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I have had multiple failures with azurescens. I suggest you use your LC to innoc some quart or at most 1/2 gallon jars of wood chips. When those are fully colonized you can make up a tub of substrate and distribute the spawn at a ratio of 1:4. Once you have a fully colonized tub then take it outside.
  The advantage of this, is that if you get contams you stand to lose less material.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.

First you feed them to your gerbils... then....

You can prepare for the spores arrival. Plan on doing an LC (liquid culture) or two with a portion of the spores. Over time it is possible to have various phases of the "hobby" going on simultaneously. On the other hand, waiting is the most common activity when growing things.

Ralphsters has a strain called TAK Mountain which comes from a nature preserve in Thailand. It seems to like me and my methods, is a very aggressive colonizer and has a wonderful visual quality to its effects. I've got some PES under the hood so I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

 thanks everyone. It does make more sense than building a special flow hood box. I just wanted to be sure I wasn't overlooking something obvious (which is my usual MO).

Hello everyone, been offline awhile. I bought one of those honeywell air purifiers but I'm not sure how others have set it up. The clean air comes out the top. Do people put them on their sides when working in the clean air flow? Or have people built a little flow-hoodie thing to direct the air down and over a flat surface? How do use them to best advantage?

Great to see someone else working out the azurescen puzzle. I've got a jar of wood chips that is almost fully colonized. I had two but one contaminated when it was half way done. Bummer. What were your steps? I've gone from spore to agar to LC to wood chips. My next step is to expand the spawn to a tub of sterilized wood chips (alder and birch and maybe some wood stove pellets). What worked for you? And what is your latitude? (I'm at 43)

You might get lucky. Patience is the key quality necessary for success with this hobby. No way around it. I've made my share of expensive mistakes to prove this true. If you can't wait for the jars to cool, throw them in the freezer or put them in an ice bath. Heat kills, that's why you put them in the PC...

Back from a long trip out west. Wow. Those are some great tubs and a great setup. What do they look like today?

the two biggest clues are that the solution is clear and you refridgerated the LC. Given that, should be fine. But, with this hobby you never know for sure until it's over.

I suspect there are more nutes in the BRF. BRF cakes are on the thin side of nutes anyway I wouldn't want to deprive the shrooms of any more. Of all your suggestions I would say buy the brown rice and grind. It can take a awhile, use a strainer to sift the flour from the rice kernels as you go. good luck.

I assume you pasteurize the peat/verm? Those are kick-ass cakes Malabar.

Remember that casing is there to keep things nice and moist without being wet. By exposing the tray to light you are signaling to the myc to switch to fruiting mode. I would say go ahead and case it will continue to colonize until it doesn't. T :mellow:hey don't call them  magic for nothing.

Book me for room407. Great pinset.

Hey Darkside,
  I hear you. I've got some cammies that are just sitting there and have been for a week or more. They do have a mind of their own. I've got some BRF cakes and cased popcorn/millet. It will be interesting to see who fruits first. Patience, patience...easy advice to give others but tough to swallow myself.

The photo looks good to me. Patience and it will grow out to cover all the verm.

Order them as needed is my advice. They do keep in the refridgerator if you keep them sealed in a plastic bag. But it is better to order them as needed then you will be sure that they are fresh and ready to go.

not enough information. What is the temp in the FC? What is the relative humidity? Nine days is not that long if the conditions are right. The cakes have a mind of their own when it comes to fruiting.

I've raised Malabar, B+, Ecuador, Tasmanians, and some strains with marketing names like "storm chaser" "star gazer" and Tak Mountain. Don't have enough trips under the hood to compare them yet. I've lost a lot to contams this summer so I don't have a lot on hand. Tried to grow some PE and ended up with one small fruit. bummer.

I've made a few chocolates and it is a great way to go. I bought a candy thermometer. From what I read you want to keep the chocolate below 115f. YOur method of waiting until the last moment to add the shrooms is good technique. I love how the chocolate and the shrooms support each other... ymm.