Light

Nan's Nook : Archives : Cakes : Light
  Subtopic Posts Updated Creator
PF Blacklight Experiment      
Crooked Shrooms  -    
Light Spectrum (bottom of page)  -    
More Light Discussions  53 02/28 07:55am  
P. Cubensis Growing Parameters  -    

By greenthumb (Greenthumb) on Monday, October 01, 2001 - 05:52 pm:

During the incubation period of a PF cake des exposure to light become important immediately upon innoculation, or is the light only needed after 100% colonization of the cake? When does the light need to be introduced?

By Brettiejams (Brettiejams) on Monday, October 01, 2001 - 11:19 pm:

Light stimulates pinning... nothing more.

Remember, the entire colonization process in a nuatural setting would happen under the ground.

By Kevin Smith (Canshroom) on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 05:15 am:

So with that rationale, do the jars need indirect light during the incubation phase as the pf tek says they do?

By Brettiejams (Brettiejams) on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 08:10 am:

Like I said.. the light is a stimulus.. for pinning.

If you were to colonize in complete darkness, and then introduce light, you'd still get pinning... It'd just take a bit longer.

In fact, if you introduce light too early.... you can get pinning before 100% colonization.

Best to begin exposure to light at about 75% colonization IMO.

Keep in mind..... there is no concrete do or die way to grow our shroomy friends.

As long as the basic requirements are met, there are a miriad of options to "tinker" with.... all , of course, falling within the basic criterium for sustaining a fruiting colony of mycelium.

By fred flintstone (Emdavinci) on Friday, September 14, 2001 - 10:08 pm:

can I use regular flourecent lights or will I need a special type of bulb?

By Karna (Karna) on Friday, September 14, 2001 - 10:24 pm:

no special bulb/light reqd.

By fred flintstone (Emdavinci) on Friday, September 14, 2001 - 10:44 pm:

so just a regular old 12" flourecent tube light will worg ok?

By Vitticeps (Admin) on Saturday, September 15, 2001 - 07:59 am:

yup, any light source that doesn't bump the heat up too high will work.

By littlebro (Littlebro) on Saturday, September 15, 2001 - 10:53 am:

i have noticed in the past that when i have a plant-spectrum flourescent light on 18 hours a day, the carps will still stretch like crazy towards the sunlit window. any light should work ok, but i couldn't imagine anything working better than good old sunlight.

By Brettiejams (Brettiejams) on Saturday, September 15, 2001 - 07:56 pm:

Direct sunlight is TOO INTENSE and not at all recomended.... Filtered or indirect sunlight can be O.K.

Plain flourescent tubes are probably the safest bet... They provide adequate light without giving off much heat

By Lichen (Lichen) on Saturday, September 15, 2001 - 10:38 pm:

they grow well during periods when it's always raining and the sun never comes out. (outdoors)

By Vitticeps (Admin) on Sunday, September 16, 2001 - 01:09 pm:

Good to see you back Brettie, how's things going for you?

By Brettiejams (Brettiejams) on Sunday, September 16, 2001 - 05:20 pm:

Life is good Vitti... It's good to see you guys have maintained the integrity and spirit of the Nook name.

I've got all this cultivation knowledge bouncing around in my head... so I figured I would take the opprotunity to share some now and again.

VIVA LA NOOK!

Brettiejams

By Liberty_Caps (Liberty_Caps) on Sunday, September 16, 2001 - 07:14 pm:

I have a question about lighting its fall/winter now here in minnesota so I was wondering can I just give my cakes caseings whatever this light because It's not so intense as summer light? thier might be an advantage to winter now can I leave them in the light all day now? because I don't know how fake light could be just as benifecial as mother natures light is thier really any diffrence?

By Delta25 (Delta25) on Sunday, September 16, 2001 - 07:50 pm:

I am planning on using an O3 Actinic blue fluorescent I read somewhere to encourage pinning you want a light in 440 Nanometer range and mostly blue spectrum These bulbs are almost entirely in the blue spectrum and reach 440 to 470 nanometers they are used for Saltwater reef tanks.

Just a thought its convient for me I have a reef tank the bulbs are relatively expensive about 19 bux for 24 inch bulb

By gandalf the grey (Kermu) on Monday, September 17, 2001 - 09:16 am:

what kind of light would be recomended for a tall 45 gallon aquarium? that gets no sunlight.

By Brettiejams (Brettiejams) on Monday, September 17, 2001 - 03:12 pm:

Here is the deal... shrooms are phototropic... they only use light as a stimulus. The stimulus (in this case) tells the fungus that it is above ground and it's time to fruit (spread the seeds (spores).

Plants... on the other hand, photosynthesize... meaning they convert the light to energy.

The mycellium(mushroom fungus) draws no energy from the light.... so the type of light you use makes little difference... and since we are growing shrooms in a controlled enviornment... the ability to produce the needed light to provide for the fruiting stimulus without the addition of heat (thus avoiding the drying influence and raising of temperature caused by heat) is in most cases beneficial.

For all intensive purposes... flourescent tubes of any type (the cheaper the better),since they are cooler than regular incadescent bulbs, are your best/safest bet for an indoor light source for shrooms.... but pretty much any light source is adequate to provide for the phototropic stimulus needed by the fungus to fruit.

By Khanif (Khanif) on Wednesday, September 19, 2001 - 05:23 pm:

People I know use Sylvania Gro-Lux fluorescent tubes. Their light output (color temperature) is heavily biased towards the blue end of the spectrum, i.e., they are a very "cool" bulb. As noted above by Delta55 and Stamets (The Mushroom Cultivator), these short wavelengths encourage pinning. Sylvania Gro-Lux have been around for a long time and are used by people I know. Was also thinking of getting one of those Actinic bulbs from Top Bulb. Quite frankly though, most any old light seems to work...

By Brettiejams (Brettiejams) on Saturday, September 22, 2001 - 06:06 pm:

Like you said... "most any old light seems to work".

So my opinion is this.. Why shell out big money on fancy lights when that indeed is the case?

By Brettiejams (Brettiejams) on Monday, September 17, 2001 - 02:01 am:

Here is the deal... shrooms are phototropic... they only use light as a stimulus. The stimulus (in this case) tells the fungus that it is above ground and it's time to fruit (spread the seeds (spores).

Plants... on the other hand, photosynthesize... meaning they convert the light to energy.

The mycellium(mushroom fungus) draws no energy from the light.... so the type of light you use makes little difference... and since we are growing shrooms in a controlled enviornment... the ability to produce the needed light to provide for the fruiting stimulus without the addition of heat (thus avoiding the drying influence and raising of temperature caused by heat) is in most cases beneficial.

For all intensive purposes... flourescent tubes of any type (the cheaper the better),since they are cooler than regular incadescent bulbs, are your best/safest bet for an indoor light source for shrooms.... but pretty much any light source is adequate to provide for the phototropic stimulus needed by the fungus to fruit.

By whoever (Livedangerous) on Tuesday, October 16, 2001 - 05:54 pm:

is light even really necessary at any point in the growing process? before you reply what a moron i am, think about it. fungi grow in the dark all the time. my college biology instructor said that since fungi do not go through photosynthesis like plants, obviously they should not require light. my instructor contends that fungi grow BEST in dark warm places. has anyone tried the entire process in the dark? results?

By Brettiejams (Brettiejams) on Tuesday, October 16, 2001 - 06:37 pm:

While the fungus itself indeed prefers warm dark places.... shrooms are indeed phototropic.

That means the fungus draws no energy from the light(like plants with photosynthesis) but they do use the light as a stimulus.

The light stimulus tells the fungus that it is indeed above ground and it is time to fruit.

The fungus also is stimulated to fruit by a lowering of temperature, and a lowering of C02.

All three of these factors provide the stimulus to fruit..... you may be able to get some fruiting without the light stimulus... but it would hardly be under ideal conditions and I would question as to whether the flush would be very good.

Go ahead and try..... I'll stick to what I know though

By Johnseemore (Johnseemore) on Friday, September 07, 2001 - 12:15 am:

I have seen people talk about cycling there light over the 24 hr period is that better than 12 on 12 off. Some one let me know.

