Hi fungi lovers community! I'd really love to ask some questions if you have any experience in growing reishi mushrooms! I bought the grow kit from a supplier and so far, so good - I have mushrooms growing out of the bag in the terrarium. I feel like some mad scientist or something, conducting experiments. It's super interesting and super fun.

However, some are more 'antlers', and some are more scallops (not sure of right word). Do you know why they 'antler' like this?

Also, it doesn't seem a lot. Should I open the bag entirely, if it's in a terrarium? Or open up the top, or the other side? Would really love some advice!

In other news I have completed the third module of my home mushroom cultivation course. I'm keen to do the bucket culture and fruiting chamber but I shouldn't get ahead of myself.

It's asking us to create a mini grow of mycellium on cardboard egg cartons with oyster mushrooms. Whilst as I watch, I get it quickly, as I've read some of this stuff before, it's good for it to be all logically explained in calm order to organise my thoughts. I like the way they get you to do some small experiments first. You might like to try it! All you need is some egg cartons, water, a takeaway food container and a couple of oyster mushrooms. You soak the egg cartons to what is called FIELD CAPACITY, squeezing out the water after an hour of soaking so it's not dripping at all. Then you tear it up and lasagne layer it with some strips of store bought oyster mushrooms. Pop the lid on (with a few holes, basiclaly just slices through the plastic) and leave it for a week or two to watch the mycellium 'running' through the substrate of cardboard. I thought I'd give it a go to truly get my head around how it works, though it all seems good in theory.

What I think is so super poetic about this is that I used one of the take away containers I took home from hotel quarantine last year. That place was hell on earth - it was so dark and airless, and the only thing that COULD grow in there was quite possibly mycellium! So here I am, a year and a half on, planting mycellium in a tub from that place - things grow, right, even in the dark. I don't know if I'm making sense, but it felt poetic and cool to me.

As much as I complain about work, they are being nice to me as I leave and management is giving me a $245 dollar parting gift. The thing is, I have to buy my own present - lol. So I think I'm going to buy mushroom growing stuff - a humidifier and so on. I'm sure they'll think I'm strange but I never really fitted in there anyway, so what do I care, right?

Marvellous mycellium times, right?

Appreciate it if you can point me in the direction of the best kit to get - or at least good kit that's reasonably priced!

With Love,

^{The Fungi Lovers Community: Home of #FungiFriday}

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