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Hindsight
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Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread 25
#28191179 - 02/17/23 08:21 AM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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Psilocybe zapotecorum, or "Zaps" for short, have seen increasing interest on the org. They have been lumped together with other exotic species in the Misc Exotic thread, but some of us felt that the level of interest they are receiving warrants a dedicated thread so cultivators don't have to dig through non-Zap content to learn the best way of cultivating them and getting advice.
First found in Mexico in 1956, they are named after the Zapotec Indians who inhabited the area. It grows near rivers, creeks, and ravines, especially preferring steep and mossy ravine walls.

Zaps have been cultivated for a number of years. Here are some of the earlier grow reports I am aware of (thanks to 0t0lerance for providing these): 12 years ago: https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/12075558/fpart/1/vc/1 9 years ago: https://mycotopia.net/topic/90598-new-strain-of-psilocybe-zapotecorum-from-huatla-de-jimenez/ 6 years ago: https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/24100393/fpart/1/vc/1
Elpico has several journal entries for his grows and has been extremely generous and helpful to me: https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/27140358 https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/27178186 A beautiful bunch of Zaps from Elpico:

If you are aware of other successful Zap grows, please post them here and I will update the links above.
Different approaches have been taken from elaborate to simple, and with various substrates. Captain Future grew them by colonizing grain spawn then mixing with sterilized cakes of chopped straw and wood chips, then casing and putting in a tub. Pasty grew them by using colonized grain spawn then mixing that to HWFP and wheat to form cakes, then burying the fully colonized cakes in Coir and putting them in a monotub. Simple as that. Elfstone grew them in a chamber fed with a fogger, using a substrate of regular PF cakes with some sand added, and a casing layer of peat and sand.
My own observations on Zaps. There may be variability from one culture to the next, but this is what has worked for me:
- Uncertain of ideal temps, however, they fruit fine @ 72F
- Do not seem extremely picky about substrate. Have fruited them on straw/verm/BRF cakes with a standard 50/50 casing; my next attempt will be on plain PF cakes with a casing layer added.
- Do NOT like humidity/temp changes (very unlike Pans), and instead prefer constant, high humidity. The higher the better. 95% or more is good.
- Like to be wet all the time and surface pooling is fine. Mist as often as you want. My twistloc containers had casing on the bottom, all around the sides, and on top of the straw/verm/brf cake. I drilled drainage holes in the bottom after full colonization to allow drainage. Despite the fact that I kept the casing completely saturated at all times, and it looked like mud through the side of the twistloc, I still had side-pins forming in the 100% saturated casing.
- Like light and grow strongly toward it - how much they need is unknown but they did best for me with supplemental lighting (shaded natural light from a nearby window wasn't enough)
My fruiting setup was a sweaterbox, fed air through a 1" diameter tube connected to a sealed glass jar containing air stones. An air pump feeds air to the stones. That air bubbles through the water and the pressure created by the air pumps drives that humidified air out the hose on top and into the sweaterbox. This was just a quick and dirty setup I built as a test because the Zaps will not grow in my tent (due to intentionally swinging humidity cycles in the tent). A "JCM Chamber" setup is really the same thing but is all self contained (large tote with a few inches of water in the bottom, air stones in the water connected to air pumps, and a rack sitting above the water level to set your trays on). The air in my chamber was about 94% RH and I still had to mist 2-3x a day to keep the fruits at a happy moisture level.

Between myself and others growing these, I would like to see how much we can simplify the process. Substrate, and fruiting chambers are probably the best two areas of focus.
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ButtFace
Registered: 08/06/08
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread *DELETED* [Re: Hindsight] 1
#28191198 - 02/17/23 08:37 AM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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Post deleted by ButtFace
Reason for deletion:
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Land Trout
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: ButtFace]
#28191213 - 02/17/23 08:47 AM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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bw86
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: ButtFace] 2
#28191217 - 02/17/23 08:48 AM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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: : I have old prints from CaptianFuture i really need to dig into.
Edited by bw86 (02/17/23 08:55 AM)
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Guerrilla
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: bw86]
#28191226 - 02/17/23 08:55 AM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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-------------------- Being pissed on does not make you a real man.
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Roflspammer
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: bw86]
#28191228 - 02/17/23 08:56 AM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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Beautiful mushrooms! Is there a vendor that offers the opportunity for a person to become a member of this community of Zapotecorum enthusiasts?
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kirkeng
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: bw86] 2
#28191229 - 02/17/23 08:56 AM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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Cross post from misc exotic thread. Got 4 tubs spawned the other day, taking the approach of unmodified monos, oat spawn to 70/30 coir/manure substrate, casing with peat/lime once applicable. Some jars did look a little suspicious but others looked great. Going to take the fruiting approach of semps with less fae on one and higher fae on the other given at least two make it that far. Updates as relevant. Glad this information is getting consolidated, and excited to see everyone’s progress!
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Leftfield420
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: bw86] 1
#28191230 - 02/17/23 08:58 AM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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where can I score a print to play along this summer... .I'll throw some in my greenhouse and see if I get some Zaps
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Shrimps
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: Leftfield420]
#28191232 - 02/17/23 08:58 AM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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Galavant
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: Hindsight]
#28191233 - 02/17/23 08:59 AM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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Oh man I’m eager to learn all this. I’m way off from using them, but I was able to add 2 free exotic MSS’s to my cube order and I got Zaps and Nats. Thanks!!
-------------------- My humble grow journal No-Pour No-Condensation Ketchup Cups ***ANY and ALL*** posts by me should be considered satirical in nature and strictly for the lulz
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Waldfried



