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Messages - IndiaShroomer

#1
Cultivation / Using oven as flow hood
December 10, 2004, 08:25:11 PM
I used this method before i acquired a flow hood, it works well if you are doing innoculations or making casings. This method is not recommended for Agar or grain to grain transfers. It is important to work quickly as the tray/rack cools fast.

Of course, this is only one aspect of sterile technique; you will want to practice other aspects as well.
#2
Cultivation / Newbie needs direction
December 10, 2004, 08:18:21 PM
This forum does not really address Gourment/Medicinal mushrooms. If you are interested in growing psychoactive/hallucinognic mushrooms, predominately psilocybe cubensis, then this is the right place.

There are surely some knowledgeable people around... ex., the resident mycogenius Anno

But before you post, you might want to try -
http://www.shroomery.org/forums/postlist.p...0/Board/Forum13

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.p...632/an/0/page/0

#3
PF - Tek / ways to add honey for better fruiting?
December 09, 2004, 11:27:31 PM
Anno is right (as always :)
The most reliable way to increase your yield (fruiting) is to use a 'highly nutritious' nutritious element in your substrate.

I have found that wild bird seed gives excellent results. If the substrate used 100 gms of dry birdseed, I normally end up with about 40-50 gms of cracker dry cubes.
#4
PF - Tek / after inoculation newb question...
December 08, 2004, 02:09:24 AM
Four days isnt enough to see the first signs of germination and subsequently growth.

If the temperatures hover at around the 82-84F mark, you should see growth on/around the sixth day.

If that does not happen, check to see if you have any contamination in the jars... that is wierd funky smells in the jars.

Of course, when you are growing the sacred fungi, patience is best ally.

It is unlikely that the water in the substrate evaporated while you sterilized it. Note, I always use a pressure cooker and would not be the best person to comment on this.
#5
PF - Tek / after inoculation newb question...
December 07, 2004, 01:38:32 AM
Germination and colonization can happen in complete darkness.  It is the temperature at which your jars incubate that you should be concerned about. Give it the right temperature and things should be smooth.

Of course, you will want to expose the fungi to light for fruiting.
#6
Cultivation / sclerotia sterilization
December 02, 2004, 02:01:30 AM
Quote
QuoteYes, you can sterilize that way. You only want to be careful that the foil doesnt get loose when the pressure builds up, if the steam gets into the jar, the moisture content will be too high.
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Does the lid need to be shut tight, should the hole be punched in the jar before or after pressure sterilization?
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lid needs to be shut tight, punch holes before you sterilize. If you try this after sterilization, you may end up introducing contaminants in your otherwise sterile substrate.
#7
Cultivation / to dunk or not to dunk
November 23, 2004, 10:16:02 PM
I have tried this and it works.
#8
Cultivation / sclerotia sterilization
November 23, 2004, 10:13:02 PM
Yes, you can sterilize that way. You only want to be careful that the foil doesnt get loose when the pressure builds up, if the steam gets into the jar, the moisture content will be too high.
#9
PF - Tek / A few ?'s that I have
November 13, 2004, 06:56:51 PM
The incubation temperature of 86 F, IMO is bit on the higher side, i prefer to incubate at about 82 F. Strains originating in SouthAmerica tend to do optimally at
82.

If you have any wierd smell, get rid of the jars immediately, it indicates bacterial contamination. I am sure you know how substrate smells after it has been sterilized, when colonized with PC it gradually changes into a sweet earthy odour.
Its a simple rule, Wierd Smell=Bacterial contamination

Also if you are getting bacterial contamination repeatedly, you need to improve your sterile technique.
This is how I did it right at the very beginning:)
Did a tiny batch of substrate, about two jars. Placed these in the incubator without innoculation. If the jars started to smell within a week, tried it all over again with a fresh batch and improved technique. I did this cycle several times. Though time consuming, this way I worked up to a technique which ALWAYS worked for me. Then once perfected, I could do larger batches of substrate.

Since innoculation also introduces an element of contamination (you dont want anything except PC spores in there), practising sterile technique is important. You cant really experiment much here, since spores and the costs associated with innoculation are substantially higher. Practice the best possible sterile technique.
This is what I do:
cover my hair *very important - theres thousands of spores falling off one's hair at any given time
Clip your nails, wash your hands (for at least 120 secs :)with disinfectant, I use soft surgical spirit
If possible use surgical gloves, i make sure I wear longsleeved shirts with cuffs tucked into the gloves at the wrist.
Always use sterile/distilled water to hydrate the spores and create the syringe. Even if you use fresh spring/rain/mineral water, sterilize it.
Use disposable syringes, and always throw them away after use (never reuse)
Always flame sterilize the needle before and after each innoculation point.

