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Why does Psilocybe Cubensis only grow in certain types of animal feces?

the_integerian

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
112
To the best of my knowledge psilocybe cubensis only grows in cow feces and maybe horse feces. Why doesn't it grow in cat or dog feces? It would be awesome if it did. Why does it only grow in the feces of certain animals but not others?
 
Cat and dog feces are not sterile enough, I think.
 
It grows on cow and also horse dung if the horses are fed a grain diet instead of just hay.. And when the animal drops its dung the dung sits there and the internal tempertaures heat up so high from the grain bacteria that it actually sterilizes the dung and also because mushrooms are a form of parasite. They need a host and the grain in dung provides specific nutrients that the PC mushroom thrives off of. Thats why when you grow shrooms, its easiest when using a grain based substrate like brown rice flour.
 
Sorry, no and no. How can bacteria sterilize something? And PC mushrooms are not a parasite (living off another living host), they are saprobic (eating dead material).

Grain-fed horse and cow manure is actually NOT a good substrate for mushrooms.

Grass-fed horse and cow manure is excellent mushroom substrate.

I'm sure if you ate nothing but grass, your human manure would also be excellent mushroom substrate.

Either way, wild PC mushrooms also don't sprout directly from cow patties. They grow in cow-fertilized grassy pastures.
 
yes, it has to do with the diet of the animal, seeds and grains are good for mushroom, like how people grow mushies our of birdseed. Dogs and cats don't eat bird seed they eat alot of carbohydrates and some meat.
 
Sorry, no and no. How can bacteria sterilize something? And PC mushrooms are not a parasite (living off another living host), they are saprobic (eating dead material).

Its like a compost heap dude. Once the temp of the decaying matters reaches 160-170+ degrees it kills any bacteria making it sterile.

And the most abundant and prolific mushrooms come from grain fed horse and cows, sheep etc.., not grass, grass produces smaller and less of a quantity of shrooms. I have been hunting and growing them on and off since the 90s.

You are just right about PC not being a parasitic mushroom though, Ill give you that much.
 
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cant have a substrate that isnt sterile or the shrooms wont grow or be healthy to eat
 
I know you need it to be sterile for indoor cultivation, but just think about it, it can't possibly be sterile outside! The temperatures you mentioned would kill the mycelium (160 degrees)... so by the time the growing substrate had cooled to a temperature spores could germinate/grow at there is nothing to stop contaminates growing there also...
 
Its like a compost heap dude. Once the temp of the decaying matters reaches 160-170+ degrees it kills any bacteria making it sterile.


thermophilic composting requires a fair amount of material, around a cubic meter. Destruction of pathogens would only take place in the high temperature zone in the center and not in the outer fringes—it is therefore a questionable practice if the intent is to kill pathogens.

good compost is full of bacteria
 
i think it has more to do with the physical properties of the manure than the animals diet. it cant be too acidic or too basic or the spores will not grow. it also has to have a certain consistency (not to packed in) and a certain viscosity and humidity.

i doubt sterility or diet have anything to do with it. fungus grows on anything organic, and dont need a lot of variety in terms of nutrients. sterility is of no importance once the colony is formed
 
But grain-fed cows and horses DO NOT produce mushroom-friendly manure!

Only grass-fed cows, horses, and donkeys will produce mushroom manure.

I'll let this whole thread slide because bluelight isn't mycotopia, but...

"fungus grows on anything organic" not if we're talking about a specific fungus here.

Psilocybe Cubensis grows on grass-fed cow-fertilized MEADOW SOIL. They DO NOT pop directly out of cow patties unless you specifically introduce them there.

Psilocybe Azurescens grows on hardwood (no conifer!) woodchips and mulch.

Copelandia Cyanescens grows directly on dung (especially grass-fed cow dung).

Agaricus Bisporus (common button, portobello) grows only on compost that has already been processed by a thermophilic Actinomycete (firefang at 160F like alluded to above).

Saccharomyces Cerevisiae grows only in sterilized water that is HIGH in sugar.

Try to grow any of the above on its non-preferred substrate and YOU WILL FAIL.

It's like saying "Mammals only need protein and carbohydrates to live" and so you try raising a lion on nothing but tofu...
 
^^^great post. make more than one! shout out to S. cerevisiae! i work with it 5 or 6 days a week in lab. and brew a tiny bit of beer at home. to be fair, yeast will grow in non-sterile water, but it will ruin your experiment/beer/bread.
 
Eckkk to think of shrooms growing off dog shit... or cat shit... makes me wanna hurl.


I'll put it this way, I'm glad shrooms (as gross as i think mushrooms are in general, plus the whole shit factor) grow from cow shit, because honestly as far as shit goes, cow shit isn't all that horrible, it just sucks when you break a toe on a rock hard cow patty, or trip on one and land face first on another one.. i swear they get harder than rocks...
 
^hahaha, I'm guessing you're talking from experience.

Yes, I am quite experienced at picking them, but I will never fucking do it again... The whole arachnophobia thing gets me when I'm shroomin, i'll be looking down, trying to find them, then BLAM covered in a spider web, with a 5 inch spider dangling from me by a strand, that shit FREAKS ME OUT.

I notice I find both the copelandia (blue meanies) and the cubensis (purple ringers) growing directly out of ROCK HARD COW SHIT after a good rainy season, but not when it's flooded... They grow also in heavily wooded areas (hense the spiders) and in really tall grass, which takes a shuffling technique to find them without stepping on them and crushing them into the shit.
 
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