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polygon
Stranger
Registered: 10/04/06
Posts: 23
Last seen: 13 years, 9 months
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UK Peeps! Help an inexperienced mushroom hunter (please)!
#6132570 - 10/04/06 02:02 PM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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hello there people! i'm new to this forum, and fairly new to mushroom hunting. i've always found mushrooms fascinating, and when i eventually got to try some of the magic varieties a few years ago that fascination grew even more!
now i have been mushroom hunting before, and i know what liberties look like and have even succesfully found some in the past (i.e. last year) - but this year it seems they are very scarce (looking in the same horse fields as last year). now i'm not sure whether its because of the weather we've been having (im in the south east - it only really started raining a week or so ago, but there are plenty of other mushrooms popping up already) or if im just not looking hard enough, but i've only found 2 mushrooms that even resemble liberties, and im pretty sure they weren't.
so i would like to know if there are any other species of magics that are likely to be growing in the south east, or even if anyone has any tips for finding liberties. i'm aware that they grow in fields, but im not sure whether im better looking in the long or short grass, close to or further from horse crap (although my previous experience says closer to) or if i should just be patient and go have a look in a week or 2! so basically any advice would be most appreciated!
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 26,689
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Re: UK Peeps! Help an inexperienced mushroom hunter (please)! [Re: polygon]
#6132729 - 10/04/06 02:44 PM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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Just keep checking your fields, if you're in the southeast, chances are that the weather is still too warm for libs to fruit in numbers. I'm on the other side of the Canal and the weather here is still too warm as well and I expect the season to kick off within the following two weeks.
You can also look for pannaeolus subbalteatus or gymnoplius sp., but liberty caps are still the way to go in terms of potency and findability.
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Silverwolf
sandtrout


Registered: 09/06/03
Posts: 1,108
Loc: Darkover
Last seen: 13 years, 3 months
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Re: UK Peeps! Help an inexperienced mushroom hunter (please)! [Re: koraks]
#6132980 - 10/04/06 04:02 PM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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Still too early yet, wait until daytime temps hit around 14c coincidental with a rain spell of 2-3 days of decent cloudbursts everyday (look for slopes as-well in times of low summer rainfall).
-------------------- "Odrade read the word silently and then aloud. "Arafel." She knew this word.Reverend Mothers of the tyrants time had impressed it into the Bene Gesserit consciousness,tracing it's roots to the most ancient sources. "Arafel:the cloud darkness at the end of the universe.""
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blacksun


Registered: 09/02/06
Posts: 1,390
Loc: United Kingdom
Last seen: 10 years, 7 months
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Re: UK Peeps! Help an inexperienced mushroom hunter (please)! [Re: Silverwolf]
#6133041 - 10/04/06 04:27 PM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote -
todosmentira Stranger
Reged: 01/05/06 Posts: 24 Re: UK hunt #4 [pics] [Re: blacksun] #6131735 - 10/04/06 09:55 AM Edit Reply Quote Quick Reply
they grow on dartmoor - try high land - perhaps the mendips? Or small horse paddocks. Or grounds of stately homes with deer/golf courses etc. I found a pic of a field I have picked libs in in the north-west.
bear in mind that they do grow in more lush, less exposed fields like in somerset, shropshire etc If you have no luck try the other side of the valley/hill - often growth stays on one side for some reason. There shouldn't be too many other plants growing in the field - often good shroom fields are just rough grass with occasional clumps of sedge and thistles. AVOID:
'meadow' like fields - with lots of flowering plants/clovers/dandelions etc interspersed in the grass.
fields where the soil is very chalky/gravelly (doesn't hold any moisture)
fields or areas with lots of moss
cow fields
fields with a) very short or b) very long grass - if there are shrooms they will be a) tiny b) impossible to find
i think the best pics are on Pilze:
http://www.pilzepilze.de/galerie/v/Lateinisch/P/psilocybe/semilanceata/
-------------------- uarewotueat - "Libs are messy as hell, I don't know whether to take a shit or get a haircut when I'm on them!"
Edited by blacksun (10/04/06 04:28 PM)
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MovingTarget

