this is my setup, suggestions welcome

[blonthedl]

Okay so to start this thread of short...this is all PF, but I have pink buffalo and mazatapec in jars now, so those are soon to come. some of these trays are wbs, popcorn, and popcorn soaked in coffee tek. they are all 50/50 with verm/coir + 5% cacium carb. I've finally got to the point where I'm not throwing out contamed trays which is good, now I am just dialing in my fruiting chambers = hard part. got the ultra sonic hooked up to two vinyl garment storage bags (converted of couse) my chambers are sitting at 88% humidity w/o the ultrasonic even on but my temp is 76 average. I fan it out 3 times a day and it looks like my trays are drying out, but when I ran the hum. 15 min every 3 hrs. they looked saturated. my first tray had decent 1st flush but seemed to stall out. suggestions...

and I'm in the process of dunking my first tray right now

[Lookyhere]

The third picture has a TON of pins, looking good. The fourth picture, not sure if they have been fruiting the same time or not...? It may be drying out due to overlay. I don't have any experience with trays yet, so I'm not the best person to be giving advice. Looks good though.

[blonthedl]

here is the 1st harvest I pulled off the tray in pic 3...I feel inadaquate, I am looking for a mushi-forest.

[Lookyhere]

Originally Posted by blonthedl

here is the 1st harvest I pulled off the tray in pic 3...I feel inadaquate, I am looking for a mushi-forest.

Picture 3 is going to put out a nice 2nd flush, as long as you can keep it from drying out. Those suckers will leach all the water out and the amount you get will probably be pretty directly relative to how much water they have to drink, I think.

[mushhut]

When I first started bulk my first flushs were somthing like that but I've had bad luck getting flush 2,3,and 4 from the metal turkey trays. Imo go plastic they can be reused and metal deposits don't end up in your sub/mycelium.

[blonthedl]

what effect do you think dunking will have on the pins that have started on pic three. is there such thing as a half dunk-filling the tray with distilled water but not submersing it totally? I'd hate to put anything on top to bruise or damage existing myc and pins.

[blonthedl]

oh and just to let you guys know, I couldn't of even got this far without the vast, vast, wealth of knowledge contained in this site.
keep on keepin on

[Lookyhere]

I'm not sure about that. Hopefully someone will chime in. So you didn't dunk picture #3? Dunking is huge. It makes the difference between a mediocre and a kick-ass flush. I'm not so sure that I would dunk it now this far along though. When you dunk in the future, be sure that you drain it very very well, you don't want any standing water, or you'll end up with contams. You can also do 6 hour, 12 hour, 18 hour, 24+ hour dunks. Most people recommend not going over 24, but I have gone 42 and it was fine. With a bulk though, it may be different. I do like 24 hour dunks though, I want to get my substrate as full of water as I can.

[blonthedl]

I was real nervous about dunking, so I was trying to hold off, but now I just dunked pic 3. I was going back and forth about whether I should. I think all my cakes are lacking proper hydration to really kick off some good flushes so I hope this works. I was under the assumption that dunking after birthing was not neccessary only after flushes, but I think that is what is stalling my trays. It doesn't help that they all have differant b-days, my other ones are going on 8-11 days so its still too soon to tell. I'm definately keeping this updated to let you guys know.

thanks again

[Lookyhere]

Dunking after birthing is not a must, however, for me it is a must and I always will. Big, big, big fan of the dunk. First time I didn't dunk after birth. That was the last time too. It doesn't make as big of a difference as dunking after flushes... That's mandatory IMO, even though some people don't (very few I think).

[blonthedl]

thanks looky for your time. do you have any special do's & don'ts when it comes to dunking. I like the idea of dunking after birth, my idea of dunking is...birthing tray, use distilled water, use container that will allow tray (or just the cake itself) to go totally under water, cover, put in refr., wait 12-24 hrs, re-birth in F.C. --Waa Laa-- you don't put anything on top of cake after re-birth (e.i. any form of casing or verm layer)? that about it in a nutshell?

[mushhut]

Don't dunk with pins, did it only ended up with few getting big most got brused turned blue and stunted growth while dunking. Let it flush and than dunk. If your talking about dunking a bulk, I wouldn't go over 8 to 12 hrs. I've had sub fall apart on me if I go any longer. As far as cakes I do a longer dunk and I've never tryed dunking cakes when pins are present. For cakes with pins you need to ask sombody else. good thread, good luck.

[Lookyhere]

I've never dunked with pins. I've had pins, but I plucked them as it was close enough to the end of a flush and didn't want to wait for those to fruit out. Yeah, with a bulk you will want to keep the time down. Make sure it is completely submerged when you dunk.

