



Hello! This guide tells everything you need to know to ideally grow the truffle species of psychedelic mushroom fungi, down to their general potency and even reproducing your own spores!



Cultivating mushrooms is not like growing plants - they are a vastly different organism to which none of the same rules apply. The fruiting of actual mushrooms involves knowledge and some keen attention, no tiny hobby. However it doesn't get simpler than truffles. Even if you can't keep low-maintenance houseplants alive you can flawlessly hold a stock of stones.



The methods displayed here have been the most effective means of truffle development we have thus far. Although there are many other variations to the approach, the gist is the same, and the particularities of this technique have shown myself and many others time & time again to be the easiest and most powerful. At the bottom of the guide is a listing of reasons as to why particular materials or preparations were selected instead of others, however these materials are not difficult to find and these methods as easy or easier than the rest by any standard, as well as proven to yield a superior end result. It may also benefit you to read the list of additional tips at the bottom before beginning your project.



The tek could have been made picture-laden, but as complete and info filled as it is I made sure there was no cluttering fat. I hope you enjoy my idea of a power-info-package!



Enjoy!

Love&Light ~Violet



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TRUFFLE TEK







ABOUT TRUFFLES

Ps. Galindoi [ATL7], Ps. Mexicana, Ps. Tampanensis, and Ps. Atlantis are species of psilocybin- and psilocin-producing fungi that form large masses called sclerotium (sclerotia pl.), commonly called truffles or "stones", in addition to the thin mushroom fruits for spreading spores. The sclerotia serve as a defense/recovery mechanism that restores the colony in event of excess heat, cold, drying or flooding. As long as they have a proper substrate they will form these fungal bodies, and many genetic lines within these species consistently grow sclerotia prolifically to the degree that the sclerotia always far outweigh the mushroom fruits! Ps. Galindoi and Ps. Mexicana "A strain" are the kings of such.



Though not difficult, the mushrooms of these exotic species are no beginner's task to grow; however the sclerotia assuredly are currently the easiest form of natural psilocybin to produce, and in my opinion the cleanest and finest experience (though many find the taste unpleasant). Their development can be done at its best involving NO fruiting chambers, lighting, or any of the other many things that home hobbyists of mycology often collect for the practise.





THINGS REQUIRED FOR TRUFFLE TEK

Quart mason jars with lids



Filter material - only synthetic filter discs or poly-fil stuffing



Silicone



Substrate, either Rye grain (Rye berries), Whole Oats (totally whole), or even Wheat grain (wheat berries)



Pressure cooker



Species spores/culture



Syringes w/needles, or still-air box, or sterile laminar airflow cabinet, depending on your method of inoculation





OPTIONAL FOR TRUFFLE TEK

Garden gypsum, coffee, liquid plant food. A medium-small tote and casing peat/soil materials if fruiting mushrooms



THINGS YOU DO NOT NEED FOR TRUFFLE TEK

Perlite, coco coir, agar-agar, sterile tools, most mycology-related items frankly. This is simple.



THINGS BEST LEFT OUT OF TRUFFLE TEK

Vermiculite, manure, rice or flour, tyvek









PREPARING THE GRAINS is the core of the project, the only mushroom food involved. As the mycelium spreads thru it, the nutrients in the grains and water they contain literally become the mycelium and sclerotia. Thus the importance of having grains rich in nutrition, the right degree of hydration, and size/structure that makes it easy to divide the sclerotia from the grain.



Rye grain (rye berries) performs best in all departments.

Whole oats are not far behind.

Wheat berries work almost as wonderfully for the same reasons and are even more inexpensive.

Whereas corn is a poor grain for all other mycology endeavors it is a fine sclerotia grain though more expensive and calls for more careful preparation.

Wild bird seed (WBS) is acceptable if well-rinsed, carefully hydrated as the many seeds are different sizes, and sunflower seeds are removed.





There are many ways to work up one's grains, but the approach presented here is simple and fairly difficult to mess-up.



You can practice boiling your grains with plenty of extra water in a large pot with a hard rolling boil until they are plump and moist, and burst fairly easily between your fingers but most of the hulls are still intact otherwise. You will still have a number of them pop, which is perfectly fine, don't worry unless a substantial portion of them have popped.



Boiling the grains hard makes it easy to prepare as you don't have to stir them - the churning water will do this itself.



If you want to have as few popped grains as possible (I don't find it matters much, but it's still nice), then take the more hands-on approach of stirring regularly with a light boil (Simmer). You do have to stir fairly often to make sure you don't over-hydrate and pop the bottom grains. If you don't stir frequently you could actually end up with MORE burst grains this way. Remember that this will be a longer process since the grains will hydrate and expand more slowly.



