(Rendered image above is a hand-drawn representation of this mushroom. Some mushrooms were processed or too aged before images could be obtained, and other mushrooms were found when we did not have access to a usable camera.)
Mica Cap Mushrooms (Coprinellus Micaceus) that are dried in a carefully controlled environment to preserve the viability of the spawn. Instructions to extract spores are included. (Kit includes a metal tin of dried spawn, and instructions for creating the appropriate substrate and for growing indoors or in the field or lawn.) This is our Aspen Woods strain.
An edible mushroom, that requires cooking. Mica Cap is not a choice edible, but is edible, has some medicinal uses, and is often used in biological research since it is easy to grow. It is an Inky Cap type mushroom, which means that the cap will begin to liquify as the cap ages, and it will also begin to liquify soon after they are picked. We use a proprietary process to produce dried and viable Mica Cap spores. Rocky Ridge strain.
Mica Cap mushrooms will grow on virtually any dead wood (other than conifers), and will grow in many kinds of compost and leaf litter. They commonly grow on buried wood under ground, and are tertiary digesters (they like their food well chewed by other microbes before they get to it). They are great for sowing into stumps after they have been used for other types of mushrooms, since they will help complete the decomposition process and turn the stump into rich soil.
Mica Caps can be found across the US, and are distinguished by the sparkling dusty scales that decorate the cap top.
May be used to culture into compost to create spawn, or can be direct sown into substrates or into the soil using several simple non-sterile methods.
Each order of dried spawning mushroom contains enough to create two batches of active spores, which may be cultured and expanded, and then sown into the desired substrates.
Dried Spawn is EASY to use! Just reconstitute in water, and either finely chop or use a blender, and pour the resulting spore and mushroom mixture over your substrate or onto the ground where they need to be sown.
Packaged in metal tins for longest storage and viability. We do not use plastic in handling this product (plastic leaches chlorides, which are fungicidal in effect), and our products are not exposed to chlorine or other harmful chemicals during growth, processing, or handling on our property. You may be assured of the highest quality and maximum growth potential.
NOTE: Dried spawning mushrooms must be selected and handled correctly to produce viable spores. They must also be used correctly to extract spores, and then to culture the spores into the receiving medium. Our proprietary methods ensure viable spores, and we give you instructions for culturing them in a non-sterile environment. (If cultured improperly in a non-sterile environment, things go terribly wrong.) You are not only paying for the mushroom spores, you are paying for our expertise in both the processes we carry out before you see the product, and the instructions we give you for using the spawning mushroom.
Cross contaminations DO occur with non-sterile mushroom spawn (they seem to occur with alarming frequency with supposed sterile spawn as well!). In general, these contaminations are harmless, they may produce other non-edible, or other edible mushrooms, but for the most part, the mushroom you paid for will outnumber the contaminations by many times, and will not establish ahead of the desired mushroom.
Additionally, when using non-sterile methods to culture in natural materials, prior colonizations of unwanted fungus may occur, resulting in the fruiting of unexpected, random mushroom types. This is not at all a disaster, and normally does not cause problems. These mushrooms will typically be inedible, and may be ignored - in our experience, the cultured mushroom still establishes well and will produce well in spite of the interlopers! The chance that a poisonous look-alike would grow instead is virtually non-existent - because dangerous look-alikes don't grow in the same environment as visually similar edible species.
We do advise that you KNOW YOUR MUSHROOM - and that you know what it looks like, so you correctly identify anything coming up. This is wise in every instance, because even when you are using "sterile" kits or materials, rogue mushrooms may grow.
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