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Mushroom cultivation => Cultivation => Topic started by: Myc on April 22, 2007, 07:09:16 PM

Title: Weraroa Novea - Zelandiae cultivation
Post by: Myc on April 22, 2007, 07:09:16 PM
I was hoping to find someone who has cultivated or can direct me to a guide for cultivating the New Zealand hallucinogenic pouch fungus.  I've done some searching and can't seem to find anything other than the fact that it likes decomposed wood.  Incubation substrate, temp, spawning substrate composition, Rh, etc...  would be a real help.
My guess is to attempt to innoculate to grain (like most other wood lovers) and then spawn to a pasturized decomposed deciduous wood substrate collected from a local wild area.   I might also attempt an encriched cellulose substrate unless someone can offer me some better ideas.
Hope you can help.        Thanks!
Title: Re: Weraroa Novea - Zelandiae cultivation
Post by: Myc on April 27, 2007, 06:55:35 AM
I've done some scrounging since I posted this and found an article that offered some great ideas.  I am creating a liquid culture using a "tea" created by soaking fresh hardwood sawdust in water and left in the sun all day (like making sun brewed tea).  This "tea" is then strained through a coffee filter to remove all of the small particles.  I put 250ml of the "tea" into an inexpensive baby bottle prepared by snipping the tip of the nipple off and stuffing with polyfil (like used for the polyfil jar lid tek for grain).  Then I added one tsp. of 100% natural raw honey (or light white Karo syrup can be use as well).  Microwave and bring to a boil for 3 min.  You may have to adjust the power setting on your microwave to prevent the solution from boiling over.  Watch carefully and don't let the solution saturate the polyfil.  Let this cool overnight and then add spores from a spore print much like preparing spore syringes.  I used a glovebox to reduce the potential for contamination.  I suppose one could also innoculate this solution with a prepared spore syringe as well.  The mycelium will populate this nutrient rich solution very rapidly.  This solution can then be used as liquid innoculum to create PF tek style jars or simply add it to your final fruiting substrate. 
I will be experimenting with a mixture of soaked, bio degraded hardwood chips (soaked in a bleach solution of 1 1/4 tbsp. / gal. of tap water overnight), hardwood sawdust (soaked using same tek), and organic mushroom compost obtained from a local garden supply.  I'll post proportions and results here as things develope. 
It is my understanding that this procedure will work with any wood lover.

Just so I don't come across as some kind of super genius, this basis for this tek should properly be credited to a gentleman who calls himself "Waylitjim".  Thanks Jim!
Title: Re: Weraroa Novea - Zelandiae cultivation
Post by: Myc on May 08, 2007, 12:06:59 PM
Like any good experimental process....I cast my net wide on this one.  Weraroa did not like grain (millet pc'd in quart mason jars), nor the sawdust adaptation of the pf tek (3pts hardwood sawdust to one part oat bran, with some rye grass seed thrown in for good measure), but it did like the liquid culture I described.  Third time is a charm I suppose.  The liquid culture is colonizing fine and should be ready to transfer to a prepared fruiting substrate soon.
P. Azurescens readily colonized all methods described above with relative ease (and quite rapidly I might add).  I am also trying it on the standard BRF recipe and it is responding rather slowly.
P. Cyanescens appears to be much more selective and is reluctantly colonizing the liquid culture.  I have switched up the formula to hickory woodchip "tea" to see if I have faster results.  I will also try the ever popular alder woodchips.  The sawdust pf tek is also showing some reluctant colonization so I'm wondering if more patience is required with this strain than with cubensis and others.  This strain doesn't seem to care for BRF, but again, patience may be the key.
Title: Re: Weraroa Novea - Zelandiae cultivation
Post by: Baphom3t on May 08, 2007, 03:39:47 PM
from what I read of it it is a wood loving speicies.
It certainly looks like a interesting strain none the less,
Keep us posted on your progress