>>13676171>1. have you fruited sclerotia from uncle bens bags?I'm not familiar with that product. I didn't worry about fruiting anything because I wanted the sclerotia.
>2. what factors induce sclerotia formation?Darkness is a big one because they form underground so you need to incubate the mycelium in a dark, well-ventilated space. I'm not sure exactly how, but annual rye grass seeds (not the berries) seem to stimulate sclerotia growth for most species that produce them.
>3. will break and shakes effect sclerotia formation?Not while the mycelium is running, but after it's run through the substrate you could damage knots that are forming or destroy the network feeding them nutrients. I only shook my jars once when I inoculated them with the grains I used for germination.
>4. if I fruit the mycelium, will it still produce sclerotia?I don't see why not provided the block gets enough darkness and the substrate is something that encourages sclerotia formation. Alternatively you could potentially use spent substrate to inoculate jars of grass seed and grow the sclerotia in those. Many species of mushrooms with sclerotia can fruit without them, but some only fruit from the sclerotia so you should read up on the particular species you're growing.
>5. can I produce larger sclerotia by spawning the mycelium to a bulk substrate and allowing it to colonize for several months without fruiting?I'm not sure what influences their size. If you grow them in jars then you'll be able to see some forming against the side which can give you an idea of how big they are.
Good luck, anon