By Saluras (Saluras) on Friday, September 07, 2001 - 12:17 am:

I actually have better luck letting the light run 24/7. although that may be because of the heat the lights produce.

it's damn cold in alaska

By Greenweanie (Greenweanie) on Friday, September 07, 2001 - 03:02 pm:

i leave mine on 24/7 ..i only use a 40 watt bulb at in my closet

By Mr. Tambourine Man (Tambourine_Man) on Monday, November 12, 2001 - 05:45 pm:

Hi, do the tap lights that run entirely on batteries provide any heat? If not, what would be the best way to provide heat and light for invitros without any cords (i.e. battery powered)? Thanks!

By Nan (Nanook) on Monday, November 12, 2001 - 06:08 pm:

Not much heat from a tap light. Beware they are going to require a set of batteries every day if you use them a lot, the expense quickly adds up.

Battery powered heat/light is going to be expensive unless you use a set of commercial grade rechargable batteries, keeping one set in the charger while the other set is doing duty.

I have never seen Teks posted on this topic. You are on your own as far as the R & D is concerned. If you come up with something that works, please post about it.

By quote: (Quote) on Monday, November 12, 2001 - 06:10 pm:

perhaps a propane lantern ?

By Mr. Tambourine Man (Tambourine_Man) on Monday, November 12, 2001 - 06:35 pm:

OK forget the batteries. What will run from a single cord, provide heat and light, and not be a fire hazard?

By Nan (Nanook) on Monday, November 12, 2001 - 07:02 pm:

Try an electric lamp. A small florescent light will provide light as well as some warmth from the bulb and ballast transformer. I have seen some in auto parts stores that have the ballast on the plug, the bulb is sealed in a water and shock resistant plastic tube with rubber stoppers in the ends. They do not get hot, but are warm to the touch.

Marx2k's Fruiting Chamber uses both a florescent bulb and a fish tank heater, yet the electrical load is small enough the whole thing will run off the lightest weight extension cord.

By nichobob judson (Junglistmonte) on Tuesday, November 13, 2001 - 01:25 am:

hey ya'll- I've done this before actually- most novice electricians can do it- I wired 6 tap lights to a ac adapter... just bridge the lights, attach + to + and -to- to the adapter- I think it was a 9 volt(whatever the sum of 6 needed).
AH- the old lost art of soldering.

By Nuecrew (Nuecrew) on Tuesday, November 13, 2001 - 05:48 am:

I was talking to a guy at a bird shop this weekend. (I love cockatiels). Anywho, he said to get the closest to actual sunlight you have to go with the flouresent rather than tunsten filiment lights. There are some tunsten bulbs that claim to be close to sunlight, good for the dark winter months etc.

By Delekhan J. Delekhan (Delekhan) on Sunday, November 25, 2001 - 07:10 pm:

Hey guys, thanks for all the info on temperature. Some of you suggested I try out Quote's invitro tek, and I've been thinking about it. Whenever I decide to start I think I'm going to do about 10/12 jars, with half using quote neglect, and half double end cased in a perlite terrarium (per nan's recomendation). I'm still a little concerned about temperature. But I think I'm premature in my worries. I won't be starting until January, and who knows what my room is going to feel like then. May be colder, or may have the heat on 24/7 and be 75-80*. I'll just have to wait and see.

Anyway, If I'm using 1/2 pints to make my cakes, is there going to be enough room in the jars for invitro tek to produce shrooms? I think I've heard of transplanting to pint jars or something after invitro pinning, but I can't remember.

Either tek is going to require some light. Which I can't pull off easily because, A. I don't want shit sitting out in my room. and B. I don't want to run extension cords into my closets or cabinants (looks a little suspicious)... So.. I was thinking about buying a few of those lame "Touchlight" things. I believe they're battery operated and you just push them to turn on and off. It would probably be a very soft light, but if my terrarium used plastic wrap, I think it might be enough. Anyone have any thoughts on this, or some other idea. Remember that I would really rather not run electricity into my closets, battery power is perfered.

Thanks guys

Delekhan

By An guy (Boomer) on Sunday, November 25, 2001 - 07:26 pm:

You'll get yourself some babies with Invitro, and as for Light, although some folks do different, you really only need a couple hours a day when pinning and fruiting, if even that much.