Aiming for the highest water content without going over is ideal. Having too little water results in difficult-to-colonize grains and a poor sclerotia yield.







Load grains in a strainer, "shake" downwards over the tub or sink to help drip-drain, and set in the sink to drain a bit more.



Drain the grains well, tossing the strainer down and back up to throw any excess water out the bottom of the strainer. If they aren't too wet, which you'll learn to recognize, they're ready to load up and sterilize when they're done steaming. Chances are, as long as your grains are plump, well-hydrated, and not holding water on the outside, they'll do great in the pressure cooker!





Don't they look nice and healthy? The mycelium should be excited to grub on this!





Did you choose to experiment with adding plant food? If you did, an extended version of this 'fermentation' period is necessary with heat treatment in-between, as it is likely bacteria capable of taking up nitrogen and phosphorous into other forms that allow mycelia the capability to utilize it. More about this





PREPARING THE JARS is simple. They must have sterile air filtration both so that the jars can be closed during pressurized sterilization of jars & contents and so that excess CO2 breathed out by the mycelium can be pushed out and exchanged with the air without allowing any invading spores or bacteria. Synthetic filter discs (SFDs) are perfect for this in every way. Poly-fil synthetic stuffing can be used with full success when packed very tightly.





Drill a hole anywhere in the lids. When using SFDs, 1/4-3/8" are best, with nickel- or quarter-sized discs. Holes close to 3/8" are very important for using poly-fil instead. If you will be using syringes for your inoculation methods, a small second hole to inoculate through is required as well.





Trace and cut the discs, put an even amount of silicone around & right off the edge of the lid's hole, and place the disc centered over it.





Pressing down on the edges of the disc to secure it with the silicone often squeezes some of it into the space of the hole. Make sure that silicone does not block the ventilation - carefully swipe it away with the folded corner of a paper towel or the likes.



If you drilled the second small hole for inoculating via syringe then add a nice blot of silicone over and around that hole on both sides. The needle seamlessly slips in and out and does not allow passage of contamination unless it's on the needle or the silicone itself, which you should attend to with care before inoculating through.





Your lids are done! Set them over their jars for the silicone to dry.



When ready, load the jars with grain.

For your first grows I suggest you load them to just around the 600mL mark.







STERILIZING JARS AND GRAIN is probably the easiest part, but you need to make sure you pressure-cook properly. Do not let the jars sit on the bottom of the cooker. Spare rings make nearly perfect spacers. Add water in the bottom, 1/4-3/4 inches, as to not come up to the top of your spacer. Run your stove on "high" to get the steam rolling!

If you are inoculating with syringe or in a glove box you may find it very helpful ensuring a sterile inoculation to cover the tops of the jars with a square of foil so that contaminants don't land around the tops of them and so moisture on/in the filters from the cooker does not wick in contaminations before or during inoculation.



Load the jars in and put the lid on the pressure cooker. Continue the stove running full-blast until the cooker is up to 15 PSI pressure, which is full pressure on most sizable cookers.



EDIT: In favor of having more ensured sterilization and grain preparation in the pressure cooker, I have extended the recommended sterilization time by 30 minutes. These grains sit in colonization for quite a long time. There's no harm in giving them extra sterilization time to ensure that no thermophilic bacteria survives inside a grain deep in the middle of the jar. Sterilize as little as 100 if you like, once you have seen your success and feel confident you can trim it back down



Set a timer for 100-120 minutes once pressure is reached. Reduce the temperature as is necessary to just barely keep 15-16 PSI. As the jars and their contents heat up over the cooking run, occasional reductions in stove temperature will probably be called for.



After 15PSI has been sustained for 100-120 minutes, turn off your stove. Allow pressure to drop naturally - do not blow off the steam!

Allow the temperature to drop naturally as well. This will take several hours, likely as much as 8.

(If inoculating in sterile laminar airflow, the wait is not necessary, you can carefully remove the blazing-hot jars in your sterile airflow and allow them to cool there if you please.)





First thing to do with the jars after sterilization is to shake the grains around, evenly-distributing any grains with more moisture that may have been against the sides or bottoms. When cooled and moisture fully settled the grains will look like above! They're ready to inoculate!







INOCULATION

The crucial step. Your project will be made or broken here. If a single mold spore or bacterium makes it onto sterile grains it will take over pretty much all of it, that jar ruined. It's important that the mushroom spores or cultures are the only thing that make it to the substrate. This can be made easy and assured by a few particular methods.