Ensure that the jars are handled in a clean environment from the point they leave your pressure cooker/autoclave.
damp & humid or dusty environments are not good, all it takes is a single viable contaminant spore to destroy your efforts. There are millions out there.
Along the same lines, ensure that you have a relatively sterile incubation chamber.

Getting a clean sterile print, and then a sterile syringe is extremely important. If your syringe is contaminated, you will end up directly injecting the contaminants with the PC spores. It is important to note that most bacterial contaminants will outgrow PC in the initial week. So your PC culture wont stand a chance.

From your description of the verm coming loose, it seemed to me like you used less water, rather than more. You can safely use any pH nuetral water. Sterility is not a concern because you are going to sterilize the substrate after mixing it up anyway.
I would suggest you get a print from a reputed vendor, most vendors are very careful to maintain sterility. Since it is a business, they can 'afford' the equipment required to maintain sterility.
Of course a print and firsthand advice, sent by a friend, who grows with love, care and sterility works better than anything in the world!

Hoping your next grow fruits and rewards!

QuoteAfter two weeks of sitting in the incubator there was no noticable growth at all on any of the jars. The verm had started to come loose and was drying out but im assuming that is just natural from the warm temps. As for smell, yes now that you mention it there was a very weird smell coming from each of the jars. I didnt really want to take my time and deeply inhale, but it was nocticeable from each jar.
I have another set of jars in the incubator. Today (Saturday) makes 9 nights of warmth for them and I have the same results, or lack of results. No smell yet though.
Im in the process of getting a print. Whether is be from a vendor or if I can make a friend on the shroomery and have someone kindly send me one.
Well, thanks for all your help thus far.

*EDIT*
I was just thinking. Could it possibly be that im using tap water as opposed to bottled water before? To much water in the substrate? Although I know im using the same amount as the first time which was successful. Incubator is at 86. To hot maybe?
Ive been reading around on the shroomery and it seems that spores in syringes can last for a long period of time so thats dosent seem to be the problem.
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#10
PF - Tek / Your thoughts on the best Shroom
November 05, 2004, 01:37:26 AM
Golden teachers are nice, but slow in colonization.
My personal favorites are EQ, they fulfill the 'easy on the stomach' quality.
#11
General topics / Tripping on Copes
October 27, 2004, 01:06:44 AM
This is an experience my friend had, he wrote to me about it in an email. He is referring to the copelandia cyans fresh from my latest grow attempt.
-----------------------

I find it ironic that I cannot focus on a ?The first thing I can remember is?? concept while reminiscing about the sacred experience. ?Sacred? because the experience in itself recounts several amalgamated, myriad like experiences that could be clubbed as ?knowledge?. The other intrinsic factor that led to my writing this account is a somewhat obscure fact; at no level did I feel the experience to be stifling or overpowering. In one instance, I remember that I felt almost consumed by the apathy that I thought was the mushroom. But it turned out that some of the most notable experiences that I shared with it by my side were transcendental awareness, and a deep, spiritual, almost frenzied look at the ?glue? that was reality stretched across the infinite, manifold elements that make up the cluster of human experiences. When see under a new light, one that is served in a choice dish, the greatest opportunity opens itself to you and ?invites? you into the bosom of supra-sensual awareness.

Now that I?m more educated at perceiving through the barriers of certain experiences, recounting my own has rendered fruitful.

My Trip-Guide was much helpful in many cases. While he may have carried the water and other important necessities, he was also responsible for the quality of the experience. Seriously, most people might assume that a trip-guide roots your experience in something concrete. This is to say that the experience, however difficult, was anticipated by my trip-guide who never swerved from the path of a helping hand. In this respect, my trip was well handled by my guide who never failed to let me know that everything was all right.
On to the trip?


I was offered the blackish-blue mushrooms on a white plate with a glass of grape juice (which would be my undoing) at approximately 4.30am in the morning. I remember the feeling in the pit of my stomach that distinctly took me back many months into another experience with Hypholoma. That experience was not controlled or designed but it was raw and powerful. I may have consumed a bit too much which resulted in an otherwise physical experience. My stomach felt the blunt of this for many days. I don?t think I acted thoughtlessly before consuming them but I was definitely wrong in consuming them inside a flat with many other people, a few of them only ?tripping? on it while others hoped and wished it to be an ?enlightening? experience. I remember distinctly that it was not an enlightening or learning experience in any way. What can you learn about the nature of reality when inside a flat with ?trippers?? It?s useless and what?s more, it?s a waste of extra perceptive capabilities. I, for one, was looking for answers to certain things in my mind. I don?t say that consumption of mushrooms is a door to an alternate reality. I say that they are the doors to the only reality there is. On the dose that I did, which was minimal and just right, I had a wonderful experience, very hallucinogenic and colorful, with the deep wonder that accompanies the love of the wild plants and greenery. I was struck by the closeness I felt towards the rock-face (a place which will undoubtedly be the anchor point for the experience) and the quarry. These were the central tenets on which I base my experience, and these were the places where I felt least oppressed.

