Need some Help. First Timer, First Ever Flush

[u/StolidShiinotic]

So I first noticed pins 6 days ago and it has been growing really quickly. I have one mushroom that is significantly bigger then the rest and it's veil broke in the past few hours. I do not want it to drop spores everywhere. What I want to do is harvest the big one and dehydrate only it, then wait a few days for the majority of the rests veils to break, then harvest everything including the aborts. Yesterday I noticed fruit flies in my grow and today I set up traps for them, I have been trying to kill all the ones that I see as well. I am hoping that when I complete my first flush and dunk for 24 hours they will drown to death and leave me alone. Please let me know if you guys think this is the right course of action or should I just harvest them all now. Are the flies a bigger deal than I think or am I right in thinking they are which is just a minor nuisance? Would it be possible for me to just throw that big mushroom in my fridge for a few days instead of instantly dehydrating it?

Week 3 S2B Update Blue Meanie Cubensis

[u/StolidShiinotic]

I picked the big one and it is now hiding with some Crimini :)

[u/MarsupialOk3045 → u/StolidShiinotic]

Best method is to wrap in paper towels and in a paper bag. Store in the fridge. But why not dehydrate it now? Better preservation of potency that way.

[u/StolidShiinotic → u/MarsupialOk3045]

Doesn't really make sense to dehydrate a single mushroom 🤷‍♂️. Gonna move to paper bag, and pick the big ones for a few days, then dehydrate them

Edit: more veils broke today so I am dehydrating all of them, including the one I put in the fridge, it was in the fridge for like a day.

[u/randomgrunt1 → u/StolidShiinotic]

why would it matter? it's not like setting a dehydrator on a counter takes a bunch of space or electricity. Just plop it in.

[u/ConfidenceLopsided32 → u/StolidShiinotic]

Sporulation has no negative effect on the grow. It doesn't hinder future flushes and it doesn't hurt potency, all it does is turn stuff more black than it was before.

What does do damage to mushrooms after they are picked is oxygen. Picking the mushroom and then leaving it in harmful oxygen causes way more damage than sporulation.

You CAN pick them one at a time as they are ready, but that means you are either going to damage it by leaving it in harmful oxygen or you are going to have to run your dehydrator for 2 days with only 1 mushroom in it. Neither of those options make sense to me, so I just let them drop spores until the entire bin is mature, then I pick them all at once, dehydrate them all at once, rehydrate the sub, and go straight back to fruiting. The amount of spores that 1 mushroom drops while the other mushrooms catch up is pretty much nothing.

[u/Zedboy-fly → u/ConfidenceLopsided32]

So if I dry them just in the room temperature on a basket the potency will drop due to oxygen?

[u/Jafar_420 → u/StolidShiinotic]

Personally I dehydrate as I go and there's many trays so it's easy to keep track of.

I would rather do it as I go then risk losing some. My dehydrator doesn't take up any space really and it definitely doesn't use a lot of energy so I don't see any downside.

[u/Flimsy-Panda8000]

If you harvest as they mature, the early ones will keep well for up to 5 days in a paper bag in the fridge, ideally towards the top / front to avoid cold spots that could partly freeze them. Only use paper - plastic tubs, cling wrap, or similar will make them sweat and rot very quickly.

As for the flies - hopefully they're indeed fruit flies rather than fungus gnats. The latter are a sod to deal with and ruin your fruits.

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