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When something's wrong

Troubleshooting

No pins, overlay, aborts, side pins, wet spots and stalled colonization: likely causes and fixes, climate first.

Signs this guide is for you

  • Fruiting conditions started over 10 days ago and nothing has formed.
  • Pins are forming on the walls or turning dark and stopping.
  • A jar or tub stopped growing partway.

Rule out contamination first

Most problems are climate, not disease. But green, pink, orange, black powder or a sour smell skip this page: go to contamination ID. Everything below assumes the substrate looks and smells clean.

No pins

  • White, dry-looking surface, no knots after 10–14 daysUsually: Surface too dry; no evaporation cycleDo: Mist walls until the surface beads lightly; make sure moisture comes and goes
  • White surface with dense fuzz, tub feels stuffyUsually: CO₂ too high; not enough fresh airDo: Open holes or fan more; most tubs that refuse to pin are under-ventilated
  • Nothing at all in a dark spotUsually: No lightDo: 12/12 indirect light or a daylight bulb
  • Bare patches still showingUsually: Not finished colonizingDo: Wait; close up again until fully white
  • Room over about 80 °FUsually: HeatDo: Move somewhere cooler and steadier

Overlay

is a flat, dense white mat that keeps thickening with no knots, often after a tub was left sealed too long or with too little air. Prevent it by starting fruiting conditions a few days after the surface closes, not a week or more. Once it forms, add fresh air and restore a dewy surface. A thin, patchy overlay can be gently scratched with a sterile fork and given a light layer of fresh casing, but do not dig into the colonized substrate. Raised white circles that later turn green are trich, not overlay.

Aborts

A few in every flush are normal and fine to pick (Bible, p. 112). A whole field of dark, stalled pins means something stressed them all at once: a dry surface, a temperature swing, a sudden blast of dry air, or more pins than the bed can feed. Restore the surface dew, steady the temperature and pick the aborts so they do not rot. If aborts make up a large share of a flush, fix conditions before the next one.

Side pins and bottom pins

form where light and a humid air gap meet, down the walls of a clear tub or between substrate and plastic. They are caused by light reaching the substrate before it is ready, or by a gap between the substrate and the wall. Prevent them with a liner or an opaque tub during colonization, pressing the substrate firmly against the walls, and keeping light off until fruiting. They are still harvestable.

Wet spots and pooling

  • Puddles on the surface, mushy pinsUsually: Over-misting or too little evaporationDo: Tilt and drain, wipe walls, cut misting, add air
  • Yellow liquid pooled at the bottomUsually: Bacteria starting in standing waterDo: Drain, smell it; sour means retire the tub
  • Grey, wet, slimy grain that stopped growingUsually: bacteriaDo: Throw out; do not spawn it
  • Sunken yellow-brown spots on capsUsually: from wet capsDo: Stop wetting caps, add air, pick spotted fruits

Stalled colonization

Mark the edge of the growth on the glass every couple of days. Lines that get closer together show growth slowing before you would notice it by eye (Bible, p. 265).

  • No growth a week or more after inoculatingUsually: Cold room, weak or dead syringe, or too wetDo: Move to about 75–78 °F; give spore jars up to 2–3 weeks to show growth
  • Growth stops at a sharp line, or stalls in patches while the rest is fineUsually: Bacteria in the grain (Bible, p. 266)Do: Smell; sour means throw out
  • PF jar slows near the endUsually: CO₂ trapped by small lid holesDo: Once a jar is about 80% colonized, turn it upside down until it finishes (Bible, p. 264–265)
  • Growth starts, then stalls in dry grainUsually: Grain too dryDo: Start again with properly hydrated grain; it is usually safer than rescuing it (Bible, p. 265)
  • Slow, patchy bulkUsually: Low spawn ratio, cold, or uneven mixingDo: Keep warm and closed; use more spawn next time
  • Still not done after about 4 weeksUsually: Something is wrongDo: Inspect closely; do not keep waiting indefinitely

Other fruit problems

  • Long thin stems and small caps: more fresh air or more light.
  • Cracked, scaly caps: drier air than the fruits like; raise humidity and baffle airflow.
  • Fuzzy stem bases: more fresh air.
  • Purple-black dust everywhere: harvest earlier, at the veil break.
  • Misshapen first flush on PF cakes: common and usually fine (Bible, p. 112).

Common mistakes

  • Changing everything at once when pins are slow.
  • Brighter lights to fix stretched stems that really need air.
  • Scraping a healthy surface that just needed a few more days.
  • Waiting weeks on a jar that smells sour.

What to do next

  • Fixed the climate? Go back to pinning and hold conditions steady.
  • Color or smell turned up: contamination ID.

Seen something different in your own tub? Add your grow report on the strain you grew. Reports are how these pages get better.

Sources

  1. Psilocybin Mushroom Bible (Haze & Mandrake, 2016), aborts and misshapen first flushes, p. 112–116
  2. Psilocybin Mushroom Bible (Haze & Mandrake, 2016), slow and stalled colonization, p. 264–266
  3. The Mushroom Cultivator (Stamets & Chilton, 1983), no primordia, aborts and long stems, p. 229–231
  4. The Mushroom Cultivator (Stamets & Chilton, 1983), overlay and high CO₂, p. 143
  5. Shroomery forum: surface moisture and when to add fresh air
  6. Shroomery forum: how it should and shouldn't look

Written for this site in our own words from the books and threads above. Where growers disagree, both sides are given. Nothing here is advice about anything other than growing.