Messages

>the cakes have been colonizing for over 6 weeks

They have been colonizing...so they are still not colonized or are they completely colonized? If they are colonized, birth them into the fruiting chamber.
If they are not colonized, then there is likely something wrong. Perlite does not work equally well as vermiculite in the substrate.

>covering compost with plastic sheet for a couple of days, especially if i drill some
>holes in it, should't cause contamination ?

No, it should work well.

It is very difficult to identify a mushroom based  solely on pictures.
I suggest you post these photos, and more so an accurate description according to this thread at the Shroomery.

I like the 50/50+ casing better than pure vermiculite.


>s it enough if the casing material is pasteurized in a pillow case in a hot water for
>1 hour?

Yes.

[terrarium]

>terranium
It?s terrarium.

>how tall does it have to be?
At least 8 inches.

>do u put a lid on the terranium?
Yes.

>in the pik it shows a plastic bag??
Lid or a plastic cover serve the same purpose, covering the chamber in order to create a moist environment.

> if im using lights for lighting how amny hours a day do i use and in what stages?
After you put the cakes in the fruiting chamber, a few hours a day, fluorescent white lights. They don't need much light, if you can read a paper under the light, it's plenty.

You use around 1 ml of inoculant with pint jars.
Best way is to make a polyfill lid, and a second small hole to fit the needle, and put tape on it.
After sterilization you pull the tape off partially, inoculate through the hole, and replace the tape. Then you shake the jar to distribute the spores.

So the cakes are colonized but there are no pins? How long have they been colonized?

3 inches is not very much, but it is not too little neither. The number of fruits depends on the pinset, the relative size is a function of the amount of the substrate.
With dung and straw  substrates mushrooms usually don't fruit as dense as with rye grain or millet.

Yes, more(thicker) prefilters, more resistance, less flow.

YIz can dunk it after the flush, yes.

Do you have only one cake? What strain did you use?

Properly prepared composts is probably less contamination prone.
Don't know about the yield.

>Is that blower the same used in marijuana indoor growing?
Yes.

>Are you talking about the one in the "Flowhood pictorial" 180? more or less?

The one for the flowhood pictorial at the bottom, or for this one:
http://www.fungifun.org/gallery/?mode=albu...od&dispsize=500

I payed 140 euro.

>I would like to know if there is any other dung that is good for making compost
>mixed with straw for growing magic mushrooms - beside cow and horse's?

Sheep, goats, llamas, elephants should all be good sources.
Chicken shit is too concentrated, only suitable as an addition in very small quantities.

>And, is dung bought in stores good, does it need to be pasteurized or not?

It needs to be pasteurized as well, some people prefer to leech it also, since it can be quite nutritive and thus easier to contaminate if used pure.

>is it O.K. if I make compost only from straw and put 1 or 2 inches of dung on top
>as a casing layer?

I would simply mix the straw and the dung you have, pasteurize it together, spawn with grain spawn and then case with 50/50 casing.

At the Shroomery
http://www.shroomery.org/index/par/22994 there are several guides on dung use.

Since it is not too powerful, I don't see a need for it. Except you get it for very cheap.

This blower is correct for a 30x60 cm filter, yes.

220? is not cheap, the blower I buy here for the same ourpose(but the blower is a different design) is somewhat cheaper.

> I was begining to think that my spores were contaminated.

If this was the case, the contamination would likely begin to grow directly from the inoculation points.

> put the jars in a plastic bag or something? would this mess with the air
>circulation the jars get?

Probably, yes. Air is important for the colonization.

Where does the mold begin to grow? Towards the top of the jar? How are the conditions in the room the jar is in, is it very dusty?
It sounds as if the contaminations come into the jar after the inoculation, during the colonization phase.

The reason they turn very thin and blue could be that they are too wet, meaning the cakes almost sit in water and the mushrooms suck up too much water. When this happens, the mushrooms are very soggy after harvest and they blue when drying.

They look ok....perhaps it just needs some more time.