Shareware 1 2 the Maxx/sw_1.zip/sw_1/TEXT/PSY_MUSH.ZIP/MUSHROOM.FAQ

Text File | 1992-03-31 | 18KB | 287 lines

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Well here it is, all I know about growing psychedelic mushrooms...
This information was taken from a book in the rare books collection at the
University of Texas at Austin entitled "Magic Mushroom Cultivation", published
in 1977 and written by (the name escapes me).  Anyway, I have used the rice-
cake method described below, and am currently growing my third batch, which
has turned out some pretty potent mushrooms!  I feel the need to mention that
I'm giving you this information for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, and I don't
expect you or anyone else to actually undertake any of the techniques I will
describe below, for to do so may violate certain laws--and I wouldn't give you
this information if I thought you might do something illegal.

Before I describe the technique I use, I'd like to say that there are many
methods of growing 'shrooms, some more difficult than others, and I am simply
presenting the method which has worked well for me:  never had a dud batch--
they've always fruited readily, and I've never poisoned myself or others with
contaminated 'shrooms.

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                      HOW TO GROW PSYCHEDELIC MUSHROOMS
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Materials Needed:

- a sporeprint from a strain of psychedelic mushrooms.
    (make sure it's the real thing, and that it's not contaminated with dust
     or anything!)

- a pressure cooker, pref. 17 qt. (liquid) capacity.
    (this is the most expensive item, but it's a necessity.  Borrow, rent,
     buy, or steal one.)

- one dozen (or more) new mason jars, 1 quart size, pref. wide mouthed,
  with lids.

- a box/bag of brown rice--not white rice and not long-grain.  Use a decent
  quality brand...i find that Comet brand SUCKS! Do not use it.

- something to scrape the spores off the print into the jar... You want
  something like a stiff metal wire with a handle, so you can heat the end
  red hot in a flame to sterilize it without burning your fingers.  I find
  that a probe from a Biology dissection kit works wonderfully.

- a flame source.  An alcohol lamp is not hard to make out of a small jar
  filled with rubbing alcohol, with a cotton ball as a wick.  I suppose you
  could just use a lighter, but i prefer making an alcohol lamp--just make
  sure you don't burn your place down!!

- a clean place with a relatively constant temp. between 60-78 degrees to
  store your jars.  ( I made up the temperature range )  Closet shelves are
  fine, in my experience.  You want a place that's pretty dust/bug free,
  but you don't want the storage area to be airtight, as shrooms do have to
  breathe just like any other living organism.  Many books recommend making
  some kind of superclean box to store the jars in, but I've never bothered
  with that.  Most sources of information on growing 'shrooms (this one, too)
  stress that everything be AS STERILE AS POSSIBLE.  However, if you do have
  to cut a few corners you should still be successful if you just USE YOUR HEAD!

which leads me to the....

- optional materials:  germ-killing soap for washing hands, alcohol for
  sterilizing hands, etc.,  surgical gloves, dust masks, hair-nets, an
  air-filtering machine (Pollenex?), a couple gallon jugs of distilled water.
  (As you can see, this is all stuff which will help to make things a bit
   more sterile--definetly recommended!)

PROCEDURE (finally!)

This is the procedure I follow for the rice-cake method of propagating
psychedelic mushrooms.  I use this method for a number of reasons.  One is
that my first ever batch consisted of 6 jars of manure medium and 6 of the
brown rice medium, I found the rice cakes produced more 'shrooms, and for
a longer period of time than did the manure-filled jars.  Rice has obvious
advantages in that it's easy to obtain--no trekking thru a pasture looking
for fresh cow-shit!  Also, the manure stinks like hell when cooked in the
pressure cooker!  Perhaps the biggest advantage to the rice cake method is
that when the rice cake no longer produces crops of 'shrooms (2-3 mos.),
you can actually CONSUME THE RICE CAKE ITSELF!!  Given, of course, that you
detect no contaminants on the rice cake (molds or bacteria).  When mushroom
growth stops, the rice cake can provide a trip for 2-4 people.  See the end
of this article for methods of ingesting mushrooms/rice cakes...

