I suspected as much. The science of it really shows it should...I just wonder at what ratio's I can figure out to maximize on its effectiveness (including soaks to increase its effectiveness).
Oh yes, I know much about Stamets. His books are what got me into the hobby, got 18 species in my library actually.
maikeru if you want to take a picture, I can get them identified for you if your curious. You'd have to take a picture of the underside as well as the tops and stems. Definitely they would be enjoying the water retention from the char along with the nitro boost from the coffee and then a huge glucose boost from your molasses (in small quantities fungus go crazy over it)
freeztar: I'll see what I can do. I've got some time now this weekend to make some biochar and charcoal (finally) and my spawn is ready...so I can start making some experiments soon. Then hopefully I can give a breakdown on what I find. This is also very new territory in the mycology places I frequent as well, so were all pretty curious of some answers about what is to come of this. Biochar especially. Usage of activated charcoal in limited amounts in agar is particularly useful for things like getting stubborn spores to germinate and it shows to make the mycelium very healthy.
Some folks have reported that it improves the flavour of the mushroom. So we'll see...I'll be doing many experiments, hopefully posting some beautiful pictures for you guys to see
Now if anyone has suggestions here...I am suspecting that I should let my soak evaporate some within the charcoal. Now, if I left the char/biochar as a whole...it would retain its shape as described in the gardening faq which I have no link for. So it wouldn't necessary have to evaporate to a dry pan and I would make use of the water in hydrating the substrates for the mushrooms...but if it was powdered charcoal, it'd have to evaporate completely. Which would be time consuming...but would one retain the most nutrients? I may set aside a small tray to let it evaporate completely and see if it makes a difference.
Interesting stuff...interesting interesting stuff. Thanks for the replies though, I was starting to wonder