By Lichen (Lichen) on Sunday, November 25, 2001 - 07:26 pm:

Quote's neglect tek [Growing Invitro] was, I believe, an idea concieved for use with low proflie 1/2 pint jars; at any rate, it works quite well. The fruit conforms to the inside of the jar. You'll be surprised how much room there is in there.
As to your lighting problem, maybe battery power is the right choice. Get something with rechargeable batteries, get a couple sets of Ni-Cad batteries, and it should work. Maybe one of those nifty handheld flourescents that fold, or some such

By Delekhan J. Delekhan (Delekhan) on Sunday, November 25, 2001 - 09:03 pm:

Ok, so if I put the terrarium/jars out in the open for a few hours a day (indirect sunlight + flouresent light in the room).. that should be enough? Maybe give some battery powered light at night, or is that more or less optional. Thanks guys.

Delekhan

By Cbee (Cbee) on Sunday, November 25, 2001 - 09:12 pm:

If i were you id just let em chill in their jars and everyday take them outa the dark for 1-2hours, not even... Just put em out when no ones around or you are in your room to see whos goin in and outa it... thats what Id recommend, batteries are expensive. If you have closet doors set up the jars so you just have to open the closet and light hits the jars... ive heard of ppl getting pins with 20mins of light per day...

By Cragith Kilbonith (Kilborn) on Sunday, November 25, 2001 - 09:17 pm:

you can get pins just by leaving them on the computer desk. long as there is a light and you can see the jars you will get pinning. when i had my first rubbermaid i just broke a lamp around the house and duct taped it onto the lid. it wasnt a fire hazard because it was a flo and wasnt to much wattage. a glowing rubbermaid looks odd LOL. you can also get a rubbermaid and cut around the sides and then put plastic on top of the lid and just give it light threw the plastic. or you can get clear 'maids. your choice, hope this helped.

By Delekhan J. Delekhan (Delekhan) on Sunday, November 25, 2001 - 09:20 pm:

Yea, I was thinking batteries would either get expensive or time consuming (having to rotate rechargeables) if I had to leave them on most of the time. And if they don't need constant light, why not just sit them in the open for a few hours. I can swing that, I just don't want to have my set up in the open all the time. Thanks.

Delekhan

By quote: (Quote) on Sunday, November 25, 2001 - 09:30 pm:

they really only need 15-30 minutes a day of light, so just open it up a few times a few minutes each time, and you'll be fine.

By Free (Free) on Friday, May 04, 2001 - 06:43 pm: Edit


Yo, Quote, first of all, I want to thank you for all the helpful information, and for your Invitro Tek, it has simplified my life so much. But, I was wondering if you could be more detailed when you say you exposed the cakes to several minutes of light a day. Is this 5 or 50? I just want to make sure I don't fuck things up. Thanks a lot for everything.

By Quote (Quote) on Friday, May 04, 2001 - 09:05 pm:

at least 20-30 minutes bright light every day

By Delekhan J. Delekhan (Delekhan) on Monday, November 26, 2001 - 12:20 am:

Hey Quote, would that be enough for a terrarium of cakes too?

Delekhan

By quote: (Quote) on Monday, November 26, 2001 - 01:42 am:

yup.

Shroom Glossary

By Drew Man (Dman) on Tuesday, December 04, 2001 - 05:13 pm:

How often should I have a light on my cakes? Also what is a good type of light to use?

By jared (Jared112) on Tuesday, December 04, 2001 - 05:38 pm:

Any kind of lighting (white light) will work. Scientific studies show that it only takes 1/1000th of a second strobe flash to induce pinning. That is all the light is for is to make the mycelium start shooting pins. that and the mushrooms will grow towards the light, so I'd say an hour a day from something even as dim as a taplight:
taplight
Would be sufficient enough.

By wycrobro (Newman) on Tuesday, December 04, 2001 - 07:46 pm:

Tap lights can get expensive unless you have rechargable batteries.

By property of Friedrich Nietzsche (Economist) on Tuesday, December 04, 2001 - 08:27 pm:

what if you had jars out for 1.5wks in indirect light, and then put them somewhere with almost no light, will they fruit invitro? they were getting fuzzy/bumpy before their disappearance from the world of light.