In mycology there is a nearly countless plethora of sources from which and ways to inoculate. Any of them will work as long as you're able to succeed maintaining sterility, exposing neither the inoculant or the substrate to contamination at any point. Of course certain approaches have varying advantages and drawbacks. This tek will outline the basics of those that best suit the ends of these projects, excluding those lab-style and favoring those involving only the simple processes already at-hand.



SPORE SYRINGES are the easiest and most common way cultures are started for truffle enthusiasts. Seemingly clear water contains thousands & thousands of spores which germinate upon food and begin expanding. To produce fully-capable genetic strains for our purposes the various mycelia must be given opportunity to mate before the task of colonizing the grains - for this reason, you must shake your grains BEFORE inoculation and NOT shake them once adding the spores! Level-off the grains to inoculate. Do all clean work in a clean place with no drafts. Outside right after rain is a very clean air condition.

Shake your syringe well. With a regular lighter, torch lighter, or alcohol burner thoroughly flame-sterilize the needle. Immediately remove the foil on the jars and stick the needle through the silicone inoculation port. Each jar only needs a small amount of spore solution; .5-1mL is plenty to ensure adequate genetic variety. Squirt the solution down the side, just enough to run to the bottom, in one to four places on the jar. Again, do NOT shake the grain to distribute spores, it's best that they stay nearby.





This photo shows Ps. Galindoi colonies growing from an inoculation site. The colony in the jar on the left is around the prime size to be shaken and evenly distributed throughout the entire substrate. It may need several firm smacks against the palm to break-up a consolidated growth spot. The jar on the right needs a bit more time before a shake is advantageous. The mycelium will seem to almost completely disappear save for a light white haze on the surface of grains that were colonized. Don't worry! The mycelium on/in those will recover and quickly start new colonies to completely cover the remaining grains.

When the contents of the jar are fully colonized with healthy white mycelium the jar is complete! At this point it can be set on a shelf to be casually occasionally observed through sclerotia formation, or used as a source for dozens more ideal inoculations of other jars!





Such MASTER JARS are the strongest and most effective way to expand mycelium. There are TWO primary ways to use them as such, in order of beginner accessibility:



1. Water Suspension

This is a very good method for home cultivators without a still-air box or sterile laminar airflow cabinet, using the silicone inoculation port on the jar lids, though a still-air box can be recommended due to user error or a compromised syringe. It is simple and also highly clean & reliable as long as the source jar contains NO contaminants visible or hidden, and the grains are not close to over-hydration which is not a worry if you did the grain prep of this tek.

This process will seem tedious unless you pick up a quality 30mL or 60mL syringe!



Fill a filtered and ported jar with 200-400mL of water and cover the top with foil, and wrap an empty needle-tipped quality syringe with foil. Pressure sterilize them for 40 minutes at 15 PSI. Allow pressure and temperature to fall naturally until room temperature. Do not use the water when hot!



In a clean place quickly remove the foil from both and plunge the needle through the inoculation port then draw up water to fill the syringe. Spray alcohol on the inoculation port of your colonized master jar, enough where it covers the port (as opposed to just many standing droplets) but not enough where you'll take drops through the port.

Flame-sterilize the needle and immediately plunge into the master jar's port then inject the sterile water into the jar. Add at least 40mL this way, up to 100 for a strong extraction; then without turning the jar on its side shake it to loosen the grains and wash mycelium off. If the jar has been fully colonized for more than a few days this may require some firm strikes; if a week or more it may be quite difficult to break-up but you will succeed as long as the culture has not begun truffle formation. Do not break up the mycelium before adding water!

The grains will absorb a good bit of water so if there is not much loose water after the shake then continue flame-sterilizing the needle between each stab through the port and transferring sterile water to the jar. Tilt the jar towards the inoculation port so that the pool of mycelium-laden water comes in reach of the needle then suck it into the syringe.



There you go! That water suspension of live mycelium can be used directly to inoculate new jars or squirted back into the original jar of sterile water to somewhat dilute it and maximize its strong potential.

2-10mL can be inoculated in each jar (don't inject too much if the new grains are close to being too wet already) and the jars shaken thoroughly to completely distribute the mycelium.

This is superior and greatly preferable to sugar-fed "liquid cultures". Any liquid inoculation will take 2-6 days to recover and begin establishing itself in its new food, but will fully-colonize the grain very quickly! This allows quick, strong, and even formation of truffles!





2. Grain-to-Grain Transfer

This is an extremely effective way to expand cultures, and is probably the most used. It requires a clean-air environment such as a still air box or sterile laminar airflow cabinet.

