird stuff and is in a green box with yellow lettering.
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*Everything in this post is fictional and should be treated as such*
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highoman
Stranger
Registered: 03/14/02
Posts: 260
Last seen: 13 years, 7 months
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Re: Crushed Oyster Shell [Re: babyshroom]
#590124 - 03/26/02 03:11 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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i get it at the feed market. like a feed and garden center. $8 50 pound bag or 40 cents a pound.
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FREEDOM IS NORML
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Fosphor
newbie
Registered: 03/14/02
Posts: 39
Last seen: 16 years, 9 months
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Re: Crushed Oyster Shell [Re: babyshroom]
#590149 - 03/26/02 03:40 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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I get mine from Petsmart as well....Same as zodiac312 mentioned.
Crushed oyster shells are used by birds cause they have no teeth to "chew" the seed in their crop. The shells just kinda move around in there like a tiny little rock tumbler.
-fos-
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We the unwilling, led by the unknowing,
to do the impossible, for the ungreatful.
We have done so much with so little for so long,
we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
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Numba9
Veteran tripper
Registered: 05/24/01
Posts: 508
Loc: State of "Euphoria"
Last seen: 15 years, 6 months
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Re: Crushed Oyster Shell [Re: Fosphor]
#590152 - 03/26/02 03:46 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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Local nursery should carry it or nursery department of a chain store like Wal-Mart..Rite-Aid... K-Mart etc
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Remember..what the Door Mouse said..."Feed your Head".......... Jefferson Airplane
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JoeShroomer
Stranger
Registered: 03/10/02
Posts: 15
Loc: va
Last seen: 21 years, 6 months
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Re: Crushed Oyster Shell [Re: babyshroom]
#590210 - 03/26/02 04:48 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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how exactly does the oystershell help the casing anyhow? if i cant use this oyster shell calcium supplements (read 50/50 + question post) then can i just use 50/50 with lime only?
peace
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[red]"Excuse me please, one more drink. Could you make it fast cause I.. don't need to think."[/red]
-Dave M.
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hazlewood
Stranger
Registered: 03/22/02
Posts: 4
Last seen: 21 years, 6 months
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 Re: Crushed Oyster Shell [Re: babyshroom]
#590258 - 03/26/02 05:43 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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Would that crushed aragonite stuff that's used in saltwater reef tanks to keep the calcium up work as well for lowing pH? There's also this stuff called Oolite which is really fine powdery type calcium carbonate that releases much more calcium into the water. Might be worth it to check out some places online that have the stuff
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=ARAGONITE&Category_Code=Substrates
-Brent
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Anonymous
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Re: Crushed Oyster Shell [Re: hazlewood]
#590310 - 03/26/02 06:47 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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Could I use oyster shell in my coco coir casing? Would it work or hurt it?
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babyshroom
addict
Registered: 09/09/01
Posts: 456
Loc: Florida
Last seen: 19 years, 6 months
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Re: Crushed Oyster Shell [Re: suzie_girl]
#590351 - 03/26/02 07:30 PM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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Suzie - have you tried this and had success? I never thought to look for substitutes - I leave that for the experts.
Zodiac - thanks! We have Petsmart here and I drive right by there regularly. Appreciate the info.
Higho - I never thought to look under "feed" - I didn't know what the hell it was used for, and thought it was some type of landscaping additive or maybe something used in construction.
Numba - checked my Walmart, but I'll check again next time I'm there. They're right next door - appreciate the info.
I wish I had some answers to the questions, but I'm totally in the dark about oyster shells. I just know I need them to keep the babies from tumbling into their own casing!
Thanks for everyone's help - I'm off to Walmart & Petsmart tomorrow.
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I don't really know anyone who grows mushrooms. I just come here for fun.
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 clearblue
newbie
Registered: 03/04/02
Posts: 27
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 Re: Crushed Oyster Shell *DELETED* [Re: babyshroom]
#590867 - 03/27/02 09:07 AM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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Post deleted by clearblue
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suzie_girl
journeyman
Registered: 10/31/01
Posts: 127
Loc: The Proud and Ignorant So...
Last seen: 15 years, 6 months
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Re: Crushed Oyster Shell [Re: clearblue]
#590890 - 03/27/02 09:48 AM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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So I was right--egg shells are just processed cal carb!
No, I haven't tried it, but thought of it while fixing breakfast this week. I'm still new at bulk and casing, but intend to give it a shot.
Have a good quantity of fresh and old dung to compost or otherwise try out....
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 24 days, 21 hours
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Re: Crushed Oyster Shell [Re: JoeShroomer]
#590903 - 03/27/02 10:01 AM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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The oyster shell helps keep the casing layer porous allowing better gas exchange. The oyster shell also slowly breaks down over time acting as a PH buffer. If your casing needs a PH buffer, you should probably also include something like lime (avoid hydrated lime) that is fast acting rather than depending upon the oyster shell by itself.
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Just another spore in the wind.
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babyshroom
addict
Registered: 09/09/01
Posts: 456
Loc: Florida
Last seen: 19 years, 6 months
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Re: Crushed Oyster Shell [Re: Seuss]
#590954 - 03/27/02 11:13 AM (21 years, 6 months ago) |
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Yay!! I got some....
clearblue - I tried a feed store first, but the woman there said that most chicken feed now has oyster shell included, so lots of feed stores no longer carry it. She did point me in the direction of a larger feed store downtown that still carries it. I ran into Petsmart next, and there it was...just as zodiac said. $1.99 for just slightly less than a pound. Looks like I might get a better deal downtown based on higho's price. If I use a lot, I'll probably take the trip for the better deal.
suzie - I'm new too, but I have been really impressed with my results so far, even without the oyster shell. I see you have dung (I haven't worked with any poop yet), do you have straw? I have been thrilled with my straw results, can only imagine the results from throwing some crap in there!! I'm learning casing & bulk at the same time, and so far I'm leaning towards bulk. Have to see how the 2 methods compare when it comes to contams. So far I've lost 1 casing to green crap & 1 bulk container to cobweb. But the ones coming out of the bulk boxes are SO much BIGGER!
Seuss - That's more info than I had before. I heard it would help to hold my heavier babies - keep them from toppling. I've been using Jiffy Mix the last few weeks, which has some lime in it. My results are much better than my first few attempts, with vermiculite only. Will adding the shell give too much ph buffer? I don't understand much in the area of ph or gas/air exchange. I was planning on adding shell at a ratio of 1:10 in my next batch of casing mix - will that affect ph?
I got started with bulk/casings just the last month, and can't imagine going back to cakes. I'm still having no luck getting an even pinset, but I'm getting stems that are much meatier, caps that are over 2" across and they are TALL!!
I'm using some unknown straw from Gardenridge - haven't tried any poop yet - but DAMN...the straw alone is amazing compared to my 4 months of cakes.
Thanks for all the info.
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I don't really know anyone who grows mushrooms. I just come here for fun.
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