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What makes you think that the dirt i got from wal-mart didnt have one of those trees wood in there, i see potting soil all the time that has pieces of wood in it

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The amanitas grow only in a symbiotic association between the root cell of birch, larch, fir, pine, and oak (dead or alive), and the fungus' mass of underground filaments is necessary if the mushroom is to sprout.  "Where these trees are not," Wasson writes, "neither does fly-agaric grow.

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Cultivation
Amanita cultivation in a lab environment has always been an impossibility due to the symbiotic mycorrhizal relationship of this mushroom to its host trees. But if one has the necessary host trees in their area, and resides in the proper temperate zone or elevation, try and simply take a few dried or fresh caps that are in sporination (fully flattened or upturning with longitudinal tears along the striations), crush them up thoroughly, and mix the crushings into the top soil. See if it will take. If one doesn?t want to make the initial investment of the caps simply chop up the stems from sporinating specimens, which will naturally have collected some of the falling spores, and mix with the soil. Clark Heinrich states that he simply buries the stems under the proper host tree for cultivation, but then again he probably lives the the perfect environment. I would recommend that this be done in the Fall soon after the fruiting season or in early Spring so that the spores can receive their proper life cycle. My own observations (I?ve yet to actually learn this) of Amanita growth suggest that mycelia growth takes place primarily throughout the Spring and Summer months and is highly dependent on rain and soil moisture preceding the Fall fruiting. If the season is dry just water your mushroom garden every few days. A host tree in a large container that can be left outdoors year round may be a candidate for cultivation if one is in the right zone.

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Note wheneve ryou read about cultivation of the Amanita genus, that it is usually always donne around LIVE conifer trees, not chopped up dead trees.  However this does not mean that it won't grow around a conifer that is till in the ground, but dead.


Also please note that an estimated 95% of all deaths resulting from ingestion of mushrooms is due to relatives of the genus Amanita. While Amanita muscaria and pantherina (Panther Cap) are both entheogenic, A. virosa (Destroying Angel, A. verna and A. phalliodes (Death Cap) are extremely lethal. Often the symptoms do not show up for two or three days- too late to do anything.  It damages your liver, and blood transfusion is necessary to survive, if you are able to catch it in time, also you will need a new kidney too.  If unfamiliar with amanitas, never eat one thiat is all white.  Just a tip.


I'm not trying to be a dick, I'm trying to stop misseducation, and the spread of false Info. (At least in this post)

Finally some Pics of Amanita Muscaria var Formosa, the mushroom that you think you found.  Keep in mind that Amanita caps are usually really big.  Even bigger than your palm sometimes.  By the way these are poisonous, do not eat.