With your sterile transfer workspace and yourself readied, simply break-up the grain in the colonized master jar and spray/wipe it thoroughly with alcohol, in the still air box remove all rings from all jars involved, and then the lid of the master jar. Hold the master jar in one hand and one-by-one quickly remove the lid of a new sterile jar of grain and pour out a bit of the master jar's colonized grain. Immediately replace the new jar's lid and move to the next one! Do your best to evenly divide the master grains amongst the new jars.

The critical part is done! Now just tighten the rings back on the lids and thoroughly shake to evenly-distribute the inoculated grains amongst the new ones.

Using a good amount of inoculant grains ensures that substrate will be fully-colonized quickly and that sclerotia will form strongly and evenly.







Keep your jars in room temperature 68-75F. They need no "incubators" but will go much more slowly below 65F. Ambient lighting can help speed truffle development so perhaps turn the jars on occasion to apply this stimulus evenly. Once truffles are evenly forming around the jars there is not really any benefit from light.







Now for the good stuff, GROWTH PICTURES!

This progression takes place over the course of two months with the inoculation methods above, or two months from the shake of a spore solution or agar wedge inoculation.

Species: Psilocybe Galindoi [ATL7]



The last two photos are of fully-mature sclerotia. The second-to-last photo is 8 weeks from the clear development of stones throughout the substrate which is the soonest ever they could be harvested. 10 weeks from stone formation is preferable for ensured strength and close to ideal yield. The last photo is 14 weeks from stone formation - the space created by the consolidation of the substrate by mycelium and by the expansion of the stones has now been filled by cottony mycelium looking for perhaps more food. This does not always happen, nor always this soon, but when it occurs it's almost always a sign of being ripe for…



… waitforit!...



So it's been ten weeks.

… Be patient.

Do yourself a favor. Don't open that jar. Wait until next week.



Another week already eh? Well, do go on ahead and wait one more. I know, I know, but trust me. Wait another week.





IT'S BEEN TWELVE WEEKS

…. HARVEST!

OKAY!

A tire of some sort is almost totally necessary to break up the 3-month-consolidated cakes of sclerotia-laden rye. Slightly deflated bike tires are perfect. If you're sensibly careful and use only these, you'll totally avoid having a glass jar break in your hands. I have done this more times than makes a pile, and only had one incident due to hasty&brash carpetbashing.





Unless spore variance shows the occasional low-producer in test master culture jars, Ps. Galindoi and Ps. Mexicana will -with little exception- develop over 100 grams of fresh sclerotia, commonly upwards of 125g, up to an uncommon max ~150g.



Fresh sclerotia harvested at this point are typically averaged to Twice (x2) the potency of typical fresh Ps. Cubensis mushroom.

The mycelia does evidently have twice the average psilocybin metabolism in general, as the mushrooms it forms also average double typical Cubensis.

With the truffles it is in part due to the lower water content per body mass ratio of sclerotia than mushrooms, as the sclerotia mycelium has not gone into fruiting stage. Mushrooms of both species are almost exactly 9/10th water, meaning the wonderful convenience of simply moving a decimal place over from fresh to dry weights. Truffles however are ~2/3 water so they contain just over triple the dehydrated fungal mass than mushrooms.

This means that dehydrated sclerotia are average 2/3 the potency of typical dried Cubensis.



Though biological metabolism always varies, the following example weight equivalents for common specimens of each species seem to be great thumb rules:

140g fresh Galindoi sclerotia = 283g fresh Cubensis mushroom = 47g dried Galindoi sclerotia = 28.3g dried Cubensis mushroom

5g fresh sclerotia = 10g fresh Cubensis = 1.66 dried sclerotia = 1g dried Cubensis



For the wonderful practise of regular micro-dosing, .5-1g fresh sclerotia is perfect, start low.





THE BEST PART is that you don't have to harvest them at that point. They can remain in the jars for some time still. With an ideal grain preparation it is likely they can go at least 6 months, possibly even a year depending on how well the filter retains moisture. The mycelium continues to eat, continues to breathe, continues to metabolize. Those metabolites are gradually…steadily.. fed into the sclerotia bodies over time. Though this territory is less explored by other than those some truffle businesses of the world, considerations suggest a strength increase to around x3 that of fresh Cubensis.

I'll let you digest this thought as you see fit.







HOW ARE THEY?

What I tell you will not be my opinion, but the reactions I get from people and that I read online. It is most widely considered an extremely clean experience, usually said in comparison to dried Cubensis. Many find them fresh easier to eat, and particularly much easier to stomach, than mushrooms. A somewhat mushroom taste is reported often as well as likeness of nuts, most specifically walnut. With most a citric acid-like sensation develops in the throat after swallowing chewed or chopped fresh truffles. Some say that this builds up to a rather unpleasant degree, and is not easy to quickly sweep right away with a drink of water. Often it is still considered welcome in return for the usual reprieve from nausea.



