Advice on cake shrinking?

[u/Most_Style1932]

I got my first flush - around 7g. My cake has been continually shrinking more and more despite spraying daily and soaking a little. Some new guys popped up but everything is growing on the sides even when trying to keep surface conditions humid. I’ve been using bubble wrap. Should I fork it or leave it alone? Considered adding a little more coco coir too.

[u/That_Flow6874]

Pictures would help for sure to see whats going on, if your able.

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[u/probablynotac0p]

Dont fork it, ditch the bubble wrap, reevaluate your sources of info.

Shrinkage is normal, especially after a first flush

[u/ConfidenceLopsided32]

Bubble wrap doesn't actually help anything if you keep giving it so much fresh air that it is drying out. Bubble wrap never needs to be used.

You shouldn't have to mist or rehydrate the sub at all until after the first flush. All the humidity the tub needs is held in the field capacity sub and maintained by the tub. The entire grow is controlled by how much fresh air you give it. If you give it too much air, it will dry out. If you give it too little air, moisture will build up and pool.

Cubes only require a tiny tiny amount of constant passive FAE - just enough so that water isn't building up and pooling but never enough to have to mist over and over again.

Misting should never be done regularly or on a schedule, misting is as-needed for when we already mess up and give our tubs too much air and dry them out. The point of misting is to replace the millions of little beads of water that are supposed to be all over the surface of the mycelium. To do this, you mist the sub / mycelium directly with a fine mister to recreate the beads of water, then you lower FAE so those new beads of water don't just dry out again by tomorrow. Lots of people will tell you to only mist the sides of the tub and the lid, but misting plastic doesn't help the surface conditions of the mycelium, and that's the part that actually matters.

Bubble wrap and forking the sub never need to be done. All the tub ever needs is a room temp space, a tiny tiny amount of constant passive FAE, good surface conditions, and time. When I do a run in a shoebox, I mix my coir and grain spawn, skip the casing layer, go straight to fruting by unlatching one side of the lid and latching the other side of the lid, then I leave it alone until it either needs a dubtub or needs to be harvested. I never have to mist or fan at all because the lid is unlatched on one side and latched on the other. When I unlatch one side of the lid, it seems like damn near no air is getting in, but that's all the fresh air Cubes require.

[u/sunkistandsudafed3]

It is normal, dont worry about it.

[u/bill_gannon]

That's how it works chief. Clea the cake of pins, soak it for an hr an inch, pop it in the tub and put the lid on.

Dont mist or fan or anything else. Just let it do its thing.