Between the fascinating trips and therapeutic benefits, magic mushrooms can be incredibly exciting to use. Shrooms have gained a lot of popularity in the past few years and they’ve also become much more accessible – you can even buy magic mushrooms online in Canada. However, some users might want to learn how to grow magic mushrooms at home.
Growing magic mushrooms is a rewarding DIY project for anyone who enjoys the effects of psilocybin. Not only can you make your favorite strains of shrooms from home, but they often yield multiple batches of magic mushrooms that you can store and use at your leisure. Here’s a simple guide on how to grow magic mushrooms at home.
Preparing Your Substrate
To grow shrooms, you’ll need to prepare a substrate base. Much like plants need soil, fungi feed off of substrate and get the nutrients they need to grow. The best way to make a substrate for home growing is by combining brown rice flour, vermiculite, and water.
You’ll also need around 8 to 12 sealable jars to fill with your substrate. Mason jars work well. Use a hammer and nail to create four holes in the lids of each of your jars. Next, take a mixing bowl and add ⅔ cup of vermiculite and ½ cup of water for each jar you’re using. Drain the water then add ¼ cup of brown rice flour for each jar you’re using.
Mix these ingredients thoroughly to create your substrate. You can then fill each jar with the substrate – leaving around an inch of space at the top. Apply a layer of rubbing alcohol to the top of each jar and allow it to evaporate before filling the top of each jar with more dry vermiculite. Seal each jar and place tinfoil over the top.
Next, you’ll need to sterilize your jars with steam. Place a small towel in a large cooking pot, add your jars, and fill it with enough water to reach halfway up your jars. Let the water boil, apply a lid, and steam the jars for 60 to 90 minutes. After this, leave the jars to cool overnight.
Inoculation
Once your jars have cooled to room temperature, you can start the inoculation process. You’ll need to inject each jar of the substrate with magic mushroom spores – you can usually buy these in syringes. Start by disinfecting your hands as well as the surface you plan to use. You should also wear gloves.
Use a lighter to disinfect the tip of one of your spore syringes and wipe it with alcohol once it cools. You can then remove the foil from your jars, push the needle of your syringe as far as it’ll go into the hole of each jar (or open slightly), and inject ¼ cc of your spore solution. Disinfect the needle between each jar.
Once you’ve injected all your jars with your spores, you’ll need to make an incubator. You can do this by taking a large, disinfected plastic box and placing your jars inside. You can also buy a magic mushroom incubator. Seal the top of the incubator and place it in a dark warm spot.
Incubation
Ideally, your jars should have temperatures of 20 to 28 ºC (68 to 82ºF) and relative humidity levels of 80%. If you can’t find a warm enough spot in your house, you may want to place your box in another container with heated water by using an aquarium heater.
While incubating, it’s important to check your jars regularly. Watch out for signs of contamination such as blue, green, or white fuzzy mold – contaminated jars should be removed immediately. After 1 or 2 weeks of incubation, white mycelium should start to sprout from your spores. After 3 to 4 weeks, half of your jars or more should have full colonies or “cakes” of mycelium.
Once your jars have colonized, they’re ready for fruiting. You might want to wait an extra week for the colonies to strengthen. During this time, you can create a fruiting chamber by disinfecting a large, clear plastic container with a lid. Make ¼-inch holes around every 2 inches across the sides, base, and lid of the box. This will give your shrooms the light and airflow they need.
Fruiting
After making your fruiting chamber, place four stable objects under each corner to allow airflow at the bottom. You might also want to place a towel underneath to avoid leakage. You’ll also need to fill the chamber with 4 to 5 inches of perlite. Rinse the perlite in distilled water first.
Open your colonized jars, remove the top layers of vermiculite, and carefully take the colonized cakes and place them on a disinfected surface. Rinse the cakes gently under cold water to remove any excess vermiculite. Fill a cooking pot with tepid water and submerge your cakes for 24 hours to rehydrate them.
Roll your hydrated cakes in a mixing bowl of dry vermiculite and place them each in a jar lid covered with tinfoil. You can then spread them evenly throughout your fruiting chamber. Mist them using a spray bottle of water and close the lid of your chamber.
Harvesting
Place the chamber in a cool, dry place with low levels of indirect light. Mist your chamber (without soaking the cakes) four times a day and fan your cakes with the lid. Within a week or two, you’ll notice mushrooms sprout from your cakes. Once the veils of the mushroom caps start to break, it’s time to harvest them.
Apply gloves and disinfect your hands. Use a disinfected knife to carefully cut the base of your grown mushrooms close to the cake. Place the harvested shrooms on paper towels and give them a few days to dry. You can then store them in a sealed container in a cool, dry place.
Some of your mushrooms will mature faster than others, so give them enough time to fully grow. Your cakes can also grow multiple shrooms – you just need to regenerate them. Rehydrate your cakes after harvesting by submerging them in cold water for 10 minutes before placing them back in the fruiting chamber.
Conclusion
With the right resources and knowledge, you can grow psilocybin mushrooms at home within around 4 to 6 weeks. The quality of your homegrown shrooms won’t be the greatest but once you get the hang of it, you can regularly grow batches, store them, and use them as you please.
Although it’s an interesting project, it’s much better to simply buy shrooms online. That way, you can get a range of high-quality magic mushroom strains without any hassle. You can find professionally-grown magic mushrooms and various psilocybin-infused products at Magic Mushrooms Dispensary.