Magic Mushrooms

About Magic Mushrooms

After many studies on psychedelic users found improvements in behavioral, cognitive, and emotional responses from users the FDA labeled the psychedelic compound psilocybin as a “breakthrough therapy” in 2020, allowing greater freedom to researchers who wish to study the hallucinogenic substance.

True Potential Magic Mushrooms

The psilocybin/psilocin content of GT mushrooms is average as far as cubensis goes. However, the quantities of lesser-known alkaloids like baeocystin, norbaeocystin, norpsilocin, aeruginascin, and ß-carbolines likely play a significant role in the unique trip offered from this strain.

According to urban legends, Golden Teacher was first found growing wild in Florida during the mid-1980s. The illustrious golden caps with charming speckles made this strain easily recognizable, and along with its large, elegant proportions, it’s clear why GT became a standout in a sea of copycats.

Haven’t met your myth quota for the day? Yet another theory is that Golden Teacher originated as ‘Hawaiian PES’ and was renamed by an anonymous Dutch grower due to this infamous quote:

“Sometimes, right before the veils break when the primordia are at their largest size before becoming mature, the entire ‘shroom can have a golden yellowish color – which vanishes when maturity starts to set in.”

How to Grow Magic Shroom at Home and from Spore

Magic Shrooms are so popular, in large part, thanks to their near-guarantee to offer successful harvests on various substrates for even the most novice grower.

Each spawn type offers pros and cons (like all things in life). For example, rye holds moisture better than any other grain – ultimately offering a bigger harvest (since mushrooms are 90% water). Oats and popcorn, though, are less dense than rye, and as such, are easier to sterilize, making them less vulnerable to contamination. You will need to assess the ins and outs of each type of spawn before deciding which way to go.

The most common methods to cultivate psilocybin at home are the PF Tek, monotubs, and agar to substrate.

Regardless of your chosen method, you will need to work with ‘spawn’ at some point, which is the substance on which the mycelium will grow. Spawn comes before substrate. Good choices for spawn include:

PF Tek

The PF Tek is great for beginners, as it’s easy to do and offers sufficient yields if done correctly. You begin by filling half-pint mason jars with your spawn of choice and preferably utilizing the ‘self-healing lid tek,’ which is online (uses silicone and Tyvek + a drill bit, quick and affordable). Then, sterilize the spawn jars using a pressure cooker.

Monotubs

Monotubs are preferred by many as they can produce massive yields with minimal effort. The process is similar to the PF Tek at first, except quart or half-gallon mason jars are preferred. Fill the jars with your spawn of choice, sterilize, and inoculate.

This is where monotubbing branches away from PF Tek methodology.

Agar

Agar is a foundational tool in microbiology worldwide. Agar-containing Petri dishes create the perfect habitat for fungi to thrive.

It is created from red algae and often used in Asian desserts and is also a popular gelatin alternative & thickener for fruit preserves, soups, and ice cream.

When to Harvest Magic Shroom

Harvesting is a crucial part of the cultivation process, and there is a ‘sweet spot’ or ideal window in which to harvest them. Too soon, and the ‘shrooms won’t reach their full potential. Too late, and a thick black layer of spores will cover everything in the tub – not to mention a slight loss of potency occurs. Spores are not harmful to ingest in moderation, but they give the end product an unsightly appearance. Fully opened caps are also much more susceptible to tearing/breakage.

You’ll want to harvest just before the veil breaks, which is around five to twelve days after you see your first pins. The veil is the connecting tissue between the mushroom cap and the stem, covering the gills.

The best technique to harvest is a simple ‘twist and pull method. If you try to pull them straight out, they will take a large chunk of the substrate with them, adding an extra step of cleaning and opening the substrate up to contaminants (like an open wound).

It’s also not a bad idea to wear clean rubber gloves that have been misted with rubbing alcohol before harvesting – our hands contain tons of potential contaminants.

Magic Shroom Spore Syringe Available Online

Buying psilocybin spores is legal (mostly). How? Magic mushroom spores don’t contain psilocybin – so, since spores do not contain any active psychoactive compounds, they can legally be bought/sold in almost all states. California, Georgia, and Idaho have, unfortunately, created legislation specifically to ban the sale of Psilocybin mushroom spores (except for researchers/research institutions in California). Let’s be thankful we don’t live in Indonesia, where getting caught with magic mushrooms spores is punishable by the death penalty.

Buying things online is tricky, whether blue jeans or magic mushroom spores. So how do you know what you’re getting is of quality and will work for your needs?

Of course, buying unregulated products like Psilocybin spores requires a bit more caution and due diligence than does a pair of jeans. Look for websites with standard marks of online legitimacy, such as about us and contact pages, reviews, a FAQ, and familiar payment platforms.

Psychedelic culture, although beginning to step into the mainstream, remains underground. Before ordering, consider posting on Reddit or The Shroomery to see if anyone is familiar with the site.

Last resort – reach out to their customer service. Send an email to the site and make a connection before you buy to help determine the vendor’s legitimacy.

Psilocybin Circus, Kaleido Shrooms, and United Spores of America sit high on our list of preferred vendors, as they use pharmaceutical-grade distilled water in their spore syringes, make everything in clean rooms, and work with seasoned mycologists to ensure best practices from spore to syringe.

One of the Original Psilocybe Cubensis Strains

Indigenous cultures have used Magic mushrooms for thousands of years like the Nahuatls, Olmec, Chinantecs, Chatinos, Mayans, Mazatecs, Totonacs, Mixes Zapotecs, Colima, and Purepecha. For example, Mazatec healers (such as the infamous Maria Sabina) used Psilocybin mushrooms (known as teonanacatl in the culture) to understand disease and create holistic paths to healing.

