
. . : : How I Panaeolus. From Agar to Tea : : . .


This is going to be a run down of how I have been growing and consuming Panaeolus cyanescens (pan cyans)
and Panaeolus cambodginiensis (pan cambos) from start to finish.
I'm doing nothing new here, all credit to the tek writers.
I'm walking in their foot steps.
I will include links to the teks I use for each section.
Pans are considered a little tricker to grow then cubes.
Being comfortable with agar work is almost a must.
They also like tighter fruiting conditions then cubes.
Don't let this put you off.
If I can do this you can too.
But cutting corners will most likely cause you trouble.
WARNING:
I strongly advise reading through, lurking, and asking questions in the pan general
This is post is pretty long.
It can be read section by section.
No need to read it start to finish in one go.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rough timeline of the processs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. . : : Making the Agar : : . .Teks used:Bod's agar tek:
Linkc10's agar guide:
LinkEquipment used:- Light malt extract (LME)
- Agar agar
- Plastic mixing jug
- 500ml media bottle
- Microwave
- Pressure cooker (PC)
- Spoon
- Food colouring (optional)
- Tin foil
Pans are best started on agar so the first step in my process is mixing agar.
I use a pretty standard mix:- 10g agar agar
- 10g LME
- 500ml water
- Food colouring, 2-5 drops (optional)
I briefly mix the cold water, two powders, and food colouring in a plastic mixing jug. I then microwave it in bursts of 1:30 mins. Stirring after each burst.
Agar is pretty crazy when it starts to boil so watch it carefully. I bring it to the boil in the microwave 2-4 times.
Once I feel everything is dissolved I pour the mix into the media bottle, screw the cap on loosely, and cover it in foil.
I then place it in my PC and fill the PC with hot water from the tap until the level of the water reaches the level of the agar in the bottle.
This seems like a lot of water, but it is supposed to stop the agar from boiling over. I then PC it for ~20 mins at 15 psi.

Agar mix being boiled in the microwave

Media bottle in the PC with the water level up to the agar~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
. . : : Pouring plates : : . .Teks used: Bod's agar tek:
LinkEquipment used:- 20 plastic sterile petri dishes in their sleeve
- Still air box (SAB)
- 70% iso
- Parafilm
- Agar mix
- 1-2 Mugs
- Tupperware pot
- Thermometer
Once the PC cycle has finished I let the pressure drop on its own. After the pressure has dropped I open the PC and tighten up the media bottle with the foil left on. The media bottle is then placed in the tupperware which I fill with hot water up to the level of the agar in the media bottle. I then place a thermometer in the water. This setup allows you to easily know when your agar is at the best temp to pour.
While the agar is cooling I set up my SAB. I still clean it down with iso before each use, mainly as it makes me feel better about life. I wipe down the sleeve of petri dishes with iso and place it in the SAB.
Once the agar reaches 47-50c I wipe the media bottle down with iso and place it in the SAB and pour my plates asap. Nothing special.
Pouring plates can seem scary, but its simple. Your first few times will be a little shakey, but as you get used to the process it will become smooth. Pouring in a SAB is fine imo, don't feel you need a flowhood to start pouring plates.
I leave the 20 plates in two stacks of 10 as that is what fits best in my SAB. I place a mug of hot water on top of each stack and let them cool off. This can be any where from 1-5 hours.
If I am saving the plates for later I then wrap them with parafilm. Otherwise I use them straight away.

Media bottle cooling in the water bath by the SAB which is settling.