By jared (Jared112) on Tuesday, December 04, 2001 - 09:22 pm:

You could do that, but It don't really matter how long you expose them to light, it matters how often you expose them to light. For an example mycelium needs light to pin right? well if you expose them to light for a few days, and put them in a pitch black fruiting chamber, they will grow and fruit. However there will no longer be any pins growing. You should expose them to light at least once a day. Basically its God's way, the mycelium grows underground in most cases or wherever there is no light. Then it knows when to fruit when it gets hit by light, its kind of like saying "Ohh I can see light, I must be breaking through the surface, time to fruit some mushrooms"

That's the way I see it anyway.

By quote: (Quote) on Tuesday, December 04, 2001 - 10:50 pm:

they can fruit in the dark,
but the yield is much better if you can just give them a few minutes of light daily.

By trent (Cali_Sk8r) on Wednesday, December 05, 2001 - 06:31 am:

hmm I was under the impression that light wasnt a thing and im a lazy punk anyway, so just checking if i leave a 45 watt light on hanging over the jars and terrarium im not messing anythign up am i?

By George W. Bush (Xatomichristx) on Wednesday, December 05, 2001 - 07:00 am:

no that would work fine.

By trent (Cali_Sk8r) on Wednesday, December 05, 2001 - 07:06 am:

I had a problem with excessive pinning my first flush though could that have happened because I had light on them from day 1, 24/7?

By Mr. Tambourine Man (Tambourine_Man) on Thursday, December 27, 2001 - 06:01 pm:

Has anyone had a fluorescent light inside a humidified terrarium so that there is no barrier between the humid air and the light fixture? Does it cause any problems?

By Cbee (Cbee) on Thursday, December 27, 2001 - 06:21 pm:

i have a mini one, it is fine, think about in mexico where humidity is 80-90%, they can still use lights

By Kaijan (Kaijan) on Friday, December 28, 2001 - 08:11 am:

I did at one point.. The floro eventually
shorted out and a puff of smoke came out of the
bin.

Lucky a fire didnt start.

Keep them outta the bins.
Better safe then sorry.


kai.

By Hatcher (Hatcher) on Friday, December 28, 2001 - 08:18 am:

Sounds like sound advice.

By Isaac Lipnick (Isaac) on Monday, January 07, 2002 - 03:27 am:

Hi everybody,
Well, this is the first of what is sure to be many questions from me. I am your bonafide "newbie". I think it's so cool that we can all talk like this. I've been reading your posts and it's nice to know there's people like me- completely obsessed and in love, but utterly lost and ignorant at the same time.
Anyways, I started my project by innoculating one jar on Dec. 14th and have been doing more as I get the chance. Right now I have six jars being kept in my closet which I keep 65-75 degrees. At first I kept them in there with no light and after a week not much was happening, then I started taking them out and putting them in my room in indirect sun light for 1-2 hours a day. Things are going better now, there is difinitely a good amount of mycelium in the older jars, but it seems to be going so slowly compared to other people's time lines. So after all that (sorry about the length), am I doing it right? No light, all light, or some light?

By Cragith Kilbonith (Kilborn) on Monday, January 07, 2002 - 03:51 am:

What % are you at? Are you doing PF TEK or INVITRO? I introduce my jars to light once they are almost fully colonized. Sounds like your doing it right :)

By Imok Urok2 (Imok) on Monday, January 07, 2002 - 04:42 am:

Also check out Incubation Problems

I think your temps are a little low mebe?

Jar Incubation

By Ron (Clubbenguy) on Monday, January 07, 2002 - 07:16 am:

I think you closet is a little to cold. I would go to walmart. The have this little space heater for $12.88 (looks like a little gray box). This made the temp in my closet go from 65 to 80. My mycellium hit a growth spurt when I did this. Hope all goes well.

By nuecrew (Nue) on Monday, January 07, 2002 - 02:59 pm:

I've found mycelia will grow at just about any temp. over 40*(refrigerator) and even then it will grow very slowly. With this hobby you must also cultivate patience. Welcome to the world of prohibition style mushroom growing!

By Dr. Cubesis III (Newbieshroomer) on Monday, January 07, 2002 - 05:47 pm:

patience....

ARRRGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!


Main Entry: pa·tience
Pronunciation: 'pA-sh&n(t)s
Function: noun
Date: 13th century
1 : the capacity, habit, or fact of being patient
2 : Prepare more jars to alleviate impatience, see Cubensis for further details regarding patience

"completely obsessed and in love,"

:) NewbieShroomer <----- raises both hands wildly!

