Thread: Timber storage - Part 2

About 2 months ago I scored some freshly cut down Red Alder and Silky Oak Link. I decided to give my Woodcut Bowl Saver a workout and cored out most of it, leaving 3 lumps not cored.

The cored pieces I placed in plastic bags with shavings and stored in the garden shed (3 x 3 metres and not lined/insulated),
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the other 3 pieces I sealed with wax and kept in the big shed which has roof insulation and is partly lined.

Today I opened a couple of the bags to see how things were progressing:
The Silky Oak seemed to be coming along nicely
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The Red Alder, on the other hand, was developing some white "mould" and on a couple of the blanks there were some bright yellow patches. Is the white "mould" the start of spalting, and if so can it be controlled? I'm assuming the yellow patches are just "punky" wood. One thing I noticed was that there was no sign of cracks developing in any of the pieces despite the wide temperature variations in the small shed.
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One of the blanks in the other shed has developed a couple of cracks.
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Does anyone think that coring a big blank could reduce stress during the drying and therefore help eliminate/minimise cracking, or is wrapping in plastic with the shavings the reason for no cracks developing (so far).