Day 3: Day and Night Make All the Difference

Today's spray and inspect provided quite a bit more interest than in past days. The directions said the white popcorn bumps that may appear while it's in the fridge isn't a mushroom. I guess they were right, because they now have those black caps a la the typical Shiitakes.

My current routine right now is to spray in between fixing KittyBee's breakfast and checking work email. Spritz when I get home. Mist again when I go to bed. It gives me three opportunities to check out how it's changed. During today's morning inspection, I saw the first real signs of growth. By the time I got home, it protruded even further. Oh my.

When I look at my block, as I am doing now while I type, it looks pretty dry. I have this urge to over spritz to make sure it's getting enough moisture. At some point, the block is supposed to go dark completely. It's got a bunch of brown areas with just as much white space left. (Sorry, I had to take a break and spritz some more. Shelby looked dry.)

I originally thought that putting it into an old disposable pan would be a good way to support it and catch stray water. Hey, we're Chinese... of course we reuse things. Anyhow, I'm finding that if Shelby grows from both sides, there's a tiny wall that would prevent it from reaching its peak. I touch and adjust the block to center it in the pan. It's so... it feels like a giant mushroom sponge. Gone are the days I'd squeeze it to see it blow bubbles. I wonder what I'll find by tomorrow morning. A night or day is just enough time to see substantial change. Maybe I'll find more babies tomorrow. Or maybe it'll all go dark. Or maybe I'll get that "much talked about" super big 'shroom.

I took this first picture in the morning before going to work. About 10+ hours when I came home, this is the growth I get from the same 'shroom.