You know what? People say don't spray your mushrooms or pins with a mist because it will cause them to abort. That is not ME at all. I spray them whenever I want to and none of them have ever aborted on me. Also my outdoor bed, shit it rains and stuff, and they don't abort. I don't spray too often, but sometimes I do and I don't worry about spraying the fruits, even though I have read a bunch of people say not to do that.

[Myc]

I mist mine too.
I just don't spray directly.
I've seen people using Cool Mists with this type setup.
In addition to the Ultrasonic.
Might try it soon.

As for dunking a bulk sub while it's trying to fruit.
It happened to me by accident (no drip sheild inside the greenhouse)
The base of the tray had about 4-6 cups of water standing in it
Before I poured it out
No visible contamination but I think the growth of that tray has been stalled.
It's about 1 week overdue.

BTW, nice greenhouse
Nice use of improvised materials
I play with the humidity cycle and the FAE fan cycle

[Lookyhere]

The overlay that you have will definitely make it more dry and harder to moisten. Should be ok though after you give it a nice dunk after flush. Hopefully it has enough moisture there now to put out that kick-ass pinset I see.

[BuckarooBanzai]

Don't dunk or mist after pinning has started. Dunking will kill pins.

For the future, if you do your bulk work in large tupperware type containers with tight fitting lids, you can dunk in the tray. Just use a few balls of aluminum foil to push the substrate down so it goes completely underwater.

Taking a bulk sub out of it's container usually results in it breaking.

If you are hydrating well before colonization, you shouldn't need a dunk before the first flush.

Is your substrate shrinking back from the tray a lot?

[blonthedl]

okay, so let's start off with the last two pics which are of the tray I just dunked, these are straight out of a 8 hr dunk. (it is originally pic 3 @ top) doesn't look too bad but time will tell. the first pic is actually that same tray at its current state.

now pic 2,3 & 4 are trays that were birthed 7-19 (pf, pcorn+coffee, 50/50 casing) I'm seeing this kind of myc that spikes up, what's up with that? I just don't know what my babies are trying to tell me!

I just decided to throw the jars in, I find that soaking pcorn in coffee is ALOT better then just destilled water. this is just my opinion but wbs can kiss my ass.

sorry this post was all over the place, just got home from work and don't know what to do 1st

[blonthedl]

buck, my other trays are shrinking a little. I am coming to the conclusion that the pcorn is not holding adaquate about of water for duration of colonizing and casing....suggestions? if I put too much water in with jars won't that contam them?

[BuckarooBanzai]

We add the poo to bulk substrate for 2 reasons:

1> water
2> food

You will get better results if you add some poo to the verm/coir mix. That isn't to say you can't get good results from just casing grain, but you'll get more bang for your buck adding some poo.

The popcorn, by itself, holds very little water (compared to the amount of water required to generate a thick flush).

You have some shrinkage, but it doesn't look too bad. Usually a substrate will kind of "clench" right before it puts out a flush.

[blonthedl]

buck, I'm game, so to the poo archives it is, do you recommend a place to start. I also need advice on switching my coir mix with a peat or potting soil mix. but I guess the best direction on where to go is where you came from (in a nutshell) what do you think about the spikey myc? is that a fault in fruiting conditions?

[blonthedl]

hi guys. just wanted to give an update on my dunked tray. I am getting alot of pins on my other trays also but they are not growing...?

I'm working on my next grow, I have about 36 jars waiting, some PF, Pink Buffalo, and Mazatapec, I've decided to go with worm casting and maybe straw. I'll take lots of pics and show you so any suggestions now would help. My rough game plan is mix casting and chopped straw in pillow case and pastuarize 160 for 2 hrs. (I have a kick ass glove box I'll show you) layer mix with pcorn a couple times, cover and see how that goes. I waiting to see if I'll have to do any casing or not.

thanks for helping guys, I really appreciate it.

oh, I gave my friend my first harvest and it came out to 7gr dry, he split it with 2 other people and he said it was almost too intense, and he's not a rookie!!!!

[BuckarooBanzai]

Congrats, man!

Those caps look awfully dark. You aren't misting that, are you?

Pasteurizing straw in a pillow case works well. Don't try to do the castings in a pillow case, though - they will turn to mud.

Hydrate the castings seperately and be careful - it is easy to add too much water. After they are hydrated, you can sterilize castings.

[blonthedl]

no not misting, I fan 3 times a day but those vinyl garment bags hold humidity like nobody's business. thanks for the castings tip, that would've sucked - a bag full of mud! I try to do my homework so I don't ask stupid ?'s but there are so many ways of doing the same thing, you know what I mean?

[BuckarooBanzai]

Only stupid question is the one you don't ask!

No prob on the castings - they are my favorite poo to work with. If you hydrate them right, they stay extremely fluffy; but you can't work with straight castings, they aren't that fluffy!

And remember, a little too dry is always better than a little too moist...