PROCEDURE ( i promise! )

1.  Turn off the air-conditioner in the place you're going to do this...It is
very important to work in a draft-free area.  Turning the A/C off will allow
the dust in the room to settle (incl. the heavier mold spores which can
contaminate your rice-cake medium. )

2.  Set up the pressure cooker, make sure you read the manual if you have one.
You don't want the damn pressure cooker exploding, or anything like that...
Wash out the pressure cooker for good measure, and also wash the jars and lids.
I wouldn't use a towel to dry them out, though, you'll just wipe germs & dust
back on 'em.

3.  Wash yourself, too.  It's recommended that you wear a long sleeved shirt,
and to pull your hair back or wear a cap or hair-net.  I don't think that the
dust mask would be nec. at this point, maybe later, though...

4.  For each quart-size mason jar, add 1/4 cup brown rice, and 1/3-1/2 cup water
I use the distilled water that you can buy in any grocery store--I don't trust
tap water.  Fill 6 or 7 jars with this mixture, as many as will fit into your
pressure cooker without stacking or jamming them in there.  Place the lids on
the jars, with the rubber UP, and leave the lids very loose.

5.  Place the jars on the bottom rack of the pressure cooker.  I recommend using
the rack, that way the jars won't tip and spill as the water boils around them.
Also keeps them from breaking from the heat of the burner directly below them.
For a 17 quart pressure cooker, add about 3 quarts of water, but not so much
that the jars start to tip over too much from floating.  Again, I use distilled
water for this.

6.  Now, follow the directions for sealing the pressure cooker.  Some recommend
that you rub a dab of cooking oil on the seal, so that it seals properly and
is easier to close and open.  Do it right. Do it by the book.  Turn the stove
on high and cook the jars for 1 hour AFTER the pressure reaches 15 lbs. inside
the cooker.  LET THE PRESSURE COOKER COOL BEFORE OPENING!  Also, don't try to
rush the cooling process.

7.  Just before opening the pr. cooker, wash up again, maybe use rubbing alcohol
or surgical gloves.  Now is the time for dust masks (although I usu. use my
shirt to keep from breathing germs on the jars).  Long sleeves and a hat or
whatever is recommended because literally millions of germs are falling off
your body at any given moment.  Sterility and the absence of drafts are of
utmost importance from here on out...

8.  Open the pressure cooker and let the jars cool until they're pretty close
to room temp.  You may want to tighten the lids a bit so air/germs can't
contaminate the rice cakes.  When the jars cool off some, you're ready to go...

9.  Heat your wire loop/probe/whatever until it is GLOWING RED.  Put on your
dust mask or pull your shirt up over your nose and mouth.

10.  Lift the lid off the jar and set it down on a sterile surface, with the
inside face down.

11. Get out your sporeprint and hold it over the open jar at an acute angle.
Use the sterilized wire loop/probe to gently scrape and tap the sporeprint to
get the spores down onto the rice cake.  If you can see the dark specks fall
onto the rice, you've done it sufficiently--anything you can see is probably
a few hundred thousand spores.  A sporeprint the size of a nickel can EASILY
innoculate a dozen jars.

12.  Screw on the jar's lid tightly and shake the jar until the rice cake
breaks up, this will allow the spores to spread throughout the rice medium,
thus increasing the chances for success.  Next, unscrew the lid until it almost
comes off-- this allows for air to get into the jar.  I usu. just screw the lid
on about 3/4 of a turn--just enough where it won't fall off easily.

