Rehydration of psilocybe cakes
STEP 14. Day 32-33. Rehydrating technique for magic mushroom cakes
Why do magic mushroom cakes need rehydration?
- As you know, mushrooms consist of 90-95% water. No moisture - no shrooms.
- During the colonization period (in the incubator) and fruiting period (in the grow box) mushroom substrate loses moisture that is so important for growing shroom bodies.
- Substrate and casing layer on cakes can be totally dry. Therefore some growers practice rehydration even before the first flush in case cover and substrate are not wet enough. Or if colonization period (in incubator) lasts more than 3 weeks.
- To start new phase of fruiting we need to simulate a long rain for our mushrooms. Every mushroom hunter knows - the best time to set out to look for mushrooms - after a good rain. If nature already has everything in place and in right order, then in our simulated conditions we still have to work hard.
- Rehydration stimulates new flush of fruiting.
- Rehydration helps to harvest more mushrooms and more weight of shrooms.
- The main purpose of rehydration is moisture compensation wasted by the mycelium. You need to fill all cakes with water, so that mushrooms really begin to grow like after rain.
When do we need to re-hydrate mushroom cake?
- Before the first flush, if your cake is totally dry.
- Before the first flush, if substrate is spent more than 3 weeks in the incubator.
- After the first flush of harvesting.
- Repeat it after every other flush of harvesting.
How to prepare mushroom cake for rehydration?
- Remove all mushrooms (even the smallest ones) and their stumps from the cakes, so that they are completely bald.
If you have overgrown dry mycelium on the cake you can scrap it with sterile fork. It helps to provide access for new mushrooms growth. Check details in the Psilocybe Cubensis growing experiments section. - Check your cakes from all sides. If you take the cake out of the plastic box you can find mushrooms on the sides. They should be removed as well.
- Rinse each cake thoroughly under the running water.
- Put the cake back in the plastic container. Wash this container before.
How to make mushroom cake rehydration?
- There are 2 options for rehydration we recommend to use.
OPTION 1. The simplest way
Rehydration with water. Better to use clean drinking water. You can also use chilled boiled water or even just tap water.
OPTION 2. Rehydration with adding honey or sugar in water
Dissolve honey or sugar in water: 1 teaspoon of honey or sugar per 1 liter of water. No need to add more, because you can provoke fermentation process!
Stir thoroughly to dissolve honey (or sugar) completely in water.
Pour this water with honey (or sugar) over the cake.
What are benefits of rehydration with honey (sugar)?
- More productive harvest for each flush. Mushroom cakes are depleted after each flush of harvesting. Sweet condition gives additional nutrition and activates the growth of mushroom bodies.
- Fruiting starts a day or two days earlier. We noticed it in experimental way. After the first flush we rehydrated one Golden Teacher cake, one Thai cake and one Brazil cake on water. And one Thai and one Brazil cake with honey. After rehydration with honey the fruiting started faster.
- Sweet boost prolongs the fruiting period for each cake. We got 5 productive flushes, and one Brazil cake had 6 flushes). That's why we made all our further rehydrations with honey or sugar.
2. Cakes are lightweight. When you fill them with water they will float. But you have to submerge each cake completely in water! Put something on top of the cake so it's all submerged. This can be any jar or glass of water. Repeat it with each mushroom cake
3. Leave mushroom cakes for soaking in water for 12-24 hours at room temperature.
Less attractive, but really handy and convenient option when we use larger containers for cakes. Fill them with water, add cake and put a weight or a lid on top:
Some growers provide cold shock for cakes at this stage. They place cakes with water to fridge at temperature +8+16°C. We didn't do cold shock during rehydration. Because as a cold shock will be relatively cold water. At this stage stress for cakes can slow down the new fruiting phase and mushroom pins can stop growing (abortions are formed).
After 12-24 hours of soaking drain the water from the container. Take cake out of the container. Rinse each cake thoroughly under running water once again.
Don't put the cake back into the plastic container. Put it on the upside down container as a podium to allow mushrooms to grow on the sides. In such way cakes won't contact directly with the water in the growing box. Also it will be convenient to take them out of the growbox for the new harvest.
Wash your growbox thoroughly before placing mushroom cakes.
Pour one glass of water (200 ml) with 5 ml of peroxide along the walls of your growbox.
Put cakes after rehydration in the grow box.
Growbox conditions to control
- temperature +22+24°C
- humidity 90-99%
- light 12-24 hours
- airing 2-3 times a day for 3-5 minutes or turn on air pump for a few hours twice a day
Further flushes will grow faster. In 2-3 days you'll see new pins and mushroom bodies on cakes. In 5-10 days it's time for new harvest.
Now waiting for the second flush of fruiting and harvesting magic Psilocybe Cubensis mushrooms — Step 15. Day 38-41. Second flush of fruiting and harvesting Psilocybe Cubensis