There are three crutial factors that triggers the mycelium (white fuzzy stuff) to form fruiting body: light, fresh air, and humidity. In the nature, light and fresh air is how the mycelium knows that it has reached surface and it should start to produce fruits. Humidity is also important for mycelium to produce fruits because it takes a lot of water for the fruits to form, the mycelium will only start to form fruiting bodies when there’s enough moisture in the air.

That depends on what your goal is. If you plan to use the spores from the mushrooms to grow more mushrooms, you can cut off the cap and place it on a piece of paper or aluminum foil to collect the spores. If you plan to store them you can dry them by placing the mushrooms on a piece of paper towel and let it dry for about a week, after its dried you can preserve them in a mason jar or any container that does not let moisture seeps through

Generally, no. The white fluffy stuff is likely what mushroom cultivator call “fuzzy feet”, which is excessive mycelium growth due to high moisture content. A little bit of “fuzzy feet” is normal and shows that the mushrooms are getting enough moisture. In some cases, the “fuzzy feet” can be pretty big (2-3 time the diameter of the mushroom stem). This will not effect the growth of mushroom, however, you may want to spray less water to reduce moisture level to get a better yeild.

There can be multiple factors to cause the mushrooms to have thick, short stems. If you are growing the albino penis envy strain of P. Cubensis, this is normal. For any other strains, short and thick stem if usually caused by lack of fresh air exchange and CO2 build up. Open the bag and fan it to allow fresh air to enter the bag, as fresh air exchange is very important for mushroom growth.

Generally, no. But it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Mushroom mycelium turns blue when it is damaged. This can be caused by many reasons. For example, lack of moisure, exposure to chemicals, or when you soak the substrate for the next flush you might damage some mycelium. Regardless of what caused it, they should still fruit with decent yield. Another possibility is Penicillum spp. (a specie of mold) contamination. Penicillum contamination can be easily identified by their emerald color and fuzzy texture.

The mushrooms will fruit on any surface on the substrate that is exposed to air. As the mushrooms grow, it’ll takes nutrients and water from the substrate, causing it to shrink. As the Substrate shrinks, more surface will be exposed to air, causing mushrooms to form on the side. If this is the case, harvest the mushrooms on the top surface first, then put one hand on the top of the substrate, flip the substrate over so that the top surface is resting on your palm, lift off the plastic box, harvest any mushrooms on the side and bottom surface, then put the plastic box over the substrate and flip it over again. Becareful not to damage the substrate in doing so.

 Once the edge of the mushroom cap is just slightly detatching from the stem, it is ready for harvest. If you wish to collect spores from the mushroom, wait until the mushroom cap fully opens. It usually takes 12-24 hours for the mushroom cap to fully open once it’s detatched form the stem.

If the majority of mushrooms are still forming, carefully harvest the ones that are fully grown without damaging nearby mushrooms that are still forming. If you worry that you might damage nearby growing mushrooms, you can wait until all the mushrooms are full grown, but in doing so, the one’s that are full grown will release spores on to the surface of the grow kit, and might affect future flushes.

No, do not toss it out. The black stuff on the surface is actually mushroom spores, think of it as tiny mushrooms seeds. If there are no other signs of contamination, you can soak the substrate with cold tap water and it should produce more flushes. (Note: In very rare cases your mushroom kit will be contaminated by a type of mold name Aspergillus Niger, which looks black and fuzzy. If this is the case, dispose the kit, as the spores of Aspergillus Niger might be harmful to your health.)

This is what mushroom cultivators refered to as “aborts”, which simply means that the mushroom decides to stop growing half way through. There are many reasons that might’ve caused this, for example, dry environment, too high/low temperature, contamination, lack of fresh air, etc. But the most common cause is that the mycelium that connects to the growing mushroom, or the mushroom itself is damaged. This will not effect the functionalities of the grow kit, the mushrooms will grow out elsewhere, but you might want to remove them if possible as it will take nutrients from the substrate without contributing to the formation of mushrooms, and it might be a spot of contamination in the future.

This is what mushroom cultivators refered to as “aborts”, which simply means that the mushroom decides to stop growing half way through. There are many reasons that might’ve caused this, for example, dry environment, too high/low temperature, contamination, lack of fresh air, etc. But the most common cause is that the mycelium that connects to the growing mushroom, or the mushroom itself is damaged. This will not effect the functionalities of the grow kit, the mushrooms will grow out elsewhere, but you might want to remove them if possible as it will take nutrients from the substrate without contributing to the formation of mushrooms, and it might be a spot of contamination in the future.

The grow kit will stop fruit if the nutrient is used up or if it’s contaminated. As the number of flush increases, there will be less and less nutrient in the grow kit, and it’ll take longer and longer for the next batch of mushroom to fruit. At some point there will not be enough nutrients in the grow kit for mushroom to form, and at this stage contaminations will likely occur, which will kill most of the mycelium. If you haven’t seen any signs of growth for more than 3 weeks after a flush, or if there are fussy mold or yellow/orange dots forming on the surface of the grow kit, it is safe to assume that the grow kit is done.