How to Grow Psilocybe Cubensis in Your Own Home
Geschrieben von: The Seeker
Dienstag, 20. Januar 2009 um 03:16 Uhr - Aktualisiert Donnerstag, 22. Januar 2009 um 00:10 Uhr
Growguide by: The Seeker (C) 1989
What do we need to grow magic mushrooms? Well here is a list
to grow your own:
of all the
necessary items
- Fertile Psilocybe cubensis spores.
- About twenty sterile plastic petri plates.
- Malt-Agar medium.
- Alcohol lamp containing methyl or grain alcohol.(Alcohol wipes do fine as
well.)
- Inoculating loop.(Wire bent in a loop with a handle is good.)
- Agar knife.
- Test tubes. Filled one-third with grain ( birdseed ) and plugged with
cotton.
- Two lbs. of compost. It should be cow manure, preferably leached, although
you can
also use natural wood-based composts such as Douglas Fir mulch or
pine mulch.
- Casing soil. It should be a bag of peat moss mixed with a cup of lime.
- A big can of Lysol or other disenfectant.
- A glass container at least 10 ounces or 300 ml which can be plugged with
cotton,
capped with aluminum foil and pressure-cooked.
- Pressure cooker. The smallest size, 10 1/2 liquid quarts, can be used,
and it should
have a pressure gauge.
Almost all of these items can be ordered by these companies:
- Fungi Perfecti P.O. Box 7634 Olympia,
WA 98507 206-426-9292
- Mushroom people Box 159 Inverness,
CA 94937 415-663-8504
- HOMESTEAD (They sell $50 mushroom kits.)
P.O. Box 31608 Seattle, WA 98103 206-782-4532
1/7
How to Grow Psilocybe Cubensis in Your Own Home
Geschrieben von: The Seeker
Dienstag, 20. Januar 2009 um 03:16 Uhr - Aktualisiert Donnerstag, 22. Januar 2009 um 00:10 Uhr
MATERIAL
PREPARATION AND WORK SPACE
To begin, start with a clean table top, plastic or formica, in an area free from drafts. Wipe
the table with Lysol, and when doing transfer work, cover your nose and mouth with either a
hankerchief or a surgical mask so you don't breathe germs onto the sterile media.
To insure sterile conditions, you may wish to use a transfer chanber. A transfer chanber can
either be purchased or constructed out of simple materials, plywood, glass or plastic for the
top, and a cloth entryway. If cardboard is used, line the inside with aluminum foil to protect the
chamber from burning when you use the alcohol lamp. The box need not be air tight, the
idea is to prevent contamination from drafts and breathing on the media. The inside of the box
should be wiped down with Lysol and your hands shown be cleaned with Lysol before putting
them into the box. Gloves may be used if your hands are sensitive to strong chemicals.
STERILIZING MALT MEDIUM AND POURING
Next, we prepare the medium, or food substances, on which the mycelium will grow. Place
the malt-agar medium into your flask or bottle and add eight ounces, or 250 ml of water. Stir or
shake slightly. Then plug the flask or bottle with cotton and cap it with a piece of aluminum foil.
Now put the flask into the pressure cooker on the rack or trivet provided with the cooker.
Turn on the heat and bring the cooker up to fifteen pounds. Keep it there for twenty to
twenty-five minutes. Monitor the process in order to keep the cooker at the proper pressure
and to make sure you don't over-heat. After twenty minutes, turn the heat off and let it cool
down to zero pressure naturally. Do not release the pressure.
Wipe down your transfer area, either the table or chamber, and place the petri plates inside
your chamber or on your table. Using a mitten, take your flask out of the cooker and place it
next to the petri plates. Throw away the aluminum foil. You are now ready to pour the medium
into the plates.
