Johnny Amanita seed

[swords]

I've got some dried Amanita muscaria mushroom specimens from Siberia. They're the big red & white spotted "fairy tale" mushrooms. Not my pic but they look generally like this:

I know they can't be artificially grown in a terrarium due to their symbiotic relations with microhizzae and coniferous trees. So I was curious if anyone familiar with Mushroom cultivation thinks it may be possible for me to start outdoor colonies of the form here by crushing the dried mature caps (presumably still containing at least some spores) and lightly raking the crushed bits into the soil underneath a few different appropriate trees & watering in? Or perhaps "planting" (innoculating) in autumn when the rains can come for days on end. Obviously nothing would appear for at least a year but it would be great to have them naturalized along the trails in my woods.

 

[trek623]

sorry, no clue, but those are extremely cool! i think it'd be great to grow mushrooms. actually, i think that i'll google that now.

 

[Capensis]

I'm not sure either, sorry, but that would be amazing to have growing. I'm sure there's information on Google.

 

[herenorthere]

Here's something that mentions the challenge of growing that species - http://www.sporeworks.com/store/product.php?productid=16162&cat=0&page=1. I found that company a while back when I was looking for wine cap mushroom spores, which I never got around to buying. You'll notice the company's poisonous and hallucinogenic mushroom listings have the disclaimer - "Spores intended for microscopy and taxonomy purposes only."

 

[swords]

Check out the 2 DVD set Lets Grow Mushrooms on Amazon to see the whole process step by step for common edibles like shiitaake, reishi, oysters, etc. You can use most any mushroom you find at the grocery or wherever to start new colonies if you have the right tools, knowledge of their substrate and patience but since this one has those dual symbiotic requirements it's more a mystery. The process I thought of is essentially the same as used for Morels and Truffles who also won't grow indoors. Innoculating new seemily suitable sites outdoors and basically "hoping for the best".

 

[swords]

I see on that site they sell spores in syringes, if the PO found a loaded syringe in your mail wouldn't they suspect it was heroin or something? I suppose they must make disclaimers, if someone grew the Amanita and their kid ate and got sick it they'd surely wanna sue.

I've ordered mushroom spawn logs from ebay but they were already pre-innoculated with shiitaake, enoki and stuff.

Edit:
I've found a site that states my idea of raking ground up caps into the top soil under trees is a way to propagate the Amanita so I think I will try it but it looks like spring is the best time with possible first appearances by that fall.

 

[larry]

Is it legal to grow that species? If so, AWESOME. Oh looky, Let's Grow Mushrooms is available on YouTube

 

[swords]

I don't know about cultivation of Amanita being illegal since it is not restricted plant in the USA. it's sold as insence or poporri and as dried specimens for botanical examination all over Ebay and in herbal shops and websites. It simply can't be marketed intended as food or medicine due to FDA rules. Those mushrooms mentioned at that spore site mentioned above are all completely illegal because of the alkaloids they contain (why they can sell the live spores is beyond me) but nothing about Amanita is illegal . Thus, I "assume" it's OK to plant them for aesthetic purposes.

The clips of Lets Grow Mushrooms on You Tube aren't the "full meal deal" but it definately gives you a good idea on some of the simpler procedures without buying the videos. I don't think You Tube has any of the flow hood and agar work clips that fill up the second DVD though. I wish there was a DVD set like this for CP and/or Orchid lab work.