azurescens Cultivation Report

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Skillet original report: https://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms_cultivation_az10.shtml

Table of Contents: Psilocybe azurescens (Wild Astoria) Psilocybe azurescens (Hammond) Spore germination Spawn media Bulk substrate preparation Preparation of outdoor beds Establishment of beds Pests! Maintenance Fruiting report

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Psilocybe azurescens (Wild Astoria)

1. Patch collected in Astoria OR 12/19/99. Patch dug up and placed, along with grasses, into large flower pots.

2. Pots brought back to Seattle, WA. Patches were then cleaned up of extra debris and alder woodchips were added. Makeup of pots as follows: Pots filled 3/4 with beach/riparian sand/silt. dune grasses and other plants arranged on sand. Mycelial bits laid on sand surface around grasses. whole thing covered with alder chips and planings.

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3. Each pot was watered deeply and placed in a south facing window sill. The pots were sprayed with distilled water every day. note: after two weeks, there were signs of black mold in one of the pots. I cleared the mold out with tweezers and stopped spraying the pots. I noticed lots of mycelium growing at the border between the sand and woodchips. The pots were then watered only once a week, allowing them to dry at the surface. The grass has taken off, as has the weeds. A coast lupine has sprouted as have lots of other weeds.

4. Three of the six pots were taken outside on 2/6/00, 7 weeks after starting. Daytime highs were in the mid-50's, lows in mid-40's. I hope to have Mushrooms growing in flowerpots by mid-March. They should make lovely pictures. After the last flush, the pots will be broken down and planted into prepared beds. These beds will be composed of pits dug out and filled with sand from a nearby river. I will try to recreate the environment of the West sand dunes and get the Azurescens to take to the Puget Sound environment. A portion of the patch will be dug up and moved every year to a location along the Puget Sound. There are places locally soma rights re-served 3 since 27.03.2015 at http://www.en.psilosophy.info/ psilocybe azurescens cultivation report www.en.psilosophy.info/oeoimkiwbdifbncxceadbvjp with sand dunes containing dune grasses that the Azurescens will probably adapt to readily. Within ten years, Psilocybe Azurescens will be a predominant species in the Puget Sound Region.

5. A week after being put outside, a hard frost set in so I pulled the pots back into the house for a few weeks.(2/13/00-2/27/00) All the pots were put out on 2/28/00 along with a batch of P. Cyanescens. As of 4/7/00 there is no sign of activity from any of the pots. The weather has been 1/2 dry 1/2 rainy. Highs have been in the upper 50's to lower 60's, lows from the low 30's to mid 40's. With the weather warming (highs this weekend to near 70 degrees F.) I am fearing that any primordia may abort. Also, the pots go through a period of drying every week. I'll give it another month before I abort the mission and begin work on an outdoor patch. Psilocybe Azurescens.

Psilocybe azurescens (Hammond)

by original source: https://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms_cultivation_az2.shtml

Spore germination

Spores from a print were streaked out onto 2% malt agar and incubated in the dark at 25 °C. After 7 days, the healthiest looking rhizomorphic colonies were isolated and transferred to fresh plates, also cultured on agar slants in universal 1 oz glass bottles, for cold storage in the fridge (5.0 °C).

Spores germinating on agar media.

Spawn media

100 ml of organic rye grain and 80 ml of tap water was put in 1 pint glass jars, with synthetic filter discs fitted under the caps, and autoclaved for 20 minutes. Once cooled, 1cm wedges of mycelium were cut from the agar and transferred, 3 to each jar. Lids were replaced, and jars incubated at 25 °C for 7 days. Each jar was shaken to disperse the rapidly spreading mycelium, and then incubated for a further 7 days.

Bulk substrate preparation

Fully colonised grain spawn was then used to inoculate "filter patch spawn bags" . Each bag contained around 1 pound of mixed hardwood sawdust and alder wood shavings/chips. Enough boiling water was added to each bag to fully wet the substrate (approx. 5:4 substrate : water ratio). These substrate bags were left to soak overnight then autoclaved for 20 minutes, and allowed to cool. Around ½ pint of spawn was used to inoculate each bag of substrate and these were left to colonise in a dark cupboard for 2-3 weeks @ about 20 °C. An alternative method for an attempted indoor patch was using a plastic "washing-up" basin with a cased soma rights re-served 4 since 27.03.2015 at http://www.en.psilosophy.info/ psilocybe azurescens cultivation report www.en.psilosophy.info/oeoimkiwbdifbncxceadbvjp substrate consisting of wood shavings and wheat straw (#1). As you can see, the loves this cellulose rich substrate.

Fully colonised wood/straw substrate.

Preparation of outdoor beds

Patches were placed in different areas of the garden, during the summer around June-July, 1999:

#1. Under Rhododendron bushes, next to grassy lawn #2. Under a pear tree amongst weeds/shrubbery #3. Under an ash tree with surrounding gooseberry bushes #4. In rich woody soil next to a compost heap

Each site was prepared by digging trenches about 6 inches deep, around 2 square feet. The trenches were raked over and lined with a thin layer of moist, well rotted leaf litter/twigs. The colonised woody substrate was broken up and spread out (about 1 bag per patch). The spawn was then covered with another 2 inch layer of rotted leaves/twigs, and finally covered with a thin (1 inch) layer of soil.

Preparation of an outdoor patch (#1).

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Establishment of beds

It has now been about 6 weeks since preparing the patches and they are all doing very well. Rhizomorphic mycelium can be observed creeping over leaves, and spreading out into the surrounding leaf litter which comprises the top 2-3 inches of the soil. The weather is cooling down now (August) and it's getting wetter.

Rhizomorphic mycelium spreading over leaf litter.

Pests!

Watch out for slugs, which like to eat mycelium. The best way of getting rid of them is to bait them with bread, and go out at night with a torch and remove them (wearing gloves!). Wood lice were also present and probably feasting on the mycelium. The other pests are squirrels, which discovered the grain and dug a few little holes in the patch under the pear tree (#2), soon after preparing the beds.

Maintenance

The patches were kept well-watered, mostly by rain, although they did encounter some dry periods, which implemented the use of a watering can. There was a light frost at the beginning of October, but the patches were snug under the leaf litter.

Fruiting report

#1 developed pinhead primordia, towards the end of October, This was mainly in the area which had been covered by a thin layer of moss, grass and leaves. The mossy turf had recovered and the mycelium could be seen around the grass roots. Over the following two weeks the primordia grew into mushrooms. Translucent caramel caps with whitish stems which have a very strong bluing reaction were bruised; truly an amazing species! They seem to grow very slowly at first, but accelerate as they got bigger. #2 is sparsely colonised at the surface, and not looking very happy. Partially due to animals digging up the grain spawn, and the soil is very clay rich with is not much wood content. The soil might be too moist. #3 under the ash tree, is still looking healthy, and there are plenty of thick rhizomorphic mycelium creeping out. It has a 2 inch covering of leaves, and seems to be retaining moisture well, but no sign of fruiting, yet. #4 also hasn't started to fruit, but the woody ground is very well colonised. The patch was covered with a thin layer of mossy turf: this is keeping it moist, and there is a carpet of rhizomorphic mycelium.

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The following images show the development of primordia to "grown-up" mushrooms.

21st October

27th October

1st November

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4th November

6th November

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