Size matters?

[beepboop]

Hey there, I'm new to the shroom business and I have a question (might be obvious to some, but I haven't found any answers)

I bought this cubensis growbox from the net and it's been popping up small shrooms on it, I expect a first harvest in the days to come and now to the question: If I have lots of shrooms with their caps open and perfect state of picking, some people say to pick everything from the substrate to allow for a new flush, if there are some 1-1½ inch'ers, are they potent? Will 6small ones@2grams/each be the same as eating 1@12gram. Or are the small ones good for nothing and should be thrown away. Once again, didn't find what I 've been searching for and thought I'd ask people who knows

Best regards
//Beepboop

 

[ophiuchus]

doesn't matter much. the size can be due to a number of factors though, mainly relative humidity (fungi growth's main variable) and also genetic variation. there are billions of spores in one mushroom... play with the humidity level in your future flushes, but only very slightly, too much either way and they will not grow properly.

future flushes will be best if you pick the mushroom only right after the skirt on the underside pops open (so that the gills are visible). this is where the spores come from and this is also a signal point that the mushroom has reached full maturity.

hope that helps

 

[beepboop]

Yeah, thanks! Humidity is quite high I think, temp in apartment is around 25-27 celsius (77-81 fahrenheit) and alot of moisture on the inside of bag. Just wish they would be ready for picking already, tho its amusing seeing them grow.



Best regards
//Beepboop

 

[ophiuchus]

the tempurature is just about ideal, actually 75-85 f is ideal, but that wont matter too too much. looks to me like you could use even a bit more humidity, unfortunately you'll probably have to wait till the next flush because those guys are already mature. thanks for the picture btw, it makes giving advice 10x easier

yeah i would say just ever so slightly more humidity next time, you should see more condensation like what you see at the bottom of the bag, except all over the bag. remember, condensation though, not water droplets. there's a size difference that you should be able to notice. but yeah all the fat guys that i've seen came out of bags that were just a little bit more difficult to see through. hope that helps.

oh and i wouldn't worry about potency (it's not really growing that affects that, but more an effect of strain), those look wonderful

 

[beepboop]

Thanks for the help, much appreciated! While harvesting I came across these tiny things, are they worth saving? The weight of those are close to non-existant I would believe (cant really tell, haven't gotten my new scale)

First flush gave 65g wet, hoping for some bigger guys during 2nd one. And again, thanks alot!

Oh by the way: what would you say is the best way for drying? I'm currently trying the "Put the shrooms on some paper under a black t-shirt+ lightbulb technique" or would it be better to put them ontop of a mesh thing with a fan blowing? going to throw them into a container with silica gel when they're somewhat dry

Best regards
//Beepboop

 

[ophiuchus]

well, honestly, i wouldn't have picked those if it were my growbox. you can see how the cap never separated from the stems, which means they aren't fully mature, and so couldn't drop any spores... i would have picked the mature ones and let the smaller ones alone to see if they grew more. if nothing else they would just die and re-enter the substrate, but they looked healthy so i suspect they would have kept growing? dunno..

either way i would definitely keep them since you picked them. there is nothing wrong with them other than they didn't drop any spores for your future flushes.

concerning drying, you can put them in the oven (lowest temp possible) with the door on it wide open and a fan blowing them (convection oven will do this for you), you can put them under a lamp (not too close!) with a fan blowing, or if it's NOT humid at all, but very hot, then you can put them outside as well. putting them on mesh is good because air can hit them from all sides. basically all you need is gentle good air circulation, (not a windstorm! haha) and heat (personally would not recommend anything over 140F. 105-110 is a good range, but more or less will do).

you'll know they are fully dry when they *snap* like a cracker. bending means that they appear dry, but are still too wet inside= mushrooms that won't last at all. they shouldn't blue very much after you're done drying and storing. if they do start to blue over time (like say a month) then they weren't dried enough. i would dry them for at least a day or two at 105-110

 

[beepboop]

Awesome, thanks a bunch for all the help and hints

Best regards
//Beepboop

 

[ophiuchus]

no prob.

 

[IJesusChrist]

actually small ones are more potent... I don't know if that was said in all the text, but if so it should be repeated -

1 gram of a dozen small ones is about the same as 1.5 (maybe even more) of the large ones.

Also, the ideal time to pick is right before the veil splits, not after.

Small ones are much more potent.

 

[Light]

Even aborts (the small ones right next to a big one) can be very strong, stronger per gram than bigger ones.

You'll find with these kinds of growboxes that later flushes will produce bigger mushrooms. I've seen up to 120 grams mushrooms and they are BIG, like two fists on top of each other. These are generally a bit weaker per weight, because they just blow up with more water, since there is less competition.

 

[lysergamideman]

When A mushroom starts growing at first it forms what are known as "pins" which are just lil bumps kinda like pimples. From this point the start to grow upward and get wider and stArt to actually look like a mushroom, sometimes tho for various reasons they stop growing and never reach the point to where the cap has separated from the stem, these are known as aborts. You might think those are not desireably however those are THE MOST potent ones you will find and should defiantly not throw out. But the mushrooms in your pic Looked to be that they were simply just small mushrooms, not "aborts" although there may have been some, aborts are generally short blunt and darker colored, but i have found 1 gram of aborts to be comparable to up to 5 grams or full sized mushies. (dreid)

Oh and also FYI yes you should pick all of the mushrooms off in between flushes, any left on there that are no longer growing will begin to rot leaving a highly increased chance of infection from bacteria & mold. So pick everything off (that is ready or no longer growing) and get it so that there is no decomposing mushroom flesh on your substrate make sure all that is left is the nice white substrate/mycelium surface.
Also the first pic you posted with the growbox, well thats just about prime picking time, If it was me I wouldnt wait much more than maybe a day b4 picking them once they have reached that point. I have read b4 that psilocybin is used in spore production, if this is true that even supports more that mushrooms should be picked b4 the veil opens & breaks. However whether this is true or not, you still DO NOT want to wait till the spores have been dropped in either circumstance.

 

[lysergamideman]

actually small ones are more potent... I don't know if that was said in all the text, but if so it should be repeated -

1 gram of a dozen small ones is about the same as 1.5 (maybe even more) of the large ones.

Also, the ideal time to pick is right before the veil splits, not after.

Small ones are much more potent.

Agreed.

 

[ophiuchus]

why wouldn't you want to drop any spores? imo the potency difference is going to be negligible, and this will make ones cake more bioavailable and fertile if one decides to spread it out in nature after it's done producing flushes...

i guess it's a bit of a trade off, it depends on what you want/ can do with the cake afterwards. either way, not all of you're mushrooms are going to open at the same time, so no worries.

 

[IJesusChrist]

I think if you plan to keep spores, you would just let one open, but I think as soon as they open the mushroom then starts to say "ok I can die now" if you get my drift...

 

[beepboop]

Hello!
I had totally forgotten about this thread, very fun to read all the info. Different strains tend to get different growth? I aquired 1box of B+ and another of Cambodia and the B+ box is filled with huge ones (though it got mold from bad handling, just thought i'd keep it to see how much it would grow) whilst the Cambodia box just get these not so awesomely huge ones. Both boxes have been kept in the same room, temp and somewhat same sunlight. Could the mold in the B+ box give them some kind of anabolic growthhormone, or is it just randomstuff that makes them grow. Thanks alot

Best regards
//BeepBoop

 

[ophiuchus]

different strains should visibly look different, and as such, have different average size/shape/color etc.