Growing Azurescens/Cyanescens on the balcony in the Dutch climate.

Started by Nentor, November 04, 2010, 01:59:10 PM

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Nentor

Hi there!

Recently I have become more interested in mushroom growing.

I used cyanescens about every 3 or 4 months when it was still legal in the Netherlands and later switched to the very potent truffels you can buy here now (in practice not much of a difference).

Now I have the idea to grow these cyanescens myself to not be depended on stores and law. I've read many guides and know about how it has to grow on wood and how cultivation is difficult.

My question is would it work if I buy large undeep flowerpots and fill these with woodchips put them on my balcony and grow them in there? Maybe with a thin layer of leaves and earth on the woodchips also. My guess is this will work, from what I gather, but would like to hear the opinion of someone with experience in this.

I actually do have access to nice natural areas, but can not be sure of no meddling there.

Would love to hear anyone's thoughts on this.

darksyde

Welcome to the forum Nentor

Just to clarify, the Azures are wood lovers, but Cyans will do great on dung.
You can colinize with rye or other grains then spawn to dung..
Azures are much more difficult to grow, not that Cyans are the easiest either, but could be done with some effort and alot of reading..
I would recommend starting out with cubensis to get an idea of the process and have some success first, but there are some great teks on the shroomery to explain in detail how to go about cultivating the Cyans.

Check out these links and see what you think..
http://www.shroomery.org/8418/How-do-I-cultivate-Panaeolus-cyanescens
http://www.shroomery.org/8421/Panaeolus-cyanescens-FAQ




Nentor

Thanks!

I meant Psilocybe Cyanescens and also Psilocybe Azurescens. I forgot a sec there also is a Panaeolus with the same name.

As far as I can see both these Psilocybe kinds grow on wood.

I have read many guides such as:
http://www.shroomery.org/8673/Erics-Guide-To-Cultivating-Psilocybe-Azurescens-Cyanescens and
http://www.fungifun.org/English/Psilocybe-Azurescens-Outdoor-Cultivation

At the moment I also have one of those "almost ready" boxes (http://azarius.nl/smartshop/shrooms/grow_boxes/myceliumbox_mazapatec/) with a Cubensis strain to orient myself a bit and see how it works, but I'm not really interested in those strains.

The beginning phases are practically the same for all I see, with the sterility of course being especially important.

Have you ever grown the ones that I want to grow? Is there any difference between growing it on wood in a hole in the ground and growing it in an undeep flower pot on the balcony?

I started to get interested in growing these mushrooms about one year ago, but always felt, after learning about the not so simple process, that investing the time and money was not worth it. It is easier to walk into a store every few months to buy it (as truffles are still legal in the Netherlands). But I have to say it has started to interest me more, eventhough I simply do not have the time to experiment with this a lot.

Since I live in the Netherlands there are many of these "almost ready" kits. For example there are also Azurescens and Cyanescens "spawn bags" sold at certain times of the year. Those are bags filled with colonized wood chips. One can just mix those with wood chips in your garden instantly. That might be a nice shortcut for people with little time. What do you think?

darksyde

Yes, sorry for the misunderstanding, Psilocybe Cyans and Azures are both wood lovers.
No, I havent yet attempted to grow either of these strains although Im seriously thinking about starting a bed of Azures this spring in the back yard.

I would think it should be possible to fruit in a flower pot. I cant remember if it was a post here or somewhere else, but someone fruited Azures on sawdust in 2 liter bottles in their refridgerator..
Sterility is definitely key in this hobby. From all Ive heard though, even if you do everything right, that doesnt always equate to success when growing these strains.. They can be very temperamental.

Ive never been a big fan of buying anything "pre-made" simply because you can usually do the same thing yourself for half the cost. If you trust the supplier of these spawn bags, and you dont have the time or the energy to start from scratch and do it yourself, then you could give it a shot. Just read as much as you can on the growing parameters to make sure your current outdoor climate can properly support the requirements for fruiting.
This hobby doesnt have to take up all your time, but it does require alot of patience.
With no experience on these strains I wont be able to help out much with troubleshooting. You might want to check out the forums over at Mycotopia.net also.. There are alot of helpful people at that site as well.

You should definitely stay in touch and let us know of your progress and maybe I can ask you for help in the future  :mellow:

Nentor

Well, you must have had some intuition going on there because it turns out the species I was looking for IS the Panaeolus Cyanescens (also called Copelandia Cyanescens so I read/hear).

I just got off the phone with an employee at a big smart shop here in Amsterdam and he assures me the Panaeolus Cyanescens is the one that used to be sold in stores under the "Hawaiian" name. And those are the ones I want.

I checked out some pictures here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panaeolus_cyanescens and that's exactly what the mushrooms looked like that you could buy back then.

So, back to the drawing board.

I read the guides you posted. These will need higher than room temperature as opposed to the Psilocybe Cyanescens and dung to grow on. Growing them outside is out of the question in this climate.

Ready made things are more expensive yes, but time is money... making it cheaper if you lead a busy life. Maybe I should just befriend some local grower growing them for personal use...

darksyde

Having friends that grow is definitely a plus.. I know my friends appreciate it  -_-
If you decide to try your hand at growing, I can walk you through with the Cyans since they are similar to Cubes.. Just let me know if you need any help.