Light and colonization

In order to not hijack another members thread I have started this one. Seems there are some who say that light helps with colonization. Now mushroom industry seems to disagree. I am looking for documention on how myc that grows in the dark in nature responds to light to help it col. I am not looking for "well a buddy says it works so I started doing it" I want actual doc that shows this. Now if you have tried it and kept track of all variables ok I am willing to listen. But you need to show documention of some sort.
Please understand were i am coming from. Humans have been growing mush for thousands of years now. Mushroom cultivation is an actual legal industry. There have been studies done by actual scientists. So to dispute something that has been documented for a long time, there needs to be actual studies done.
I am a newbie and just started growing. So for me to get on here and state that there is no way that light helps is wrong. I do know that the fungi we grow (shrooms and edibles) the myc doesnt use light like regular plants. It doesnt have chlorophil. So anyway this is my thread so no BS please. No attacking or name calling either. This is a debate between adults.

Wait, you are talking about an entire order, or is it kingdom? New fungus are being discovered almost daily. You ask too much especially of a species (forgive me my errant taxonomic labels, better yet correct me). I have been growing mushrooms (and cocomitantly the lower fungus) for 40 years. So far as the mushroom you are growing, I have found no direct benefit or detriment to growing the mycelium in moderate light. Manipulation of light does allow one to orchestrate flushes and you lose that control when the mycelium is exposed to light early on but I have never seen a problem nor an advantage growing dishes in light. The nature of the organism you are specifically interested in offers inherent problems when it comes to proper scientific research.

You bring up a good point Canndo. The myc that i am talking about is the normal ones grown by the hobbiest. Edibles like oyster, takies, white button and of the Cubes and Pans. I dont know about the PAns and cubes being a problem as there are parts in the world that they are legal. And when I say scientific, what i mean is Dont say something along the lines of :
"I col my myc in light and it worked faster. "
Really what were your temps?
"I dont know i didnt keep track"
That sort of thing proves nothing.

canndo said:

Wait, you are talking about an entire order, or is it kingdom? New fungus are being discovered almost daily. You ask too much especially of a species (forgive me my errant taxonomic labels, better yet correct me). I have been growing mushrooms (and cocomitantly the lower fungus) for 40 years. So far as the mushroom you are growing, I have found no direct benefit or detriment to growing the mycelium in moderate light. Manipulation of light does allow one to orchestrate flushes and you lose that control when the mycelium is exposed to light early on but I have never seen a problem nor an advantage growing dishes in light. The nature of the organism you are specifically interested in offers inherent problems when it comes to proper scientific research.

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Cando, it is great to have someone with your kind of knowledge on this site. I agree with just learning that it is nice to see facts, not only to prove a point but also to save for future reference. I have been growing hydro for about 10 years now and I understand plants but I know nothing about growing fungus. I will also be starting a thread of my start-up business.
I have seen this come up before about manipulation of the light. Could you elaborate a little more about "..and you lose that control when the mycelium is exposed to light early on." By losing the ability to control the light and thus the flushes does this add to the overall time between each flush?

What it does it to in effect randomize the fruiting. What you want to happen is to have the mycelium exposed to light at the same time it has just crested the surface of the casing, while at the same time, reducing CO2. If at all possible the temperature should be reduced for a short period of time as well. That is how you get the most amount from any given substrate. 80 percent of all the mushrooms you will get, you will get from the first three flushes. If those flushes are not orchestrated you will have inferior beginning flushes and will be forced to rely on subsequent flushes - each successive one being more prone to contamination and you will have to resort to things like "dunking" - or replenishing water to that substrate. Light is an important trigger and it tends to regulate the stature of the mushroom as well, there are pictures I posted here somewhere where I deprived the first or second flush of light to see if perhaps I could get more weight - while the mushroom stems were much longer and the caps much smaller, they were more hollow, so I didn't see much difference.

I don't know about other types of mushrooms but for cubensis, the reason they should be kept in the dark while colonizing is so that they don't start to pin until you are ready to move them to the fruiting chamber. Light triggers the next stage in its life cycle.

thetester said:

the reason they should be kept in the dark while colonizing is so that they don't start to pin until you are ready to move them to the fruiting chamber. Light triggers the next stage in its life cycle.

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No this is wrong. Light is a pinning trigger but it's a secondary pinning trigger.
The three main pinning triggers are full colonization, FAE and Evaporation off of the substrate.

You may be right, I am not saying you are wrong. But I do have a source. "Psilocybin Mushroom Handbook" By L.G. Nicholas and Kerry Ogame. Page 68.

That book was written 37 years ago.

Light is a primary. You can initiate pinning witht no evaporation and no exchange with light alone.

canndo said:

Light is a primary.You can initiate pinning witht no evaporation and no exchange with light alone.

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If thats the case why do people still get a bunch of side pins even though there is duct tape around the bottom of monotubs?

Still light leaks

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tylerrrrr said:

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There are still light leaks coming through, even a few fractions of a second of light can trigger fruiting.

Grossly incorrect.

bigv1976 said:

Grossly incorrect.

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I have triggered pinning using nothing more than light, no change in any other variable. I have also had pins form in absolute darkness. Certainly a reduction in CO2 levels will play a part but I have found that even the most minute source of light will trigger a pin set. In a situation where there was a grow in blue tinted tubs and one part of the tub was exposed to sunlight through a window, only the area closest to the light that shown through that portion of the tub pinned, the rest did not or was delayed - as the problem with this thesis is that in order to see your results you need light, when that light strikes the mycelium, it will trigger.

Or are you claiming that something else is incorrect (grossly).