I do not dry truffles, or rather only did it once for some experimenters. I was told and read that it made them a bit difficult to eat. If they are properly dry, as they should always be if dried at all, they can be ground and mixed into many things. The flavors after dried are greatly changed - just as many seem to think they taste more tolerable after drying as think they taste more unpleasant.



DO NOT FREEZE FRESH SCLEROTIA! They can be kept in a refrigerator for at least a month with no apparent quality loss. They likely can go longer if stored properly with no extra water present upon enclosing. If they so happen to fuzz white a bit, it's okay, rolling them around a bit will clear that up.



Typical dehydrating methods work well for truffles. Dry them completely and thoroughly! They will keep indefinitely in airtight containers especially with a food-safe desiccant package tossed in. Will keep practically forever freeze-dried (may be minuscule exaggeration).







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I love truffles. Ps. Galindoi and Ps. Mexicana "Chicon Nindo" have been some of the most interesting fungi to me, and particularly with Galindoi it's been also been clearly the most abundant. Of the twenty some species of mushroom I've played with, Galindoi has been the most fun.



Once comfortable with the sclerotia invitro, you're likely about ready to attempt fruiting the mushroom.



The species vary in pickiness or proclivity to fruiting. It is likely that hobbyists may find some species more or less difficult than others within the specific fruiting chamber methods they use, when those commonly favoring other methods may see the scheme in a seemingly reverse way. That said, I have worked with Ps. Galindoi, Ps. Mexicana "A", and Ps. Mexicana "Chicon Nindo"; Ps. Galindoi has been the most apt to fruit, a bit more than Mexicana "Chicon Nindo", and Galindoi as well the heaviest truffle producer by a small margin over Mexicana "A". Galindoi was used for the fruiting demonstration as well, specifically a genetic isolate of mine, so don't be surprised if your attempts from spore variety doesn't show so many or such large mushrooms!



If you get good at reproducing & collecting spores and avoiding contaminations in your work, share the wonders of genetics with others! ~Violet



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GROWING EXOTIC MUSHROOMS



FRUITING CHAMBERS are one of the most fun parts of mycology to many home hobbyists. Mushrooms can be grown very well with no technical, energy-consuming, water-laden, noisy or attention-intensive chamber methods.



The two elements of a fruiting chamber are air exchange and humidity. Air exchange is more important than humidity, in a sense similar to that you would be much more concerned with breathing than your skin drying. High humidity is still very important particularly for these fragile species. The goal is to maintain near-saturation humidity (96-100% RH) while allowing as much air exchange as possible. The concern with this is most non-automated fruiting chambers, which are my suggestion, require the casing layer to provide the ambient humidity. This can lead to dryness in the thin casing layers used for these species and will lead to failure, so the goal is also to maintain moisture so that spray-misting of the casing is none or little.



To these ends, the most accessible and likely-to-succeed chamber is a simple modified clear tub. For exotic mushrooms such as the truffle producers, fairly small tubs are ideal -significantly larger than shoe boxes, but probably smaller than 66qt.



The lid style does not matter, it will not be used - it is ideal to pick a tub that will just fit under a sheet of plastic cling wrap, like the one above. Make holes in the sides; some that will be right above the level of the substrate at least 2" above the bottom and others at least halfway or above towards the top from the bottom holes. The hole scheme you see I used above has worked wonderfully for me. Each hole needs be between 3/4" and 1.25" in diameter. Drill slowly and carefully as not to scour the inside of the holes; make them clean cuts. These holes will be filled with fresh poly-fil stuffing to control the passage of humidified air and eliminate most airborne contaminants from entrance.





Fruiting the grain substrate directly is uncommon in scale mushroom growing, but is an excellent and ideal choice for fruiting sclerotia-forming species. It calls for no additional substrate but a small amount of non-nutrient casing material is needed. Pure grains easily lose moisture otherwise, and these sensitive species have poor fruiting without the help of the perfect humidity microclimate within casing layers. The mushrooms of the truffle species are small skinny and tall so a very thin layer of light thin casing soil ~1/8 inches deep is perfect.

"Jiffy Mix" and like mixtures make great simple casings. Coco coir works excellently, perhaps even the best, and is very easy to prepare in a variety of ways. Peat moss picked-clean of sticks is a good main ingredient, even better when a tenth of garden lime stone powder can be added. Vermiculite is an acceptable and helpful additive for holding and maintaining hydration without compacting, up to ~40% in casing layers for these small species.

Do not use straight vermiculite, manure, compost or any nutritious materials for casing.