Plates cooling. Mugs of warm water placed on top to help with condensation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. . : : Streaking plates : : . .Teks used:Bod's agar tek:
Linkc10's agar guide:
LinkAsura's Spore print to Agar tek:
LinkEquipment used:- Agar plates
- SAB
- 70% iso
- Inoculation loop
- Spore print
- Lighter
- Alcohol burner
- Parafilm
Nothing super special here. I setup my SAB if I'm not working straight after pouring plates, wipe down the plates and put them in the SAB, then let it all sit for while.
When I'm ready to work I clean my arms with iso, fire up my alcohol burner, and heat the loop until its red hot.
The receiving petri is briefly opened so I can cool the loop in the agar, then I gently dab the cooled loop onto the spore print.
The receiving plate is opened and I wipe the loop across the surface of the agar. Sometimes in a Z pattern, something with multiple crossing streaks, whatever takes my fancy that day.
When all the plates are streaked I put out my burner and wrap the plates.
The streaked plates are labeled and put on the shelf and stored at room temp while they germinate. This can take 3-7 days ime.

Plates, prints, and inoculation loop before being loaded into the SAB.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. . : : Taking transfers : : . .Teks used:Asura's Spore print to Agar tek:
LinkAsura's agar for pans:
LinkJCM's post:
LinkEquipment used:- Agar plates
- SAB
- 70% iso
- Scalpel
- Lighter
- Alcohol burner
- Parafilm
Once the plates have germinated and are showing enough myc for a decent selection to be made I make my first transfers. This is a little different if you are used to working with cubes. See JCM's post and the two links from Asura above for some great photos and input on the specifics of pan agar work.
I tend to grab myc pretty early on, selecting individual blobs of myc a couple of days after they have germed. This is mainly as I'm looking for fast moving myc.
The transfer process is very simple. Heat the scalpel, cool it in the agar, cut the sample out, and carefully move it the clean plate by skewering the wedge with the scalple. The wedge that is being transferred is placed myc down onto the agar.
Again the plates are wrapped with parafilm and left at room temp to grow out. Again this can take 3-7 days.
Very often the first transfers (T1s) can look good enough to work with, but I do sometimes take second transfers (T2s). The process is the same.
You are looking for fast, whispy, even growth.

Pan cyan Texas T1 on agar, ready for an LC. This culture fruited very nicely.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. . : : Making Liquid Culture (LC) : : . .Teks used:Josex's LC tek:
LinkMushboy's LC tek:
LinkEquipment used:- 250ml media bottles
- Plastic measuring jug
- LME
- PC
- Tin foil
- Microwave
I initially first tried LC as a challenge, however, since then I've had pretty good luck with it, and as it suits my current approach to growing pans so I've stuck with it. You could use a Liquid Inoculant instead, there are plenty of teks out there.
Like the agar I'm using a fairly standard LC broth:Very simply, I mix the LME into the cold tap water, sometime I blap it in the microwave just to make sure all the LME is dissolved. I then pour 100ml of the broth into my media bottles. I tend to make 5 at one time. I will mention here that my media bottles have
unmodified lids and I don't have a stirrer or anything in them.
I loosely put the lids on the media bottles, cover them with foil, then PC for ~20 mins at 15 psi. I then let the pressure drop naturally, take the bottles out and tighten the lids leaving the foil on. I usually let them cool over night.
The broth can look a bit cloudy when it first comes out the PC but it will clear up over the next couple of days.
The reason for the unmodified lids is that these LCs should be ready to use in a weeks time, I'm also only using the LC once. As I'm not looking to keep these for a while I feel no need to mod the lids for Gas Exchange (GE). Having said that I've used LCs that have sat in these bottle for a month and they have been viable.

250ml media bottles loaded into the PC.

