This one I bumped the fruit when I was taking the photos and it broke off. Species used was Pioppino (Cyclocybe aegerita).
The flask is plastic, green on the bottom and fading to clear near the top.
Banana for scale.
Got a second flush on the Chia Pet, but wasn't ready with the chia again to try to get another double grow.
see my previous post HERE for more details on this grow
Hey everyone! I'm u/FishTankTek, founder of r/BonsaiFungi and the grower/photographer behind the instagram account of the same name
Firstly, it's true that this subreddit was named after my Instagram account and art project, (@BonsaiFungi). It is where I post the photos of my favorite grows that are part of my art project. In the beginning, this was just a place for me to share my impractical grows on Reddit. Then some of you all started joining in, and we have grown into a small community of people who are out there growing mushrooms out of all kinds of containers.
What to Post
Show off your bonsai grows, ask question about bonsai grows, or discuss bonsai grows!
All posts must be related to growing mushrooms, with intent, from unusual containers. Mason jars, petri dishes, plastic tubs, plastic shoe-boxes, etc. are all standard containers for home mycology cultivation and are not permitted here.
Take a second to review the sub's rules before posting and if you aren't sure if a post is allowed you can always message the mods with modmail to get clarification
Community Vibe
We're all about being friendly, constructive, and inclusive. Let's build a space where everyone feels comfortable sharing and connecting.
Feel free to introduce yourself in the comments below
For now I'll leave you all with the sub's rules, as they currently stand, and wish you happy growing.
THE RULES:
This sub is for showing off and discussing mushrooms intentionally grown from non-standard containers.
If the grows is not intentional, or the container is standard or common for mushroom cultivation, then this isn't the sub for your grow. This sub is for showing off and discussing mushrooms intentionally grown from non-standard containers.If the grows is not intentional, or the container is standard or common for mushroom cultivation, then this isn't the sub for your grow.
Mushrooms must be grown in place. Staged photos are not allowed.
Mushrooms staged in containers after fruiting, to appear that they grew in place, is not in the spirit of the sub.
Grows must be intentionally cultivated in a non-standard container
Example: If a grower spawns to a flowerpot with the intention of fruiting, that counts because it is intentional. If someone's houseplants fruit some mushrooms on its own, even though that's an unusual container, it would not have been cultivated with intent and wouldn't belong in the sub.
Mason Jars, Petri Dishes, and Tupperware
Standard containers include, but are not limited to: Mason Jars, Petri Dishes, 5-gallon buckets, and some Tupperware. Exceptions will be made for very large or very small mason jars since these are impractical. The weirder and more unusual the container, the better, so if you want to post here, be creative about your container choice.
Unclear what container is being used for cultivation.
Please show and describe the container used in any posts you make to this sub. If the container is cropped out of the photo, it's just a photo of mushrooms and off-topic. I shouldn't have to ask for clarification on what the container is and what makes it unusual for mushroom cultivation.
Do not clutter the subreddit (spam) or make severely unrelated posts/comments.
This rule is redundant and a bit of a catch-all.
No Merchandise or Sales
The only person allowed to use this sub for sales, is me. And I'm not selling anything at the moment. Sorry, not sorry.
Don't be a jerk
Do I have to explain this one? Be kind to each other.
No discussing spore sources for psychedelic grows and No sourcing illegal substances
I have to abide by Reddit's rules, and these two rules will change if Reddit changes its policy. Until then, I am obliged to enforce them.
The grow is Chestnut mushrooms (Pholiota adiposa) growing from a metal ground black pepper tin
Anyone thinking about doing these kinds of grows should be very careful, there is a very real risk of addiction 😉
I left the water marks from when i posted this grow to my instagram (@BonsaiFungi), but I assure ya'll that they are my photos
I usually save these more artistic photos for instagram and post more point-and-shoot style photos on reddit so it gives people a reason to sub to my instagram, but the instagram algorithm has not been kind to me since i've started posting on there again, so I don't know what i'm going to do going forward.
More Pioppino mushroom (Cyclocybe aegerita) growing this time out of a tall and clear shot glass.
Not as glamorous as the Chia Pet grow, but despite being from the same spawn this grow produced much smaller mushrooms. I also fruited the same spawn from a number of other containers and there appears to be a loose correlation between the size of the fruiting block and the size of the fruits,
This is the second flush for this container. The first flush fell victim to the humidifier going dry in one of my automated grow setups, right as it was fruiting. that particular setup gets a lot of airflow and it is very dry here so the mushrooms dried out
I’m declaring the Chia Pet grow a resounding success. The mushroom species used is Pippino (Agrocybe aegerita), and the plants shown are from the Chia plant (Salvia hispanica) or similar. The right side of the female figure’s head does have a bald spot where the chia seeds didn’t sprout, but otherwise, it turned out exactly as I had hoped it would.
The design of the planter is based on a 1930's painting by Grant Wood called American Gothic (Wiki Link). I like the animal Chia Pets better, but I haven't found a used one for cheap yet and I do too many of these weird grows to be paying full price.
How this grow happened:
I happened upon this Chia Pet at a garage sale, and as I often do, I thought to myself, “Hey… I bet I could grow mushrooms out of this!”
The plan:
The plan was to spawn to the planters, filling them all the way up with mushroom spawn, then add the chia seeds 5-10 days before the mushrooms would be done fruiting.
I suspected that the chia seeds would be able to handle or benefit from the high humidity of the fruiting conditions for the mushrooms. I did end up moving the grow into the automated fruiting chamber since it has a lot more airflow. I also ended up adding some grow lights when the chia seeds on the planter were under-performing my control grow of chia that lived by the window.
I haven't posted this grow to my Instagram yet because I don't like how washed out the photos are and am going to try to photograph it again with better lighting.
I don't know what else to say about this grow, so hit up the comments if I missed anything or for questions.
A couple of you have reached out lately to ask what I’ve been working on and when I’ll start posting my grows again, so I thought I’d share a bit about what I’ve been working over the next couple days as i wait for my latest grows to fruit
So this chia pet grow is one I’m really excited about. I filled a chia pet brand chia planter with pioppino (Cyclocybe aegerita) mushroom spawn and now that it is fully colonized I have added the chia seeds. The hope is that I timed it right and I can get the mushrooms to fruit at the same time that the chia is sprouting.
The photos are before/after adding the chia seeds.