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I am just now trying to fruit my first cakes, so I can't personally vouch for it, but fattrout pointed me towards this design...

http://www.shroomery.org/9047/Poor-Mans-Pod

It only cost me about $33 to make (including the expanded clay pellets), and mine should hold around 5 - 6 cakes comfortably.

Yes...there is a constant supply of fresh air, coming up from below the cakes via an air pump and going out thru a few holes in the top.

What is FAE?

Hey guys.  I've had my dunked and rolled cakes in my fruiting chamber for 4 days now.  I built a chamber using an aquarium air pump that is pushing air through 2 rock bublers, up through water and clay pellets.  It looks to be very humid inside and I have kept them in light about 10 hours a day, just in my bathroom, getting light from 2 normal bulbs.  Average temp has probably been 73 or so.  The cakes very quickly showed new mycelial growth.  What is a normal timeframe to start to see actual fruiting?  (These are mazatapecs)

Thanks!

Thanks guys.  I'm going to dunk tonight and put them in the chamber tomorrow.  Exciting!!!!!

The ziploc bag is a good idea...thanks.

I bought a large plastic fruiting chamber that is a translucent grey.  I've put 2 rock bubblers (aerators) on the bottom, covered them with expanded clay pellets, and filled with water.  The top that came with the plastic bin is too dark to let light in...can I just use plastic wrap and poke some holes in it?  Seems like that would work fine to me.  Also, I've seen that people place aluminum foil under their cakes, is that necessary?  Can I just place the cakes directly on the expanded clay pellets?

Thanks!!!!

I've got 2 colonized jars of Mazapatec and 1 of PF that I would like to just dunk together...is that okay?

I didn't forget to shake my syringes, but I did have 2 jars that just had one big spot of mycelium that eventually seemed to stop growing.  Taking PW's advice, I shook the jars pretty hard and now they are colonizing faster.  I didn't do this until about a month after innoculation though, so everybody that has said it is going to take a long time to colonize if you do nothing is correct. 

Just wanted to update y'all that shaking my 2 stubborn jars has definitely helped.  They are showing new growth again and one is almost close to fully colonized.  Thanks for your help!

I shook my 2 stubborn jars and one does actually seem to be moving along faster now.  I'll keep you posted.

I've got 2 jars of PF classic that I innoculated back on 1/12/09, so it has been almost 40 days.  They both have grown really well and are VERY thick in 1/2 of the jar.  I made some marks on the jar to see if they are still growing, and they are, but very slowly.  They seem to have stayed about the same size for the most part for at least 2 weeks now.  At this rate I don't think they will be fully colonized for another month at the earliest.  I believe that when I innoculated, I didn't stick the syringe down far enough, so the other side of the jars essentially did not get any spores at all.  Could I go ahead and birth these? I tried to post pics of the front and back of the jar but it keeps telling me it can't access the filepath of the photos.  Sorry. Thanks!

Thanks Trout.  The pics really help.  About the light shock...I see you have a thermostat there, but I can't tell what type of light they are under...does it matter?  And the thermostat...are you trying to keep it a certain temp?  Also, any recommendations on what type/brand of perlite to use, or something else?
Thanks!

Hey guys.  My mycelium growth has been slow, but it is possible that I might have a few fully colonized jars in a few weeks (my first time doing this).  I want to be ready when that happens.  It appears that I need to buy some perlite and prepare a simple fruting chamber.  I also read that I can choose to dunk the cakes before placing them in the chamber, and/or "cold shock" them before dunking.  What do you suggest that I do when the time comes to birth them?  Any step by step help from the point of having a fully colonized jar would be helpful.  Thanks for all your help so far!

Very interesting!  I love stuff like that.  Of course I can't take it at face value, and would like to research it like it recommends, but as a non-believer I find stuff like this fascinating!

The vermiculite I ended up finding was actually in a bag labeled "Realistic Ash Bed," I think to be used in gas fireplaces.  Nowhere on the bag does it say "vermiculite," but the actual price labels at the store where I bought it and where I saw it at Home Depot say "vermiculite."  The guy at the hardware store said it was just vermiculite.  My growth has been slow so far, so maybe there is something else in there, but it sure looks like 100% verm.  Anyone know otherwise?

Nope...no packing.  Just spooned it in from the mixing bowl and dropped it spoonful by spoonful into the jar. 

I'm sterilizing a new jar right now...just 1, and the only things I've changed is I'm using ORGANIC BRF this time, and my ratio of vermiculite to BRF is 1 cup to 1/3 cup.  I'm going to use the same spore syringe I used for my last 2, which are showing growth, albeit slow.  Let's see....

The 2 new jars of mazapatec are both showing growth after 1 week.  I'm very happy about this!  I wonder if the fact that I did not buy "organic" brown rice flour has anything to do with my slow growth.  I've seen several posts that say it is important, so I will use that next time.

Hey man.  Would u mind telling me EXACTLY what type/size/brand of vermiculite and brown rice flour you used?  I have no idea if it makes a big difference or not, but your growth is just a million times better than what I have going on and I'm not sure what I can do to improve things next time.  Thanks a bunch.