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waverider23
Stranger
Registered: 07/15/15
Posts: 2
Last seen: 8 years, 6 months
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Storage Concerns
#21946743 - 07/15/15 10:45 AM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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hey everyone, i'm new here so hopefully this is in the right forum. i read the rules and searched around a bit but still kinda unsure. i'm specifically curious about preserving the mushies i've cultivated, and although there's quite a few threads regarding preservation i'm still left a bit curious. basically, my issue is this: i have a good bit of mushies that i let fan dry for about 48 hours, until they were near-cracker dry; the stems still felt a bit spongy and could twist around, so i followed an epsom salt tek to remove the remaining moisture, which seems to have done the job perfectly after another day or two. once they felt cracker dry i removed them out of the tupper ware container i was using to dry them, and placed them inside a large air-tight glass jar, with a very thin layer of epsom salt on the bottom of the jar, and the dried mushies placed on top of a tissue so there is no direct contact between the salt and mushrooms. a lot of other threads mentioned that it is good to place a small packet of desiccant inside your air tight jar once they have been dried, but i am wondering if i have these things stored properly with the paper tissue/epsom salt. i just am a bit paranoid. i dont think this should be an issue, as the mushies were cracker dry before they went into the jar, so any moisture that would've been reabsorbed would seem negligable in causing moisture to remain trapped in the jar and doing weird things to my mushies, right? i live in a humid state, although it's cool in my house, and they're stored in a dark environment (i guess the concern here would be the times i need to get inside the jar and any moisture from the air) so i'm curious if i should leave the thin layer of desiccant and paper tissue in the jar, or just the mushrooms? should i swap out the epsom salt after a certain amount of time for freshly baked salt or just get one of those tiny sealed desiccant packs? i realize i'm probably over thinking but i don't want anything to happen to my babies 
thanks for any help.
Edited by waverider23 (07/15/15 11:32 AM)
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Psilosoulful

Registered: 09/05/14
Posts: 7,205
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
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I would order some silica gel packets and store them in the mason jar with the mushies. They should be 100% cracker dry after that.
And in the future, I highly recommend drying them in a food dehydrator immediately after picking to preserve maximum potency. The more time they are exposed to open air, you will be risking some potency loss. Heat from the dehydrator will not affect the mushies, but I always leave mine at 130F for 12-24 hours and they are always cracker dry!! Then store in a mason jar and throw in a silica gel packet for good measure
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waverider23
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Registered: 07/15/15
Posts: 2
Last seen: 8 years, 6 months
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hey thanks for the reply.
the mushies were cracker dry before i put them in the jar. as you stated i should put a silica packet inside the air tight jar, but my concern was in the epsom salt (since i'm not using and don't currently have silica packs), whether it would be okay to leave a small amount of epsom salt at the bottom of the jar, with a paper towel/tissue as a barrier for the shrums to sit on. is there any concern with this or should i definitely be using a sealed silica packet?
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Agoraphobe
Stranger
Registered: 10/12/15
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Last seen: 8 years, 2 months
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Bump for more info on epsom salt effectiveness vs silica for storage
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Grova
Forte Fungus



Registered: 05/03/11
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Last seen: 10 months, 21 days
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Epsom salt should work just fine as long as it's been baked.
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mushpunx
Fungus Punk



Registered: 04/20/14
Posts: 13,394
Last seen: 11 days, 9 hours
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Re: Storage Concerns [Re: Grova]
#22473264 - 11/03/15 08:41 PM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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I use food dehydrator and these awesome vacuum storage bags, you suck the air out with v accuum. I had this bag open so its not vaccuumed in the pic
Food dehydrator gets them as dry as possible and v accuum sealing them will keep them nice for ages
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 Amateur Mycologists United AMU Q&A
Edited by mushpunx (11/03/15 08:42 PM)
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DaveyJones6911
Nonconformist


Registered: 09/08/15
Posts: 690
Loc: EU
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Re: Storage Concerns [Re: mushpunx]
#22473311 - 11/03/15 08:51 PM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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for long term storage i have had great results with the anubis tek; dry, grind to powder, pack tightly in glass container and seal.
i had shrooms last me over 4 years with no noticeable loss of potency.
-------------------- Creativity is a dangerous thing in the eyes of those who don't have any.
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RJ Tubs 202



Registered: 09/20/08
Posts: 6,016
Loc: USA
Last seen: 6 hours, 11 minutes
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Quote:
DaveyJones6911 said: for long term storage i have had great results with the anubis tek; dry, grind to powder, pack tightly in glass container and seal. I had shrooms last me over 4 years with no noticeable loss of potency.
I agree. I've had ground material last 5 + years. (I use a coffee grinder or food processor). Powder is great to add to OJ or a spoonful of peanut butter.
I like to complete my drying routine with calcium chloride, to extract every bit of moisture.
Calcium chloride is available in hardware stores (as a drying agent) under various brand names, including "Damp Rid"
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Sivarted
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Registered: 08/22/15
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+1 to the dehydrator responses. Even a cheap one without a temperature control will work, my nesco supposedly gets to 160 or 170 or something at some points, and it definitely does not affect potency. If anything, it helps because they dry fast.
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mushpunx
Fungus Punk



Registered: 04/20/14
Posts: 13,394
Last seen: 11 days, 9 hours
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Re: Storage Concerns [Re: Sivarted]
#22474558 - 11/04/15 05:40 AM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
Sivarted said: +1 to the dehydrator responses. Even a cheap one without a temperature control will work, my nesco supposedly gets to 160 or 170 or something at some points, and it definitely does not affect potency. If anything, it helps because they dry fast.
Yea you dont need temp control none of them get hot enough to hurt
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 Amateur Mycologists United AMU Q&A
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tetherface
get in where you fit in



Registered: 10/05/14
Posts: 553
Loc: wild
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Re: Storage Concerns [Re: mushpunx]
#22474846 - 11/04/15 07:46 AM (8 years, 2 months ago) |
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Any airtight container with desiccant will do the trick if you live in the us you can get silica gel packs at the dollar store should last longer and absorb more moisture than MgSO4 personally i use calcium chloride (damp rid) in a 2 bucket setup i bolted and siliconed together which has been working quite well but any desiccant only works when dry so don't forget to bake them in the oven periodically to revive them here's a pic of my setup 
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