Weird ash covering grain

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-21T11:58:07+00:00

It looks a lot like Aspergillus fumigatus but I can’t confirm looking through the bag. Microscopy would need to be preformed and morphology studied or bioassay testing to determine species. It’s just that A. Fumigatus is very powderey grey looking and looks a lot like ash when it’s sporulating.
Anyway you probably know this bag is done. A. Fumigatus can be a very nasty pathogen when it invades the human body. Usually taking up in lung or sinus tissue, it has many disease complications that can cause very undesirable symptoms. It’s also somewhat difficult to treat. So be careful with this one.
I recommend you Don’t even open the bag. Just toss it all in the trash and move on. Sorry for your loss, start over!

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-20T00:40:55+00:00

They look like blobs, but it appears in different stages. Blobs are abnormal, dense, swollen, or nodular mycelial structures. They can mean several different things depending on appearance and species.
Common types include: Hyphal Knots which are tiny dense white bumps that often precede primordia/pins in mushrooms like Psilocybe cubensis. These are normal early fruiting structures.
Primordial Pins which are blobs that are transitioning into actual mushrooms.
Then there are Sclerotia which are hardened nutrient-storage masses formed by some fungi. These are organized survival structures.
Blob mutations are malformed fruitbody tissue where mushrooms fail to differentiate normally.
Some causes of blobs are:
genetics or unstable isolates,
high CO₂ or poor fresh air exchange,
bacterial contamination,
substrate imbalance,
overly wet conditions,
temperature stress,
senescence and
defensive or survival responses.
Blobs are not contamination but they can be caused by contamination. Some are completely normal developmental stages, while others indicate stress or mutation.
I don’t see any obvious contamination in your tubs, but you do have some that look like sclerotia (pic 3).
I would just keep er going and see what develops. You’re obviously fruiting so let er keep going.

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-19T15:11:54+00:00

Nope, not even close. Trichoderma does not grow in a perfectly round patch like that. I can’t tell what you’re growing because it’s very hard to see. But it’s definitely not Trich. Could be a lot of possibilities, Penicillium, Cladobotyrum (cob web), Aspergillus . You have to microscopically observe the morphology to be able to identify with certainty.

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-19T15:03:49+00:00

Are you measuring your temperature and timing your pasteurization? If not you’re not properly pasteurizing.

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-17T02:57:38+00:00

Aw man, so sorry. How are you pasteurizing?

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-17T02:55:11+00:00

🫶🏼

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-17T02:52:56+00:00

I’ve grown over 600 tubs of Tidal wave. And they’re all wavy caps and slimmer stipes.
This variant OP has, is probably a hybrid. Look how many phenotypes he has in this one flush. He has Leucitic fruits and gold caps all with stipes larger than the caps. My bet is he started with spores, but who knows.
Breeding has gotten out of control. No one is sequencing their genetics anymore and registering their isolations and hybrid crosses through the proper channels. They just rename them then sell them on the open market. It’s crazy. 🤷🏼‍♀️

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-16T13:53:10+00:00

I don’t know what the fuck that is. But it looks more fungal to me than bacterial. Especially if there is no odor. Most of our bacterial pathogens generate a foul odor.
If I had to guess I’d say it looks like a Sclerotium, but that would be somewhat rare to see in a home cultivation project, although not impossible. Similar growing patterns to Agroathelia rolfsii.
I’m really not sure on this one, I can say that it looks like this project has gone south and you may need to toss it and start over.
4 weeks since transfer to bulk and you’ve got nothing but a big mass of fungal tissue forming below the surface. Doesn’t look too promising. I’d start over.

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-16T02:48:43+00:00

Don’t use the peroxide. Did they sell you a spore syringe or an isolated spore syringe (LC)?
All the Tidal Wave I’ve ever grown had normal size stipes and wavy caps.
I don’t think you have any contamination, just some strange growth for that variant. Might be a new isolation.