In ceremonies (‘veladas’), both the provider and recipient took mushrooms, engaging in singing and chanting to invoke spiritual beings that would dispel evil influences and instill beneficial ones.

In the United States, Psilocybin-focused interest and research have waxed and waned. Still, fortunately, there has been a revival – at least in part because of the formal Phase I and II trials recently conducted on depression and anxiety, especially in those with life-threatening conditions. The FDA has gone as far as to give psilocybin breakthrough therapy status to treat depression – a massive victory for what people have known for thousands of years.

Much research also indicates psilocybin may effectively reduce alcohol and tobacco use. Subjects often report increased spiritual well-being, often through experiencing meaning beyond oneself, as well as a general sense of interconnectedness. This benefit was found to persist for several months (or as long as a year and a half) after the experience. Well over half of the participants called the trip the single most (or in the top five) meaningful experiences of their lives. Many also benefited from sustained increases in meditation frequency and mindfulness – something we could all use a bit more of.

How to Make a Magic Shrooms Psilocybe Cubensis Spore Print

A spore is more or less the equivalent of a seed for fungi. Spores are unicellular organisms that carry out the reproductive functions of mushrooms. You can collect and store spores from various fungi you find and grow by utilizing a spore print.

A spore print is a stunning dark-purple ring (usually on a piece of foil) that, in reality, is an accumulation of billions to trillions of tiny spores collected from the cap of a mushroom.

Making a spore print is simple. As is often the case with mycology, the most crucial element is cleanliness. This is to minimize contaminating your print with other fungal or bacterial spores. Create your spore print somewhere with little airflow – or any space that is clean and not often disturbed. Avoid kitchens due to the likelihood of mold spores.

Try to use a fresh mushroom, keeping in mind that the older the cap, the fewer spores and higher levels of contaminants/insects may be present.

Here are the necessary supplies:

And the basic outline of the process:

When storing, use another piece of foil as an ‘envelope’ doubled-up and folded at the edges. This added seal will help keep out mites who love snacking on spores. Store your spore print in a cool, dark location, ideally in a sealed bag with oxygen and moisture absorbing sachets. Spores are very resilient – but don’t expect good results after two to three years of storage.

One last note: during the printing process, it is vital to maintain humidity for the spore ejecting machinery to work optimally and create a thick, dark spore print. The mushroom cap contains enough moisture to do this, so use a small bowl or mug to trap in this humidity.

Where to Find Golden Teacher Mushrooms

Mushroom hunting is an exciting and rewarding endeavor (unless you die…sorry, bad joke). Magic mushroom foraging is a meditation in and of itself and can also be a blast with friends or those close to you. There’s nothing like coming home with a backpack full of ‘shrooms. Thank you, Mother Nature.

Psilocybe cubensis is a dung-loving species that prefers humid grasslands and is most often found in tropical and subtropical habitats. The best places to see wild Golden Teachers in the US would be in Florida and along the Gulf Coast. Check out your local friendly cattle pasture on a hot & humid summer day, or head to the grasslands and open fields on cool autumn mornings.

Sorry in advance for all the West Coast lovers out there; the left side of the US is just not as conducive to wild cubensis hunting. The western portion of the North American continent consists of arid and semiarid climates, with the west coast being technically classified as Mediterranean and Oceanic.

But despair not, the west [best] coast is known for the fall fruiting wood lovers such as Psilocybe azurescens, Psilocybe cyanescens, and Psilocybe allenii, all of which need cold nights and dewy mornings.

How to Dry Psilocybe Cubensis

The chances are that if you’ve purchased Psilocybin mushrooms, you received a bag of dried mushroom stems and caps that could snap like a twig, in contrast to a meaty portobello or button mushroom purchased from the supermarket.

It’s an absolute must to dry your magic mushrooms as soon as you harvest. To preserve the beautiful look (as well as potency) of your newly-grown ‘shrooms, the drying process must be done with great heed, as blundering this step can ruin all of your prior hard work. In addition, any moisture left in the mushroom can cause continued decomposition, and as mushrooms are almost entirely water, it won’t take long for them to spoil.

While there are options for drying, some basic equipment like a dehydrator will be beneficial. However, the first step is always to clean off the bottom of the mushrooms after a harvest, dusting/wiping off any dirt or debris. The substrate is a beautiful thing but no longer serves a purpose after harvest (other than to add an unpleasant crunch when chewing). Some people choose to cut the tip off at the bottom – this is personal preference.

As an alternative to a dehydrator, many use the ‘Sushi Mat System,’ which, as you might have guessed, is done with a sushi mat (and some paper towels + sunlight).

Here’s how it works:

01

Place the sushi mat on top of a paper towel in direct sunlight with plenty of air flow

02

Place the mushrooms on the sushi mat

03

Wait until mushrooms are fully dried out (varies depending on location and weight, etc.)

Always ensure your mushrooms are cracker dry before they go into storage; otherwise, you may open up your bag to find an unpleasant mold situation. Black mold < Psilocybin.

No sushi mat? You can place your mushrooms on a window screen and have a fan blowing on them, with a heater underneath. This is perhaps the least ideal technique, and careful monitoring is required, but it will work in a pinch.

Under no circumstances should you ever dry magic mushrooms in an oven. Just don’t do it. While you may be able to salvage what’s leftover for a casserole, it won’t be viable as an entheogenic substance due to the extreme heat degradation.