auto Posted February 1, 2007 (edited) Hi, I was wondering if peeps here would have any advice on what might commonly cause fruiting to abort prematurely? As opposed to completing as mature, open capped mushrooms. Take for example, typically peat/verm/lime cased rye grain spawn in a perlite tub humidifer/incubator, where the spawn colonised steadily, grew into the casing layer and pinned in good time, but the fruit bodies seemed to come up only around the edges of the containers and stall after reaching anything up to a few cm's tall then wither and darken. I'm assuming the problem is lack of moisture in either the casing, or the spawn below it, which might be resolved by watering the casing directly. But could there be other causes of a problem like this? Temperature fluctuation(tub at ~25', but higher on damn HOT days), gas exchange (fanning with lid daily), plain bad mojo. Cheers, auto. Edited February 1, 2007 by auto Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KlUe Posted February 1, 2007 Hi,I was wondering if peeps here would have any advice on what might commonly cause fruiting to abort prematurely? As opposed to completing as mature, open capped mushrooms. Take for example, typically peat/verm/lime cased rye grain spawn in a perlite tub humidifer/incubator, where the spawn colonised steadily, grew into the casing layer and pinned in good time, but the fruit bodies seemed to come up only around the edges of the containers and stall after reaching anything up to a few cm's tall then wither and darken. I'm assuming the problem is lack of moisture in either the casing, or the spawn below it, which might be resolved by watering the casing directly. But could there be other causes of a problem like this? Temperature fluctuation(tub at ~25', but higher on damn HOT days), gas exchange (fanning with lid daily), plain bad mojo. Cheers, auto. Hey mate, Whats the ratio of aborts to full growns? Mushroom grows will often have a few aborts which is normal. I've not heard that they are because of a specific reason though - I've been lead to believe they just occurred naturally. Cheers, KlUe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted February 1, 2007 Are you sure those are aborts? If they still look like normal mushrooms then chances are that pinning has halted (probably like you said due to lack of ideal moisture airflow and humidity) but these aren't nescessarily aborts. These pins can often resume growth if you return the environment to optimum. Aborts will not resume growth, and look kind of funny. I thought the main cause of aborts was a sudden massive moisture increase in the substrate. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ace Posted February 1, 2007 My guatemalan pen pal has informed me that a few of his cake-fruits have unusually small caps that dont want to open up very much - he only got one or two decent sized ones, and the others are very small (smaller than an AUD 5 cent piece). Sorry for the thread hijak, but it kind of comes into this because they seem to be maturing nicely then halting to a full stop. perhaps more moisture/airflow? Cheers Ace Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
auto Posted February 1, 2007 Are you sure those are aborts? No, not sure at all. They are more like normal pins that have simply stalled long before the cap separates from the veil, at anything from 3-5mm to maybe 30mm in height. There are a couple of more normal, vigorous stems with caps that have separated from the veil, but the remainder seemed to have just stalled. My other thought was perhaps a competitor mould or contamination, but there is no sign other than otherwise healthy looking/smelling mycelium in the containers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
auto Posted February 1, 2007 Sorry for the thread hijak No hijack at all, as it sounds rather similar, if only slightly more progessed. Those few caps that have appeared haven't really opened as well as I would have expected either. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
auto Posted February 1, 2007 (edited) Whats the ratio of aborts to full growns? Maybe 80-90% stalled not counting all that accurately, though none are what I would say flourishing exactly. Perhaps some strains are simply more fickle than others? What are peeps experience with that? Edited February 1, 2007 by auto Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KlUe Posted February 1, 2007 These are aborts I noticed last grow (edible obviously ), just to clarify. KlUe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KlUe Posted February 1, 2007 Maybe 80-90% stalled not counting all that accurately, though none are what I would say flourishing exactly.Perhaps some strains are simply more fickle than others? What are peeps experience with that? I'd say they aren't in their natural conditions, rather than being actual aborts. Anyways check the pics above. Aborts are generally a strange or even mutated looking shroom. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
auto Posted February 1, 2007 I'd say they aren't in their natural conditions, rather than being actual aborts. Agreed. They are stunted, but by no means freaky-deaky. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KlUe Posted February 1, 2007 Agreed. They are stunted, but by no means freaky-deaky. Try using a seedling humidity dome, they've worked well for me in the past Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
auto Posted February 1, 2007 Try using a seedling humidity dome, they've worked well for me in the past The rubbermaid tub is pretty damn moist, but perhaps its too large and confining the airspace around the containers more could help. I'll just have to experiment I guess. Thanks for the feedback. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mescalito Posted February 3, 2007 Sounds like they just ran out of food auto. I noticed you say the substrate is just rye,maybe expand to straw or enriched paper first before casing KlUe:you'd do better rolling the cakes in verm as cakes don't pin as well straight from the mycelial chunk...akin to matting in trays. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
