Azurescens and Cyanescens

[diggindirt]

Well, the season is on us so here goes a bit about my journey to the end of the rainbow...



Patch 1 is P. Azurescens. Started January 2012 and fruited November 2013 with the first flush finished closer to Thanksgiving. This was the larger and slightly more productive of my 2 patches. As you might be able to see, it's under a couple trees, the smaller of which is a Japanese Maple, which in turn is under a massive... dunno kind of tree that will soon be cut down by the power company.

At any rate, the majority of the fruits came from around the edge of the woodchips closest to the trunk of the Jap Map, and the trunk/large root of the other tree. This area may get about 4 hours of easy sunlight per day, none of which is direct.



Patch 2 is P. Cyanescens (Wavy Caps) and was started at the same time Patch 1 was. This patch is directly next to the house on the North facing side receiving no direct sunlight at all. It is rather protected from the elements, but gets almost no rain either, so weekly watering is necessary for this patch. This one didn't fruit as well as I had hoped but this year should bring a bit better of a result. As you can see, the mycelium is very happy underneath the layer of shaved wood.

Both patches are surface patches, meaning I just put about a 4" layer of chips on top of the soil and let them do their thing. I have another trench style patch that I started November 2012 (for this year's season) where I dug down about 6-8" and about 5" wide, by 5' long and then filled with chips. This will be to see if being inside the earth will get better results, both from moisture retention aspects and also more mycelium/soil contact... dunno if there's a sybiotic relationship or if the woodchips are all it needs. I've read to get the most out of your patches you should do the trench style and line them side by side with 4-5" of soil inbetween, so just a little practical excersize I suppose for gits and shiggles.

So far, the trench has sunk about 2 1/2" from the original level, and the mycelium is taking over despite only being started going into winter, so perhaps it's a bit more insulated than the others? All patches will be topped off with fresh chips until July, at which point they will be allowed to finish colonising what they have rather than seeking new wood.



These are a couple of bins of fresh chips I'm going to be expanding with. Don't really have many spots left in my yard that I don't garden/dig regularly, so these may go into the woods somewhere locally for a 'public' patch. Like a dumbass, I didn't label them, but should be about 10 gallons of each type of mycelium. Trying the laundry basket next to the pot to see if the amount of air makes a difference in colonization time. Normally I would have a thick layer of cardboard on top of each and keep them in the basement to retain moisture, but we've just had some rain this week and should be getting a bit more here shortly so they're getting a nice soaking outside. The cardboard is also a sign than your bin is almost complete, as it'll be the last bit to colonise, so when you lift it off and see that it's white on the bottom side, you're usually ready to spread em.

Hope everyone enjoys and feel free to post!

 

[Mookjong]

Interesting stuff! Good luck with your projects and I hope you keep us in the loop =-)

I do have a question, do you have many problems with insects or animals throughout the various stages of life? I'm also interested in what pros/cons vs. interior/exterior mycology? I've dabbled with some interior cubensis projects but that's where my experience leaves me.

 

[diggindirt]

I get a ton of bugs through my patches... I like to think they only stay for one meal though Mostly... well I always called em Potato Bugs (those little grey ones that curl up like armadillos) and slugs. They didn't seem to do much damage to my patches though. I think they just like that they stay moist and cool all year long. Birds, chipmunks and squirrels can give you problems if you use a lot of WBS or Rye Berries to spawn your initial beds as they'll dig up the food, but I've never had this problem. I only started a half pint jar of each variety and used that small amount to start a couple large bins of chips (about 5 gal each) in my basement before putting outside, so the bit of seed that was there was fairly well dispersed over a large area by the time my beds were set. You only need the smallest amount of active mycelium to expand it exponentially (as little as a few bits of wood) so I started small rather than dumping a couple quart jars outside.

I've found that outdoor cultivation is far easier than indoor as it takes way less attention to detail. Until you get the initial mycelium growing, sanitary practices are a must just as with cubensis. Sometimes even more knowledge is needed as most outdoor prints and syringes are not considered sterile and need to be started on agar and transfered several times before a clean sample can be taken and expanded. This was not the case for me. I ordered pre-made syringes from Sporeworks, noc'd my WBS directly and had absolutely no contam issues, so I believe them to be a reputable dealer if you'd like to avoid the agar.

Once you have the white fluffies, I colonised the chips in open air in my basement (which is FAR from sterile). Again, I like the Aspen shavings that people use for guinea pigs as it's clean, readily available at your local pet store and fairly cheap. Plus, I LOVE standing in line with my big ol' bag o chips knowing they'll be making rainbows with no one else in line having the slightest clue! I didn't sterilise or pasteurise the chips either, just soak em overnight and mix in your spawn. Then I usually throw the buckets/bins in the bathtub once a week and turn on the shower a few times over a couple hour period to re-soak the chips.

After your beds are set outside, I find all you need to do is water once a week or so. There were a few weeks I missed my waterings, and things dried out, and there was absolutely no issues whatsoever. It just seems to stop growing when the top dries out. Granted, they never dried the entire way through, but they seem to pick right back up once you do wet em down again. You'll want to make sure they have good drainage though, as my one patch next to the house had a divot in the middle and it didn't seem to want to colonise where the standing water was.

In the fall, the rain will usually take care of your watering for you, but I didn't find it one bit difficult to get my ass outside once a day to look after my babies. It was also my first year harvesting, so I was very interested in the progress that was being made. They'll pin and then fruit just like cubensis do.

