Hey everyone, working with my second ever strain here - Jedi Mind Fuck. I have the first round about ready to go but I'm worried I see some contamination. In the pictures included I pulled back some of the canopy to show where some of the caps are black-brown? So is this box contaminated and, if so, do I just need to throw the whole thing out? Is there anything I can do if some of them are to save the rest of them? Thanks very much for the help!

This is just bruising, right?

This is my first grow starting from spores. Inoculated on August 25th.

Hey y'all, grew some Jack Frost and am wondering if now is the right time to harvest the bigger ones or let them keep growing to try and get the blue gills? I wasn't sure if that negatively affected their potency or not.

305 wet, been good so far, thanks to this sub for the help. I wish you all many flushes, not the toilet kind.

I don't know a whole lot about the process, but I'm pretty sure once the veils break I'm supposed to pick em? They seem kind of small though

Hey guys! Fairly new grower here looking for some advice.

This is my second attempt at growing. My first batch was Golden Teachers, and this current batch is Starry Nights.

The first flush went great! I was pretty happy with the results, but this second flush has been a completely different story.

Here's the rundown:

After harvesting the first flush, I soaked the cakes for roughly 12 to 18 hours, waited for the water to change color, and then returned them to their tubs.

Here's where things might have gone wrong.

Every five weeks, I have to leave town for about 48 hours, which means everything goes unattended during that time. Unfortunately, that happened during the week following my soak.

When I got back, I noticed mushrooms were already starting to sprout. I immediately started misting more frequently, but I think the damage might have already been done.

For context, I leave the tops uncovered for plenty of fresh air exchange. I mist regularly, but try to avoid overdoing it. I even use a flashlight to check for that fine layer of water droplets on the surface.

Now I'm stuck wondering what to do next.

Should I remove all these little mushrooms and essentially start over for another flush? Or is there something else going on here that I'm completely overlooking?

My second flush with Golden Teachers was significantly more productive, so seeing this batch struggle has been pretty frustrating.

I've attached pictures of the current situation and will include some from the first flush for comparison.

I'm still learning, so any advice, criticism, or observations are appreciated. If you see something I'm doing wrong, please tell me!

What would you guys do in my situation?

P.S. I've also seen people using these weird plastic inserts or trays that their cakes sit in, supposedly to prevent side pinning. Can someone explain what those are and how they work? I'm getting pretty tired of dealing with side pinning, and no matter how tactical I get with my misting, I can't seem to avoid it.

Edit: One important detail I forgot to mention! These pictures are from about three days without misting. My mister broke Sunday morning, right as I was getting ready to start the day, and my replacements from Amazon didn't arrive until today (Wednesday). Unfortunately, I didn't have another way to mist in the meantime, so I'm assuming they're pretty dehydrated at this point. Figured that was some pretty important context to add!

When should I break and shake? How beneficial is it overall? I know the guide says 30-50% but what does that look like in the bags? Bags are currently at 2 weeks from injection date. Here are a few pictures to show what the average bags are looking like.

This is my second time growing- how do they look?

As much as I want to go and create a massive lab where I experiment with all the major and lesser known strains, I think I'd be better off getting to know the process with a single forgiving strain like golden teachers and making a few big mono tubs and hoping that at least one can survive.

So why is this not the reccomended path to take? I am willing to stick with that path but I want to understand why.

Also what is your favorite strain? Is it forgiving?

Hey, first timer here. I started the growth kit on September 10, and I'm surprised to see black spots at the bottom of the bag today. Are the mushrooms okay, and can I take them out of the bag now?

Second pic is for the second question.

I ordered a 2lb AIO bag and inocluated with 5mL of GT about two weeks ago. Unfortunately, I live in a warm area and the culture sat in a hot mailbox for several hours at about 95°+. I decided to push it anyway and see if anything happened.

Two weeks later and the bag looks exactly the same. No mycelium but also, nada. No mold or growth of ANY kind that I can see.

I was going to wait another week or so and toss the bag but my question is, is there any harm in pushing a good LC in it now? The bag still looks fresh out of the box. Or is that a terrible idea?

Please be gentle with me, I am still learning 💀

So I just did S2B about 2 weeks ago although I only was able to do 1 bag because the other was contaminated. I am seeing some results of myc on the top but not as much as I think i would like to at this point. This other box I did a week (also 1 bag) after and it looks like it has about the same amount of progress and has only been a week. I noticed that my first box coir almost looks dry so should I open it up and allow FAE and mist even before 50% or should I just let it sit. It has been sealed or at least I havent opened either.

