I have only done mushrooms once in highschool and i was a much different person then than i am now. Was fun at the time but now being more experienced i'm very curious to see what i've been missing. What is the most efficient way to get mushrooms? Should i buy a book (identification guide) and start now hunting the woods and fields around my house? Is it easier and smarter to grow them? It looks difficult and i dont know where to even begin... I'm now comitted and determined to try this and looking for some guidance. All of my friends talk about how much they loooove mushrooms but NO ONE ever ever has any.

Unless you live in the tropics (or the Gulf Coast) it'd probably be easier for you to grow them, given ID problems and the nature of seasonal fungi. I only recently found how easy it is to grow them... and VERY satisfying, if you put the effort into it.

Essentially, you should inoculate some substrate with a spore syringe, and while the mycelia are growing, do some serious research on the life cycle of the mushroom/fruiting chambers/pinning triggers. By the time the mycelia have colonized your sub, you'll know enough to fruit them easily.

To elaborate on that first step, if you don't have a pressure cooker handy, you may want to buy a few quart jars' worth of pre-sterilized substrate off of ebay (costs about $20), and buy some spores. Make sure to double-check your spore vendor before buying from them, as there are some serious scams around. The next bit is fairly simple, assuming you keep everything sterile. Knock up your substrate, and start doing the real homework!

A lot of people say that using PF cakes is the best way for beginners, but it hit me as a comparatively inefficient way to do things, and not THAT much easier. Just an opinion.

where should i look for the spores and substrate? what other materials do i need? do i need to buy a kit from 1 vendor? if so who? If not what materials and which vendor supplies both spores and substrate? also where is a howto guide once i have both items? Finally how long should i wait for results?

First of all i would check the shroomery (www.shroomery.org). They have extremely valuable information about growing shrooms. Just check the growing FAQ's.

With the information you will find there, you will see that growing mushrooms is a piece of cake ! When you realy want to learn how to grow i wouldn't bother with buying pre sterilized substrate. It can easily be done without a pressure cooker.

When you wan't to buy spores it depends where you live. If you live in Europe i can recommend MRCA shop (www.mrcashop.org).

i live in america

I would highly recommend Sporeworks for all your supplies, imo they are the best in the biz.
http://sporeworks.com/

Ralphster's has been around for quite a while and is pretty highly regarded.
http://www.ralphstersspores.com/USA/

I've also used The Hawks Eye successfully
http://www.thehawkseye.com/

and I've never used them, but spores101 seems to get really good reviews
http://www.spores101.com/

really anyone on shroomery or mycotopia vendor lists should be legit
http://www.shroomery.org/8689/Mycology
http://forums.mycotopia....-visit-our-sponsors.html

check the link in my signature for a brief intro to growing.

Hey there skinwalker,

I also highly recommend the Shroomery. They are quite possibly the largest source of mushroom related shared experience on the internet. There are two reasources that you should consider if you are serious about your endeavor:

The Mushroom Cultivator - Paul Stamets

Let's Grow Mushrooms! DVD set - Marc R. Keith a.k.a RogerRabbit.

I wish you luck. Mushroom cultivation, for those who like it, is a very rewarding and enrichening pass-time.

Take care,

Eternity.

I would also check Mycotopia. It's always my first go-to for information on mushrooms, and if they don't have something useful, then I'll check the Shroomery.

Like others have said the Shroomery is a fantastic site for information. Earths Tongue has been my primary supplier for all mycology research. They ship from the US and have a good selection of spores and supplies.

Im also new to mushrooms and dmt. i want to start experiencing/experimenting with them, but dont really want to go to all the time, effort, and expense (not to mention small risk) of making my own. im certainly not asking anyone on this forum to give advice on how to get a hold of some directly, but can anyone recommend somewhere to start that can lead to my own independent connections? i live in utah, usa, which has a very low population of free thinking, like minded people. i dont have friends who are into this, and i know you cant just go asking around...

also, im concerned about getting quality and safe mushrooms from a source i dont know well. do i just have to bite the bullet and do it myself? not to sound impatient, but im ready for this. everything about my state of mind and life situation is perfect and has been for years. i want to explore what everyone is talking about, and add it to my meditation.

thanks

Sounds nice!