I've not really noticed any cons other than bad weather could mean no harvest this year, and you only get them once a year. Frost also killed off a couple of my flushes, so you have that to worry about as well. I was trying to get a Halloween party together, and my first flush didn't really come till close to Thanksgiving. So in planning respects, I suppose that could be a con. Also, if you're not an active gardner, or you have a patch in a more public place, it may be a bit of a red flag to anyone who's nosey if you go outside and stare at the same spot every day checking them out. My hands are in every square inch of dirt I have here, so the neighbors don't really pay attention to anything I do in the yard anymore.

I like the outdoors as I'm not a very clean person, and I don't really like sterile lab-type envirinments. If you ARE that type of person, you may prefer cubes. My friends all still ask for cubes, and I oblige them, but I'd rather not deal with all that.

I suppose the final plus I'd add here is that they are a good bit more potent than cubensis, so you're not sitting down to a meal when you want to trip. I've no lab results but as far as I understand Azurescens are roughly 3 x the potency of cubes, so 1g dry weight is like eating a whole eighth of cubes... I usually drop 1-1.5g, and it's plenty to give me visuals. I've not had the friends who are willing to dive deep into a 3g dose with me yet, so I can't really report on that, but I'm still looking for those guys!

 

[canndo]

If you haven't already, take some new corregated cardboard and wet it to field capacity and a bit more. distribute your spawn - rye works the best and distribute it over the inside of your cardboard and roll it up loosely and put a rubber band around it. Incubate it in an appropriate place until you see that the entire roll is colonized - then when you address your bed, put a thin layer of sawdust mixed with some shavings down - maybe half an inch, then unroll your cardboard and lay it down over the bed, then cover it with your substrate (a mixture of different sized bits of wood). I believe you will see far faster growth as you have an entire sheet of spawn sandwiched between your wood substrate.


I don't happen to like most cyans because of the baeocystin and norbaeocystin, content but the azures tend to have less - at least in my experience. The three, cyan, azure and cube are all quite different experiences.

 

[diggindirt]

Thanks canndo! What in particular do those do to the trip? What effect is it that you don't like?

 

[canndo]

Thanks canndo! What in particular do those do to the trip? What effect is it that you don't like?

Teeth gritting, maybe a bit of the shakes, in short a higher body load - akin to speed maybe, that and a bit of sour stomach. The rest? I don't know I do know there is a third sort of influence that is somewhat rare, I have encountered it twice - it stains the fruit green instead of blue, a rather bright and distinct green that seems to portend a slightly different, more calming, more sedate experience but I believe it to be perhaps a bit less potent. I don't know what it is.

 

[diggindirt]

Sounds a lot like what I got off of MDMA when it was big in the Army in Germany. I understand the 'body load' completely. Well, I'll be on the look out when those fruit, as they didn't do much this past season.

I must say, tonight was date night with the wife and all this chat had me feelin frisky. She wanted to go see that new OZ movie in 3D, so I popped .5g of what I had laying around from last year. Didn't think much of it as I never got around to storing them properly (just dried with dessicant and stored at room temp in tupperware)....

WHEEEEEEEWWWWWW!

LMFAO! It was certainly "handleable" by myself in public, but any more than that and I don't know I'd have been able to sit still for the entire movie. The visual stimulation was fantastic, and I think I enjoyed the movie a HELL of a lot more than the wife did, but boy am I glad she decided to come home for dinner instead of going out! These things sure are a bit more to handle than cubes are. Not hardcore visuals, but I felt the effects for a good 4 1/2 hours before they totally wore off.

 

[canndo]

I have found that a museum dose of mushrooms (.5 - .75) grms is perfect for a "date day" with my adorable wife. We both go to an art museum and wander for hours - the dose tends to put us into a psychic link with the artists in a very delightful way and I highly recommend it, especially to those who figure that art museums aren't for them. This works especially well at sculpture exhibits. The only time I had a problem was an exhibit of Pre-WWII german artists who's themes were antisemitic That was the one time when after only about 10 minutes I found that I HAD to get out of there, the hatred emanating from the hall was excruciating. I went back sober about a week later to see what it was all about and the pictures had lost that aura of hideousness and ugliness and it became an interesting expose of propaganda.

 

[diggindirt]

So it's time for an update!

First new patch is about 8'x5' and will contain about a cubic yard of Hardwood Mulch. Only about 1/2 a yd. at the moment as I underestimated the size just a bit.

Raked down to natural forest soil level, sectioned off with some logs.
Aside from the shaved wood I had laying around from last year, I'll be using storebought mulch to start. Nothing fancy, non-dyed.


shaved wood layer then hardwood mulch then the GOOD stuff!
The dark bits are the original chips with mycelium used to expand to new chips.


Then tucked in with another layer of shaved wood. I like this stuff because its fluffiness helps retain a humid environment with good drainage. This will all be layered again with more mulch and then topped with leaf debris from the forest floor for just a bit of camouflage.


Second new patch is about 5' x 5'

Same process as above, with a closeup of the consistency of the shaved wood at the end. None of the mulch used has been treated in any way (pasteurization or sterilization) and will be watered only when necessary. Moist mulch is best, but I found out last year that too much water will inhibit the growth. Good drainage is necessary when setting up a wood patch.

These patches will have a heavy layer of the bagged mulch added (unless I can get a load of fresh chips for free) and allowed to do their thing until fall. If there's any interest in this, I'll continue with updates and try to answer any questions. Thanks for looking!