All of the mycelium products laid out to grow 
Mycelium still in the filter bag after hydrating 
Top view of planter using mold purchased from grow.bio 
Angled view of planter 
Angled view of hand sculpted mini chair and base 
hand sculpted mini chair 
Top view of place mat or mini coffee table and cylinder base 
Top view of mini objects 
Angled view of mini objects
Today I completed step two of the mycelium growth process for testing. I removed the mycelium out of its filter bag where it had been starting to grow for 5 days. I crumbled all of it up, added flour, and then split it in half to add the sculpting mix to half of it. I hope it was grown enough, because I left it for 5 days and the instructions said 4-5, but the outside was not all white, and it was really easy to crumble.
I filled the planter mold that I purchased from grow.bio with the regular mycelium mixture and compressed it. I was surprised that it took half of the mycelium to fill the mold when the walls are actually pretty thin. I guess it just compresses a lot. Once that was complete, I covered the mold in plastic wrap and poked holes for condensation to get out.
After that, I started working with the sculpting portion of the mycelium. I had to mix all of it in, and then I started to make a miniature model of a chair. It was good that I did this testing now, because I learned that the mycelium doesn’t stick to itself that well even with the sculpting mix. If you compress it, it does stick, but trying to get any complex shape is difficult. I has to use large curves and thick sides to make the chair, and then I just made a mound to use as a base since I could not make anything resembling legs.
I had extra sculpting mix mycelium, so I tried out making a thin sheet, which would be what a tabletop or flat chair seat would be. This was easier than a complex shape, but getting a nice circle wasn’t too easy. I also tried to make a cylindrical base as if this was a miniature table, but instead of compressing it I left the mycelium fairly loose. This was much easier, and it will be good to know if it is actually a method I can use and have it be strong.
I also made some mini items, like some bricks that may or may not release from the mold, and a sphere because I thought it would look cool. Getting the spherical shape was surprisingly difficult because every time I tried to smooth it out, the compression would release and it would fall apart.
Now that everything is covered and growing, I need to wait 4-6 days before I can weigh the objects and start drying them on October 24-26. Hopefully they are all stable.