Posted by pinksharkmark (196.3.74.236) on October 28, 2000 at 12:11:20:
I will be heading to Canada for two or three weeks if I can get a standby ticket out of my lovely Island Paradise today. It is uncertain if I will have access to a puter during my absence, so I may not be posting again till late November.
I have received MANY e-mails from fellow clusterheads asking my advice on mushroom cultivation. For all those interested in producing your own "Magic Bullet", I recommend MOST HIGHLY a site that deals with EVERY possible aspect of the procedure, "shroomery.org". See the link at the end of this post.
There are dozens of articles explaining how to grow your own, with techniques suitable for raw beginners and experienced professionals. There are several message boards (with over 5,000 registered members) and even a chat room. There are links to spore suppliers, a section on collecting and identification... dosage calculators... the list goes on. This is an AMAZING site... very professionally done.
I have been in touch with one of the most highly regarded spore suppliers, Ryche Hawk. His site is listed in the spore supplier's section of shroomery.org.
His URL is www.thehawkseye.com. I explained to him why he may soon be seeing a bunch of new orders from folks who don't know a whole lot about this particular hobby. He was extremely interested in this new use for mushrooms. He knows Dr. Ethan Russo, the researcher who is currently setting up a research project into the use of psilocybin to treat migraines and cluster headaches.
Ryche has agreed to give special consideration to clusterheads that order spores from him... i.e. dropping his minimum order requirements, or waiving the shipping and handling fee, or maybe both.
Hawk is not the only reputable supplier. Another very highly regarded outfit is Sporechicks (don't you just love the name?) run by two ladies. I still think that Smart Botanics in Holland is the best bet for European clusterheads. My research has shown that my previous top recommendation, Psilocybe Fanaticus, is not as universally recommended as it used to be, although MANY still swear by him, so if any of you have ordered from him, don't despair.
The advantage of Hawk and Sporechicks is a wider selection of psilocybe cubensis strains and faster shipping time. Hawk will even let you use Paypal to order, so you can use your credit card over the net rather than snailmailing a money order or cash. Credit cards do leave a paper trail, however.
For beginners, the most widely recommended types to start with seem to be either the B+ or Ecuador if you live in a cool climate. Hawk has a couple of strains from Thailand that are also highly recommended for beginners because they grow very quickly and are extremely resistant to contamination. The Thai strains do well in warmer climates, so for those without air conditioning (like me) they may be the wiser choice.
If you do choose to order from Hawk, make sure to mention that you are from CH.com, so he will know to give you a deal.
Once again I must stress that I receive no compensation of any kind from any of these outfits. There are many other spore suppliers listed at shroomery.org... feel free to use whichever one appeals to you the most. I have spent the last week or so combing the site and collecting comments on which suppliers are the best, and Hawk and Sporechicks seem to be the most highly regarded.
Hawk even donated 50% of his proceeds to "Toys for Tots"... perhaps that is why he had no difficulty with giving clusterheads a special deal.
To all those who have e-mailed me about their own growing projects, please continue to do so. I may be able to access my e-mail while on vacation after all. If not, it will be fun to read them on my return. Heck, if there are no standby tickets available I may be trapped here for another week anyway.
Pain-free nights and days to all.
pinky