Starting an in depth thread based off this thread. If you haven't voted, please go do so now!
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/29472504
So what's the deal with "exotics" or "woodlovers" you might be wondering? Especially if you're newer to cultivation. Well, when it comes to actives, id say most people only grow cubensis. This is certainly where most people start anyways. They're easy to grow, provide big yields, and can still be very potent too. There might come a point time for you though where the other side of cultivation sparks your interest or you at least want a better understanding of what people are talking about.
First things first. I want to describe what a cube is and what an exotic or woodlover is. In order to do that, you'll need to learn a little bit about taxonomy. When it comes to a mushroom like "Iceberg," for example, that would be a variety of Psilocybe cubensis. Psilocybe is the genus name, cubensis is the species name, and Iceberg is the variety name. (You always capitalize the genus name and lowercase the species name, if you want to be proper.) When it comes to actives, anything that isn't a cubensis, is either an exotic or a woodlover.
Outside of the Psilocybe genus, there are a handful of other known active genera, such as: Inocybe, Amanita, Panaeolus, Conocybula, Pluteus, Gymnopilus, etc. Now, just because a genus contains active species, it doesn't mean all species within that genus are active. In fact, some are deadly, like the Amanita genus for example. Some Amanitas are psychoactive and some are deadly poisonous. So that's something to be cautious about. However, so far, everything described in the Psilocybe genus is safe to eat and all but two or three are active! Psilocybe is definitely my favorite genus!
You might be wondering, what does "described" mean. Well, in taxonomy, when a new species is found, it gets DNA sequencing to confirm it has no match to anything else that has already been sequenced. From there, a paper is written on it and it is officially given a name and is described. Sometimes you'll see "cf." or "nom. prov." written in a name.
"cf." means confer or compare to. This is used when a species is found that compares very close to an already described or existing species. Like Psilocybe stuntzii and Psilocybe stuntzii cf. (orini from New Zealand.) They're both very similar species with tiny differences. They could be the same species, in short.
"nom. prov " means nomen provisorium or provisional name. This is used when a name will most likely be used to describe a new species, but hasn't had a paper written on it yet, like Psilocybe gandalfiana nom. prov. or Psilocybe subsecotioides nom. prov.
So how do you figure out what a woodlover is or what a dung lover is? Lucky for you, I have a thread for that!
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/29183195
I'm not going to go too in depth on genera outside of Psilocybe because it can get very confusing. Some of these genera are mycorrhizal. This means they have a symbiotic relationship with plant roots and are required for their cultivation. This is a very tricky area that I have not spent much time time in. Psilocybes however, are saprotrophic. They feed off dead organic material. This alone, is what make cultivation for all Psilocybes more easily within our reach.
As for some other genera, it's pretty straightforward. Gymnopilus genus consists of woodlovers and Panaeolus genus consists of dung lovers.
So let's split them up a bit and get into some key notes!
Woodlovers -
These are very hardy and forgiving mushrooms that many people choose to run outdoors. There are some that like it hot, some that like it cold, and some that like it in between. They all definitely love wood though... but are there any that you can grow?
Do you have access to mulch or wood chips?
If so, mixed hardwood, conifer, or both?
(Option 1) Landscape Supplier. If you have a pickup truck, they can load it with heavy equipment. Where I live, I can get a yard, loaded for only $35. If you don't have a pickup truck, some places like u haul and Menards (Midwest hardware store) offer rentals for cheap. However, most of these landscape suppliers have a delivery option. Bulk from landscape suppliers is one of the most cost effective methods.
(Option 2) Department Stores. Places like Home Depot and Menards have bagged mulch. Scott's Naturescapes is a great option containing mixed hardwood. This mulch is dyed, but that's ok! Mycelium doesn't care if the mulch is dyed. Sometimes bagged conifer can be a little more tricky to source. Menards has bagged pine wood chips and they also have bagged pine bark mulch. Now a couple side notes that I want to throw out there. I am personally not a fan of woodchips. I much prefer mulch and use it exclusively if I can help it. The moisture content is great and retains it better during colonization than wood chips. Next, bark is argued to not be beneficial to certain species. However, I have a colonized container of stuntzii, that was on bark mulch recently to Rhizo Rider and he was able to successfully fruit them in his basement. Again, this is debated that it could have fruited because of the grain in the mulch. I don't believe this is the case. Further experimentation is being conducted.
(Option 3) Nature Run. If you have a woodchipper or have a friend who has one, you can source your own sticks and logs from nature! You want dead wood. Nothing green.
(Option 4) Advertisement. Check local listings on Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, etc for someone local who offers chips or mulch. Be cautious with sources like Chip Drop. Using Chip Drop could result in several yards of unusable material, such as cedar, being dropped on your property. There are some woods you should avoid like cedar and cypress because of their antifungal properties.
A key note about growing woodlovers:
Just because a species in the wild can be found growing primarily on logs, it doesn't mean that's what it NEEDS it in cultivation. Many mushrooms have preferences but not necessarily requirements. For instance, you may prefer to survive on pizza, but you can also survive on baked potatoes.