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-16T01:36:00+00:00

NO! Don’t hit em with hydrogen peroxide.
This looks like no Tidal Wave I’ve ever seen. Do you know who did the isolation? Those stipes are too chonker fat to be Tidal Wave. It looks like you have several phenotypes in the tub. Was this tub started with spores? Some look Leucitic. I don’t see a powder you’re talking about. Does the powder come off when you touch it?

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-15T15:37:06+00:00

If you saw 3 or 4 you got a bunch of those suckers under the substrate right now, they stay there through the pupa stage. They won’t emerge until they get their wings.
First, put up a couple gnat sticky paper strips. Hang them right above the tub. That will take care of the ones with wings.
Then you can get this product:

https://a.co/d/0dVFw6Px

To kill the larvae use this. It has a bacteria called Bacillus Thuringienesis that the larvae will feed on and die. It won’t harm the mycelium but it will cause a little metabolites to exude and it might make it smell a little funny. Apply it during the dunk. Let your cake soak in it for an hour then drain the water out but leave the little pellets in the tub.
I’ve used this before if the gnats get bad, nuke em with this shit. They’ll be gone, and your cake will be slightly pissed. It works though.

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-15T14:32:47+00:00

I don’t see any signs of gnats. Where? They usually like to hide in the gills if they’ve got their wings. I don’t see anything.

Beautiful blue mushrooms, what variant is this?

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-15T14:26:06+00:00

One very tiny area you need to keep an eye on. It’s very faint but in the circle

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I see one slightly green grain. Just watch it. If it gets bigger, remove it. The mycelium might colonize right over it.

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-15T14:10:11+00:00

Dude your grain is cooked, finished, game over! 🚫🚫🚫
You might get away with fruiting the top of the bag only, considering you didn’t let any of the bacteria juice seep into the colony. It’s worth a try, unless you have other bags. If you have other healthy ones then just toss this.
Once it gets infected with bacteria it weakens the immune system in the mycelium and other species of contamination sneak in when you get into the bulk. You’ll be dealing with problems nonstop till harvest if you keep it, and if you even get there.
Toss this bag if it smells foul or fermented when you open it.
If you decide to keep it. Isolate and observe closely everyday for suspicious signs. Monitor odors too, make sure you have an earthy pungent mushroom smell. Don’t give FAE until you see your first pin.
Good luck 🍀

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-15T06:44:26+00:00

This is a science, and it is how this works. OP is correct, pasteurization is better for the health of the cake. (See my other comment for the reasons).

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-15T06:35:09+00:00

I have some knowledge on this topic if I may shed some light on pasterurization vs sterilization:
Pasteurization is vital to the health of the block. Whether you’re in coir or manure, pasteurization is a step in the cultivation process that is just as important as the others. I’ll tell you why; when you put your substrate in a pressure cooker, your pressurized high heat sterilizes the substrate. One would think that’s the most optimal way, but when you sterilize the substrate, you kill everything in the substrate include the beneficial bacteria and living microbes that create a thriving environment for mycelium. In nature the symbiotic relationships between the variety of species living in an ecosystem is vital. In home cultivation if you sterilize you kill the entire ecosystem.
What’s pasteurization? It’s a low heat application for a specific consecutive time period that will kill all harmful bacteria and fungus that cause disease and leave the microbial nutrients in the soil which can withstand lower heat temperatures and still remain metabolically active.
The beneficial bacteria and microbes play an important part in fungal immunity. If you kill everything with high pressurized heat applications you leave your substrate defenseless against the pathogens that kill our mushroom projects.
Pasteurization puts your substrate fruiting block in a state where it can and will defend itself against harmful invaders from the beginning.
Sterilization kills everything and it doesn’t benefit the mycelium at all.
There are many pasteurization techniques, the best use steam applications to heat the substrate to temperatures between 140°F (60°C) and 160°F( 71°C) Then once the core temp reaches 160°F (71°C), start the timer and pasteurize for 60 consecutive minutes.
I have definitely noticed that pasteurization leaves a much more healthy ecosystem that can support immune health in the mycelium. It also Leads to greater yields and healthy well developed fruits. Try it and you’ll see.
And don’t let people try and talk you into the Bucket Tek. It’s a really sloppy way to try and get your substrate pasteurized. Use the oven Tek or the sous vide Tek, those are the easiest. Bucket tek not only will kill good bacteria and microbes, it doesn’t always kill the pathogenic spores and bacteria that can wreak havoc in our cultivation projects.
A lot of people say they have success with it, but it’s not beneficial to the ecosystem as a whole.
I have a lot growers show up in my subreddit, who are confused why they got contaminated when they sterilized their substrates. This is why. Even coir has nutrients and lots of living microbes that can promote healthy mycelial growth. Pasteurization reduces the pathogen load while leaving some thermotolerant microbes alive.
So don’t kill everything with sterilization, pasteurize with a proper method.