CASING LAYERS must be heat-treated for contaminants in one of three manners:

The sterilization of casing layers is not suggested as very few fruiting chamber methods are sterile and molds (particularly green Trichodermas) will usually quickly take-over the casing well before fruiting occurs. Your pressure cooker may serve as a handy pot for the pasteurization method.

Pasteurization is a widely-used approach for elimination of contaminants and temporary protection from new invaders by using gradual timeframes of heat relative to temperature. The core of the casing material has a meat thermometer or other reliable method of measurement placed in it, so you can see when temperature has been reached, and ensure the entire material is below the level of the hot water bath kept at around ~165 degreed Fahrenheit. Once the core temperate of the substrate has risen above ~145F, set a timer for 90-120 minutes. Remove the substrate from the hot water and wait until cool. Distribute as casing over freshly-lain grains with alcohol sanitized gloves or by sprinkling thinly and evenly.

A microwave treatment method has been adopted as a response to bulk scale casings such as for certain gourmet mushrooms. Casing material is to be prepared a bit more hydrated than otherwise then microwaved in an uncovered plastic container until 'boiling', left to continue for maximum of two minutes. Remove the container and leave for 24 hours. Repeat the microwave heat treatment and wait until the casing is cool. The damp soil is crumbled with clean hands as a thin casing over the freshly-lain grains.





PROCEDURE

Spray heavily or soak the bottom 3-4" of the tub with 5-10% bleach dilution for 15-60 minutes, making sure the sides have it sprayed/wiped/splased/soaked on them as well. Empty it out well and set in a clean area with no drafts, again outside right after rain is a very clean air condition. Wipe the whole inside thoroughly with paper towel soaked with 50-70% alcohol. (It is optional to lay a fresh piece of garbage bag plastic cut to fit up to the bottoms of the bottom holes, so that the newly-exposed inner side of the bag is facing up. This will mean you cannot see below the casing layer but it may slightly reduce your chance of mold/bacterial contamination against the tote; there is no other advantage to this with these species.)



Break-loose your colonized grains. If you are pouring the grains shortly after they are fully colonized it should be easy to do with your hands. If truffles are formed you will likely need to use a tire, as mentioned above.

Pour the entire contents of the jars into the very-recently-cleaned tub, but not to higher than 1/2" short of the bottom of the holes as you need space for the casing layer. If the grain you are pouring in has many sizely mature-aged truffles you can remove them with an alcohol sanitized or pressure sterilized spoon. Immediately carefully and evenly apply the thin casing.





Once the casing is done, immediately cover the tub with a piece of plastic cling wrap. Use packaging tape to secure this "lid" every several inches and pull it nice and taut all-around so it will not sag and drip water down onto the middle of the casing. Fill the holes with a tightly-folded wad of poly-fil, fresh out the package or a jar from the pressure cooker.





You're done! Put them in a room-temperature place not on the floor in a room with steady slow circulation of air such as with a fan. Provide direct fluorescent lighting (not so close as to heat the chamber at all) on a 24 hour timer for 12 hours a day during daytime. Over several days you will be able to watch the mycelia recover below the casing layer.





Growth over several more days you will see the mycelium begin to evenly pop up from under the casing layer. With a proper non-nutrient casing, they will not necessary colonize it fully before pin formation initiates. When the casing is colonized rather evenly but lightly as is shown in the above photos, it is beneficial to greatly lighten the stuffing of poly-fil in the upper gas exchange holes, and also somewhat lighten the poly-fil in the lower holes but not so much that you can see thru it at all. Some more air will be allowed to pass through without the casing layer drying off.

If you see the casing lighten with dryness, remove poly-fil in one of the upper holes in order to spray in a fine mist of clean water just until it appears slightly damp again. If this happens repetitively or in less than a day, you have a tad too much gas exchange, and should add some to your poly-fil stuffing. With not too much or too little restraint on air exchange it's very possible and easy to set-and-forget your chamber!



It may be just a few days after casing colonization before you see the first pins. It may be three weeks. Be patient! As long as your casing is not dry, there is no mold, and there is some air exchange occurring, you have a very good chance of a mushroom fruiting.





Seeing the first pin is always exciting! Once pins start showing up it won't be long before others start to follow behind. Spore variety of Ps. Galindoi will usually not produce mushrooms much larger than in the photo above.





Though large for a Galindoi specimen this mushroom is not yet mature. To collect spores from these species it is necessary to let them grow well into full maturity.





A fully mature flush of mushrooms! This genetic isolate produces many tall fruits, but most genetics likely will not. Observe the flat- or wavy-topped caps. This is the degree we want them to mature to for taking prints, which can be difficult with these species.





