What makes the grow block "spent"? I know when you're fruiting, the spawn is allowed to completely grow through the medium, but after you collect the mushrooms couldn't you move that spawn to some fresh medium and start a new fruiting bag? Or does the mycelium sort of get worn out after fruiting?
Without more food, the mycelium is limited to how many flushes of mushrooms it grows. Once it barely fruits, it’s considered spent.
You can add the mycelium to new growing medium and that will give it more energy to fruit, but it’s not infinite as you run into senescence.
Had to look up that word, but ok that makes sense and explains why eventually you have to start new spawn from a fresh mushroom. I got some pink and blue oyster spawn from ebay and have been expanding it between jars of rye berries and popcorn kernels, so I now have several jars ready to go to fruiting bags. I'm hoping to get a couple bags started this weekend, and maybe put the other jars in the refrigerator to slow them down until I'm ready to start some new fruiting bags. This is my first attempt at growing them so I've been trying to figure it all out as I go.
I always wonder, do they (plants and mushs) compete for resources?
I know they are symbiotic in regards to Co2/O but otherwise I'm curiousNot usually. They often exchange nutrients with one another. This is generally as there are fungi that can eat plants and whatnot.
They are very symbiotic! I'm no expert, but there's several ways they are symbiotic.
There's the cycle of plant dies, mycelium eats/decomposes it which spreads the nutrients through the soil, new plants have more available nutrients.
There are also lots of cases of them living symbiotically together. Basically the fungus and plant exchange nutrients with each other.
https://www.britmycolsoc.org.uk/mycokids/some-fungi-help-our-planet
It keeps giving I guess.