13.  When you've done this for all your jars, just put the jars in a safe,
clean place with a fairly steady temp., a dark place is OK.  In 3 days-2 weeks
you should see white, fluffy mycelia appear--looks like white fuzz.  Any other
color of fuzz (green, black, etc.) is mold, and the jar should be disposed of.
I'm not kidding about this!  Certain contaminants, molds in particular, can
cause illness or even death if you ingest the contaminated 'shrooms.  It's
better to be safe than sorry, believe me.  Also be on the lookout for bacterial
infections of the rice medium.  These will often appear as colored (orange or
pink) runny or clammy looking gunk in with the rice. These should be thrown out
immediately as well.  Bacterial infections may also give off a kind of putrid
odor, but of course you should not be taking the lids off the jars at all at
this stage.  Now, the rice itself will get very soft as a result of the pressure
cooking, and the initial shaking of the jar may smear gel-looking gunk all over
the insides of the jar.  But by comparing with the rest of the jars you should
be able to tell the difference between this gunk and a bacterial infection.
Like I said before, JUST USE YOUR HEAD!!

14.  This is not actually another step because you're done!  Just sit back and
wait for nature to take its course!  Shrooms are pretty much maintenance-free
until fruiting starts to occur.  It should take anywhere from 2 weeks to 1 month
for the mycelia to completely permeate the rice medium, then it will start
getting these stringy looking or fan shaped runners in the white fuzzy growth.
Mushroom formation is not far off, and the jars should be getting a couple of
hours of light per day--fluorescent is OK, and natural sunlight is superb, just
make sure the jars don't get too warm.  Of course at all stages be on the
lookout for any possible contaminants in the mycelia.  By the way, as the
mycelia mature, they may start staining blue, due to bruising, I think--so
don't mistake this for a mold infection, but keep a close eye on any change in
color from the white coloring.  The 'shrooms first appear as tiny white pinheads
and then they will darken (in P. cubensis) to a lovely reddish brown.
When the 'shrooms are growing the lids on the jars should be very loose.
Also, mushrooms grow best in an environment with a humidity of over 90%, so if
you think that your 'shrooms may need a more moist environment, one thing to do
is to simply use a spray bottle to spray boiled or distilled water directly onto
the lids of the jars.  I find that the moisture condenses inside the jars and
runs down the inside of the jars, moisturizing the mycelia.  You don't want
things TOO wet, however, as this will promote mold/bacteria growth.  Another
possible method is to replace the lids with a double layer of paper towel
which is misted daily--although I would think that not having an actual lid
on the jar would invite contamination.  Just my personal preference.  It is
important that air exchange takes place in the storage area--this becomes
more important as fruiting occurs, as the mycelia gives off CO2 and needs O2.

HARVESTING:

'Shrooms are "ripe" as soon as the white membrane connecting the cap to the
stem has broken somewhat, although you don't want to pick them before they have
reached their full size!  To harvest an individual mushroom, wash your hands
well--I usu. use rubbing alcohol, too.  Then take the lid off the jar and grasp
the mushroom firmly near the base.  You may need to use a pair of sterilized
tweezers to do this, which is what I usu. do--I avoid placing germy hands
inside the jars.  A brisk twisting motion will help to free the 'shroom from
the mycelia.


STORAGE AND METHODS OF INGESTION:

