Going in a second time before season ends shrooms

Today is d-day! I get off work in some time, will pick up my package of p. cubensis on the way, get a few hours of sleep and take off once I'm rested.

Very eager to find out what has been brewing in my subconscious since my first trip few weeks ago. The season ends soon on my side of the planet so I'm making the most of it. There will be no supply till next season; also, these mushrooms are coming in fresh from the fields, picked yesterday. Will preserve most in honey for the weekend and take 8 grams (wet) today (1g dry equiv), I also plan to soak them in lemon juice for 20 min before consuming.

I have a backup plan though, have set up a makeshift cooling system using an aquarium water filter pump to circulate chilled water from refrigerator via a plastic pipe with a piece of copper pipe in between for limiting heat transfer to keep the box at 18°C. I will need to make some adjustments in the length of the copper tube when I add the petri dishes. Haven't worked out how to maintain humidity which is just above 70% without misting, I should have until fruiting begins (if it gets that far), to figure that out.

I plan to attempt cloning and growing a batch, because the more I read up about mushrooms, the more fascinated I am with these organisms. I have so far tried cloning from some nearly-rotten stems in the last two weeks and have tiny amount of white mycelium growing on cardboard rolls in a glass bottle. Have put the bottle in fridge for now, until I prepare agar and petri dishes and transfer them to grow box. Let us see how my foray into mycology goes. Biting into a few hundred pages on mycology over a week was more fun than anticipated, preparing and working in sterile environment is a challenge I'm eager to overcome.

If/when harvest happens, I will take spore prints and learn the skills required to grow mushrooms that way. Whether I continue with p. cubensis or not, I plan to learn the skills seriously and grow edible mushrooms as a hobby, and already am scouring supermarkets with a handy list of mushrooms that could grow in the local weather.

Wish me luck :)

TL;DR: Got some fresh mushrooms from fields, plan to eat some today (or on weekend), also going to clone them and grow a few to store for off-season.

Submitted August 24, 2015 at 07:27PM by suchwowmuchtrip http://ift.tt/1WOaD6n shrooms