PSILOCYBE MEXICANA

Psilocybe mexicana is a mushroom of great historical value. On June 29th 1955 the amateur researcher Gordon Wasson was the first non-Aztec in over four centuries who was invited to a velada (shamanistic mushroom ceremony) in Oaxaca, Mexico.

By doing that he finally proved that the rumours about psychoactive fungi were not a myth. On July 1st 1957 the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, the man who invented LSD some 14 years earlier, determined that an effective dose of Psilocybe mexicana was about 8 grams fresh. His collegues Hans Kobel and Roger Cailleux started working on a cultivation method. During the following year they succeeded in growing the fungus on malt agar, different types of grain, rye grass seed and straw. Albert Hofmann succeeded in the isolation and synthesis of the psychoactive compounds. He named those after the mushroom (psilocin and psilocybin).

Psilocybe mexicana mushrooms are tiny compared to its cousin Psilocybe cubensis as well as half as potent. And it's spores grow not as vigorous. But the mexicana is able to form clumps of hardened mycelial mass underground, named 'sclerotia' or 'truffles', which look like potatoes and have a similar function for the organism it supports. Sclerotia forming fungi can be very drought resistent (sclerotia give rise to mushrooms after being stored for several years without water). Sclerotia can grow quite large and contain over three times as much mycelial tissue as mushrooms do. Despite the smaller amount of psilocybin per gram of mycelium, sclerotia can be over one and a half times as potent as a similar weight of fresh mushrooms, with a longer shelf life and possess spore-like qualities for cultivation purposes.

Despite those interesting qualities Psilocybe mexicana stayed absent for quite a long time. In 1983 some beautiful pictures plus cultivation techniques were published by Jeff Chilton and Paul Stamets in their book The Mushroom Cultivator. These authors recommended rye grass seed as substrate for sclerotia forming fungi. But cultivatable material was not released to a greater public until November 28th 2000, when the US based company SporeWorks announced that a good sclerotia producing variety of Psilocybe mexicana, simply labeled Mexicana A, was localized in Jalisco, Mexico and that spores would become available soon.

In the following years it was established (and mainly published on websites like mycotopia and shroomery) that Mexicana A converts ten percent of the dry weight of the substrate into dry sclerotia in six weeks and up to thrice is much after three months. A sterilized mixture of 4 liters (1440 grams) of rye grass seed and 2 liters of water produced 450 grams of fresh sclerotia in about 60 days. One report even claimed a yield of 700 grams of fresh sclerotia (210 grams of dry matter) in 90 days from a mixture of 2 liters (720 grams) rye grass seed and 1 liter water. This is near double the yield (in mushrooms) of Psilocybe cubensis, but translated into milligrams of alkaloid production the two species perform almost equally on the same substrate over the same amount of time at the same temperature (20-25 centigrade).

PSILOCYBE MEXICANA CULTIVATION IN FILTER PATCH BAGS

3 liters (1080 grams) of grass seed and 1,5 liters of water combined in a polypropylene filter patch bag. Sterilised (2 hours for 3 liter bags) and inoculated with liquid mycelium. After six weeks the harvest was 338 grams fresh (101g dry).

PSILOCYBE MEXICANA IN THE PF TEK GROWING TECNIQUE

By using the PF TEK, Psilocybe mexicana sclerotia can be grown in exactly the same way as Psilocybe cubensis. The same substrate formula (2 volume parts of vermiculite, 1 volume part of brown rice flour and 1 volume part of water) applies. Sclerotia begin to form in 2-3 weeks. The sclerotia form as white lumps of tissue that ages brown as it matures. They tend to grow in the spaces between lumps of substrate and especially between the substrate and the glass. The airy structure of PF Substrate encourages the formation of sclerotia throughout the substrate cake. After about three months the maximum yield is reached, then the sclerotia can be harvested or refrigerated for later use. They maintain their psychoactive qualities for many months and their ability to produce mushrooms for years.

When it is time to yield it is a good practice to gently break the colonized and sclerotia filled substrate cakes and mix the crumbles in a bowl of water, which contains about a gram of vitamin C per liter. After a few minutes the sclerotia will collect on the bottom while the vermiculite floats on top. The Vitamin C prevents blueing and damage to the alkaloid content.

The sclerotia can be put on water agar (a 250 ml jar containing a layer pressure cooked and soldified mixture of 20 grams of agar agar powder in 1 liter of water), stored in the fridge for at least a week ("cold shocking") and brought back to room temperature. Often the sclerotia begin producing mushrooms after some time and then can be used to collect spores.