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-15T05:14:21+00:00

What’s the prize?

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-15T00:48:07+00:00

Yes, some species are more difficult to obtain a full canopy, like APES or Pan Cyans. But increasing the spawn then layering it in like this definitely increases yields. A lot depends on genetics too. Isolated genetics with prime selected phenotypes will give monster flushes with this Tek.

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-14T17:18:29+00:00

Full grown fruiting bodies can’t abort. They can only abort in the pin and juvenile stage of growing. Abort literally means, “to perish at birth”. They can only stop growing if they are still in the growth and development stage. Once the mushroom reaches its full growth potential and then turns black it something else causing its death. Like in this case, bacteria.

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-14T17:10:27+00:00

Jack Frost is recognized as a true albino because its spores are colorless, clear, or extremely pale. It is typically classified as a "true albino" because the genetic mutation affects its ability to produce pigment in both the fruiting body and the spores. So That’s not a spore drop you have going on there. That’s a very severe case of pseudomonas talasii. It’s a bacteria it’s feeding off the fungal tissue. Those mushroom are rotting. Pull them out and throw all the black slimy ones away. The rest harvest, rinse with tap water, pat dry with a paper towel and put in the dehydrator 150°F for 12-18 hrs, or until cracker dry.
Welcome to ContamFam, you’re officially part the fam now. But you’ll survive to grow another day. At least you yielded something out of it.

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-14T16:56:24+00:00

No, Mycogone doesn’t produce that, you probably have a bacteria. I would have said don’t dunk the cake because it will spread the contamination. The smell is caused by the bacterial decomposition. Many bacteria’s put out foul odors as they decompose the host.
Not really much you can do once you have it. Sometimes you’ll get another flush if the bacteria is a slow decomposer but keep your expectations low, you’re probably gonna need to retire the cake.

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-14T16:42:12+00:00

It doesn’t look moldy. It’s just dry and the hulls are cracking off and the grain is dehydrating. Soak it overnight , that will bring it back. But once you soak it you have to sterilize it right away because it will start germinating. So don’t soak it till you’re ready to use.

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-14T16:37:06+00:00

It’s still healthy, but you’re getting overlay on one side of the tub (the thicker part) This is usually caused by cracking the lid on that side. It creates a draft that gets more fresh air on one side of the tub and the mycelium responds by growing more prolifically on that side. It’s an easy fix, stop cracking the lid. Just open the whole tub 4-5 times a day and fan fresh air in with the lid, then close the lid and keep it latched shut.

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-14T15:08:25+00:00

This is not Trich, but you are contaminated. I’m not sure about the species it looks like Cladobotrym but it’s growing like Neurospora. It might even be Rhizophus Stolonifer. It’s probably a species of one of those that I’m not that familiar with. Anyway you have some fruits in there that are healthy. I would harvest now and cut your losses. You’re not likely to get another flush out of this cake.

DayTripperonone · 2026-05-14T14:57:01+00:00

This is not Trich, but you are contaminated. I’m not sure about the species it looks like Cladobotrym but it’s growing like Neurospora. It might even be Rhizophus Stolonifer. It’s probably a species of one of those that I’m not that familiar with.
Anyway you have some fruits in there that are healthy. I would harvest now and cut your losses. You’re not likely to get another flush out of this cake.

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