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Growing your own magic mushrooms is the way to discover psychedelics. Firstly, because you know exactly what's in them. You've grown them, so that builds confidence. Also, it's legal to do so in the Netherlands. Important to know, as the sale of ready-to-use magic mushrooms is no longer permitted. However, growing for personal use is allowed. But why would you start? Well, besides being fantastic drugs to experience on a Saturday night with friends in a home setting, they have much more to offer. In this practical article, you will learn how to successfully grow magic mushrooms and we'll give you a springboard to further explore the wonderful world of magic mushrooms.
Lesson 1: do not grow on the windowsill. Avoid direct sunlight.
The Key Points in Growing Magic Mushrooms
- Bought a Magic Mushroom Grow Kit? Let the growing begin! Follow the instructions you can find on the product page of the grow kit you purchase.
- The most important thing to remember from this article is that magic mushrooms emerge due to three changes in the environment. We start with the main one:
- Evaporation from the surface. By opening the bag where the grow kit is located every day and gently waving it open and closed, fine droplets can evaporate well. This triggers the start of mushroom formation.
- Temperature decrease. If you lower the temperature after a few days from about 25°C to 21°C, the grow kit receives the signal to transition to the reproductive phase. This means that mushrooms should start to appear.
- Light. By providing a few hours of indirect sunlight or artificial light each day, the mushrooms have a direction to grow towards. Ideally, provide light from above. Avoid direct sunlight!
Buying Magic Mushrooms
We mentioned earlier that you can no longer legally buy ready-to-use magic mushrooms. But choosing the type of magic mushrooms is an important and fun step! There are hundreds of species containing the active ingredients psilocybin and psilocin, but if you're going to grow magic mushrooms for the first time, we recommend starting with Psilocybe cubensis. All the information in this article is therefore about this species.
A Psilocybe cubensis grow kit (Golden Teacher).
From the cubensis species, there are various varieties or "strains". If you're a bit familiar with weed, then mushroom strains like Golden Teacher, B+, and Penis Envy are comparable to weed strains such as Amnesia Haze, White Widow, and Gorilla Glue. So, strains are subspecies of the same species. Some magic mushroom grow kits you can buy from Dutch-Headshop:
Four grow kits in a row with possible links?
- B+ | Ease of cultivation important to you? Then choose this one! Especially if it's your first time trying to grow mushrooms, go for B+.
- Thai, Ecuador, Mexican, Colombian, Cambodian, etc | Every country has its own growing conditions, traditions, and shamans. We love to offer you a selection from as many places as possible for you to experience the differences yourself. In terms of yield, ease of cultivation, and strength, they are all very similar, but they all look slightly different. Try varying and see which one suits you best.
- Golden Teacher | With a Golden Teacher magic mushroom grow kit, you're stepping up a notch. This species is relatively strong compared to other species. The philosophical magic mushrooms provide strong visual effects and fantastic spiritual experiences. The cap of this mushroom can grow up to 8 centimeters wide. Just make sure there's enough evaporation.
- McKennaii | The strongest cubensis in our range. They bear the name of Terrence McKenna, who put the mushroom on the map worldwide. Want to experience a heavy trip? Go for McKennaii mushrooms. These will literally take you on a journey. Experience unprecedented visual effects, gain new insights into yourself, and go completely out-of-this-world with these powerful mushrooms. But, just like with all mushrooms, dosage, set and setting are more determining for the trip than the mushroom species.
Beautiful mushrooms from Ecuador.
Receiving Your Magic Mushroom Grow Kit
We'll send you a plain box to your home. We think that's important, because that way the mail carrier and the neighbors don't know what you've ordered. Inside the box is your magic mushroom grow kit with all the accessories. We strongly advise you to start growing immediately. Because once the grow kit is shipped, it's inevitable that the temperature will fluctuate.
Storing Your Magic Mushroom Grow Kit
Not ready to start right away? Put the box directly in the refrigerator. We'll also store your grow kit in the refrigerator for you. By keeping the temperature low, you prevent dehydration, bacterial formation, and of course the formation of mushrooms. You can store the grow kit for about 3 to 4 weeks at 3 to 5°C. But we can't guarantee this. Whatever you do, don't freeze it!
Growing Magic Mushrooms According to Instructions
Then it's time to grow. Get the manual and get started! All the information about growing is in there. However, we want to tell you now that it's very important to work cleaner than a surgeon about to perform surgery. Magic mushroom grow kits are sensitive to contamination and you want them to mold only in the right way.
Green or gray in your magic mushroom grow kit? Then the grow kit is contaminated with another mold. Throw it away. But be careful. Magic mushrooms can turn slightly blue themselves.
Creating the Ideal Conditions
Psilocybe cubensis requires specific conditions to "bloom". These accessories can help you with that.
Here are the so-called parameters or optimal conditions for all cubensis magic mushroom grow kits:
- Ventilation: The most important first. Open the bag every day. At least until mushroom formation. A few minutes of waving ensures evaporation of small droplets on the grow kit. That's the signal for mushroom formation! It also provides CO2 drainage. Too much CO2 leads to long, stringy mushrooms.
- Temperature: When you receive the grow kit, it's all set to go (fully colonized). For the formation of the best mushrooms, the temperature should be around 23.5°C.
- Humidity: High humidity of 95% to 100% is crucial during the first week. When the first mushrooms appear, this can be reduced to 90% to 95%. In practice, this means spraying with a plant sprayer on the mist setting on the inside of the bag every day. Once they start to appear, stop spraying. The evaporating water at the bottom of the bag is then enough.
