Lets say someone is growing mushrooms with vermiculite in the substrate. If something were to get in the vermiculite or other part of the substrate, like a rock, would the rock make its way to the mushroom itself, or stay in the substrate/mycelium mixture? I would think that the rock would stay in the middle of the substrate, but I wouldn't really know. I've never grown, or plan to grow mushrooms, so I don't really know if the mycelium grows around the vermiculite, or actually 'eats' it. just wondering
The mycelium grows around and through the vermiculite but doesn't eat it. Vermiculite IS rock, after-all. At the vermiculite mine, they dig up rotten granite and bake it in giant ovens to get the internal moisture to escape and puff out the rock as it goes. Raw vermiculite looks just like flakes of mica. Cooked vermiculite looks just like...vermiculite. But I digress...
The mycelium will grow around anything in the substrate. If a mushroom is pulled off of the substrate, it will often have flecks of vermiculite in/on the mycelium at the base. Simply brush it off. Or eat it. It's just rock.
-TM
thank, thats exactly what I wanted to know