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chronicdruid
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psilocybe mexicana A? or not
#14691683 - 06/29/11 01:13 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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this is somewhat of an investigation.
I started with a multi spore syringe of mexicana strain A purchased from a shroomery sponser. This was used to inoculate several malt extract and dextrose liquid cultures. the liquid cultures were used to inoculate a bunch of rye grain jars. the aim of this experiment was to try and grow some mexicana A sclerotia.
Unfortunately the jars hadnt appeared to produce any stones after about 2 months after inoculation. I have posted a picture of one of the colonised jars at the end of a fantastic thread created by stonesun.
My line of thought is that the mycelium is that of mexicana A but just Isn't a stone producing substrain (if that makes sense) I would have thought that highly unlikely due to the fact i used several different liquid cultures on this batch of jars. I have read alot of threads on here about sclerotia and i am aware that it is best to isolate a stone producing strain to cultivate stones and that it is possible to isolate strains that are non stone producing.
Another line of thought is that the spores were never mexicana A and were some other species of fungus.
A few people commented on my pictures all saying they thought the mycellium looked too cottony and thick to be that of the psilocybe mexicana species and looked more like psilocybe cubensis mycellium.
They twisted my melons and i decided to attempt to fruit the mycellium and try to ascertain weather I have the correct species or not. I am fairly unexperienced in mycology so I am not greatly confident in my ability to grow any fruits but i shall give it a go anyway.
I put together a shotgun fruiting chamber, and made a couple of quick casings in some foil trays. they were just the straight spawn cased in a thin layer of straight vermiculite. I don't think I let the casings colonize enough before placing into the SGFC i was a little to eager, so i am not expecting a good pinset. That doesnt bother me I am just hoping to grow at least 1 fruit to maturity for I.D purposes.
I wasnt expecting much to happen, more hoping really, I have been fanning and misting when I have had time. I would say it has been over a week and today I have noticed a few little pins! This is great news for me and I am excited to see if I can get some mature fruits and find out weather they are cubensis or mexicana.
here are some pictures, I will add more at later stages. At the moment I think its impossible to distinguish weather they are cubensis, only time will tell.
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redcat
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Re: psilocybe mexicana A? or not [Re: chronicdruid]
#14692757 - 06/29/11 04:50 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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All i can add to this that may help you is that I have a few Jalisco jars that turned solid white like the jar in your last picture and did not produce any stones . I nokked up a few jars using the mad season lc jar lids and they turned solid white and did not produce stones. These lids are clearly not made for this purpose and I love the mad season and all their products. I wrote it off as not enough gas exchange or some other nonsense not really knowing. Looks like you have an inoculation port and some tight packed polyfill in your lid......polyfill too tight ?? I dont know. Just a guess.
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overstand
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Re: psilocybe mexicana A? or not [Re: redcat]
#14692893 - 06/29/11 05:18 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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That jar does not have Mexicana mycelium growing in it. Posted below are some pictures of mexicana strain a. It does not matter what LC you use. I used malt extract/ dextrose in pint jars with LC lids from the Mad Season and the spores came from Sporeworks. Chronicdruid, somebody mixed up a label on your end. Either it was you or your spore source. I am glad to see you got some fruits. Another 2 or 3 days and you will know the truth. As for casings, I have had good experience using 50/50+ but it looks like your straight verm will do ok. Good luck!
Mexicana strain A on rye grass seed - 6 weeks

Mexicana strain A on WBS - 3 weeks
-------------------- “Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.” - Henry David Thoreau
Edited by overstand (06/29/11 05:20 PM)
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redcat
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Re: psilocybe mexicana A? or not [Re: overstand]
#14693411 - 06/29/11 06:52 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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I'm just saying I nokked up 20 qt jars of mexicana jalisco on straight rye berries using a GLC and most lids had a standard inoculation port and quarter sized filter disc glued on. A few of the lids used were only supposed to be used on liquid culture jars and some of these turned solid white like the jar in his picture. The rest of the jars using the lids with the filter disc and injection port are doing awesome and I've only had to harvest two jars so far !!! Just a thought that his polyfill may be too tight. Coincidence ????
Edited by redcat (06/29/11 07:00 PM)
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chronicdruid
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Re: psilocybe mexicana A? or not [Re: redcat]
#14694790 - 06/29/11 11:53 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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That is very interesting redcat. I was wandering the same thing for along time, that not enough gas exchange was taking place. Although I also read somewhere that you cant pack the polyfill to tight :S but i feel this is wrong and I am searching everywhere for a good source of filter disks in the uk, or I shall use tyveck next time on all my jars, to eliminate this problem in the future.
Did the jars you say turned out fabulous produce stones then? I take it they did. well The spore syringe I bought from a reputable dealer and was labeled when I received it, so I have every faith but I cant know for sure.
thanks for your reply overstand and nice pics, I only used straight verm casing as it was easiest thing to get my hands on. pure peat is hard to buy these days because they are fazing it out in the uk, it's not environmentally friendly meh.
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PabloEscaSchmar
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Re: psilocybe mexicana A? or not [Re: chronicdruid]
#14696671 - 06/30/11 12:10 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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you can find low grade hepa filter pads soo cheap, they're only a mm or 2 thick (I scored mine cuz my wife used to B in vaccum sales and had stacks of em) and I've not had issues since i switched
 all casing is is just a non nutrient substance with decent consistency. try taking a trip to your local pet store and look at organic bedding or layering that looks porous. you'll probably find a coir you can mix with verm
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redcat
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Take a look at The easy felt tek...It's another option. As far as my mexicana jalisco jars They are doing awesome with massive stones ! Anyhow I also took a look at my galindoi jars that I have going and I used liquid culture lids on two of them and both of them turned solid white also while the other 25 or so are doing great with plenty of stones. Good luck with your grow..all those pins !
