:? Hi all I just found this great site and had to join right away. I've been stumbling through the learning process of growing mushrooms for two years now and we're actually starting to make some money back, I'm about to attempt a fruiting in my grow house over the winter. I'm looking to fruit phoenix, pink, and english. I have some old eight foot shop lights laying around and I'm wondering if I can buy new lights for the fixtures to assist with the extra light requirements. My growhouse is 16x18 and I get plenty of sun during the day from skylights I cut in the roof. Just worried about that extra couple of hours. Do I need more power like a big halogen or will this work?Any body been down this road? I've made too much spawn for this to screw it up!My wife will kill me!

Well, I have never grown on the scale you have, but I can tell you what Stamets give for parameters in his book.

Pink oyster:
- Primordia 750-1500 lux
- Fruitbody development 750-1500 lux

Phoenix oyster
- Primordia 1000-1500 lux
- Fruitbody development 1000-1500 lux

No listing for the English, but I assume it would be in the same range.

With some math you can figure out what you need. Fluorescents should produce what you need, I would think that bigger grow lights like halaogens or mercury vapors would be to intence for them, not to mention the hot spots they create.

this may help too,specific instructions on what temperature air quality and humidity at what time most edibles need to grow and fruit.
www.sacredshrooms.org/forums/showflat.ph.../an/0/page/0#2103080

and here is what lux are in real life.

Direct sunlight
100,000 - 130,000 lux

Full daylight, indirect sunlight
10,000 - 20,000 lux

Overcast day
1,000 lux

Indoor office
200 - 400 lux

Very dark day
100 lux

Twilight
10 lux

Deep twilight
1 lux

Full moon
0.1 lux

Quarter moon
0.01 lux

Moonless clear night sky
0.001 lux

Moonless overcast night sky
0.0001 lux

and here is a page to figure out what light sources you need to make the lux you need...(I think) I haven't had time to look around it but it looks like what a good starting point.Google "lux calculator" and sift thru the results.....gotta run
www.spotlight.it/toolsf_eng.htm
I'm going to need to know what light makes what lux for my own grows,I'll post the results when I find out.
But from what I've seen Oysters need a LOT of light to develop properly so I may be using 500 watt halogens but from what distance I need to figure out.I have access to good light meters and I'll figure the proper distances.

thanks psynaut. I'm gonna try the flourescent route. I need to get a book and figure out what exactly a lux is and how to measure approximately etc. Back to digesting turkey. :idea: