Liberty caps. Drying and long term storage?

[Yugambeh]

Hi all,

What is the best way to dry and long term store these beauties?

 

[downwardsfromzero]

On a fine mesh with plenty of warm airflow (computer fan), having ensured that each mushroom is free from mud and herbaceous debris, as well as being separated from its neighbours (i.e. the mushrooms are clean and not touching each other). Such as in the attached picture.

 

[Yugambeh]

On a fine mesh with plenty of warm airflow (computer fan), having ensured that each mushroom is free from mud and herbaceous debris, as well as being separated from its neighbours (i.e. the mushrooms are clean and not touching each other). Such as in the attached picture.

Thank you for your reply!

We have a oven where we just can use the fan function, I had to rush to work so I cleaned them and put them in the oven on a mesh plate (NO HEAT) and they were cracker dry when I came home, I put them in a airtight food box on antibacterial mesh with a desiccant. I will freeze them in a couple of days for long term storage.

How long between Liberty Caps flushes? When can I go back to the same spot and pick more?

/Y

 

[infinitynlove]

On a fine mesh with plenty of warm airflow (computer fan), having ensured that each mushroom is free from mud and herbaceous debris, as well as being separated from its neighbours (i.e. the mushrooms are clean and not touching each other). Such as in the attached picture.

Thank you for your reply!

We have a oven where we just can use the fan function, I had to rush to work so I cleaned them and put them in the oven on a mesh plate (NO HEAT) and they were cracker dry when I came home, I put them in a airtight food box on antibacterial mesh with a desiccant. I will freeze them in a couple of days for long term storage.

How long between Liberty Caps flushes? When can I go back to the same spot and pick more?

/Y

Hi

Yes they flush continuously and new shrooms can be found every couple of days ( environmental conditions permitting of course ).

It is not advisable to use light or an oven when drying shrooms, as light degrades psilocybin and an oven is hard to regulate the temperature. Ideally you should use a food dehydrator and dry them on a luke warm setting, say 30c.

...

For long term storage make blue honey (It is called blue honey because it turns blue over time as the actives leech / spread / go into the honey). Blue honey is simple to make, purchase a jar of clear honey, place jar with lid on tight in a bowl of 40c water for 20 mins or so (so it turns less viscus), take out of the water, dry the outside of jar, then put your dry powdered liberty caps (they have to be cracker dry, no water in them at all) in the honey and mix well, and that's it, blue honey made.

Regarding how to measure a dose, one could weigh a fresh empty teaspoon first then weigh the same teaspoon with a flat teaspoon measure of blue honey. Subtract the two weights, you know the weight of the blue honey in one flat teaspoon.

NOTE : These figures are estimates and the ratio of shrooms to honey is just for explanation purposes for this post, these amounts and ratios are not rules you must work by, as long as the honey covers the shrooms entirely and they are mixed well (which is important, you want a consistent amounts of shrooms per g of blue honey) then that's fine, its up to you to decide what ratio you want.

Now I can say:
If I put 200g of dried shrooms in a jar of honey weighing 500g, then I have 700g total weight of blue honey, with 100 x 2g standard doses in the jar. 700g / 100 doses = 7g of honey per 2g dose, so if one flat teaspoon of honey = say 7g you need 1 flat teaspoons of honey per 2g dose, so you know pretty accurately how much honey to ingest for the desired effect / trip / experience.

Using the above ratio, and taking doses for liberty caps from the shroomery dosage Calculator https://www.shroomery.org/6257/Magic-Mushroom-Dosage-Calculator]here[/url]

This would give you a practical blue honey dose table of ...

level 1 exp = 0.5g of liberties, 3.5g of honey = 1/2 a flat teaspoon of honey
level 2 exp = 1g of liberties, 7g of honey = 1 flat teaspoon of honey
level 3 exp = 1.7g of liberties, 12g of honey = 1 and 2/3 flat teaspoons of honey
level 4 exp = 2.7g of liberties, 18.9g of honey = 2 and 1/2 flat teaspoons of honey
level 5 exp = 3.7g of liberties, 25g of honey = 3 and 1/2 flat teaspoons of honey

Once made, write your dosage table on a label and glue it to the jar, store jar in a cool dark place, with the lid screwed on tight, and enjoy.... If kept like this they will last for decades.

inf

 

[infinitynlove]

On a fine mesh with plenty of warm airflow (computer fan), having ensured that each mushroom is free from mud and herbaceous debris, as well as being separated from its neighbours (i.e. the mushrooms are clean and not touching each other). Such as in the attached picture.

hi

I me personally would not put them on a bright light like that, they are now dead and are being exposed to a bright light, I know the psilocybin / psilocin is inside the mushroom, and the light is not in direct contact with the actives themselves but they are semi translucent so I worry about the light causing a drop in potency...