Don't forget the other stones too! That's right, underneath the casing layer there are new truffles that form and grow much more quickly when in fruiting conditions than invitro. Any sclerotia left in the grain when laying it out in the tub will have grown larger as well.



PRINTING



Pressure sterilize a plastic container with recycling code 5 with its lid loosely lain over it, with folded-over rectangle of foil inside. In a clean place with no drafts, glove box, or sterile airflow, take that container out of the cooker and remove the plastic from the tub. If using a glove box quickly but steadily transfer caps with large fully-mature caps into it. With sterilized metal scissors or scalpel cut the cap off as close to the gills as possible in a fashion that the cap falls onto the foil gills-down. Work quickly to do this and close the container. Wait 24hours to remove the lid and the mushroom caps with sterilized tweezers or a thumbtack. If you used individual foil squares for each cap, close it and fold the edges over. If you used one large sheet, cut out the prints and place them inside such folded "envelopes" of sterilized foil. Place them in a fresh baggie, and you're done! These prints can be saved, shared, used to start new cultures by scraping onto agar or into sterile water & sucked into a sterile syringe.





Galindoi will grow on small sterile grain subs under casings in SGFCs!

Don't be intimidated to try reproducing your own spores!









TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS

Use rye grain. IMHO it's best for this tek.

If experimenting with plant food, a much longer period is necessary of ~36-50hrs with a heat stunt halfway thru the wait, see here for actual details about that.

Quick-colonizing and strong-stone-forming traits may begin to show after a grain transfer 'generation' or two. Be on the lookout for strong genetics!

When you're comfortable with sterile technique you can benefit greatly from cloning techniques with sclerotia, in consistency of yield and perhaps even potency.

If you're able to do grain-to-grain transfers, doing such to grain sterilized in small plastic containers and casing the fully-colonized grain makes for a highly successful way to grow the mushrooms when placed in a proper fruiting chamber.

Making sure your casing layers have a PH of 6.8-7.1 is good when possible. Contaminants like lower PH, and our mycelium do lower PH over time, so it's best to not start low as well.

In case you missed it above - letting your jars age for extra months can contribute to strength!







"BUT WHY NOT (_______) FOR (_______) INSTEAD?"



Manure and vermiculite have NO place WHATSOEVER in a truffle grow (save the optional vermiculite additive in casing layer) as they are not food-quality items. I highly recommend against their use with sclerotia.

I suggest mason jars over plastic containers for the beginner's cultivation of sclerotia for a few reasons. Silicone can fall-off the plastic ruining that project. If not careful to only knock the plastic containers at the edge of the bottom, the containers can crack. However with plastic screw-top containers it is very easy to slide out the whole cake of colonized grain for easily breaking them up by hand if you like. Just make sure you're familiar with them and don't mistreat them. They won't hurt you if you break them like glass will, at least.

Postal tyvek is a very poor filter that can only withstand one pressure-cooker run before closing up and is much more likely to wick contaminants through. Suit tyvek is better in this regard but worse in that it is not a fine enough filter without layers which make for poor jar lids in the end. Just use synthetic filter discs, or if you absolutely cannot acquire some then poly-fil very tightly stuffed is acceptable.

In my opinion rye grain and oats are significantly superior to other grains for truffles. Though rye grass seed is the perfect grain for Cubensis endeavors, it is too small for truffles because it is very difficult to harvest from the surface of truffles and some may even be inside them. The truffles also benefit from spaces between grains and rye seed provides nearly none - it often has the effect of only forming truffles against the glass, and often just produces a lesser yield for whatever reason. Rice is a very easy grain to mess-up particularly for the long runs of truffles and after months of being consumed makes a mushy mess to harvest.

For beginners, boiling grains hard near the fully-hydrated point, or for too long, reduces their quality and leaches out valuable nutrients, especially after extended soaks. Pouring boiling water on them consistently achieves a superior effect after 7-20 hours. Boiling grains as a last preparation step can also leave them over-hydrated and calls for surface-drying period that, for me, extends to several hours and easily results in uneven hydration without attentiveness. The prep in this tek avoids all these shortfalls and produces a great grain.

Compost or any other nutrient material are good mushroom substrates but are NOT casing layer materials. If a casing layer contains especially significant nutrients, it has a greater chance in allowing mold spores in your environment an opportunity to flourish to soon. We want to put that away for several obvious reasons. One, it can ruin any prints we intend to take if we DO get fruits! Two, it can stop us from getting fruits! Three, it can spread the spores of that mold much more! Four, it not only eliminates or reduces the fruit yield, but cuts short the nice yield of stones that can occur below!

