Group 42-Sells Out! - The Information Archive/Group 42 Sells Out (Group 42) (1996).iso/drugs/psychade/shroom1.txt

Internet Message Format | 1995-11-06 | 11KB

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Newsgroups: alt.drugs
From: [e-mail] (Psilly Simon)
Date: Fri,  1 Apr 1994 16:00:05 UTC
Subject: Psilly Simon's Shroom Growin' Guide



                Psilly Simon's
            Mushroom Growin' Guide

I have tried several methods to grow mushrooms and have run into problems with
all of them.  The Oss & Oeric Method is good but the book does not offer the
clearest of instructions. I have found the "rice cake" method to also be
fruitless as I could not force any of the jars to actually produce mushrooms.
Eating the mushroomless rice cakes didnt do anything but taste bad.  What is
needed is a set of step-by-step instructions that will lead to mushroom
production. Mushrooms are not that hard to grow. You only need to know exactly
what to do and when. I have put together this list of instructions to make the
process a little clearer and more efficient to promote a higher chance of
success.  The key to growing is in sterility, patience and meticulousness.
Out of 12 jars I did not have ANY contamination! It is very easy to keep
things sterile if you use your head.

The whole process is a combination of the rice cake and the Oss & Oeric methods
and takes about 6 weeks. Of course, I dont reccommend that you use this method
to grow illegal mushrooms [standard disclaimer].

Equipment:
    Pressure canner: capable of sustaining 15 pounds. Size doesnt matter
            as long as you can do all the jars; even if you have to
            do them one at a time. These instructions will assume
            the canner can hold 4 quart jars. They are avaliable
            at Caldor (or similarly large discount housewares
            stores) year round for about $40-50 US
    12 wide mouthed, quart sized canning jars
    Lysol spray
    Anti-bacterial soap
    1200ml whole grain rye: not animal feed! get it at a health food store.
        Rye is better than rice because rice gumms up the sides of the
        jars so you cant see whats growing inside it.
    Spore print: FS Books has good prints. Check High Times for the address.
    1 bag planting soil: peat moss/pearlite/vermacilite mixure only(no dirt)
    Heavy duty zircon encrusted tweezers (Zappa joke. Any tweezers will do)
    Scraper: xacto knifes work well
    Flame source: lighter, candle, alcohol lamp, etc.
    Saran wrap & tin foil
    1 gallon Distilled water
    Water spray bottle
    Styrofoam cooler: large enough to hold all the jars
    Transparent/translucent plastic panel: You can either use plexiglass
        or good hardware stores carry panels to cover flourescent
        lighting units.  These can be cut with scissors easily.

1) Wash the jars with antibacterial soap. Use a dishwasher too if you have it.
   It is not necessary to get real sterile just yet, just be neat.

2) To 3 canning jars add 100ml rye and 175ml distilled water. Close the jar
   with the lid upside-down. The lids will remain upside down throughout their
   use. Keep the dome loose but secure.

3) In a clean container mix some soil with distilled water until it is spongy
   to the touch and does not leek any water.  The soil should be wet but not
   liquidy. You want "moist soil" not mud. Mix enough of the soil to loosely
   fill a canning jar. Do not pack the soil in, just drop it in the jar till
   its full. Screw the lid on loosely but securely.

4) Place the 3 rye jars and the soil jar into the canner. If you can fit
   more than 4 jars in there go ahead, it will save you time. Just remember
   to prepare 1 jar of soil for every 3-4 jars of rye.  Follow the directions
   for the canner to sterilize the jars at 15 pounds for one full hour. If you
   can, it is a good idea to let the steam build up a bit before closing the
   pressure valve. It is not necessary to use distilled water in the canner.

5) When its done let the canner cool to room temperature. When it is safe to
   handle you can remove the jars and let them cool seperately.  They MUST
   be cooled to room temperature before continuing.  Store the soil jar some
   where clean and tighten the lid. Lightly shake the rye jars to loosen the
   rye.

6) Repeat steps 2-5 until all the jars are done. You should have 1 jar of
   sterile soil for each 3-4 jars of sterile rye.

7) Heres the tricky part. Most people complain about contamination but if you
   use this method to innoculate the jars you wont find it a problem.  I used
   this procedure with my last batch of 12 jars and NONE of them were
   contaminated!  The trick is to open the jar lids as little as possible for
   as short a period of time as possible. Also, try not to stand over the jars
   when they are briefly cracked open.

   a) Take a shower. Clean off a desk or table and sponge it with antibacterial
      soap. Spray it with lysol. Screw off the domes but leave the lids on.
      Wash your hands again with antibacterial soap.

   b) Ready the spore print. DO NOT TAKE IT OUT OF THE BAG!!! Flame the scraper
      and the tweezers until they glow then let them cool. The tweezers are
      used to hold open the bag while the scraper collects spores. The spore
      print never leaves its bag though. Dont spray lysol near open flames!

   c) When a visible clump of spores have been scraped off quickly carry them
      on the scraper to a jar. Anything you can see is thousands of spores. It
      doesnt take much.  Crack open the jar just enough for the scraper to
      enter and drop in the spores. Close the lid and screw on the dome firmly.
      The lid should have only been cracked open for about 2 seconds; not
      enough to contaminate it. When all the jars are innoculated shake them
      until all the rye is loose and the spores are distributed. Loosen the
      lids.

