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Thanks PW...I would have never guessed that.  Do I need to buy a humidity gauge?  Or since I know that water collects on the sides can I just assume that the humidity is right?  And is there a difference b/w "relative humidity" and just "humidity?"  Do I need a special "relative humidity" gauge?  Sorry for my ignorance, but thanks for your help!

Thanks PW.  I guess I will try to fan the fruiting chamber a few times a day even though there is constant air being pumped in through air stone under the water.  I don't have a humidity meter, but it must be close to 100% because there are always water dropplets on the sides of the chamber.

Forgot to note the scale of the photos.  Most of those are probably 1/4" long.

I have 2 cakes, one of which gave me a few normal shrooms, but for the past week at least, nothing new has really grown.  All the "pins" and tiny shrooms have stayed the same and some started turning pretty blue.  Since they weren't doing anything, I picked them all off the cakes, lightly scrubbed the cakes under water, and am dunking them again.  My questions is what is your take on these?  Are they all aborts?  Are they rotten?  Or all they just horribly tiny?  Thanks!

I did dunk them the first time...not sure what the problem is.

I made the poor man's pod referenced in jrfungi's email.  My growth has been slow at best, but it is very humid and has constant air exchange.  I've also got it sitting in a second tub with a heater in it, so the air in the fruiting chamber stays around 75 degrees.

Yeah, Pink Floyd is my favorite.  OK Computer by Radiohead is pretty sweet too.  I think that I would like some 311 also.  I imagine that John Scofield's albums "Bump" and "A Go Go," and anything by Madeski, Martin, and Wood would be excellent too.

Should I dunk and roll now?  I've still got a number of little guys coming out....

I didn't get any replies from you guys so I went ahead and harvested the few shrooms I had and am drying them now.  I think that my lighting might have been a problem with the slow growth and small size I've had so far.  I was keeping them in my bathroom under a set of normal 80 watt lights for 6 to 8 hours a day.  I just went and bought a compact flourescent bulb that is only 14 watts (it says it is comparable to a normal 60 watt bulb) and emits a bluish light (it is supposed to be the "natural" light version).  I'm going to keep them under this light for about 4 hours a day...it really isn't much light at all, but from what I've read, that won't be an issue.  And the shrooms I harvested were only 5 grams wet, so I've got a way to go.

These pics are from the same cake.  I'm not sure when I am supposed to harvest these?  Can you harvest just a few mushrooms from a flush and wait for the others to grow?  And when do you dunk again?  After all have been picked and there are only pins left?  Should I wait longer with these and then harvest?  Thanks for your help.

They are growing slowly....I'll post then when they get a little larger.  Most of them are about 1/2" right now.

They are called expanded clay pellets.  One brand name of them is Hydroton.  You can order them online, or at a local hydroponics store if one is available.  I was going to use perlite, but someone on this site recommended the expanded clay pellets.  They are reusable (you can wash them between uses), and relatively cheap.  I bought 10 liters at a local store for $10.  I placed 2 rock bubblers (basically aerators used in aquariums) at the bottom of the tank (linked by rubber tube to an air pump), covered them with about 2 or 3 inches worth of the expanded clay pellets, and then filled it with water to just below the top of the pellets.  It has seemed to work really well.  The chamber stays very humid and you don't have to worry about airing it out...you just poke some holes in the top of the container and the air flows from the rock bubblers, through the water and out the top of the chamber.  This is my first grow, so I don't know any other way, but my cakes are fruiting and it seems to be working well.  Let me know if you have any other questions.

These are Mazatapecs.

Thanks guys.  I already took it out of the chamber, but I'm going to put it in its own container on my back porch or something, just in case it bears fruit.

Thanks again,
crazyd

I did that and the whole little pieces just came off, so I don't know what it is.  I went ahead and scraped all the green off and put that cake in its own plastic container, just to see if anything happens with it.

Hey guys.  These pictures are of the side of the same cake.  This has been a problem cake from innoculation until now, so if I have to toss it, it is not a big deal.  I've read about "bluing," but this looks like blue/green mold to me...could be wrong though...what should I do?  I don't want to contaminate my other cakes if it is mold.  Thanks!

The 2 with pins birthed 12 days ago.  The spiky mycelium one was birthed 5 days ago...

Okay, so my one cake with the one pin is doing okay, but now I've got another with a bunch of small pins!  This is very exciting!  It has been 9 days since I placed them in the fruiting chamber. 

I've definitely got ONE pin on one of my cakes.  I guess that is a good sign...we'll wait and see!

Yeah, mine have been in there 1 week as of tonight.  No fruiting yet.  I'm still not sure what an average time might be?  Seems I read that several days is normal?  But I also think I saw that sometimes it can take weeks.  Anyone know?