Breaking cakes?

Started by Mushooms?, July 21, 2010, 10:20:49 PM

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Mushooms?

Ok... so this is my first time growing.  I bought a mini mushbox off the internet, which came with 3 presterilized mycojars.  The problem/question is this: 
   Each jar is 3" tall (i have already innoculated all 3 with Amazon psilocybe cubensis spores), but the FC that came is only 7x3.5x5 (WxDxH).  I have read that i should have at least 6" of space above each cake, and 1-2" on each side.  MY BOX IS FAR TOO SMALL FOR THAT!!!  I am wondering if i can break up the mycelium cakes and spread the bits around on some foil or something on top of the hydroton, creating a thin layer of mycelium to allow for growth room on top.  I feel i should mention that i am not casing any of this.  Would breaking up the cakes hurt the growth?  I know it opens my babies up for contam,  but i am just trying to avoid having to go out and purchase a larger FC.  Any advice on this would be very much appreciated.

k12357

Materials needed:
•2 liter plastic coke bottle
•razor knife
This terrarium is made by cutting a section out of a 2 liter coke bottle. This serves two purposes. First, it allows you to put a fully colonized rice cake inside the bottle. The second purpose is it allows the volume of the bottle to be reduced to the point where the moistness of the rice cake can keep it humid.

Remove a section of the bottle using the razor knife. The cut on the lower part of the bottle is not very critical. The top cut is more difficult to do correctly. It needs to be right at the point where the bottle is starting to decrease in diameter. This is because the top part of the bottle is going to be inserted into the bottom part of the bottle and the two sections need to seal tightly.

The best thing to do is start lower than the diagram indicates and cut small sections off until the top piece of the bottle fits snugly and easily into the bottom section. Once you locate the correct place to cut for the type of bottle you are using, you can simply cut at the same place and make multiple bottles to handle as many cakes as you wish to fruit at any time.



The cap for the bottle must be screwed on tightly. A damp paper towel can be placed on the bottom of the bottle to help raise the humidity inside the bottle. Twice a day the bottle should be opened to allow new air to be available for the rice cake to consume. It is best to fan the rice cake to insure new air is surrounding the cake before sealing it back in the bottle. This is the major draw back to this terrarium. If you have a dozen cakes it can become a burden to exchange the air twice a day.



the link is here

http://www.shroomery.org/8411/The-Magic-Mushrooms-Growers-Guide
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