Registered: 10/04/04
Posts: 4,825
Loc: temporary
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Re: UK Peeps! Help an inexperienced mushroom hunter (please)! [Re: blacksun]
#6133069 - 10/04/06 04:35 PM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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I just heard today that(in the north of the UK anyway) that it was the hottest september on record, and that there has only ever been 8 augusts that have been hotter. This might account for the libs being a little late.
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polygon
Stranger
Registered: 10/04/06
Posts: 23
Last seen: 13 years, 9 months
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Re: UK Peeps! Help an inexperienced mushroom hunter (please)! [Re: MovingTarget]
#6135120 - 10/05/06 01:25 AM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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thanks people!
i guess i'll just wait another week or 2 then go have another look!
may also check some new locations too. i have a golf course quite near to me which may be worth a look!
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koraks
Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 26,689
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Re: UK Peeps! Help an inexperienced mushroom hunter (please)! [Re: MovingTarget]
#6135462 - 10/05/06 06:12 AM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
MovingTarget said: I just heard today that(in the north of the UK anyway) that it was the hottest september on record, and that there has only ever been 8 augusts that have been hotter. This might account for the libs being a little late.
Yep, I second that. Here across the Canal, we've had the hottest september in 300 years (so that's the hottest one ever reliably recorded!) August was a very good mushroom month due to the autumn-like weather (rain almost every day), but nowhere near cold enough for libs. Right now, the weather seems to be cooling a bit and we see a bit more rain than we have during the past couple of weeks, so I expect temperatures to drop within the next two weeks. Libs will be around then very soon...Of course, northern UK (Scotland, Northumberland) usually is a tad colder than the south, which explains the fact that libs can be found in the north (mostly at higher altitudes where temps are low) but not in the south. So the way to go is to check higher ground during the following weeks. As soon as they start appearing, my guess is that they will gradually start appearing on lower grounds as well.
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Ego Death
Justadropofwaterinanendlesssea


Registered: 04/27/03
Posts: 10,447
Loc: The War Machine
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Re: UK Peeps! Help an inexperienced mushroom hunter (please)! [Re: polygon]
#6135480 - 10/05/06 06:30 AM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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Maybe this is why I've had no luck...
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Dr. uarewotueat
Peyote Farmer


Registered: 09/02/06
Posts: 16,545
Loc: Uk / Philippines
Last seen: 10 years, 6 months
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Re: UK Peeps! Help an inexperienced mushroom hunter (please)! [Re: polygon]
#6135704 - 10/05/06 09:06 AM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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be patient, if its low altitude then later in the season will be better as it cools down... my high altitude finds have been scarce so far this year and ive found nothing at low level yet... but its cooled down this week, feels like autumn now and we have had plenty of rain, so id recommend u go out again at the weekend and try ya luck
short grass is best of course cos they are easier to see, one thing i look out for is the lack of any flowers in the fields. ie. after all the clover and daisies and shit stop flowering
check this out >>> Liberty Cap Finds
-------------------- View My Gallery
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Hashishi
Unfuckwit'able


Registered: 09/09/06
Posts: 60
Loc: UK
Last seen: 16 years, 2 months
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Re: UK Peeps! Help an inexperienced mushroom hunter (please)! [Re: Dr. uarewotueat]
#6135724 - 10/05/06 09:14 AM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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Well, deffinately feels like the temperatures are dropping. I've got no central heating at the mo and I'm having to check my nuts periodically to make sure they're still attached. 
Couple of weeks, I'm thinking. I went out at the weekend and still had no luck, so I'm waiting 'til mid-October before I try again.
I, too, am in the South East, BTW.
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blacksun


Registered: 09/02/06
Posts: 1,390
Loc: United Kingdom
Last seen: 10 years, 7 months
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Re: UK Peeps! Help an inexperienced mushroom hunter (please)! [Re: Hashishi]
#6135862 - 10/05/06 10:27 AM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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Im down here in south west, no libs atm, im guessing 2 weeks and they will be everywhere
-------------------- uarewotueat - "Libs are messy as hell, I don't know whether to take a shit or get a haircut when I'm on them!"
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MovingTarget

Registered: 10/04/04
Posts: 4,825
Loc: temporary
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Re: UK Peeps! Help an inexperienced mushroom hunter (please)! [Re: blacksun]
#6135967 - 10/05/06 11:17 AM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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Its raining shit loads just now, and is quite cold!
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blacksun


Registered: 09/02/06
Posts: 1,390
Loc: United Kingdom
Last seen: 10 years, 7 months
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Re: UK Peeps! Help an inexperienced mushroom hunter (please)! [Re: MovingTarget]
#6135977 - 10/05/06 11:20 AM (17 years, 4 months ago) |
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yeah, hopefully 1 week for the temps to come down a tad bit more.
-------------------- uarewotueat - "Libs are messy as hell, I don't know whether to take a shit or get a haircut when I'm on them!"
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