Avoid crushing fresh mushrooms.  The blue staining that is common in psychedelic
mushrooms is evidence of oxidation--meaning that the active ingredients
(psilocin and psilocybin) are being oxidized, too--rendering the 'shrooms
inactive.  While refrigeration is recommended, freezing fresh mushrooms should
be avoided, since the expansion of the freezing water in the cells ruptures the
cell walls and thus opens them up for oxidation.  Mushrooms that were frozen
while fresh may be an attractive blue color, but they are inactive....
Storage of fresh mushrooms should be in a breathable container such as a paper
bag stored in a refrigerator, avoid putting fresh 'shrooms in a ziploc bag, as
they may become slimy--ugh!  I have heard of people also storing fresh shrooms
by chopping them up and mixing them into honey--the 'shroom honey is then spread
on bread or whatever and eaten.
I have not had good experiences with drying mushrooms, although there are a
couple ways to do it.  One is by placing them on a cookie sheet in an oven on
the lowest temp. with the door slightly open.  Sun drying will also work.
My main problem with dried shrooms is that in my experience they are only about
half as potent as fresh 'shrooms.  I believe the reason for this is that the
two psychoactive ingredients (psilocin and psilocybin) are present in equal
amounts in fresh shrooms.  BUT, psilocin is an unstable compound compared to
psilocybin, and breaks down readily when exposed to heat and oxygen.  The
normal dosage for dried shrooms is 2 - 5 grams, dried.  But I have never
had a "trip" from dried shrooms--only with the fresh stuff.  I ate 4 grams once
and only got a buzz--like being stoned or drunk.
So, I like my shrooms fresh, and of course, I have that luxury since I grow my
own.  Whether they are dried or fresh, there are many interesting ways to take
them.  My current favorite method is to blend fresh ones in a blender with
orange juice--the effects are fantastic!  I believe due in part to the fact
that the shrooms are almost completely liquefied by the blending process,
releasing the "good stuff" into the orange juice and making it more readily
absorbed by the stomach.  Another good method, one which I have used to eat the
rice cakes, was to chop the rice cake (or shrooms), and brown them for JUST
a few seconds in butter before pouring in an omelete mixture.  Mushroom
omeletes!! Not only a meal, but a good trip, and a tasty way to ingest the
shrooms!  (I happen to dislike the taste of shrooms by themselves)  Yet another
method of taking shrooms is to make a milkshake in a blender, and add the
shrooms, you can make kind of a "strawberry smoothie" in this way.  Another
way is to boil the shrooms, fresh or dried (or a rice cake) in a couple cups of
water for about 15 minutes, and then either add a tea bag for hot tea, or
make Kool-Aid with the cooled water (straining out the shrooms, of course).
Sprinking fresh or dried shrooms (chopped) onto pizza, or into spaghetti sauce
is another treat--fun for a "shroom party".  Since psilocin and psilocybin are
soluble in both water and alcohol, soaking shrooms in any liquor will release
these active ingredients into the liquor, making for a powerfully intoxicating
liquor a la' the way an "Emerald Dragon" is made with marijuana...
I have tried smoking a couple dried shroom caps, but only got the slightest buzz
from the VERY harsh smoke, no real effects to tell the truth.
I should mention again that once shroom production has really tapered off (and
you'll be able to tell) after 2 - 3 months, the rice cake can be eaten/used, if
you closely examine it and decide that there is no green or black mold
contaminant present.  I should note that the rice cake will probably be all
kinds of funky colors--a mix of white, steel blue, gray, maybe even purple in
places from spores falling on it!  I have ingested several scary-looking rice
cakes, however, with no ill effects.  A single rice cake is enough for 2 - 4
people to trip on, although 2 is probably the better figure.  Some of my best
trips were on half a rice cake chopped up and cooked in an omelete!  That's
what I love about the rice-cake method--when the shrooms stop growing there's
no waste!  Speaking of no waste, if I ever had a rice cake that I didn't
want to risk eating I might use it to innoculate a compost pile or a pasture
full of cow shit by inserting a small piece into each cow-pie or into the
compost pile...Wild mushrooms...Just something to think about.


MAKING SPORE-PRINTS:

This is really easy, just take a fresh shroom and gently twist the cap off away
from the stem.  Then place the cap, gills down, on a sterile card or piece of
glass.  Cover the cap and card with a clean, small container to keep drafts
from blowing the spores away, and to prevent dust/contaminants from settling on
the card/glass.  I usu. use a small juice glass for this purpose.  Leave the
covered 'shroom cap on the card/glass overnight and, voila!  I suggest folding
the card the next day and keeping it in an airtight container (sm. ziploc bag)
in a refrigerator.  I have been told that spore prints will keep for up to a
year in an airtight refrigerated (not frozen) environment.  From personal
experience I know that they last at least 3 months.
---
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: Re: Growing Mushrooms