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Thanks for reading my guide! I hope you enjoyed and that this helps you in your truffle & other mushroom endeavors.



Respect this ancient & intelligent symbiote and enjoy the magic!



LOVE & LIGHT

~Violet This progression takes place over the course of two months with the inoculation methods above, or two months from the shake of a spore solution or agar wedge inoculation.Species: Psilocybe Galindoi [ATL7]The last two photos are of fully-mature sclerotia. The second-to-last photo is 8 weeks from the clear development of stones throughout the substrate which is the soonest ever they could be harvested. 10 weeks from stone formation is preferable for ensured strength and close to ideal yield. The last photo is 14 weeks from stone formation - the space created by the consolidation of the substrate by mycelium and by the expansion of the stones has now been filled by cottony mycelium looking for perhaps more food. This does not always happen, nor always this soon, but when it occurs it's almost always a sign of being ripe for…… waitforit!...… Be patient.Do yourself a favor. Don't open that jar. Wait until next week.Another week already eh? Well, do go on ahead and wait one more. I know, I know, but trust me. Wait another week.A tire of some sort is almost totally necessary to break up the 3-month-consolidated cakes of sclerotia-laden rye. Slightly deflated bike tires are perfect. If you're sensibly careful and use only these, you'll totally avoid having a glass jar break in your hands. I have done this more times than makes a pile, and only had one incident due to hasty&brash carpetbashing.Unless spore variance shows the occasional low-producer in test master culture jars, Ps. Galindoi and Ps. Mexicana will -with little exception- develop over 100 grams of fresh sclerotia, commonly upwards of 125g, up to an uncommon max ~150g.harvested at this point are typically averaged to Twice (x2) the potency of typical fresh Ps. Cubensis mushroom.The mycelia does evidently have twice the average psilocybin metabolism in general, as the mushrooms it forms also average double typical Cubensis.With the truffles it is in part due to the lower water content per body mass ratio of sclerotia than mushrooms, as the sclerotia mycelium has not gone into fruiting stage. Mushrooms of both species are almost exactly 9/10th water, meaning the wonderful convenience of simply moving a decimal place over from fresh to dry weights. Truffles however are ~2/3 water so they contain just over triple the dehydrated fungal mass than mushrooms.This means that dehydrated sclerotia are average 2/3 the potency of typical dried Cubensis.140g fresh Galindoi sclerotia = 283g fresh Cubensis mushroom = 47g dried Galindoi sclerotia = 28.3g dried Cubensis mushroom5g fresh sclerotia = 10g fresh Cubensis = 1.66 dried sclerotia = 1g dried CubensisFor the wonderful practise of regular micro-dosing, .5-1g fresh sclerotia is perfect, start low.is that you don't have to harvest them at that point. They can remain in the jars for some time still. With an ideal grain preparation it is likely they can go at least 6 months, possibly even a year depending on how well the filter retains moisture. The mycelium continues to eat, continues to breathe, continues to metabolize. Those metabolites are gradually…steadily.. fed into the sclerotia bodies over time. Though this territory is less explored by other than those some truffle businesses of the world, considerations suggest a strength increase to around x3 that of fresh Cubensis.I'll let you digest this thought as you see fit.What I tell you will not be my opinion, but the reactions I get from people and that I read online. It is most widely considered an extremely clean experience, usually said in comparison to dried Cubensis. Many find them fresh easier to eat, and particularly much easier to stomach, than mushrooms. A somewhat mushroom taste is reported often as well as likeness of nuts, most specifically walnut. With most a citric acid-like sensation develops in the throat after swallowing chewed or chopped fresh truffles. Some say that this builds up to a rather unpleasant degree, and is not easy to quickly sweep right away with a drink of water. Often it is still considered welcome in return for the usual reprieve from nausea.I do not dry truffles, or rather only did it once for some experimenters. I was told and read that it made them a bit difficult to eat. If they are properly dry, as they should always be if dried at all, they can be ground and mixed into many things. The flavors after dried are greatly changed - just as many seem to think they taste more tolerable after drying as think they taste more unpleasant.DO NOT FREEZE FRESH SCLEROTIA! They can be kept in a refrigerator for at least a month with no apparent quality loss. They likely can go longer if stored properly with no extra water present upon enclosing. If they so happen to fuzz white a bit, it's okay, rolling them around a bit will clear that up.Typical dehydrating methods work well for truffles. Dry them completely and thoroughly! They will keep indefinitely in airtight containers especially with a food-safe desiccant package tossed in. Will keep practically forever freeze-dried (may be minuscule exaggeration).________________________________



Edited by Violet (07/20/19 07:04 PM)



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