Would this method of growing shrooms work correctly?
If there are any flaws or errors in this grow guide, please poste the problem.
Supplies
A spore syringe - Cubensis for this project. I would use Cambodian, Mexican or maybe Amazonian. The mycelium of these strains is very aggressive and reliable.
A pressure cooker - the bigger, the better. These are not expensive. About 25 pounds from Argos.
Atleast twelve 1/2 pint canning jars If you cant get canning jars, use pickle jars from the supermarket. Check for cracks before you pressure cook though.
A bag of organic brown rice. If it is not organic, fungicides used when growing the rice may inhibit the mushrooms or stop them totally. Wild rice will do, but not white rice.
An alcohol lamp or lighter. A lamp is better as a lighter can be a source of contamination.
A plastic tub. Use this a grow chamber when fruiting.
A clean place to store your jars, that has a relatively constant temprature. Room temperature works well. I find keeping them in a clear plastic crate with lid, helps to keep temprature constant and airbourne contaminants to a minimum.
Germ killing disinfectant.
Alcohol for sterilizing hands etc.
Surgical gloves, dust masks, hairnets etc.
Cheap Airfilter
Distilled water.
Spray bottle.
Bleach.
Procedure for growing Magic Mushrooms
Make sure your work area is draft-free. Set up the pressure cooker, make sure you follow instructions. Wash the jars and lids. Dont towel dry them, you will just wipe germs and dust back on them. Wash yourself, too. Some people recommend that you wear a long sleeved shirt, or wear a T shirt and disinfect forearm when doing shroom work.
For each canning jar, add 1/4 cup brown rice and 1/3 - 1/2 cup water. I use bottled water, but boiled tap water is fine. Fill six 1/2 pint jars or as many as will fit into your pressure cooker, without stacking or jamming them in there. Place the lids on the jars, and leave the lids very loose. Place the jars on the bottom of the pressure cooker. You want about 1.5 inches of water in there. Now follow the directions for sealing the pressure cooker. Allow the pressure inside the cooker to build up to 15 lbs. Once the pressure inside the cooker has reached 15 lbs, you want to maintain it at that level for one hour. You may have to turn it down so that the pressure doesn't rise to unsafe levels above 15 lbs.
When the hour has passed, turn off the stove and let it cool before you open it. After 10-15 minutes - remove jars from cooker. Don't try to rush the cooling process, as the jars may crack. I would suggest leaving jars to cool for atleast 2 hours. 4-6 if you can. Too much heat and your spores will die.
Wash up again, use your bleach etc. Wash your hands and fore arms, put your hat on. Long sleeves and a hat etc is recommended because millions of germs are falling off your body at any given moment. Sterility and the absence of drafts are of utmost importance from here on. Use your face/dust mask now if you have one.
I recommend filling a spray bottle with a 10% bleach / 90 % water solution. Use it to mist the air in the room to further reduce airborne contaminants.
Inocculation
Inject 2 cc's of magic mushroom spores into each rice cake
Screw on the lid tightly and shake the jar until the rice cake breaks up. This will allow the spores to spread throughout the rice medium. When you've done this to all the jars, put them in a safe place with a fairly constant temprature. A dark place is best as light can induce fruiting too early. In 3 days to 2 weeks you should see white, fluffy mycelia appear. Any other color i.e. green, black, etc. is mold. Dispose of the jar. Bacterial infections usually give off a putrid odor. With experience bacterial infection will become easy to reconize.
Now sit back and wait for nature to take its course. It will take anywhere from 2 weeks to 1 month for the mycelia to completely permeate the rice medium, then it will start getting these stringy looking or fan shaped runners in the white fuzzy growth.
Fruiting
Now expose to a couple of hours of light per day. Mushroom formation is not far off now. Of course at all stages be on the lookout for any possible contaminants in the mycelia. As the mycelia matures, it may start staining blue in spots, due to bruising, so don't mistake this for a mold infection.
Light Diffuse natural or exposure for 12-16 hours/day of grow-lux type fluorescent. High in blue spectra at the 480 nanometer wavelength. Regular fluorescent works fine, but use natural daylight whenever possible.
Fruiting chamber.
I would suggest using a plastic tub as a fruiting chamber. Sterilize some compost in the pressure cooker. Disinfect plastic tub, add soil to the plastic tub. Then place rice cakes on soil. Mist with distilled water. Replace lid. The mushrooms first appear as tiny white pinheads and then the caps will darken to a lovely reddish brown. Mushrooms grow best in an environment with a humidity of over 90%. So if you think that your mushrooms may need a more moist environment, Simply respray boiled or distilled water directly over rice cake/soil. You don't want things too wet, however, as this will promote mold/bacteria growth and inhibit mushroom formation. It is important that air exchange takes place in the storage area, this becomes more important as fruiting occurs.
Harvesting magic mushrooms
Mushrooms are ready as soon as the white membrane connecting the cap to the stem starts to rip. Although you don't want to pick them before they have reached their full size, be careful not to let the spores cover the cake or you will get less shrooms. To harvest your mushrooms, wash your hands and forearms well, or use rubbing alcohol. Take the lid off the fruiting chamber, grasp the mushroom firmly near the base and twist. A brisk twisting motion will help to free the 'shroom from the mycelia.
Edited by V0ic3s1nMyH34d (04/16/06 07:25 PM)
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