How to Grow Penis Envy Mushrooms

Learning how to grow penis envy mushrooms is as much of a rite of passage for any psychonaut as tripping on them. Penis Envy shrooms are some of the most legendary magic mushrooms ever — and not just because of their funky name; they have an insane potency to back it up.

That’s why we decided to come up with a comprehensive guide on how to grow Penis Envy mushrooms — we’ll cover everything from growing methods to sourcing spores and drying and storing them.

There are two ways to grow Penis Envy magic mushrooms: from scratch (with spores) and with grow kits.

Here, we’ll go into detail about growing them from scratch, from sourcing Penis Envy mushroom spores to harvesting, drying, and storing your self-grown mushies.

How to Grow Penis Envy Magic Mushrooms With Grow Kits

There are plenty of vendors selling grow kits (although not many selling PE grow kits). Using grow kits is easier but you have less control over your crop. If you want to know more about grow kits, check out our article “Are Magic Mushroom Grow Kits Worth It?”

If that’s the route you want to take, we recommend you research vendors that sell these kits and run a background check on them to find out if their products are trustworthy and high quality. You’ll likely find reviews online. If not, you can ask on various subreddits and forums.

When buying grow kits, you’ll find instructions on how to use them on your vendor’s website — that’s what we recommend you do.

How To Grow Penis Envy (Cubensis) Mushrooms — Step by Step Guide

Step 1 — Source Penis Envy Mushroom Spores

First of all, it’s important to clarify that spores don’t contain psilocybin. For this reason, they’re legal in most places (unlike shrooms).

Psychedelic mushroom spores are legal (or at least in a grey area of the law) in Canada and in every US state except Georgia, Idaho, and California.

You should also know that there are two types of spores: spore syringes and spore prints. They’re equally good but spore syringes are easier to use and, thus, more common.

You can easily access magic mushroom spores online. However, not many vendors sell authentic Penis Envy mushroom spores because, due to their shape, less than 5% drop spores.

Still, here are a few vendors you can look into:

• Spores-Lab: Penis Envy Genetics
• Quality Spores: Spores for Penis Envy Mushrooms — The Penis Envy Mushroom Strain
• Mushrooms: Penis Envy Cubensis Spore Syringe
• Premium Spores: Penis Envy Mushroom Spores
• Shaman Mushroom Spores: Penis Envy Mushroom Spores

Just like in the case of growing kits, you should take every step to guarantee you’re buying spores from a legal, high-quality, and reputable vendor.

Step 2 — Gather All the Supplies Necessary

Here’s the list of all the supplies you’ll need:

• Penis Envy spore syringe
• Sterile grain bag with injection port and air filter
• Sterile mushroom substrate
• An opaque box big enough to fit the grain bag (can be a card box or other)
• Monotub chamber with filter disks (45-quart size or bigger)
• Scissors
• Two misting bottles
• Drinking water
• Latex gloves
• Surgical face mask
• 70% rubbing alcohol + cotton pads/gauze or disinfectant wipes

Here are some other supplies that you may or may not need (read the procedure first to know):

• Lighter
• Heating system, such as an incubator

Alternatively, you can buy the monotub, air filters, and micropore tape separately. There are plenty of sizes depending on how big of a mushroom harvest you want to get. Here’s the biggest one we found.

For greater ease, you can purchase grain, substrate, a monotub with an air filter, misting bottles, latex gloves, and a face mask all gathered in a kit here.

Step 3 — Inoculate Your Grain Bags

1. Make sure the surface you’re using is completely disinfected — use the rubbing alcohol or disinfectant wipes.
2. Put on your latex gloves, grab your spore syringe, and vigorously shake it until all clumps are loose — you need to see the spores freely floating around.
3. Remove the syringe cap and fit the needle onto the syringe without removing the syringe cover.
4. Grab your grain bag — it should be at room temperature. Mix the grain gently to evenly distribute moisture.
5. Wipe the bag’s injection port with alcohol or disinfectant and let it dry.
6. Remove the syringe cover and immediately puncture the injection port with the needle at a downwards angle (be careful to not puncture the bag anywhere else).
7. Once the needle is fully inside, inject 3 to 6 mL of solution. Remove the needle.