I have lost quite a bit of potency from liberty caps when drying them on a dehydrator for to warm for to long (even though it should of been fine).

So these days I super precautious, I now dry with no light and a minimal amount of heat. They will absorb water from the air and you are right putting them in the freezer with a desiccant will keep them for some time, 6 months - a year, maybe longer, but for super long term storage, blue honey is the way to go man.

I made a few jars about 15 years ago, finished them up about 5 years later, still just as potent.

inf

 

[Yugambeh]

On a fine mesh with plenty of warm airflow (computer fan), having ensured that each mushroom is free from mud and herbaceous debris, as well as being separated from its neighbours (i.e. the mushrooms are clean and not touching each other). Such as in the attached picture.

hi

I me personally would not put them on a bright light like that, they are now dead and are being exposed to a bright light, I know the psilocybin / psilocin is inside the mushroom, and the light is not in direct contact with the actives themselves but they are semi translucent so I worry about the light causing a drop in potency...

I have lost quite a bit of potency from liberty caps when drying them on a dehydrator for to warm for to long (even though it should of been fine).

So these days I super precautious, I now dry with no light and a minimal amount of heat. They will absorb water from the air and you are right putting them in the freezer with a desiccant will keep them for some time, 6 months - a year, maybe longer, but for super long term storage, blue honey is the way to go man.

I made a few jars about 15 years ago, finished them up about 5 years later, still just as potent.

inf

Thank you for your post!

I ended up with 1g of cracker dry mushrooms, I’ve put them in the freezer with a desiccant as I’m planning to use them around Christmas.


/Y

 

[dithyramb]

.
Yes they flush continuously and new shrooms can be found every couple of days ( environmental conditions permitting of course ).

The awaited wave of rain has started and I am waiting for the right time to go searching. İt seems uncertain whether there will ne any sunlight within a week over here, and I am guessing that that is not a problem for Liberty caps? Mushrooms are said to require a period sun after rain in order to fruit, but probably not the cold temperature ones? Waiting for you experienced pickers' input.

 

[dragonrider]

You can store dried ones for many years without them losing potency. As long as they're in a dark place.

Most mushrooms can be dried easily by cutting them to small pieces and laying them on a dry newspaper for three days, at roomtemperature. Unless ofcourse, when the room is very damp. But normally, this works perfectly. The newspaper absorbs some of the moist, and the rest just vapirizes.

 

[pete666]

Most mushrooms can be dried easily by cutting them to small pieces

Why to cut them? It just accelerates the decomposition of desired chemicals. I would just leave them intact, they dry off without problems when the air is not damp.

 

[infinitynlove]

.
Yes they flush continuously and new shrooms can be found every couple of days ( environmental conditions permitting of course ).

The awaited wave of rain has started and I am waiting for the right time to go searching. İt seems uncertain whether there will ne any sunlight within a week over here, and I am guessing that that is not a problem for Liberty caps? Mushrooms are said to require a period sun after rain in order to fruit, but probably not the cold temperature ones? Waiting for you experienced pickers' input.

hi there

I hope you have fun

Mushrooms only need light to initiate the process of pinning (pinning is the process of making tiny mushroom pins, which are the start of mushrooms, they look like pin heads hence the term) they do not need light to grow as mushrooms do not photosynthesise.

Light is used as a trigger that tells the mushroom mycelium it has reached the top of the soil and can now produce fruiting bodies (the mushroom itself)

Overcast days or bright sunlight make no real difference, an overcast gloomy day has enough light to initiate the pinning process without a problem, then after that they do not need any light and could literally grow in the dark. They really need very little light to start pinning.

They do require rain / water and quite a lot of it. The ideal conditions are between 5-10c in September / October, with lots of rain and a few dry days in between, on the dry days the liberty caps will have turned cream when they dry out, very easy to spot.

