Outdoors vs. Indoors.

[joystik]

Can someone please explain to me why mushrooms grown outdoors seem to grow bigger and stronger than the ones grown indoors?

I take care of my mushrooms as well as I can. I keep conditions in my terrarium as stable as possible and as comfortable for the mushrooms as I see fit.

I wonder because a few days ago, I dumped a half quart of WBS that was left over from a couple of rez tubs. I put it in a clay pot outside in my backyard and didnt pay much attention to it until this morning. Wow, now I got some shrooms popping out, and two of them are pretty big. The caps are bigger than any shroom ive grown inside, and the stems are really thick and heavy. They are really heavy in comparison to the ones I harvested in the rez tub, which if fact were pretty good, at least in my experience. They are also the same substrain.

Im posting pics.

Check the tub with the indoor shrooms and the ones im holding, which were picked a few mins ago from the outside pot.

I feel so lucky.

Joy.

[mycobri]

fresh air maybe?

outside shrooms always surprise me
one of the great wonders of nature

[spacewalker]

oh it the camera, as thay say the camera adds about ten pounds

[catfish]

i had great luck with some
outdoor african cubies
wbs spawned to horse poo
watered well in a hole
heres a sneak peek

[GoVols]

Nice outdoor shrooms.

On a side note, let me just say that I never thought you could possible get a better avatar than the one you had. Until I saw the one you have now. Lucky you

I truly see what puts the joy in your stick.

[rip]

Before leaving for a couple of weeks I dumped all my projects (EQ, OI, PF) in a shady spot, added a 5l bag of weathered horse manure and covered it with a layer of unfertilized peat with some garden lime. After a month of warm and humid weather, the result this far is a flush of (only one) 108g mushroom. My indoors record is 46g (EQ).

Just how large these can grow in proper climate? (Finland 62°N is not, I presume...)

[Myc]

Your question has been the subject of much speculation and debate. Who really knows why they do so well outdoors. It seems lots of things thrive in their "natural" environment where they just do so-so in captivity----like zoo animals.

IMO, outdoor cubensis is far easier than messing with indoor grows. I'll probably never spawn another indoor culture so long as the outdoor temps are right. Outdoors I don't get contams and don't have to fuss over humidity, water, etc. The yeilds are AT LEAST as good as what I've been able to accomplish indoors.

[Hippie3]

i ascribe it to the constantly changing environment of the outdoors.
indoors we work so hard to maintain 'perfect' conditions,
a nice steady temp/rh .
it's not like that outdoors,
it gets hotter in daytime,
cooler at night,
a breeze blows,
it rains, etc.

these changing conditions force the living mycelial organism
to adapt itself to deal with these extremes,
it gets thicker to help hold more water
and stand against the wind, etc.

[joystik]

So could there be a way to make our flushes look better by changing any parameters and try to simulate outside conditions?

[samatoms]

I would think that the mushrooms have access to more nutrients outdoors. No carbon dioxide build up outside either.

[TVCasualty]

Originally Posted by joystik

So could there be a way to make our flushes look better by changing any parameters and try to simulate outside conditions?

I started getting better results in every way when I had a constant recirculating flow of air in the FC. I got fresh air in with a separate aquarium air pump on a timer, but the internal fan was always on (but set very low).

It was very obvious that the mushrooms didn't like still air, since that was the only variable I changed but the results were consistently better. Still not as perfect as outside, but better.

I've been going for the best of both worlds, getting two flushes indoors then tossing the substrate in the yard for some more. Then, by the time something funky does start growing on it, it's already outside and not contaminating the house (and therefore jeopardizing future grows).

[CoyoteMesc]

Originally Posted by Hippie3

i ascribe it to the constantly changing environment of the outdoors. indoors we work so hard to maintain 'perfect' conditions, a nice steady temp/rh . it's not like that outdoors, it gets hotter in daytime, cooler at night, a breeze blows, it rains, etc. these changing conditions force the living mycelial organism to adapt itself to deal with these extremes, it gets thicker to help hold more water and stand against the wind, etc.

Thats what I think too, with the added idea that the humidity that is in the air outside is broken down into smaller particles of moisture.
Making it more usable for the mycel/fruit.

[wayback]

Yeah I'm with TV, air circulation is imperative. If you fan a lot indoors, I've gotten 100g shrooms, but outside the air flow is more consistant. Of course, sometimes the air supply outside is stagnant, thus, the results mirror are just as bad as one not fanning inside.

Large shrooms can be had indoors, but the work and attention demanded is far greater. Peace.