LC fresh out the PC, still a little cloudy, but it will clear over the next day or two.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. . : : Inoculating the Liquid Culture (LC) : : . .Teks used:Josex's LC tek:
LinkMushboy's LC tek:
LinkEquipment used:- Agar plates
- 250ml media bottles
- Scalpel
- SAB
- 70% iso
- Lighter
- Alcohol burner
Once again I spray down my SAB with iso, wipe down the media bottles and petri dishes before placing them in the SAB and letting everything chill for a while. I then fire up my burner and clean my arms with iso.
I then unwrap the first plate I'm going to be using and loosen the lid of the media bottle that will be receiving the wedge. I heat the scalpel till the blade is red hot, cool it in the agar, then cut a small wedge and skewer it with my scalpel. Being as delicate, smooth, and quick as possible I then lift the lid of the media bottle the smallest amount possible and drop the agar wedge off the scalpel into the broth. The lid of the media bottle is then tightened up and moved aside.
I repeat this process for each bottle.
I usually do one plate to one bottle to increase my chance of getting a clean LC.
The LCs are then stored at room temp in a clean space with the lids slightly loosened. Every morning and evening I tighten the lid of each bottle and give it a vigorous swirl in one direction and then the other.
These LCs are small and used once. 100mls of LC is way more than I need. Making huge LCs and using them more than once increases the chance of contaminating a very easy to contaminate medium.


The same batch of LC 3 days apart. You can see the broth is clear and in the last short almost full of myc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. . : : Cooking Pan-cakes: : . .Teks used:MacMerdin's pan-cake tek:
LinkEquipment used:- Aged and seasoned horse manure
- Brown rice
- Vermiculite (verm)
- Straw
- Gypsum
- Water
- PP5 shallow, round pots
- Coffee grinder
- Bucket
- PC
- Scissors
- 18G needle
- Lighter
- Tin foil
- Micropore tape
MacMerdin's tek is just great. I honestly don't know why more people aren't using this to grow non-cubes. Its basically the PF tek and it lets you grow plenty of pan cyans. It is an awesome way to first try growing these species.
I like to grind my own brown rice flour (BRF) as the shop bought stuff is way too fine imo, so I just grind cheap brown rice in a coffee grinder until its a nice sandy consistency.
The manure is pretty important here, I tried manure pellets in the past and they were such a pain to work with. If you can, and really try, use some proper horse manure from a field, stable stuff is ok too. Knock on doors, ring friends, search gum tree/craigslist/ebay, call local stables. If you want to grow pans get some good manure*.
I like to add a little straw into my cakes so I chop it with scissors so it isn't too long.
The cake mix is very simple:- 1 part manure
- 1 part verm
- 1 part BRF
- 1 part water
- 0.5 part chopped straw
- pinch of gypsum
I make these cakes once the LCs are ready. They are usually done in 6-10 days. The broth should be crystal clear and full of myc. This doesn't mean the LC is clean and if you want to be sure then you should test it on agar.
I normally make 5 cakes at a time as this is how many fit in my PC with the pots I use.
The pots should be shallow and wide. The ones I use are like 4cm deep and ~14cm wide. I use the pots to measure the ingredients.
I mix all the dry ingredients in a tub then add the 1 part water. I mix it thoroughly and then grab a hand full and give it a good squeeze. It should be field cap, but sometime I add a little more verm just to get it to the drier side of field cap to allow for the LC and as I've heard pans like it on the drier side (THIS COULD BE BOLLOX!).
Once the mix is ready I fill the PP5 dishes leaving 1-1.5cm of free space at the top. I clean down the edges and tamp the mix very lightly. I make sure that the pots are as clean as possible above the mix. Don't leave bits of the mix stuck on the sides of the pot. The pots are all then topped up with dry verm to make the dry verm layer that is a pivotal part of this tek and the PF tek.
I then put the lids on, making sure they are secure. I then take an 18G syringe needle, usually an old one, and heat it up with a lighter to melt four even spaced hole into the lid. The hole are then covered with one layer of micropore tape and the lids are covered with a layer of tin foil.
The pots are then PC'd for 90-120 mins at 15 psi.
After the cycle I let the pressure drop naturally and take the pots out to cool off over night.

The PP5 pots I've been using the most. Wide and shallow.

Some of the ingredents for the pan-cakes and a bucket to mix them in.

