help please!

Started by domesticatedape, February 14, 2011, 02:30:41 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

domesticatedape

Hi
I am a third time grower, but first time in about 18 months. Cakes have been in the FC for 2 and a half weeks now and still no sign of pinning.
The house I live in is quite cold (about 60 degrees), mainly due to the time of year. I have just yesterday put a fish tank heater in a water bottle to try and warm things up but don't yet know how effective this will be.

I think that the winter season could be a factor in the cakes not pinning as my previous grows were conducted in around summertime, when weather is warm,  and were successful with no contamination though, that said my first batch took a long time to start to pin.
I took the cakes out of the incubator after about 26 days at what appeared to be 100% colonization. They were then dunked/ submerged in water, put in the fridge for 24 hours as standard, rolled them in verm and put them into my home made terrarium- which has worked for me before.
Bought a HTC-1 hygrometer the other day to try and monitor things better but not too sure how reliable or accurate it is- it reads 99% humidity and 16 degrees C (about 60 F) but the FC doesn't look so humid as only small amounts of condensation droplets on the sides/ lid.
I would probably be a little more patient and see how the heater works out but I am a little worried by the smell. where previously the cakes have emitted a fresh, fleshy mycelium smell, there is a not so good, moist, foisty FC that makes me worry that (having read other peoples posts) the cakes may be dieing/ rotting/ or even be contaminated. As far as I know there are no signs of contamination in the mycelium upon upon birthing them. Upon removing my cakes from jars there was a white fluff on the dry vermiculite protective layer but I took that for the mycelium extending through as it was a thick layer of dry verm.
All there is on the cakes now is kind of white nodes that have formed from the white fluff that the cakes normally grow- I think my misting may have been too heavy and has possibly caused this. Even so, the white stuff that normally forms over the verm hasn't grown much.



Don't know what to do from here- would be devastated to have to throw them after all this time and effort. Think it may be possible that they need re-dunking and the perlite re-running through water to get the moisture/ humidity back up. Getting January amounts of indirect sunlight (9-10 hours). Will they grow at all?? Any ideas or help would be massively appreciated. Many thanks



Anotherview of the cakes.

Psychonought

sounds like a fresh air exchange issue, what's your fanning schedule? how about air exchange holes in your FC?? if youre not already, fan a few times a day while keeping the RH in the high 90's with a light indirect misting a bit after the fanning. dunno about the pearlite, ive always stuck with geolite expanded clay and a humidifier for moisture control, but parts of your cakes do look a bit on the damp side from too heavy misting causing a bit of overlay.
the cooler temps definitely could be the culprit for the longer waiting time especially if not fully colonized before birthing, PF cakes usually go at their own slower pace anyways but they should be getting along after a few weeks.
last thing i can think of is getting a grow light or a "daylight" from walmart that peaks in the blue region of the spectrum around 6500K (or as close to that as you can find) as light and increased FAE are main pinning triggers
hopefully some of the resident pros can shed some light on this and get these mushies fruiting
fan fan fan and good luck man, hope its just the waiting game! keep us posted with some pics, peace  :ph34r:

Vandal_xx

Dude, I have had the same issue in my house. The cold will slow things down. You should be fine. Maybe put a towel or something over the FC at night to help keep a little more heat in. Also, a thermometer in the FC would let you know if that heater is working. Also, mist and fan 2X a day. Wait a while longer. I think you will be suprised.
Feel good before dying!!!!!

domesticatedape

thanks a lot guys. Have put a few more holes in as this is what shroomery forum users insisted aswell. will put a towel over to keep bedroom light out also- and will fan twice a day to see how it goes. Have had small pinheads on one of the cakes but they look really stunted. Will keep trying- just hope the cakes haven't dried out whilst I was re holing the FC; were sat for about an hour on tinfoil on table. Thanks again!

Vandal_xx

Remember that the cakes need light. Don't cover them all day, maybe just at night when it is dark anyways. Also, be careful about putting holes in your FC in the winter. I had to tape all mine up because I could not keep up my RH. It's so dry up here in the winter that it is impossible to keep the RH high enough with holes in the FC(using perlite) Good luck
Feel good before dying!!!!!

stumbler

I was at my local garden center today and saw some heating mats designed to be put under seed germination and cloning trays. I bet something like that would be good to heat the box as well.