After eating 7-8 mushrooms of the Copelandia Cyanescens variety, I was on the back seat of my trip-guide?s bike speeding up a hill behind his place. It was pretty dark, although fresh in sensual connection and beautiful. I could feel the foliage breathing, almost a low guttural connection to reality at that point. Sometime then, I was caught at a sharp mental point that was definitely the mushroom engulfing me, wide and grossly physical. I learnt later that the beauty of the experience cannot be had individuated and separated however much one would want to have so. I think it now to be some sort of non-intellectual activity that one does for a past-time. With the onset of the trip, I was violently taken aback from the time I started walking through the path that finally led out into an open space. This area was populated by plants and rocks of various sizes and colors. Since I had never been here before, and I had slept without any dreams, I had no desires for some unique experience. This is also to say that most of the times, trips like these ?force? you to imagine and expect some factor in the experience. Since I felt that everything could fail, and things may not be what I expect them to be, I was free from any prejudices whatsoever.


So here I?m. I?m standing with my trip guide at the start of the trip right on the track through which I will walk and enter a sort of paradise like land. Nothing out of the extraordinary. A regular hill sort of place with lots of green plants, lots of places to just sit down and enjoy the sunrise and all? Which was what was supposed to happen until I suddenly felt pukey and threw up near a bush. My trip guide was understanding enough, and deduced that the grape juice which I had by the glass was probably a bit too much. At that point, I remember an overpowering, nauseating sensation. This sensation was more powerful and engulfed me in many ways that were more mysterious than my all too recent experience with Hypholoma. It may well have been that I was consuming these mushrooms after a long, long time. Added to this was the fact that I had not eaten anything heavy the previous night; I had woken up at 4.00pm with an almost maniacal urge to be in that ?other? space. Looking back, I feel that it was undeserving of me to even imagine that this was being done in the name of a ?trip?. Up there on that beautiful hill, at the onset of the experience, the colors started arriving with the tenacity of their subjective intents. I realized almost instantly that every man who ate the mushroom would have a learning experience such that the ways in which one could see the world would be instantly multiplied. It was amazing. I cannot recall with acuteness a point in the onset where I was completely a vegetable. In fact, the vegetable experience is only possible when you allow yourself to be completely consumed. Yes, there is a certain degree of control one exercises while engaged, and especially pulled, into the experience as any mushroom aficionado would accept. But in my case, I was not prepared for anything spectacular, yet the mushroom showed me pathways and interconnections for the reality that I saw more clearly after consumption. I was amazed that nothing was blocked or hidden. For an eagerly philosophic mind like mine, I got more than a fair share of debatable experiences but the point is that nothing stands to reason while attempting that which may have given birth to reason in the first place. After reading McKenna, my situation, then, stays approved.

After the whole puking scene, I almost regret saying this, I felt cheated of the mushroom until my trip-guide told me that there is nothing to lose once the mushroom has been consumed. If it has gone inside me, it is inside me and there?s nothing I can do to evade its natural progression to the mind/body state. With these thoughts in mind, I settled down mentally to continue seeing what I was seeing and would see. My trip-guide talked to me for some time about a couple of things. It cleared some of my worries away.

We started walking. My trip-guide told me to do whatever I wanted. I wanted to walk for a bit. Later, I realized that I had only been walking most of the time. I must have walked a lot that day but these walks were certainly eventful; I walked because something inside me told me to walk and keep walking. With my trip-guide walking beside me, I had no fears or trials for at least that aspect of the physical phenomenon called ?Walking?.

I must also say that I conducted an experiment of sorts. I was mentally prepared after my trip guide told me that I would not necessarily relate to sounds made through inorganic mediums, and since music is the driving force in my life (to put it really. Really loosely!), I did think of it even while I was watching the rock face. I then began to realize that subconsciously, I was just one small unit of the entire machine. No, bad analogy. I felt like a strand composed of elements that made up my ?me? completely detach itself from my apparent insignificance as an ego. I was so to speak, enlightened. This part of the trip was highly intense and I remember being affected by it even after I had come down.