Holes made in the lids, covered in foil, and loaded in the PC ready for a 90min cycle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. . : : Inoculating the Pan-cakes : : . .
Equipment used:- SAB
- LC
- Sterile 18G needle
- Sterile syringe
- Pan-cakes
- Lighter
- Alcohol burner
- 70% iso
- Micropore tape
Like I said above I am lazy and don't test my LC on agar. I just select the LC that was first to finish and looks the best. If I am being honest there is nothing scientific behind this selection beyond the speed. There is a fair bit of gut feeling involved. I usually use one LC as the 100mls is more than enough to noc all 5 cakes.
Once again, I set up my SAB, clean the LC bottles and pan-cakes with iso, load them into the SAB. The syringes I use come wrapped and are sterile. So I wipe the packaging and load them into the SAB as well and let it all sit. (I do reuse my syringes but am not going to cover cleaning them here).
Once I am ready to rock I fire up my burner and clean my hands and arms.
In the SAB I remove the foil from the cakes and loosen the LC bottle lid. I then carefully open the syringe and needle pack, attach the needle and remove the needle cap. I then carefully open the LC bottle, insert the needle and suck up all the LC I can. Sometimes the needles clogs a little, if this happens I gently squirt back into the bottle and continue sucking up.
The syringes I have been using take ~20ml.
Once it's full I flame the needle and inoculate the first pot, squirting a small amount into each of the four holes. I repeat the process for each pot, flaming the needle between pots. This usually uses all the LC in the syringe.
Once I'm finished I put a fresh layer of micropore tape over the holes and label the pots.
The pan-cakes are then put on my clean shelf and left at room temp.

Pan-cakes, complete LC, and sterile syringe and needle chilling the SAB.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. . : : Making the casing : : . .
Teks used:MacMerdin's pan-cake tek:
LinkEquipment used:- Peat moss
- Verm
- Tub
- Boiling water
- Pot/mug
- Gypsum
- Bubble wrap
Pans need casing. I make the casing after the cakes have fully colonised and consolidated. My pots have normally taken ~2 weeks to colonise and I let them sit for 5 days to consolidate.
The casing is a very simple mix:- 1 part peat moss
- 1 part verm
- 1 part boiling water
- pinch of gypsum
I make sure the peat moss doesn't have any big chunks in it, if there are any I break them up, then mix all the dry ingredients in the tub, shaking to mix well. I then pour in the boiling water, and give it all a shake to mix (careful here as the lid can leak). Once its mixed I wrap the tub in bubble wrap and let it cool over night.

Dry materials mixed and the measuring pot ready to add the boiling water.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. . : : Fruiting the pan-cakes : : . .Teks used:JCM's fruiting chamber (FC):
LinkMy FC write up:
LinkEquipment used:- Aquarium heater
- Air pump
- Air stones
- Shelf
- Tub
- Closed cell foam (CCF) camping mat.
- Lamp
- Pan cakes
- Casing mix
A couple of things:You can fruit pans using low tek methods. People have had success (Baba Yaga has made
the best post I know of about fruiting pans in a monotub). I had none. Not a single pin. For me JCM's FC made pans not just possible but easy. Almost set and forget.
The link to my write up above lists the actual items used to make my FC, the dimensions, and has photos. Here I just write a simple description of the FC and the idea behind it.
Pans like a lot of fresh air exchange (FAE), high humidity, and high temps. This is what makes them trickier than cubes to fruit. Temp swings can ruin your harvest. You can go into real detail here, just look at the big time growers in the pan general, they have it down to a fine art. I'm only growing a small amount so this setup has been more than good enough, and has thrown out some really nice harvests.
The FC is a tub with about 4-6 inches of water in the bottom, the water is heated with the aquarium heater, mine is set up almost max which keeps the FC at ~27C depending on the ambient temps in my house. The pump is running 24/7 pushing air through the water to provide FAE and humidity. The tub sits on top of the CCF mat as my floors are cold, and outside of summer I put another CCF mat over the FC at night to help reduce the temp swings.
I have a small shelf that sits just above the water level on which the pots are placed.
The lid of the tub doesn't fit tight and has a big gap to allow plenty of FAE.
Casing and fruiting:When everything is ready I birth the cakes by opening the pots and gently tapping them out. I use a knife to scrap off the dry verm layer. I then put the cake back in the pot and apply a thin layer of the casing mix. This is a really thin layer, just enough to cover the white myc so you can't see it any more. A few gaps aren't the end of the world as long as they are small. I then mist the casing layer so it's soaked and place the pot in the FC. Repeat for all.
If you are used to cubes then how wet the casing needs to be will probably make you uncomfortable. Go to the pan thread, look at the photos of the good grows, you will see how wet it needs to be. Keep the casing wet.
If everything has gone well then you should see knots within 5-8 days. These will be tiny white specs on the casing, the first time I saw them I thought it was contam. Don't worry if you don't see the knots, some people don't.
If you don't see pins in 10 days you probably aren't going to get fruit. Chalk it up as a learning experience and head back to step one.
Once you see pins things go quick from there. There used to be an idea that pan pins don't like to get wet, but the thinking now is that they don't mind being misted as long as they don't dry out, this will likely make them abort. With my FC I haven't had any issue, I mist the casing once or twice before pins appear if it needs but most the time it all stays wet enough.
Pans don't have a veil like cubes, I like my fruit to have flat caps for printing and looks so let them flatten out and then harvest. You're best bet is to look at some photos to get an idea of how things should look when they are ready.
Pans sort of come in waves rather then flushes. I don't mind things getting a little sporey so I am happy to let them go a little longer.

