3
YOU’RE FINISHED WITH THE INITIAL SETUP!
Now sit back and wait for them to colonize. (23-35 days average. Some strains are faster than others)
Look for the signs of germination around day 6-10. Then you will see white rhyzomorphic growth (spider web growth) for
the next few weeks.
***(Tip)***
Not all jars will colonize at the same speed. This is very common and no need to worry. We usually recommend waiting until
all jars are fully colonized before setting up the fruiting chamber, but you can fruit and colonize at the same time if needed.
Sometimes you have a slow jar, so just set up the kit in the next steps for fruiting and place that slow jar on the other side.
The humidity from the perlite will not hurt the jar. A fully colonized cake can remain in the jar for up to 30-45 days after its
100% colonized without affecting the life or production of mushrooms.
***(Tip)***
Usually the bottom is the last 5-10% of the jar to colonize. To speed this up, you can flip the jar upside down and gently tap
the bottom of the jar to dislodge the cake from the glass. Leave the jar upside down until it finishes colonizing.
These next steps should be done after the jars are 100% colonized and are ready to start the fruiting process.
Connect the hose to the air pump. Make sure the side with the white HEPA filter
particle (inside the hose) is closest to the air pump. Then insert the other end in
the hole in the side of the clear container. The blue hose should point down
inside the clear container about 1 inch.
Set up the timer to go on for 60 minutes twice per day. Once
in the morning and once in the evening. This is a good starting
point and may be adjusted to suit your own growing conditions.
The more cakes there are growing the more often you need to run
the air pump system.
The goal is to achieve humidity levels between 90-99% while
adding fresh air/oxygen to the cakes during fruiting. Carbon diox-
ide will escape through the holes near the handles. There is no
need to drill additional holes. This setup has been tried and tested
for more than 11 years!