Way cool man! just hang in there!
You will find anything you need to know right here,
and anything you want to know is freely offered.

Good luck!

:)

By Ron (Clubbenguy) on Monday, January 07, 2002 - 07:45 pm:

Hysterical DOC, BUT SO TRUE!!!

By Omega (Euphorius) on Saturday, January 12, 2002 - 07:44 pm:

How much does the amount and source of light affect the overall growth of the shrooms?
Like, does more light initiate more fruiting?
Do they need "direct light" (a light directly over the terrarium)?

By Kman (Kman) on Saturday, January 12, 2002 - 07:48 pm:

Well as far as I know, if you can see em, they have enough light. They don't get energy from light like plants do, they just get a "signal" to fruit from the light. Thats why when your incubating in most cases its best to have no light, then when you want them to fruit you add light.

By ShrooMaster (Shroomaster) on Sunday, January 13, 2002 - 02:16 pm:

according to the fbi docs of PF psilocybes arent phoosynthetic but photo sensitive. in other words they would friut in the dark as well. also according to that same doc shrooms grown in the dark are slightly smaller and noticably lighter in color than those with access to light. not sure if it would affect the sporulation tho.

By awalter44 (Farmerinthedell) on Wednesday, January 16, 2002 - 04:55 am:

I understand that light is only necessary to induce pinning, but what kind of light are we talking about here? for instance, would a regular light bulb or a flourescent light be alright? is it ok if I use a light bulb for my heat source during incubation too? Thanks for helpin' a rookie!

By Brettiejams (Brettiejams) on Wednesday, January 16, 2002 - 05:47 am:

Both are o.k. for pinning.

Just be careful about heat (too hot) using a regular bulb..... they work fine though.

I like cheap flourescent tubes myself.

Regular bulbs work just fine to produce heat for incubation.... just cover up your jars to keep them dark until about 75% colonization, unless, of course, you are growing in-vitro, in which case light throughout the incubation process is recommended.

By awalter44 (Farmerinthedell) on Wednesday, January 16, 2002 - 05:14 am:

I read this off fanaticus' website. Has anyone experienced the poor fruiting mentioned in the notice?

Important notice - January 5 2002*

During the middle of 2001, the PF spore race shroom suffered a genetic breakdown related to the appearance of the PF albino mutant shroom. The effected PF spore race strains fruit poorly and sparsely, with not much of any invitro performance. The germination of the spores is good and the mycelium looks just fine, but the fruiting is very poor.

This broken PF spore race has been canceled and PF spores from a few years ago were started. The PF spore race performance is back.

Any PF customer in the last year who has received this degenerated PF race, should write PF a letter describing it. A free syringe of the restored PF spore race will be sent.

By Nan (Nanook) on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 08:16 pm:

By Searchandsurf (Searchandsurf) on Tuesday, May 01, 2001 - 12:23 am:

Hello, I'm a beginner who has never grown mushrooms before. I want to start, but most of the methods I have read about involved a bulky terraneum (the hiding space for which I just don't have), so Quote's Mycro-tek certainly appealed to me. My questin is, do the jars using mycro-tek really require light throughout the entire process? Also, does that light have to be 24 hour (artificial) light or will natural daylight hours do? Will leaving the jars outside during a southern california summers day be too hot or cold for any stages? Advise would be much appreciated.

By Quote (Quote) on Tuesday, May 01, 2001 - 03:20

you need light about 2-3 weeks to get pins, might as well be from the very start, quicker that way.
natural hours are fine, only 20-30 minutes every day is actually required.
outdoors in the shade should be fine.
check this guy's [taz] ingenuity,,,

1022.jpg

those are battery powered touch activated lights.


By Atkseb (Atkseb) on Tuesday, May 01, 2001 - 03:41

does it need light when they are first starting? i heard you can keep ur jars in a pitch black area n it will do.

By Quote (Quote) on Tuesday, May 01, 2001 - 04:01

they won't begin the process of pinning until you give them light.
there's no real reason to keep them in the dark,
it's just as fast in lighted conditions to colonize, and pins faster.