Well, this article in many ways leads me in a direction where it all began for me (more-or-less). I say this because the only reason I was ever interested in mushrooms in any way, is simply because I ate some magic mushrooms and I never looked at life quite the same since. I'm not sure if it was the way that a gravel driveway would seemingly move around when looking at the rocks, or if it was the geometrical shapes and patterns. Or perhaps even the always present neon green color — or maybe it's the way any imperfections on the ceiling would appear to be breathing. I'll always remember having what would seemingly be described as a telekinesis experience too, as well having what felt like control of the static waves on a television. Either way, it felt like real magic.
To me “magic’ was something you'd only see in science fiction, perhaps some cheap b-movie from the 1970s with witches or a magician. Or some long lost rumor of some sort of magic being done many years ago. But to think that I can not only see magic with my own eyes in person, but in fact make that very magic (in a way). Early on, I was never a fan of the term ‘magic mushrooms’ and instead chose to simply call them psycilocybe (as in the genus) or psilocybin (as in one of the active compound along with psilocin). So when I published my first small book about mushrooms back in 2020, I went with the title How to Grow Psilocybin Mushrooms: The Complete Beginners Guide to Indoor Cultivation. But if I were to make that same book today, I would label it like I did this article and call them magic mushrooms.
https://a.co/d/ak0WHsS
When I began writing what would later become this book, somewhere around 2015, I was writing it down as notes for myself — for future cultivation purposes. I didn't want to forget any steps, so I wrote them all down. Then as I continued to grow these mushrooms, my notes also continued to grow until the point that I figured what the hell and published it as a small book. The book actually did quite well for me, considering it's self published and basically my first book. That being said, I take the reviews seriously (even though in this cut-throat world you get review bombed by competitors and many fake reviews when you write about something that angers people, you become a target). Nevertheless, the book still holds a 4.0 rating on Amazon and much better on Google I think it's a 4.7 and a 4.2 on Audible and 4.4 on Goodreads. But, one of the only major honest complaints that I saw, was a “lack of pictures”.
Well, I can explain the lack of pictures. First, it was again basically my first book it was all brand new to me. I never formatted a book before, and the process was complex enough at the time without including images. Also, due to not using images, I was able to make it one of the cheapest books on cultivating mushrooms on the market. Including images (especially color) greatly increases the cost of printing. I have thought about making a new book with images, but for now I will include some in this article and explain theprocess briefly. If you're still interested then maybe you'll consider grabbing a copy. I have also given some free promo codes for the audiobook to those who reach out. But in my opinion, I described the process so precisely, that I truly do not believe images are necessary. I will also acknowledge many of these photos are now lost, as they were mostly taken on an old phone. Anyways, I'll share some below.
So what this image shows exactly is clear Rubbermaid container with small holes (sorry the holes aren't quite visible, but small circular holes) which is referred to in the mushroom cultivation world as a shotgun fruiting chamber. Which basically means a container that appears to have been hit with some buckshot from a shotgun. This allows for just enough air flow, but it's also important to use the lid and sort of gently fan the container out several times a day for best results. While fanning, you should also have a small spray bottle handy to lightly mist the cakes. Now I don't mean to use terms without explanation, but in an article you don'thave as much room to write like a book. But a “cake” is more-or-less the substrate that you're using to grow the mushrooms (usually grain, rye berries, manure etc).
The cakes are inoculated (injected with the spores (basically the seed) using a syringe that you can order legally online. Those cakes are what the mushrooms in the image are growing from, and they are sitting on small pieces of aluminum foil. Below the foil is the white coating on the bottom of the container which is perlite to help hold moisture and encourage condenstaion. The cakes can be rolled in vermiculite to also hold water and prevent contamination. The process is complex, yet also simple once you do it a few times. I only have pictures of the jars, but I was also growing plenty of bags which are much larger, and in turn can produce a lot more mushrooms. But even the jars can surprise you with the size of the mushrooms that grow.
But the most important part of growing mushrooms is being clean. The room must be extremely clean, and usually a closet or a small area is the best bet for starting off. I used a tarp and put a zipper on it for a door, with an air conditioner filter used as a window to allow the room to breathe. I'm running out of room with the article, so I'm going to try to squeeze out what I can fit into this piece. There's a decent amount of items needed, including an oil-filled space heater and a UV magic wand to name a few. The entire list is included in the book.
Overall, this image highlights the end goal for a beginner. The containers off the ground, the space heater, a sperate container housing a humidifier connected by pcv pipe. So the entire process is too much to include in an article, but I'll include one more image and then a link to the book. Again, the book does not have images, but this along with the book will be a bonus.
So in the book I finish describing the entire check list, where to get the items, how to do things like grain-to-grain transfer so you don't need to order more and a lot more cool techniques that can help you. I'm always willing to help if needed, simply leave a comment. But also please consider supporting my work by purchasing the book. Although if you're tight on money, I can likely come up with a free copy for you using a promo code. Thanks for reading, link below for the rest and I'll include the audible and paperback and ebook links. Also this article may only be free for a limited time, as I may actually revise my book with some of this information. And also consider hitting like and subscribe which I think helps the algorithms, and no nneed to worry, it's 100% free to subscribe to the newsletter.
How to Grow Psilocybin Mushrooms
https://www.audible.com/pd/How-to-Grow-Psilocybin-Mushrooms-Audiobook/B08W2FP5M5?action_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp
https://a.co/d/0MaMwNu
https://a.co/d/8wy79Vb