Growing mushrooms is not difficult at all and doesn't require much time if you keep it low scale. I use mainly PF tek - maybe not the best but it works for me.
Most of your time is spent on reading and studying, to answer the OP: information is where to start! There's plenty of it on the Shroomery and even the Nexus.

I harvested spores and grew new generations from them without any advanced equipment. I hope my new Golden Teachers will start colonization in a few days, they are STRONG!

And this comes from a bad grower, my yields are usually much lower than what I see on the net. I must be doing something wrong but hey, it works despite my faults, it's that easy

I wondered the same question for a couple years. For some reason the language just wasn't sitting right with me, I couldn't really 'see' the process in my mind. Here's where I recently started.

fsre.nl They have free spores there if you are too bust to purchase. I got the texas strain. If money not a problem any of the above sites will do.

I then got on ebay and found some RYE bags. This is your substrate, where you will inject the spores and the mycelium will form.

Next I plan on injecting sterile water into the bag which contains my spore print, shake it, and suck it back up, and put that into a jar (through a tyvek filter or silicone of some kind) with a couple 100cc of sterile water.

You could also put just a couple drops on agar plates and watch what happens there too.

Use jar to make syringes. Inject 5-6cc into bags or jars of substrate.

The rest I'm still a little foggy on. But once fully colonized, the bags should be broken up, and dumped into a small tubberware or aluminum cooking tray, mixed with any assortment of nutrient goods, poo + straw + verm seem to be popular. Covered and allowed to colonize further, and then bam, fruiting. Which, I think happens with a little bit of light, a lot of moisture, and little water as possible on the shrooms themselves. Don't forget they need air exchange still.

I think that's about right. But DISCLAIMER, I'm inexperienced still.

Hit the shroomery and mycotopia grow FAQ or vaults. Tons of info. Here's a favorite thread of mine. Daily Tek: Tips for Newbies @ mycotopia They also have a related syringe site I was unaware of for a while. mycrotopia.com

growing mushrooms is VERY EASY!! buying them is totally worth it, but growing them is very cost efficient and cheap as well. i've never had any luck with shroom hunting out in the wild, but that's probably attributed to my location. growing them is the best option for anyone looking to engage within a long-term relationship with this beautiful entheogen. the skill to grow them will become your lifelong friend, so i would very much encourage that route. pm me if you need sporeprints

Buying mushrooms makes no sense. Better grow them. It is easy. It is fun.
Shroomery is a good ressource for info. My current method after trial and error:

1. Get spores from fsre.nl (donate some extra money)
2. Sterilize Water ( add a very small amount of honey (size of 1-2 peas per 1/2 pint)) in a jar with filter patches and innoculation port of high temp silcone, for max. (!) 20-30 minutes.
3. Open the jar (a crack is enough) in a preferably sterile environment (at least spray some lysol to catch airborne mold spores), then scratch some spores off with a flame sterilized tool and dropp them into the solution. Shake.
4. Wait for Liquid culture to form inside the jar
5. Follow this: http://www.fungifun.org/...h/Grain-For-Simple-Minds with jars that have filter patches and innoc ports, innoculate with your liquid culture
6. Wait until mycelium forms and the whole jar is white
7. Build a mini mono tub (see shroomery)
8. Spawn jars to pasteurized coco coir (drain the coir VERY VERY well, it should ONLY be damp...not wet in any way!!!), ratio 4:1 coir/spawn, 4 inches high
9. Let colonize in a dark plastic bag with a very small breathing whole (preferably stuffed with a filter)
10 Fruit mini mono

Sounds harder than it is. There are many steps but its the same with extraction teks, once you wrapped your mind around it, it seems straight foreward and not hard at all. You just need a little patience.