Remove the cotton and grasp the flask with your mittened right hand. With your left hand,
take a petri plate and hold it slightly open. Pour the medium into the plate, just covering the
2/7
How to Grow Psilocybe Cubensis in Your Own Home
Geschrieben von: The Seeker
Dienstag, 20. Januar 2009 um 03:16 Uhr - Aktualisiert Donnerstag, 22. Januar 2009 um 00:10 Uhr
bottom surface and then close the plate. Repeat the process for nine more plates and set
aside to cool. Before you go onto the next step, you may want to let the plates sit for a few
days to check for contamination. If, after two days, you notice anything other than
tannish-brown medium in the plate, discard that plate. Now you are ready to streak the plates
with spores.
SPORE STREAKING
To keep spores fertile they should be stored in a cool, dry,
remain viable for at least six month, perhaps indefinitely.
dark place. The
spores should
Wipe your table or transfer chamber with Lysol; also wipe your hands. You should have the
petri dishes with cooled medium inside the area. Light the alcohol lamp, and have your
inoculating tool bent into a loop and ready to use. Remove the piece of paper containing
spores and place it face up on the table.
Open one of the petri plates, holding the top right over the medium to prevent
contamination. Flame the inoculating loop, then cool it by placing it in one part of the medium
on the plate. Scrape some spores off the paper with your loop and smear them in an 'S'
configuration onto the medium in your petri plate. Immediately close the plate and proceed to
the next one. I recommend that you streak two to four plates. You want to save the rest for
two reasons:
- The germination might not take.
- The plates might be contaminated.
If this happens, repeat the entire process.
INCUBATION
AND IDENTIFICATION OF CULTURES
3/7
How to Grow Psilocybe Cubensis in Your Own Home
Geschrieben von: The Seeker
Dienstag, 20. Januar 2009 um 03:16 Uhr - Aktualisiert Donnerstag, 22. Januar 2009 um 00:10 Uhr
Set aside your inoculated plates in a warm area, approximately
heating pad or light is useful for maintaining this temperature.
70 to 75
degrees F. A
In ten days to two weeks, you should notice a snow-white, fluffy, cottony growth on your
plates. This is the psilocybe mycelia. In a few more days, it should develop long threads,
ropey fibres reaching out to the outside of the plate. At the end of two to three weeks, the
entire plate should be covered with this pure-white mass.
Chances are you will have some contamination also. Do not be discouraged; it's a common
hazard and the reason you work with more than one petri dish. Contamination takes many
forms. The two most common are penicillium and neurospora, or bread mold. Pencillium will
appear as a dark green spot, the kind you see on stale bread, and it can be dealt with in two
ways:
- If the white mycelia overgrows it, you can flame your knife
and cut out the
contaminated area.
- Or, if the penicillium overruns your plate, it is wise to
discard the entire petri dish.
Neurospora is a grey-white hairy mass, darker than the psilocybe mycelia, of a type you
also see on bread. This is a very strong fungus, if discovered discard the entire dish.
Other
contaminants are dealt with in the same way, and if you wish to identify them we suggest you
check the photographs in 'Growing Wild Mushrooms' by Bob Harris.
TRANSFER
AND ISOLATION OF PURE CULTURE
Again wipe down your transfer area, clean your hands, and light your alcohol lanp. On the
table you should have your petri plates grown out with mycelia and the other six plates which
contain only media. Flame the knife, cool it in the unused media, and cut out a small section
of mycelia. Stab the small piece of mycelia and place it in the middle of a plate containing only
growing media and cover the dish quickly.
4/7
How to Grow Psilocybe Cubensis in Your Own Home
Geschrieben von: The Seeker
Dienstag, 20. Januar 2009 um 03:16 Uhr - Aktualisiert Donnerstag, 22. Januar 2009 um 00:10 Uhr
Transfer these sections into three more dishes, and incubate again as indicated in the
previous section. Allow a few weeks to grow out and you are ready to transfer to the spawn. If
you have any difficulty or contamination, remember you have twelve dishes left that you
haven't streaked yet, so if you have problems repeat the streaking process and begin again.
If you have gotten this far, you isolated a pure culture, one that will be easy to maintain and
making it possible to not having to return to spores for several generations. You are now
ready to start the spawn.