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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: Hindsight] 1
#28191243 - 02/17/23 09:08 AM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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Quote:
Hindsight said:
A beautiful bunch of Zaps from Elpico:

They look like the illegitimate child of a cube and a wavy cap.
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cambocyan

Registered: 06/24/20
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: Waldfried]
#28191456 - 02/17/23 11:15 AM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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very few have spores of this species and even less can source them from wild habitat maybe you guys can change that in the future as ur leading the way and give them the attention they deserve.
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alaskappalachian
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: bw86] 2
#28191538 - 02/17/23 12:12 PM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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Bw86 - Just a heads up: these prints (I was informed regarding mine) don't age well. Anything over a year is apparently a no go. Tried everything from forced hydration to brf pucks to soft agar to water agar to syringe-to-cakes and no dice. Was a sad, sad realization... Mine were like 3 years old though (although I tried them at 1.5yr mark as well...)
-------------------- "First we build the tools, then they build us." THE 49th MYCOJOURNAL: Exotics, Auroras, and Entities
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Hindsight
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I had the same experience. After my first attempts at cultivating these failed, the print I had aged-out and I was unable to revive it via any means. It was around 1-1.5 years old if I remember correctly. I had to ask for another print.
I will be happy to distribute zap prints as I can make them but due to the very small number of people growing them, the lengthy growing cycle, and the small number of fruits produced (so far), Zap prints won't be in heavy supply.
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YoshiTrainer
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: Hindsight] 2
#28191716 - 02/17/23 02:02 PM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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Nice thread!
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scapo
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: YoshiTrainer] 5
#28192051 - 02/17/23 06:20 PM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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I was able to cultivate zaps successfully!
Ran them in CVG the same as any other cube and they fruited fine. This first round I did not add a casing layer.
I did not get a huge flush the first time around but the fruits definitely reached maturity and dropped spores which was nice! They seemed to really pop after I syringe watered the substrate, supporting the earlier comment that they like high moisture. Note that there were a good amount of aborts as well! Definitely some optimization to be done.



Here's what my notes look like. Start 11/13/22 o Used 120g coco and 1.5 cups vermiculite, 3 cups water. Set up in a 2gal Ziploc bag in a Tupperware, following Fahtster's method. o After 5-7 days, started FC (fast colonizing) o 11/29/22 not action yet – surface conditions look good, may have started FC too soon o 12/4 looks a little dry, will see how things progress o 12/10 added water with a syringe, 20mL, around sides and surface o 12/17 first signs of pins! Adding water helped. Was going to add a casing layer but then saw pins so there may not be a need. It could also be the fact that we moved it towards the bottom of the tent, so the slight drop in temperature may have helped a little. o 12/21 noticed that the front two have bruised – stunted? There is a cluster that is still going. o 12/24 they seem to be consistently bruising – added 20mL water o 12/27 harvested aborts. Some new pins forming, added more water o 01/05 haven’t changed anything and a cluster looks good so far o 01/12/23 added some more water, 10-20mL o 01/14/23 first real harvest! o 01/31/23 note that they can grow quite a bit past when we’ve been harvesting them. Letting them rip
Edited by scapo (02/17/23 06:42 PM)
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bw86
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: scapo]
#28192060 - 02/17/23 06:27 PM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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For realz? zaps on CVG with no casing?
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scapo
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: bw86] 1
#28192066 - 02/17/23 06:35 PM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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Yup! I have another tub going with a peat moss casing layer. Will post up results as I see some! They're going now actually
I expected failure from my first round and to have to troubleshoot but then we got pins so I wasn't disappointed
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scapo
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: scapo] 8
#28192075 - 02/17/23 06:45 PM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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Edited by scapo (02/18/23 11:15 AM)
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The Tao
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Re: Official Psilocybe zapotecorum thread [Re: scapo] 3
#28192191 - 02/17/23 07:58 PM (11 months, 3 days ago) |
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Posting to keep track of this thread. I hope it does as well as the Semperviva thread. You guys do good work.
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