seven7seven wrote:Nice...that large casing is worth the extra time. I don't know why everyone doesn't do it like this.
I'd really like to have a look at this point here. I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news but large casing's can be very deceiving. It seems like the extra time and material yields more mushrooms but that's just as it seems.
Yes, more mushrooms grow at once, but it is time consuming and material wasteful, in SWIM's experience.
To show evidence for this, one could examine the amount of material put in and compare that with the yield output.
If the material input and yield output ratio is better than smaller casing's, then it would be best to use larger casings (best here refers to getting more yield for your material).
If the material input and yield output ratio is worse, then using more small casing's would be best for getting more out of the material.
This large casing tek above compared with a small casing tek will give the example.
1 cup brown rice, 2 cups vermiculite and 1 cup water (for a total of 4 cups) yielded 18 dry grams on first flush. And 10 grams dry second flush.
The tek above has 4 cups vermiculite, 1 brick coconut coir (at least 5 cups probably way more), 4 cups coffee grounds, 1 cup gypsum, 16 cups of water and 28 cups of rye berry seed. (A total of 58 cups). Yielded 118 grams dry first flush. That sounds good but look at the math.
58/4 = 14.5
That means the larger casing should yield 14.5 times as much as the smaller one just to break even with it.
14.5 times 18 grams (first flush) = 261
Not even close to 118.
Now, here are a few exceptions to this evidence.
1. The smaller casing has less nutrients so it may be less potent.
2. The smaller casing was a different strain, which is a factor not accounted for. A simple experiment using the same strain would be nice. SWIM believes the evidence would be the same.
3. Larger casing's are convenient because they give a bunch at once. Though this can be countered by the use of more small casing's, which is rather easy to do, easier in SWIM's opinion.
4. The smaller casing used a casing layer while the larger one above did not. This helped a more even pin set. The picture below is the first flush (plus one very cool looking mushroom cap
). You will notice that the pin set is very even and that every part of the casing is fruiting. The pictures of the above tek show spots were no mushrooms are growing. That could be why it didn't yield so well.
Final Conclusion:
Larger casing's simply are harder to maintain so the yield is often much more poor. SWIM isn't saying they are harder to maintain as in take care of, just harder to make sure every part of the casing has the optimum conditions for fruiting. Thus more wasteful of material. Smaller casing's are easier to ensure an even pin set and that the fruiting occurs everywhere over the casing.
This is simply SWIM's experience and understanding. SWIM is not trying to be controversial or competitive, just wants to clarify the facts so that everyone in the future can benefit.
If anyone has other experiences that conflict with SWIM's then please post that, more info will really help clarify this issue.
Regards,
Damiana
damiana attached the following image(s):
1009201660.JPG
(765kb) downloaded 400 time(s). 1009201655.JPG
(1,737kb) downloaded 397 time(s). 1009201695.JPG
(604kb) downloaded 397 time(s).PEACE