- Light: Psilocybe cubensis needs indirect sunlight or artificial light to grow. This light should be weak. A CFL lamp is ideal because it's blue-tinted, but most people place the grow kit in a bright spot in the house where the sun doesn't shine in. No direct sunlight, as they will dry out and become too hot.
This is very normal: completely covered with white mold. Then the pinforming takes place and the first magic mushrooms emerge.
Harvesting Your Magic Mushrooms
Magic mushrooms are ready to harvest just before the veil under the mushroom cap breaks. Use clean hands or gloves and carefully cut the mushroom at the base without disturbing the substrate. It's important to harvest all mushrooms at once, even the smaller ones, to prevent contamination.
The ideal harvesting moment: When the veil under the cap of most magic mushrooms just starts to release.
Multiple Flights / Flushes
Surprise! You can use the same grow kit multiple times. As many times as possible even. Usually 2 to 4 times, but we managed to grow magic mushrooms 7 times with one small kit! At the end, 1 small mushroom still emerged, but we count it. How to restart a magic mushroom grow kit for another flush is also explained in the manual.
That’s it!
Growing magic mushrooms is not difficult, but what makes it so much fun is that you can endlessly delve into just the growing itself. You'll discover that a magic mushroom grow kit is quite ingeniously designed. Once you've done a few successful grows, you can make your own substrate for massive yields with rice flour, perlite, vermiculite, and of course liquid culture. Or try the more challenging Hawaiian grow kit. That's another type of magic mushrooms where you have to add (provided) soil with a whole new set of challenges.
Summary
- Evaporation on the surface is the main trigger for the formation of magic mushrooms. Open the bag every day until magic mushrooms start to form.
- Spray water on the mist setting on the inside of the bag when you already have it open.
- Work clean. Don't breathe into the bag when you have it open and do it in the cleanest place in the house. For example, under the extractor hood on hurricane mode. Close the bag before turning off the extractor hood.
- Growing takes about 2 to 4 weeks, but it can take longer. It's a natural product with a mind of its own. So be patient.
A spore print of Psilocybe cubensis.
Glossary for Growing Magic Mushrooms
- Cubensis - A type of magic mushrooms. Almost all grow kits are variations of this species.
- Grow Kit - Everything you receive from us to grow magic mushrooms yourself.
- Substrate - The airy nutrient-rich soil in the plastic tray.
- Mycelium - The fungal threads that grow through the substrate.
- Colonized - When the fungal threads are everywhere in the substrate. Only then do the magic mushrooms appear under the right conditions.
- Cake - The combination of substrate and mycelium.
- Liquid Culture - Available separately. Mycelium dissolved in liquid food to inoculate substrate yourself.
- Inoculate - Spraying liquid culture into substrate.
- Spores - The "seeds" of mushrooms from which mycelium grows.
- Spore Print - If you place a cap on a piece of paper for a day, it creates a kind of imprint or "print" of millions of spores. You can use this to grow your own mycelium and eventually magic mushrooms.
- Monotub - A container in which magic mushrooms are grown in a certain way. A grow kit is a smaller version of that.
A typical monotub.
Frequently Asked Questions about Growing Magic Mushrooms
- Is growing mushrooms at home easy? - Yes, many customers who have gone before you find growing mushrooms with a grow kit easy. Every magic mushroom grow kit is specifically designed for beginners and contains everything you need to start.
- How long does it take for mushrooms to grow? - The growth time can vary, but under ideal conditions, Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms can appear within 2 to 4 weeks after starting the grow kit.
- What should you not do when growing mushrooms? - Avoid direct sunlight on the grow kit; avoid disturbing the substrate when harvesting the mushrooms; do not open the grow bag more than once a day, as this can lead to an imbalance in humidity and air circulation.
- Do mushrooms need sunlight? - Psilocybe cubensis needs indirect light to grow, but it should be weak. So no direct sunlight.
- Mushrooms growing yield - The yield of a grow kit can vary depending on care and conditions. By aiming for ideal conditions as described in this article, the following yields are possible: 250cc - 100 grams of fresh mushrooms. 1200cc - 400 grams. 2100cc - 700 grams.
- Magic mushroom grow kit white mold - White mold on the grow kit may indicate mycelium growth, which is normal. However, if the mold has a different structure or color, this may indicate contamination.
- White fuzz - Not enough evaporation. Open the bag more often to air it out.
- Growing mushrooms with spores - Growing mushrooms with spores is a method for more experienced growers. Spores are used to make liquid culture and to inoculate the substrate, which requires more knowledge and care than a grow kit.
- Blue mushrooms - When psilocybin comes into contact with oxygen, it creates a substance that turns blue. Many mushrooms therefore turn blue at the base. Nothing to worry about. Not to be confused with green dusty mold on the cake - that means throw it away.
- Magic mushroom grow kit manual - The manual for the magic mushroom grow kit provides detailed instructions for setting up and maintaining the grow, including creating ideal conditions and harvesting the mushrooms.
- Magic mushroom grow kit not growing - If the grow kit is not growing, check if the temperature and humidity are within the recommended ranges and if there is sufficient airing daily for CO2 removal and fresh air intake.
- Growing mushrooms in Belgium - Growing mushrooms in Belgium is not allowed. Therefore, we do not ship magic mushroom grow kits to Belgium. We apply the same rule to all other countries where it is not allowed.
- Magic mushroom grow kit temperature - For mushroom formation, you ideally aim for a temperature between 21°C to 25°C.