So what is this rock face? While I walked throughout that terrain, I came across some of the loveliest sights I have ever laid eyes on. My trip guide told me that I was always in contact with these things throughout my stay in this city. I was just seeing them in a different light. What were these ?things?? Dragonflies, yellow flowers, reeds, plants of varying sizes and shapes, and most definitely, the grass. The quality of the grass, the aesthetic power it wielded across the many multitudes of them scattered across the terrain was unbelievable. For the first time in my life, I hallucinated to the point of orgasmic awareness. Here, I knew the actual becoming of the mushroom within me. After having watched the sun come up slowly, softly, like an orange ball that could portend the birth of a new mankind, I completely fazed out on the beauty of it. The grass lit by the sun in soft, almost tenuous shades of yellow and red completely overcame me. I don?t know whether I sat there to stare it at all. But I do remember looking at all the blades of grass and thinking about how ignorant I was earlier. At this point, one month after consuming them, I can still feel the thrill of the phenomenon of grass.

Psychologically, I had passed at least an entire day in my head. Physically, it was for only four hours that the mushrooms stayed in my body. I had no desire of it wanting to stop overcoming me. In a way, the mushroom brings out the pure, unadulterated, psycho-organic element in you. It teaches you that you can forever be taught. And although I don?t meant this essay on perception to end, I must also pay heed to a certain man?s saying ? ?My words serve as a ladder, after which climbed, must be thrown away?. This could have only been the word, the gospel of the mushroom.
#12
PF - Tek / mycelium growth
October 27, 2004, 12:56:29 AM
You havent provided much information to go by.

There could be many reasons why you are seeing no growth/germination.

a. the spores are not viable (worst case scenario unlikely if you got spores from a reliable vendor/friend)
b. compromised sterile technique, and there is bacterial contamination of the jars(check if there are any funky or wierd smells)
c. the incubation temperature of the jars is either too low or high (check to see if it is the right incubation temperature range)
d. Incorrect water content in substrate (too low will prevent germination)
#13
PF - Tek / KSSS, truth or hype
October 16, 2004, 08:30:59 PM
Agree with Anno, given the same growing conditions, most strains of cubensis will have a similar kind of yield, give or take a few percent points. The difference would be in the potency, or rather a difference in the combination of the active chemicals leading to a 'slightly different' trip for each strain.

Again, as far as potency goes, it is hardly the only reason to choose to grow a strain. My personal favourite cubensis strain is EQs (equadors); relatively contam resistant, easy to fruit in my growing conditions. Very nice ego dissolving trip, easy on the stomach. For the wife and me 'easy on the stomach' is a very important criterion, we would rather up a EQ dose by a couple of gms than have a nauseous come-on, where my stomach is roiled up on a small dose of some other 'more potent' strain.

IMO, vendors boasting of super strains and '40-50%' more yields are just plain lying. Yields will depend on the growing conditions and nutrient base you provide. Grow a few strains, including the 'KSSS' and find one you are most comfortable with and stick to it. To each, his(/her) own.


#14
General topics / Drying & potency
October 16, 2004, 08:12:14 PM
They do lose potency when you dry them out in the open. The potency loss is almost exclusively due to the oxidation of psilocin (which is far more unstable), psilocybin is hardly affected.

It is difficult to quantify exactly what the loss would be, it would depend a lot on the conditions you are drying in. Ex., temp range, humidity range, direct sunlight/indirect sunlight or any sort of light.

Keeping them out in the open does work fairly well. If you live in a humid land (RH 80%+), I would recommend drying them in the refrigerator (6-8 C) with some dessicant, CaCO3 or silica gel. Drying at lower temperatures seems to result in better potency retention. This works really well with cubensis.

I dry all my wild collected and cultivated crops out in the sunlight, 24-26 C (12-15% RH). This works especially well with copelandias.

I found this very surprising; if I dry psilocybes this way, the loss of potency is marked, but not with copelandias. Surprising even more so, because copelandias have a higher percentage of psilocin and less psilocybin. In the typical sense, I would have expected a marked drop in potency, but that is not happening.  :blink:
#15
Cultivation / Cope Cyan - bulk substrate dung/straw?
October 11, 2004, 06:05:40 PM
12 October; An update on the Cope Cyan grow.

Spawn from multispore innoculation off a fresh print (4 days old:) of CopeCyans taken in the wild.