Optimum conditions are about 6-7c mid / end September where it has been dry for a week or longer, then heavy rain for 3 days, temp stays the same throughout then you go picking 2-4 days after the rain has stopped when its dry.

That's when you are likely to find monster flushes!!!

Check out my previous liberty logs this year 2014 2016

inf

 

[downwardsfromzero]

On a fine mesh with plenty of warm airflow (computer fan), having ensured that each mushroom is free from mud and herbaceous debris, as well as being separated from its neighbours (i.e. the mushrooms are clean and not touching each other). Such as in the attached picture.

hi

I me personally would not put them on a bright light like that, they are now dead and are being exposed to a bright light, I know the psilocybin / psilocin is inside the mushroom, and the light is not in direct contact with the actives themselves but they are semi translucent so I worry about the light causing a drop in potency...

I have lost quite a bit of potency from liberty caps when drying them on a dehydrator for to warm for to long (even though it should of been fine).

So these days I super precautious, I now dry with no light and a minimal amount of heat. They will absorb water from the air and you are right putting them in the freezer with a desiccant will keep them for some time, 6 months - a year, maybe longer, but for super long term storage, blue honey is the way to go man.

I made a few jars about 15 years ago, finished them up about 5 years later, still just as potent.

inf

Thanks for the comment. The dehydrator as pictured still works with the light bulb removed, and it is very straightforward to put in a shade to block the light while still having the airflow warmed slightly. The mk.II version of this dehydrator has been in the pipeline for several years now (in keeping with my ADD-type behaviour ) which would entail having a more powerful fan and a dimmable light bulb.

It never occurred to me to consider potency loss in dried P. semilanceata from use of heat and light during drying, but it follows that this is likely to be the case. It just so happens that this year I have some specimens which were dried without exposure to heat nor excessive light so I'll be intrigued to see if there is a noticeable qualitative or quantitative difference in the effects.

 

[infinitynlove]

On a fine mesh with plenty of warm airflow (computer fan), having ensured that each mushroom is free from mud and herbaceous debris, as well as being separated from its neighbours (i.e. the mushrooms are clean and not touching each other). Such as in the attached picture.

hi

I me personally would not put them on a bright light like that, they are now dead and are being exposed to a bright light, I know the psilocybin / psilocin is inside the mushroom, and the light is not in direct contact with the actives themselves but they are semi translucent so I worry about the light causing a drop in potency...

I have lost quite a bit of potency from liberty caps when drying them on a dehydrator for to warm for to long (even though it should of been fine).

So these days I super precautious, I now dry with no light and a minimal amount of heat. They will absorb water from the air and you are right putting them in the freezer with a desiccant will keep them for some time, 6 months - a year, maybe longer, but for super long term storage, blue honey is the way to go man.

I made a few jars about 15 years ago, finished them up about 5 years later, still just as potent.

inf

Thanks for the comment. The dehydrator as pictured still works with the light bulb removed, and it is very straightforward to put in a shade to block the light while still having the airflow warmed slightly. The mk.II version of this dehydrator has been in the pipeline for several years now (in keeping with my ADD-type behaviour ) which would entail having a more powerful fan and a dimmable light bulb.

It never occurred to me to consider potency loss in dried P. semilanceata from use of heat and light during drying, but it follows that this is likely to be the case. It just so happens that this year I have some specimens which were dried without exposure to heat nor excessive light so I'll be intrigued to see if there is a noticeable qualitative or quantitative difference in the effects.

Thanks for the reply

I think it would be a great idea to do an experience comparison of dried in the dark with not heat vs dried using heat and light mushrooms.

I think my issue was I filled the dehydrator super full and left it drying on about 55c for about 12 hours, they seemed significantly weaker, to the point where 2g had the same effect as 1.5g.

This was on a big batch too, so I now try to use no warmer than 30c and just keep it going for longer.

inf

 

[dragonrider]

Most mushrooms can be dried easily by cutting them to small pieces

Why to cut them? It just accelerates the decomposition of desired chemicals. I would just leave them intact, they dry off without problems when the air is not damp.

Depends on what size they are. If they are very small, they will dry by themselves. But if they're larger or wet and/or slimey, cutting them definately helps. They dry faster that way. In my experience, cutting them has virtually no effect on the potency of these shrooms.