Introducing the needle at an angle, towards the bottom, prevents grains from blocking the needle and speeds up colonization.

Sterilization is super important in every step. If you accidentally touch something with the needle before injection, you need to sterilize it again using a lighter. You should flame the part of the needle that touched something for at least 15 seconds.

Step 4 — The Incubation Period

1. Puncture your opaque box to allow airflow.
2. Gently place your grain bag in the box in a warm spot. The optimal temperature is 21-24ºC (70-75ºF). It should never go below 21ºC (70ºF) or above 26ºC (79ºF). If you can’t guarantee the minimum temperature, you’ll need a heating system, like an incubator.
3. Leave your grain bag in the dark for two weeks, then check for colonization (never touch the air filter) — the grain will start to look white around the place you injected the spores.
4. If it looks like at least 30% of the grain is colonized, gently break it apart with your hands without ever opening the bag. If it isn’t at 30% yet, check it daily until you can complete this step.
5. Breaking and mixing it up greatly speeds up the process, you should have your grain fully colonized within a week. Check to see if the whole grain has turned into a white “cake” of mycelium spawn. When it is, you can move to the next step.

Step 5 — Time for Spawning

1. Pick a working space that you can thoroughly sterilize. Fully wipe it out with alcohol or disinfectant.
2. Put on your gloves and face mask. Wear clean clothes and disinfect your forearms as well.
3. Fully sanitize your monotub inside and out, your grain and substrate bags’ outside, and the scissors with alcohol or disinfectant.
4. Break down the white “cake” inside the bag with your hands. Once done, cut the top of the grain bag with scissors. Cut the top of the substrate bag, too.
5. Dump the whole content of the grain bag in your monotub. Dump around ¾ of the substrate on top. Keep ¼ for later.
6. Fully mix the grain and substrate evenly on the monotub and level it into a flat surface without compacting it too much.
7. Dump the remaining substrate on top to create an upper layer — do not mix with the previous layer. Level it out without compacting and put the lid on your tub.
8. Place your tub somewhere away from direct sunlight. Keep the monotub’s vents closed to trap carbon dioxide inside. Maintain the temperature at 21-24ºC (70-75ºF).

Now, it’ll take between 10 and 21 days for the substrate to be fully colonized.

Step 6 — Fruiting Mushrooms

Once the substrate is fully colonized, open the air vents, and make sure your tub is between 20-22ºC (70-72ºF) with indirect sunlight.

In the first flush not much misting is required but if the substrate looks dry or if there’s no condensation on the box, mist the sides of the monotub every two days — not the substrate directly or the roof of the tub.

It should take between 9 and 21 days for the first pins (baby mushrooms) to show up; then, they’ll quickly grow into mature mushrooms.

Step 7 — Harvesting Your Penis Envy Mushrooms & Preparing Your Next Flush

Right when the veils start to break, it’s time to harvest your mushrooms. Following all the disinfection procedures, open your tub, firmly grab their stem, and gently twist from side to side to pluck them out while maintaining the integrity of the mycelium.

Once harvested, mist the substrate directly and heavily (for around 45 seconds) and close the tub.

Mist the walls of the monotub every two days or whenever it looks dry, keeping the same conditions mentioned in point 1 of Step 6 until you have fully grown mushrooms again.

You should be able to get two to three flushes. Dispose of the substrate once mushrooms no longer grow or once it gets contaminated. The substrate is fully compostable.

How Long Does It Take To Grow Magic Mushrooms (Penis Envy)?

Penis Envy mushrooms are said to take longer to grow and mature than most strains, leading to them having a higher concentration of psilocybin.