Batch 1 - dung only spawned on birdseed/verm; Saturday 18 Sept
Batch 2 -dung/straw spawned on birdseed/verm; Sunday 19 Sept
Both cased with 50/50 verm/peat moss casing, Sunday 26 Sept
Fruiting conditions maintained at 24-26 C; 92-95% RH, continous gas exchange.
Batch 1 - showing pinning early - pin set formed by 5 Oct
Batch 2 - delayed pinning - pin set formed by 7 Oct

Batch 1 - fruited with clusters of about 12-18 mushrooms all around the casing, each mushroom is about 6 cm to 9 cm, with a cap diameter ranging between 1.5 - 4 cm. Total yield was somewhat less (48 wet gms) than anticipated because of a large number of aborts. Very concerning, as compared to my previous grows or as compared to cubensis. Maybe this has something do with it being completely wild at this time.

Batch 2 - Has not fruited! A complete pinset is visible on the casing, but there has been absolutely no development. I see no reason for why these casing dont fruit :(
#16
Cultivation / Cope Cyan - bulk substrate dung/straw?
October 07, 2004, 05:37:06 AM
07 October; An update on the Cope Cyan grow.

Spawn from multispore innoculation off a fresh print (4 days old:) of CopeCyans taken in the wild.

Batch 1 - dung only spawned on birdseed/verm; Saturday 18 Sept
Batch 2 -dung/straw spawned on birdseed/verm; Sunday 19 Sept
Both cased with 50/50 verm/peat moss casing, Sunday 26 Sept
Fruiting conditions maintained at 24-26 C; 92-95% RH, continous gas exchange.
Batch 1 - showing pinning early - pin set formed by 5 Oct
Batch 2 - delayed pinning - pin set formed by 7 Oct

Batch 2 will start fruiting in the next three/four days.

FRUITING!

Batch 1 - has begun to fruit with clusters of about 12-18 mushrooms all around the casing, each mushroom is about 6 cm to 9 cm, with a cap diameter ranging between 1.5 - 4 cm.
Mushrooms have an almost white stem, and a light tan cap. The cap starts of dark brown and lightens as the mushrooms mature.

Anticipated Yield: 60-80 gms.
#17
Cultivation / Cope Cyan - bulk substrate dung/straw?
October 04, 2004, 07:30:41 PM
05 October; An update on the Cope Cyan grow.

Batch 1 - dung only spawned on birdseed/verm; Saturday 18 Sept
Batch 2 -dung/straw spawned on birdseed/verm; Sunday 19 Sept
Both cased with 50/50 verm/peat moss casing, Sunday 26 Sept
Fruiting conditions maintained at 24-26 C; 92-95% RH, continous gas exchange.

Batch 1 has started forming primordia (pins), much faster than batch 2. Full fruiting for batch 1 is expected in the next three/four days.

Batch 2 is showing nominal hyphal knots just starting to veer towards primordia. Full fruiting for this batch is expected in 7/8 days.

This strain of copes clearly colonizes and fruits on plain dung faster than a straw/dung combination. Of course, the quality/potency of the fruiting body would determine which bulk substrate to adopt. Speed is an important but not the only consideration.


#18
PF - Tek / contaminatio fighter?
October 04, 2004, 07:20:36 PM
No, most mosquito coils contain citronella as a volatile oil, and prallethrin/allethrin as the active chemical.

Prallethrin/allethrin are active only against invertebrates (mainly insecta). It wont help fight contamination because while growing most of the contamination you will face will be bacterial or fungal in nature.

The only use I could think of would be if you have a bug/flying insect problem, and these insects could come into contact with your growing casing/cake. In cases like this, insects can be vectors for both bacterial and fungal contaminants.
The coil might help some of these insect vectors stay away.

my 0.02 cents
#19
PF - Tek / mycelium growth
October 03, 2004, 08:51:45 PM
Yes, the mycelium will grow in such a liquid. Several growers do use liquid growth mediums, mostly as a clean innoculant of a cloned strain. Growth can be very rapid when you inject jars with such a liquid. There are a few posts about it on the shroomery.

In my experiments with it, I found it contaminates quite easily. I have heard of some antibiotics being added to prevent that, not quite sure about how that works.
IMHO, it's a waste of time; you should go with agar instead, it is much more reliable and scientifically documented.
#20
Cultivation / cooked shrooms
September 30, 2004, 08:26:50 PM
QuoteDoes anyone know if cooking shrooms affects potency.
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Yes, it does.
The active chemicals are sensitive to heat, especially direct heat which destroys psilocybin and more specifically psilocin.
If you cook with large amounts though, you may still get a dose large enough to trip.