[goldenteacher1163]

mother nature has a way of making us smile

[Udunnome]

I havent managed to get the heavy over all dry weight with the outdoor patches compared to doing tubs indoors....Outdoors is just more fun!

[golly]

I would think also ,that the dissolved oxygen in the rainfall and the duel saturation/aereation causes a massive growth spurt ..While air movement and varying RH /temps causes shorter fatter stems n' caps..

[BuckarooBanzai]

I would have to agree it is environmental phenomena which is largely based on all the fresh air.

Of course, some folks have demonstrated better results indoors than out using really well controlled environments and known isolates.

Don't anybody tell Reverend Tripps that mushies grow bigger and stronger outdoors. He'll whip one of those giant suckers out and smack ya upside da head!





Those are from the Rev's straw log tek thread:
http://forums.mycotopia.net/straw/14...awlog-tek.html (rev's strawlog tek)

[catfish]

i want a tc of THOSE shrooms
holy crap!

[Hippie3]

bucky makes his point very well.

but just think what those could have been
had they been grown outdoors.
even bigger, thicker, meatier.

[akoutdoors]

Wow its been a while since I posted...
I was using larger rubbermade totes colonised with pcorn into coir/castings.
Whenever the tube showed any signs of green/discoloration I placed them out side on my porch and forgot about them.
After 3-4 rain falls I see that the shroom tubs outside have forgotten about the infection and just went Nuts. All those tubs I put outside did @ least 4oz per flush and each tub made 5 flushes of this size.
The indoor tubs did around 2 ,2 oz flushes before I had to rehydrate, but they were not anywhere near the size of th outdoor ones.

The outdoor ones were almost allways hollow unless they were short and wide.
IMO the larger sizes are caused by the flucatating everything, Humidity, air movement, UV exposure and whatever else there is that can change.

[MrMycelium]

Freak'n wow! Damm that some big shrooms, what strain?

[cheshire]

think best way to answer would be to take an isolate and grow indoors and out for a period of time and see which yeilds best over that time?

[Udunnome]

Mexi-Cubs and South Americans.....Those are Awesome!

[BuckarooBanzai]

I think that in a majority of cases, outdoors will do a consistently better job than most indoor projects.

I also think, however, that someone working indoors who has really mastered their environment and become very familiar with their isolate can get results as good (perhaps even better) than nature.

[reverend trips]

Lol Buck, I never thought of using one as a weapon before

The one thing in common with the setup that grew those big ones, and growing outdoors, is constant fresh air exchange. The greenhouse was setup with an ustrasonic humidifier on a timer and a coolmist that was running 24/7.

[TVCasualty]

Originally Posted by BuckarooBanzai

Don't anybody tell Reverend Tripps that mushies grow bigger and stronger outdoors. He'll whip one of those giant suckers out and smack ya upside da head!

Well, the beer bottle used for scale in that pic sinks my theory about the secret of his mega-shrooms being that reverend trips is actually just 3 feet tall.

God I wish there was a category for homegrown shrooms at the County Fair! (it'd be more interesting than big pumpkins and you'd certainly get to meet the reverend there...)

[weepwoop]

In my opinion outdoors yields better, but if you ask per square foot indoors all the way. What I am trying to say is that the earth is the largest substrate jar that I have ever seen. The mushroom knows how big its enviroment is so that is why the mushrooms grow bigger outdoors. An they are more potent indoors because they are in ideal conditions are dont have as large of an enviroment.
thanks,
Albo

[P4ulada]

I never tried a outdoor =/
But I think indoor works better =]

[Ben Dover]

Originally Posted by P4ulada

I never tried a outdoor =/
But I think indoor works better =]

You'll never know till you try


I have wondered about building a FC that had air ducted in from the outside to supply constant fresh air and how mouch it would help. One day when it does not require a hole cut in the floor/roof we'll see what happens

As Hipp said, I want to see and isolate like that grown outdoors! Along with the constant FAE and weather bulking them up (if that is so), maybe having a larger amount of substrate in one bed supports larger growth? I have not been able to try a grow inside with a 100 lbs of hpoo and 1/2 of a bale of straw but I would like to find out the differences. I need to drastically change some things first to accommodate that

[zodd]

ive got a lot to learn. but hears my giant. though hes looking a bit emasculated compared to those beasts. seriously wow

[Jawn]

I also think, however, that someone working indoors who has really mastered their environment and become very familiar with their isolate can get results as good (perhaps even better) than nature.

One word:

eatyualive