It takes between 40 and 55 days for the first flush to be ready for harvest.

Life Cycle Of Mushrooms

To put it simply, there are five stages in the life cycle of a mushroom:

1. A fully grown and mature mushroom drops spores from its gills. Spores are either male or female.
2. Each spore, male or female, grows into hyphae (similar to a single strand root). When different hyphae meet, they combine to produce mycelium.
3. Mycelium is like the roots of a plant. They grow underground to stabilize and provide nutrients to the future mushroom.
4. Then, pinheads (the precursor of mushrooms) start growing from hyphal knots.
5. Finally, some (not all!) pinheads grow into baby mushrooms, which eventually grow into proper mushrooms. When they’re fully mature, more spores are released and the cycle starts again.

How Long Does It Take To Grow Shrooms

The time it takes to grow shrooms depends on many factors, including the strain itself and growing conditions. Usually, it takes between one and two months.

How to Dry Psilocybin Mushrooms

After the harvesting process is complete, you should dry your shrooms as soon as possible because their high moisture content causes them to spoil rather quickly — they’re over 90% water!

Drying them properly is important to attain the highest aesthetic and structural quality. Even the smallest trace of moisture you leave them with can cause microbial contamination and decomposition.

Before starting the drying process, you need to clean your shrooms. Make sure there’s no dirt on them; cut the bottom of the stems if there’s still some substrate attached.

How to Dry Psilocybin Mushrooms With a Dehydrator

The most reliable and effective way to dry them is using a vertical or horizontal dehydrator.

You should set the temperature to 110-120ºF (horizontal dehydrator) or 158ºF (vertical dehydrator). Then, set the timer or an alarm for two hours.

After those two hours pass, you can start taking them out. They’re ready if you can easily snap their stem — they should be cracker-dry. Otherwise, leave them in for a few minutes more and check frequently.

How to Dry Psilocybin Mushrooms With the Sushi Mat Method

As we said above, you should dry your shrooms as fast as possible and no other method can do it as quickly as a dehydrator can. Of course, most people don’t have that device just lying around!

The second best option is the sushi mat method. You’ll need a sushi mat (obviously!), paper towels, and a well-ventilated place where direct sunlight hits.

All you need to do is place the sushi mat on top of a paper towel in a spot with direct sunlight and display your mushies on top (they shouldn’t touch each other).

Ideally, that sunny spot is also well-ventilated. If not, you should leave a fan on — it should just create a light breeze; otherwise, once the mushrooms start to dry they’ll be blown out of place.

This process can take up to 24h. Use the same cracker-dry criteria described above to know if you can store them or if they need some more drying time.

How To Store Magic Mushrooms

As we said above, magic mushrooms easily decompose and are prone to mold. They need to be completely dry to be stored.

Then, you should put them in an airtight container, like mason jars or vacuum-sealed bags. If space is an issue, grind them up to fit more into each container. Keep them in a cool place away from direct sunlight.

You can add a desiccant packet — those anti-moisture thingies that come in shoeboxes — to your containers if you want to be extra safe in your battle against mold.

If you’re able to grind them into powder, you can use a capsule machine to make shrooms gel caps. It’s a great way to hide them since they look just like supplements and to avoid shrooms’ unpleasant flavor.

Any of these methods guarantee your shrooms won’t lose potency or rot for up to a year. If you want to store them for longer, keep them in your freezer.

Another option is to chop or grind your mushrooms in small bits or powder them, put them in a jar, and pour honey on them — store the jar in a cool and dark place for up to four months.

Conclusion: How To Grow Penis Envy Cubensis Mushrooms

Penis Envy mushrooms aren’t the easiest to grow and, usually, it takes longer for them to colonize substrates and fully mature.

But with their outstanding potency and celebrity mushroom status, they’re well worth the hassle and the weight.

Put your latex gloves on and get to growing some Penis Envy shrooms.

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