Jimster said:

As my jar cakes seem a little drier than I thought they should be after my flush finished, I soaked them for about 18 hours but they didn't seem to have absorbed any moisture that I could tell. The mycelium still is white but it isn't as "glisten-y" as it was prior. Would injecting the cakes with water, via a syringe, help things out? My tub is dripping with condensation, but the cakes are sitting on top of aluminum foil to prevent from lying directly on perlite. Should I consider the injections, remove the foil, or accept that I just got a really lousy flush?
As usual, any and all help and advice is appreciated.

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Dru said:

I have noticed once a cake turns to like a rubber its usually not going to uptake any water. You know how the bottom of the jar when you birth it is so much thicker hower the pins normal go to the path of least resistance the top of the jar where the mycelium is looser . Are you cakes kinda rubbery and super thick? Also what kind of water are you using? Tap water is fine if you dechlorinated. To do that all you have to do is literally pour the water into a bowl or whatever vessel you're going to soak your cakes in and let it sit with like a air stone or something like that for 24-hours that'll get rid of the chlorine. Using distilled water and RO water is really not ideal simply because it lacks the nutrients that's in tap water. However much people want to think it mushrooms still need a form of nutrition and after your first flush most of your brf cake nutrition is gone. So that's why your first flush is kind of normal then you so come again and the second flush is normally your biggest flushed because the nutrients are finally broke down enough inside of the jar from the brf cake and you're introducing the proper water with a proper nutrient level and I would avoid water softeners and chlorine I hope that helps man if you got a picture of your cake that would really really help

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Dirtbag said:

Nice @1diesel1! Mine were scrapped after 3. Are you cutting or twisting them off to harvest? I found after i harvested the 3 flush the sub was pretty trashed. I cut them from the 3rd flush in one shoebox but it was still pretty trashed from the first two twist and pulls.

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Dirtbag said:

Whats the trick to not getting craters i wonder? Mine flushed in clumps that were really difficult to remove without pulling out a wad of sub, no matter how carefully i wiggled and twisted it.

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Jimster said:

The cakes are solid white and rubbery, as you mentioned. The local water is great for just about everything and has a good but not high mineral content and very little chlorine. I might inject about 10 cc's or so of water into one or two cakes and see if it makes any difference. I'm torn between trying to recreate the environment in Florid, where mushrooms are very plentiful during the wet season, and locally, where we see mushrooms after some prolonged rain in the fall, with lowered temps. This is my first attempt in nearly 50 years to do this and I have had some success, just not what I was hoping for. It's possible that the strain I'm using doesn't get big flushes, but it DOES get big shrooms... Penis Envy is the strain.
On a side note. Since the jars are empty, I'm considering starting another round of myceliam. Since I have healthy mycelium from my current cakes, how hard is it to transfer a starter into the new jars without getting contamination? Spore syringes make it easy, but since I have a bunch of the starter, I was curious if it could be easily used.

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1diesel1 said:

I really wasn’t expecting this tub to produce again.
Unexpectedly found more fruit thriving and larger then any other harvest. This is the 6th pull from this tub.View attachment 1079641View attachment 1079642

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1diesel1 said:

When we get to this point is it time to let this tub go? Or can I cut the contaminated end off and continue?View attachment 1081769View attachment 1081770View attachment 1081771

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FourthCity said:

Something tells me there is a lot more trich than what you see at this point. I'd bet you could cut the sub in half and would still see the clean looking end contam quickly. Probably more productive to start the box over now I would think.

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