More fruiting bodies have emerged – Pink Oyster mushroom kit

It has been around ten days since I did my last update on the kit, the large cluster we saw last in my recent post has turned from a cream pink to a darker red color. The tips of the mushrooms seem to be turning dark, not sure what that is about. I keep spraying them twice a day, but wonder if they truly need a tent to live in to keep them in high humidity. These kits are cool, but sometimes they understate the care some fungi need. Our house stays pretty dry in the winter, which is not great for fruiting mushrooms.. which like humidity levels in the 80%+ range.. It is probably around 50% in our home. So by giving them a dozen or so sprits from the spray bottle twice a day helps some what.

Since I have not grown these before its hard to say when they will be done. But looking at pictures on the Internet I see there are examples of mature Pink Oyster mushroom fruiting bodies and mine are not there yet.

I moved the the block over to a window with more light as suggested by a follower one of my previous posts on this topic. It surely seemed to cause a change. Mostly more pinning around the base of the opening. And some pinning under the plastic, will show more of that later in this post.

Pinning occurs when the fungi block feels threatened. By fruiting they can reproduce and grow somewhere else, which is why they do this when in danger. Not sure why it feels in danger, maybe the low humidity levels.

Maybe a little bit of air and space under the plastic has let them form. Normally they should just come up where I cut open the bag, and scratched the surface.. Not inside the bag.

The new pins that are coming up around the cluster seem much larger than the first cluster of fruiting bodies.

It would seem the first cluster has stopped growing, a few days now it has not done much. But with these new fruiting bodies shooting up I will see if they pause as well.

Some of the sides are not pinning under the plastic, just a couple spots. It should just look like a snowball under there without the pinning of the pink mushrooms.

Looking from above we can see how the older mushrooms have black tips and are much darker than the newly formed fruiting bodies.

I hope that large cluster that started first gets back to growing. I will keep misting them and such and see it it helps.

It also seems to have formed a void in the middle, pointing at it with my finger.

Cool seeing the gills of the mushroom, under them is where the spores will form. Those are what I must keep out of the cannabis tent, while letting their gas (co2) in.

When I grow the 5 gallon buckets I will make sure this fungi is in a humid environment 24/7. I think the misting is not enough and causing some strange growth habits.

Still smelling like fish, lol its a trip.. I guess that is where it got its name partially.

While I was taking pictures of the fungi block and its fruiting bodies this little guy dropped off it.

It is a Asian lady beetle, not to be confused with Lady bugs. They are usually more yellow and not just red, also have more spots on them compared to Lady bugs. These are all over Central Virginia and are great for eating pests.. when not living in your siding outside your house, or annoying you while working outside. They will bite you, so best not to handle them.. unlike Lady bugs. I brush them off of me when they land, I have yet to be bit but now people that have.. Its not that bad I hear but still do not want to be bit by insects..lol

But I am happy to have them as they eat many bugs that cause problems for my cannabis plants. I will do a post on that eventually... I saw @mangopie talk about them as well. Great for the grow tents, as they eat spider mites and other soft bodied insects.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonia_axyridis

Wiki link to insect species.

I just left it be, seems it was a bit shy pulling its head under its armor.. So I just finished up my photography of my fungi block and left it be. Wondering what it was doing there, it was probably drinking some water that I spray on the fungi. Or maybe there were little critters on it the Asian lady beetle was eating. Not sure but it may be a sign of something causing the fungi to pin like that.. Not sure what it all means, but maybe related. I did not see any others there, just one lone Asian lady beetle.

So now I will keep an eye on the block and see how it forms those new fruiting bodies. Hoping it all comes out right and I can harvest the fruits, but for now I will let it grow some more.

Previous posts on this project:

https://peakd.com/hive-166168/@solominer/trying-out-a-mushroom-growing-kit

https://peakd.com/hive-194913/@solominer/pins-forming-on-pink-oyster-mushroom-kit-macro-photography

https://peakd.com/hive-166168/@solominer/a-week-later-and-its-growing-a-lot-pink-oyster-mushroom-kit