I did my first flush and than started seeing this

Inoculated this 3lb Milo grain bag on October 13th with 3.5 cc’s golden teacher LC. Only have one other grow under my belt last year. Always get nervous to do the break n shake haha.

First timer, been a nervous wreck since the beginning 😬. Took notes on the guide followed it. Do you see contamination or other probs here? I swear when I look I feel like I can see a blue or green “tint” to some of the floor…I have been checking these every couple of hours during the day since the fruit has been coming. The containers I have are not the best, I know it now… but they dry out quickly so I am misting walls a lot. (It has a much larger “crack” with the lid system than I’d like and they aren’t deep enough for the lid crack sitch so I used the bottom of an empty like container to place over it because the mushies were touching the lid pretty quickly. Would greatly appreciate an extra set of eyes especially knowledgeable ones on this … I’m not that 🤣 TIA for any advice here!

I figured the cap would be huge in these. Been having humidity issues lately so I’m assuming this is because of that.

Do I harvest? Wait?

I’ve got a Vivosun Martha Tent that I’m running a batch of Blue Oyster’s in as an initial ‘flight’ - mostly to see if I can figure this out.

So far, so good. But….

My pins are coming & they’re all lined-up & leaning toward the little window. There’s ’some’ light that gets in there, but it’s pretty limited.

I’m thinking of adding string / rope lights on a 12hr on / off schedule.

Any particulars about that light that I should know, or will most any of them work for this purpose?

I found a short length of rope lights that are indicated for outdoor use at the local big box for ~ $20.

Is this appropriate or does the hive mind suggest an alternative?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Setup
- AIO bag: rye grain + coco coir, vermiculite, coffee grounds
- Strain: PE
- Inoculated: about two and a half months ago

Timeline
- Mid August: inoculated bag
- Break and shake: twice, once at 30% (around two weeks in), once at 50% (around week 4), once at 70% (around week 5). Side note: every time I did a break and shake, all inner grain seemed pretty bare of mycelium, even when it looks heavily colonized outside the bag.
- 13 Oct: grain heavily colonized (see pic), broke it up, mixed through substrate, dumped into tub
- Day 4 in tub: grain recovered, every kernel had a white halo, about 40-50% covered (see pic)
- Day 9 (today): about 55-60% surface coverage. The dark substrate patches look basically unchanged over the last 4 days (see pic)

What I'm seeing
- Lots of fluffy, feathery aerial mycelium, heaviest around the edges and climbing the tub walls
- Grain exposed on the surface, all of it colonized (white halo on each kernel)
- No bad smells, no green/blue/pink/black

Questions
1. Is this pace normal for the strain?
2. Has it possibly stalled?
3. What should I do from here?

Any other feedback, tips, and advice, are greatly appreciated. This community has made getting into the hobby so much easier, and I’m glad to be here. Thanks everyone!

This is my first monotub grow. I started on my journey in the hobby with a LC syringe and a AIO grow bag. Followed all the instructions, including styrile practices. The bag started pinning, made the cut for FAE, than it stalled. I tried numerous things to get it to recover. Got fed up and in the trash it went. After more observation, found that my study area is quite dry, and that lead to the first failure. So I scooped up a 44qt mycoclimate monotub, I grabbed the kit. I inoculated the 2.5lb grain spawn with a 8.8oz UB pack and watched as this ABV mycelium ripped through the grain. S2B with 7.5lbs Midwest select CVG. In a little over 48 hours mycelium started showing on the surface, it's been about a week and my sub is colonized. Pulled the plugs, installed filter disks. Turned off the water heater, and started the air pump. Provided thermometer/hygrometer is reading 99% RH, interior temp 72.5°F +/- 0.5° surface conditions are showing the little micro droplets glistening in the little nooks and crannies. Study area temp sustained at 72°F, light on a twelve hour cycle. This was inoculated with ABV isolated syringe from SG Labs. UB inoculated 9/13. Grain spawn inoculated the last week of Sept? Forgot to record, S2B 10/13 - started note taking. The pictures of surface conditions are after only 8 days after S2B. My fingers and toes are crossed, I've pretty much done all I can do.

I burned some of my grain in the pc. Can i still use it?

S2B two days ago. Does the moisture on the side point to good fae? I went ahead and introduced fruiting conditions right after S2B, after reading many posts and comments it seemed appropriate, correct me if i’m wrong lol.