8) Place the rye jars in the styro-cooler, close the lid and wait. It takes
   about 1-2 weeks for the mycellum (fuzz) to permeate the jars. Small clumps
   of white fuzz will appear in the jars. When the growth is about 50% permeated
   shake the jars and let the fuzz grow again. I have found the Ott & Oss ratio
   of rye to water to be far too dry and take twice as long as 100ml to 175ml.
   This also uses less rye so the jars are permeated faster. It usually takes
   ten days. If, at any point, you see any non-white fuzz or non-rye gunk in
   the jar then it is contaminated. Dump it out. Theres no hope for it and it
   is not healthy to ingest. It could be fatal or worse. Be merciless. Thats
   why you did 12 jars, so you could sacrifice a few if necessary.

9) When all the jars are ready take them out of the cooler. At this point you
   need to get 1.5-2 inches of the sterile soil onto the rye. This is called
   "casing". There are two ways to do this without sacrificing sterility:

   1: You can turn the cooler sideways, cover the inside and the opening with
      saran wrap, and cut two holes in the saran wrap over the opening to make
      a sterile work box. You can then transfer the soil to each jar in the box
      using the holes for your antibacterial soap washed hands. Wash the spoon
      you use to transfer the soil after every jar so that contaminates dont
      transfer from jar to jar.

   2: Close the rye jar lid tightly. Wash the outside of the lid with
      antibacterial soap and Lysol. Do the same with a soil jar. Take the
      dome part off of the jars but leave the lids on. Turn the soil jar
      upside down holding the lid on and place it on top of the rye jar.
      the lids should be facing against each other. Spray the area with
      Lysol then carefully slide the two lids away letting some soil fall
      through into the rye jar. Be careful not to let too much fall in.
      It may not be necessary to slide the lids all the way off to get the
      dirt to fall in.  Slide the lids back on when the rye is covered.

10) Cut the plastic panel to fit over the cooler. Wash and lysol the panel.
   Wrap each jar with tin foil up to the top of the soil. You should be able
   to move all nine of the jars to one side of the cooler so that you can slide
   the panel off the other end of the cooler and reach in to remove the lids.
   Just be careful and sterile as possible. So you dont leave your hands over
   an open jar for longer than necessary remove the lids in the back first.

11) At this point the jars will need to be sprayed with distilled water daily.
   Just move the cooler to a clean location, crack open the lid as little as
   possible and give it a few squirts just to keep the top of the soil moist.
   You dont want it to be too wet though. After a week or so you should see
   the mycellum begin to clump together at the edges of the jar. They should
   clump together even more in the next week as they grow into the soil. Keep
   these misted with a fine spray of water. If they grow too thick you should
   spray them a little heavier to knock them down. Dont spray the soil too
   much as you might invite other molds. In two weeks from casing the mycellum
   from the rice cake will have grown through the soil and may start to break
   through the top of the soil. If this happens spray the soil a *little* more
   to knock them down. The cooler should get about 12-13 hours of light a day
   through the lid. Ambient room light is fine. Keep it out of the direct
   sunlight so it doesnt get too hot.

12) The first flush of mushrooms should appear in about 2-3 weeks after casing.
   each jar will continue to produce mushrooms for 40-60 days. Shrooms grow
   from pinheads to full mushrooms in about a week. When the rim of the cap
   seperates from the stalk it is ready to harvest. Use tweezers to grab the
   base of the stalk and wiggle it out. It is also a good idea to fill the hole
   that is left with new casing soil. This will make the jars fruit longer.
   Mushroom primordia may form below the soil near the glass and never break
   through to the surface. These can be removed and the hole filled with casing
   soil.

So there it is. There are some good instructions on how to dry mushrooms
without heat at ftp.hmc.edu:/pub/drugs/psychedelics/mushrooms/grow.mushrooms,
although I have not tried it yet. Basically you put dry rice on a tray, cover
them with a paper towel, lay one layer of mushrooms on the paper towel, and
cover them with another paper towel. Then keep the whole thing in the fridge
for a while until the rice leeches out all the water. I wont talk about
dosages because this guide is not for growing illegal mushrooms [Hopefully,
when the powers that be realize that prohibition is not the answer we will
not need these disclaimers.]
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