 

[infinitynlove]

Most mushrooms can be dried easily by cutting them to small pieces

Why to cut them? It just accelerates the decomposition of desired chemicals. I would just leave them intact, they dry off without problems when the air is not damp.

Depends on what size they are. If they are very small, they will dry by themselves. But if they're larger or wet and/or slimey, cutting them definately helps. They dry faster that way. In my experience, cutting them has virtually no effect on the potency of these shrooms.

Hi

Mushrooms will never fully dry in the air, mushrooms are hygroscopic meaning they absorb moisture from the air. If you lived in a climate with about 30% rh or less, then you would be fine, but most of the time mushrooms will never truly dry.

Even slightly damp mushrooms will degrade significantly faster than cracker dry mushrooms, they can also get a fuzzy type mold growing on them, which I have noticed on several occasions.

inf

 

[downwardsfromzero]

Thanks for the reply

I think it would be a great idea to do an experience comparison of dried in the dark with not heat vs dried using heat and light mushrooms.

I think my issue was I filled the dehydrator super full and left it drying on about 55c for about 12 hours, they seemed significantly weaker, to the point where 2g had the same effect as 1.5g.

This was on a big batch too, so I now try to use no warmer than 30c and just keep it going for longer.

inf

Ah, well, at least I'm confident my device does not reach temperatures as high as 55°C. Also, in the absence of a control we have no way of knowing whether that entire batch was of a lower potency. Both factors could have effected the outcome, even.

As far as the potency of my light-exposed libs goes, those pictured were from nearly ten years ago so that's a lot of psilocybin under the bridge since then, including experiences with various other species - so it's completely impossible to comment on how the potency of the mushrooms may have been affected.

Even slightly damp mushrooms will degrade significantly faster than cracker dry mushrooms, they can also get a fuzzy type mold growing on them, which I have noticed on several occasions.

After air drying, all my mushrooms have been desiccated over anhydrous calcium chloride for several weeks before final storage - when they have lasted that long. This prevents the mould problem entirely.

 

[dragonrider]

Most mushrooms can be dried easily by cutting them to small pieces

Why to cut them? It just accelerates the decomposition of desired chemicals. I would just leave them intact, they dry off without problems when the air is not damp.

Depends on what size they are. If they are very small, they will dry by themselves. But if they're larger or wet and/or slimey, cutting them definately helps. They dry faster that way. In my experience, cutting them has virtually no effect on the potency of these shrooms.

Hi

Mushrooms will never fully dry in the air, mushrooms are hygroscopic meaning they absorb moisture from the air. If you lived in a climate with about 30% rh or less, then you would be fine, but most of the time mushrooms will never truly dry.

Even slightly damp mushrooms will degrade significantly faster than cracker dry mushrooms, they can also get a fuzzy type mold growing on them, which I have noticed on several occasions.

inf

True. But if you lay them on a dry newspaper, the paper absorbs a lot of moist as well. This method has always worked for me. They end up as dry as paper itself and stay good for years and years.

 

[infinitynlove]

Most mushrooms can be dried easily by cutting them to small pieces

Why to cut them? It just accelerates the decomposition of desired chemicals. I would just leave them intact, they dry off without problems when the air is not damp.

Depends on what size they are. If they are very small, they will dry by themselves. But if they're larger or wet and/or slimey, cutting them definately helps. They dry faster that way. In my experience, cutting them has virtually no effect on the potency of these shrooms.

Hi

Mushrooms will never fully dry in the air, mushrooms are hygroscopic meaning they absorb moisture from the air. If you lived in a climate with about 30% rh or less, then you would be fine, but most of the time mushrooms will never truly dry.

Even slightly damp mushrooms will degrade significantly faster than cracker dry mushrooms, they can also get a fuzzy type mold growing on them, which I have noticed on several occasions.

inf

True. But if you lay them on a dry newspaper, the paper absorbs a lot of moist as well. This method has always worked for me. They end up as dry as paper itself and stay good for years and years.

You must be in a really dry climate

 

[downwardsfromzero]

True. But if you lay them on a dry newspaper, the paper absorbs a lot of moist as well. This method has always worked for me. They end up as dry as paper itself and stay good for years and years.

This is quite effective if you put them in a refrigerator, which acts partly as a dehumidifier. Care must be taken to ensure the mushrooms are prevented from re-absorbing moisture while cold after being taken out of the refrigerator.