Fermenting, pasteurization, sterilization, or raw?They all work, and what you do should be based on your end goal. For me, what process I decide is based on where or how I plan to fruit the species. If I'm fruiting indoors, I will not leave it raw. Leaving it raw leaves existing spores and mycelium a chance to flourish. These pre-existing species could outcompete your goal species. With that being said, I pasteurize or if I'm doing LB Tek, I'll sterilize. Also, BUGS! You most certainly bring bugs inside with raw wood. You don't even want to store it inside. Keep that stuff outside if it's raw or in the garage. Fungus gnats and springtails can flourish inside and you don't want that problem.
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/29437303
Now if your plan is to fruit outdoors, you can ferment it or leave it raw if you're feeling extra lazy. Leaving it raw is not recommended for some species that have weaker or slower mycelium. The problem with this, as mentioned before, is competition. Furthermore, what if something deadly like Galerina is existing in the wood? Now just because you prep your wood properly, this doesn't mean they're completely resistant from other species popping up. You're just better off from the start. Some species and isolates are extremely aggressive and can outcompete most things easily, while other species do not. Anything in Section Subaeruginosae or Caerulescentes is going to be very aggressive. These days, I only use raw mulch for these Sections. For something weaker, like pelliculosa or caerulipes, I will ferment, to give the desired species the upper hand. Come harvest time, you need to be sure you properly identify every single fruit you pick. This is the case regardless if you sterilized, fermented, or use raw wood! You should be doing this inside too honestly. Stray mushrooms can pop up in your grows inside, though much more rarely.
When it comes to fermenting, I don't usually do it for indoor cultivation for various reasons. First being is that it can be a messy job. Surely you can ferment outside and bring the wood inside afterwards. However, I find it annoying to get the moisture content correct for indoor woodlovers. Too dry and the mycelium crawls. Too wet and it washes the mycelium from the grain and contaminates. Outdoors, moisture doesn't really matter. Too wet and it'll just soak into the earth. Too dry, and you can spray it down with the hose or wait for the rain to come. You don't have to worry about your typical contamination outdoors. Just invader mushrooms and then some slime mold can occasionally kick your ass. Speaking of outdoors and contamination, if you struggle growing indoors, then you're really in for a treat growing outdoors! It'll blow your mind how forgiving everything is outdoors!
Where do you even live and what's the climate like?
If you've checked out my link earlier about Psilocybe taxonomy and individual needs, then you'll know how to use inaturalist to do a little research. If you're feeling lazy or flat out confused still, then just ask below!
Exotics-
Now these are everything else that isn't a cubensis or a woodlover! However, there are some weird ones within Section Semilanceatae and Section Cordisporae that I would label as both an exotic and a woodlover, like yungensis or caerulipes for example.
Things can get a little weird in this category, especially with the two sections mentioned above, Semilanceatae and Cordisporae. These sections will contain some more unusual substrate requirements and some will be after a more weird temperature.
What kind of temperatures are you working with and what kind of substrates you can get your hands on will determine what works best for you! Temperature indoors, sometimes can be easier than what one might think. Sometimes you can get the season timed right and grow a cold loving species just sitting by a cracked window or in a tub on your cold basement floor! Or you can get a fridge and fruit stuff in there, without even modifying the fridge! I fruited Psilocybe caerulipes this way with ease on a mixture of coco coir, and beech chips I bought on Amazon. I simply just plugged the fridge into an Elitech temperature controller, at 60°F, and opened the door once a day or a few times a week to spray the grow with some water.
Rhizo Rider fruits woodlovers in totes on his basement floor where it sits at 60°F, with ease. Super neglect Tek style! It's just a walk in the park for him. I go all out with three separate cold fruiting chambers/fridges. It's completely overkill and definitely not what you need.
Maybe it's really hot by you though and you want to grow outside. Panaeolus or certain woodlovers might be your best option. There are a handful of exotic Psilocybes that can handle that as well tho. Some things in Section Cubensae and then there's a couple new species from Section Zapotecorum that seem to tolerate hotter weather outdoors, like ingeli and NZ02 especially.
So what substrates can you get your hands on? Coco coir or straw? Manure? Wood mulch or chips? Grass seed? There really isn't too many others that I would consider necessary.
Sourcing manure can be pretty easy. Check out local farms and ask them for their shit. Most will be happy for you to take some and will actually try to give you more than you want! Again, if you have a truck, just offer them twenty bucks to scoop a load with their skid loader and toss it in the back. If not, bring a bucket and a shovel! I much prefer horse manure that is field aged. It's perfect when it's a year or older and basically just soil again. Earth worms in it, is a great sign!
As for prepping the sub so it's clean, it's pretty easy. Coir, I leave raw. Everything else is hydrated to field capacity, loaded in an oven bag or myco bag and pasteurized in the over, on the top shelf, and 160°F for 10 hours. I use the "keep warm" setting on my oven. From there it lets me turn the temp down to what I want. 170°F is fine too, you just don't want to go above 185°F. I like to mix ingredients post cook. That way, I can bulk prep and leave them hanging around for months and months. I have manure I prepped 8 months ago that I still use! I leave everything closed up and at room temperature.
Give me some parameters below that you're capable of achieving and hopefully myself or someone else can help you out!
Edited by PhenoDreamers (08/31/26 09:49 AM)
|
Threaded
Previous
Index
Next
PhenoDreamers 
B Traven 
tree frog 
Edit 
Reply 
A lot of projects in the works and documentation I'm wanting to do.
1 2 3 4 ... 120 121 )
BeefExtreme
REDCONTROL
Anonymous
Rashiki
Sombie
