ferret Posted April 4, 2003 trying to innoculate established trees may be unsuccessful due to the already established mycorrhizal fungi. you could try a method used in cultivating other mycorrhizal fungi, e.g. truffles, but youll probably have to wait some years to be rewarded- innoculate either seed/young seedlings with spores/mycelium/fresh fruitbodies/pine needles gathered from around fruitbodies. i skimmed thru this doc for some info: Afforestation of treeless areas " In addition to organic matter and acidification, phosphorus fertilization seems to be one of the most effective measures for activating mycorrhiza-forming fungi" " large amounts of Rhizopogon luteolus sporophores were used to inoculate nursery soils in Western Australia in the 1920s" Hebeloma sp. " In the nursery, both the mycelium and spores were used as inoculum. Several months after inoculation, the inoculated seedlings formed straight and unbranched ectomycorrhizas with cottony mycelium. Some sporophores were formed and reached maturity. " jeez.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mescalito Posted April 4, 2003 Yeah apparently early season gear is stronger,I've also read the red part has the effective bit in it-anyone know?? BTW don't smoke it it tastes like shit(not that I eat or smoke shit :D ) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theobromos Posted April 24, 2003 Interesting, ferret. But bear in mind my totally unsubstantiated theory that the vanadium accumulation of this (and a few other) Amanita may be to enable the tree to source its phosphorus more efficiently. Apparently many plants will absorb vanadium preferentially over phosphorus but cannot use it for the normal phosphorus chemistry. So overfertilisation with phosphorus may not encourage Amanita muscaria. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John_Barleycorn Posted April 28, 2003 Another data-point on Amanita processing. I concluded previously that smoking the water extract wasn't too effective. Just as a test, I tried rehydrating some water extract, and drinking it. That wasn't too impressive either. I am starting to conclude that any drying technique, whether to the whole or extracted shroom, destroys potency. I might have to try an alcohol extract just for the sake of completeness. Another consideration is the volatility of muscimol? The Merck suggests it has a reasonably high boiling point, but I am starting to wonder whether I might be losing any in the steam (in which case a reflux might be required). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