The cakes birthed with the dry verm layer removed, ready for casing.

Cased cakes all loaded into the FC.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. . : : Harvest, preping for second flush, printing and drying : : . .Teks used:Mushboy's drying thread:
LinkBod's spore print tek:
LinkEquipment used:- Pot
- Scales
- Water
- Dehydrator
- Silica packets
- Air tight jar
- Foil
- Scissors
Pans hang onto the casing tight, so don't pull them up, either pinch them, cut them, or as they snap quite nicely just push them at the base with your finger.
Gather your harvest and give it a weigh! Take your biggest caps and print them how you like. I use bod's tek above which works great.
To rehydrate for a second flush I literally just pour water all over the casing then place it back in the FC. If there is any water left after a couple of hours I pour it off.
Pans are meant to be magic fresh so if you can eat them asap do! You'll have to search for fresh doses as I haven't eaten them fresh yet.
I throw my harvest in the dehydrator straight after harvest and give them 6 hours minimum, I often dry them over night. Once they are dry I place them in an air tight jar or tub with some silica packets. Look at mushboy's thread above. I'm not a big fan of the whole 'cracker dry' idea that is used as the bench mark for drying. It's not good enough. Cubes get 24 hours, pans get 6+.

A full first flush of JCM's pan jambos ready to harvest and print.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. . : : Consuming : : . .Teks used:Mushboy's tea tek:
LinkSadnock's input about lemon balm:
LinkEquipment used:- 1 gram of dried pans
- Water
- Pot
- Sieve
- Tea of your choice
- Honey
- Ginger
- Bed
- Music
This is all pretty personal stuff but here is how I like to do things.
Make some tea in a small saucepan with the amount of water you want to consume, I like red bush with ginger and honey. Discard the tea leaves/bag and ginger, and put your mushrooms into the water. You can crush them if you want, or leave them whole.
Simmer the mix for 5-15 mins. Strain (or drink the mushroomy bits if you want). Let cool and consume in one go.
Before dosing I like to clean the house and my room, and get everything ready, dogs to bed, phone switched off ect. After I dose I take a quick shower get changed into something comfy and do some stretching or sit quietly while I come up.
I tend to have my room lights dimmed way down and some super ambient music on. SomaFM's DroneZone is a good one. When I start to feel it coming on I'll go lie down.
1 gram is awesome. Start there to gauge your harvest and adjust accordingly. If you are new to this or nervous go lower or drink some lemon balm tea 30 mins before dosing.
. . : : Surrender Attachment To All Outcomes : : . .