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stonesun
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Re: psilocybe mexicana A? or not [Re: redcat]
#14698319 - 06/30/11 06:37 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
redcat said: As far as my mexicana jalisco jars. They are doing awesome with massive stones !
That is something, I've never seen before Pictures?
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chronicdruid
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Re: psilocybe mexicana A? or not [Re: stonesun]
#14701254 - 07/01/11 11:01 AM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Here is day 3 of pinning. 1 of the casings has no pins another casing has only 1 tiny pin but the other 2 are doing alright. still think it's to early to tell what they are but it's getting interesting.
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stonesun
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Re: psilocybe mexicana A? or not [Re: chronicdruid] 1
#14701422 - 07/01/11 11:34 AM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Psilocybe cubensis
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UnnamedGrower
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Re: psilocybe mexicana A? or not [Re: stonesun]
#14701474 - 07/01/11 11:47 AM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
stonesun said: Psilocybe cubensis
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PabloEscaSchmar
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yup thats my guess I'm pretty sure
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chronicdruid
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im guessing u guys are going to be right, ur'e experience shines through.. my pins are starting to look to thick already to my unscrupulous eye.
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PabloEscaSchmar
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Re: psilocybe mexicana A? or not [Re: chronicdruid]
#14709625 - 07/03/11 03:33 AM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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how is the grow? can u up more pics
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chronicdruid
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yes I will take some more now pablo...
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chronicdruid
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Re: psilocybe mexicana A? or not [Re: chronicdruid]
#14709800 - 07/03/11 05:29 AM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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here is a picture update. definitely looking like cubensis. some of them have a little nipple on top of the cap, sorry I can't think of the correct term. It's nice to finally have something to look at after months of waiting!
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Sea_Goat
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Re: psilocybe mexicana A? or not [Re: chronicdruid]
#14709932 - 07/03/11 06:41 AM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Cubensis without a doubt. At least you got some actives out of all your work. You didn't happen to order the mexican "stain" of cubensis by mistake? Either way....sorry you didn't get what you were intending. Is this your first time fruiting mushrooms? if so... congrats, you did a fine job.
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chronicdruid
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Re: psilocybe mexicana A? or not [Re: Sea_Goat]
#14710078 - 07/03/11 07:33 AM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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i seem to be having a ridiculously hard time getting my hands on some sclerotia XD you wouldnt believe it. first off being sent the wrong spores! then I got impatient and ordered some sclerotia from a shroomery sponser. ordered some atlantis when they arrived they looked a little black and slimy on the outside clearly not fresh in my opinion) ate 20g for research purposes :P and felt nothing! I tried a couple more times, the next time I ate 35g! still nothing, even on an empty stomache! even tried making a tea with 25g, still nothing maybe felt a little bit strange but no obvious effects,, went for a walk tried everything i could to get some reaction from them but nadda
they had a familiar taste i would describe as " acidy cucmber taste" that reminded me of eating mexicana sclerotia several years ago. I think that any actives in them must have degraded. to me it looks like they might have been frozen then allowed to defrost! I ordered some mexican sclerotia and the same thing happened!
cant believe my bad luck but i am determined to get sum tasty fresh sclerotia eventually!!! I have since put a few pieces of the mexicana sclerotia onto agar and a couple of them are showing signs of growth after 5 days. I am hoping I will be able to use this to grow some fresh stones that are potent!?! I cant think why a vendor would be selling sclerotia that aren't potent, or that you could even grow sclerotia that arn't very potent. I am more convinced that the product must have degraded on it's long journey to me.
But the longer I have to wait the more sweeter it shall be when I can finally grow some of my very own stones for many people on here it is a walk in the park to grow some stones but for me it's been tough.
ps. thanks for the congrats seagoat, these are my first ever homemade casings, im sure i could have achieved a better pinset if i hadn't rushed them into the FC and they do look very much like the mushrooms you used to be able to purchase at smartshops named mexican cubensis or stropharia cubensis! I think someone put the wrong label on the syringe, I hope they just did it with mine and not a huge batch of them :S
you can see in 1 of these pics, the amount of stone juice that was in the air tight bag the stones came in,, this is what leads me to believe they were frozen and then defrosted.
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UnnamedGrower
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Re: psilocybe mexicana A? or not [Re: chronicdruid]
#14710114 - 07/03/11 07:47 AM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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They could have started drying in transit. When I stored fresh stones I would get water droplets in the bag all the time.
The agar work that you are doing will enable you to grow some stones. Hopefully these will have some kick.
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chronicdruid
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OK well here is the latest pics. just wandering weather or not to try and pick the most mature mushroom, is has opened its cap and im not clued up about spores dropping all over the substrate and weather this might cause issues/ problems. It is right in the middle of a cluster so i dont want to pick the whole cluster before the rest plump up a little. they arent that big in the flesh the photo was taken up close. I am interested in collecting at least 2 20g doses if i can.
might also take a spore print or 2 if I can, perhaps send a print back to the vendor so they can identify it.

mmmmmmmmmmm yummmmmmmm yummm yummm :P
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