PREPARATION
OF SPAWN
Our spawn medium can be rye or other grains, but I use a combination
commonly used in bird seed.
of milo
and millet,
Make sure your test tube is filled with one third grain. Then add half again an amount of
water. Put the cotton back in the test tube, cover it with aluminum foil and place it on a trivet in
your pressure cooker. Follow the cooking procedure as indicated in the section sterilizing malt
medium.
Take the test tube out of the cooker, shake up the grain inside and put it aside to cool.
Transfer the mycelium from the petri plate to the grain in the same manner as indicated in the
previous section. Set aside the test tubes at 70 to 75 degrees F. to incubate. After three to
four days, shake up the grain in the tube and allow another seven or eight days for the
mycelium to spread through the grain. Once the grain is completely run through with fluffy,
white mycelium, you are ready to use it to innoculate the compost. If you notice anything that
looks like contamination, begin again by inoculating another test tube.
5/7
How to Grow Psilocybe Cubensis in Your Own Home
Geschrieben von: The Seeker
Dienstag, 20. Januar 2009 um 03:16 Uhr - Aktualisiert Donnerstag, 22. Januar 2009 um 00:10 Uhr
INOCULATION
AND INCUBATION OF COMPOST
Break up the grain in the test tube eith by shaking it or using chopsticks, and spread the
mixture into the compost. You can inoculate and incubate the compost in a flower pot or
plastic container.
An excellent method is to put the compost in a tray and place it in a fish tank with a loose
lid. For moisture and humidity control, put wet cat litter in the bottom of the tank. The compost
should be slightly wet, so that you can squeeze it in your hands and it will leave a faint mark
on your hands. If you squeeze out water it is too wet and if you can't feel or see a mark on
your hands it is too dry. In a week to ten days, the compost should be completely run through,
full white, with mycelia. Maintain a coolish temperature, perhaps between 65 and 75 degrees
F. for this process. We keep it this cool because the mycelia generates a lot of heat when it
grows out and heat will kill it. You know it's too warm when you notice a yellowing of the
mycelia and a yellow liquid around and through the growing media. That means it's dying and
you might have to begin again.
Some misting might be required to maintain moisture. Once the mycelia is run through,
spread a one-half to one inch layer of casing soil on top of the compost. This will induce
fruiting.
FRUITING
AND PICKING
Place the compost/casing mixture in a closet free from drafts but allowing some circulation.
Put them under a normal flourescent light and leave on a typical day/night schedule. The
lights can be left on continually although I don't recommend it, nor do I recommend
incandescent lights.
Maintain a 65 to 75 degree F. temperature and keep the casing soil slightly moist as noted
earlier with the compost. In a week to ten days, tiny pinheads will appear on the casing soil
and will soon begin to sprout mushrooms. At this point. the mushrooms will grow rapidly, just
6/7
How to Grow Psilocybe Cubensis in Your Own Home
Geschrieben von: The Seeker
Dienstag, 20. Januar 2009 um 03:16 Uhr - Aktualisiert Donnerstag, 22. Januar 2009 um 00:10 Uhr
as it is not unusual to see
a fully-sprouted mushroom on your lawn almost overnight.
Wait until the caps break the veil and then pick, scooping them out from the bottom with a
chopstick. You can wait until the cap flattens out and the mushroom gets bigger, but at this
point the mushrooms will begin throwing spores on the growing surface and this may inhibit
later flushes. Mushrooms should sprout for about four or five days in abundance, then over
the next week or ten days you will notice two to four more flushes. The mushrooms in these
later flushes will be smaller and less abundant. At this point your growing medium is
exhausted.
MAINTAINING
THE CULTURE
You now have a basket of mushrooms and a pure culture in your petri dishes with which to
grow again. Or, if you have lost the culture, you can clone the mushrooms you have by taking
flesh from it. This process is described in 'Growing Wild Mushrooms' by Bob Harris.
I hope you all have an electric ride and the walls melt like butter in a microwave with your
home-grown mushrooms.
Now I would like to thank the people who made this file possible:
HomeStead's Deluxe Shroom Kit, Alex, and of course Mother Nature!
7/7