I have about 40grams of fresh mushrooms wrapped in clingfil/fresh film and in the fridge. How long will it stay fresh for? Is natural drying advised and would there be a loss of effect of the shrooms? Input will be appriciated.
Using heat/light is probably a bad idea... if you have a small (and I mean Small) fan and a screen, find a low temp part of you rhouse, and prop the screen up with the shrooms on it, and blow the fan from a distance.
dry them by putting them in a cool, dark, dry closet on some newspaper or construction paper or something. if you want to make SURE you dont lose ANY potency then take two chairs, and put a very low-speed box fan blowing upwards between them so that it wont fall but you'll have good airflow. stretch some cheesecloth or window screen or something across it so that when they dry the shrooms dont fall in through the grate, and just put them directly on top of that for about a day or so until they are really dry. then put them in an airtight box with some dessicant for a few days, but make sure they DO NOT come into contact with the dessicant itself! this will preserve them perfectly from what i've heard, but i never went to the trouble of doing that myself. i notice minimal potency loss when i air-dry them in the dark in a closet or dresser drawer on some absorbant paper. turn them over after the end of the day, and it should take 3-5 days at most for big cubes to get dry....probably it will only take 2-3 days to dry smaller species of shrooms. NEVER EVER EVER (!!!!) keep fresh mushrooms sealed in plastic! they will spoil eventually, and without REALLY GOOD breathability fresh shrooms will not keep more than maybe two weeks or so most likely. if you've got fresh shrooms, then you should keep them in a paper bag or something. i would never store then in a plastic bag or cling film or anything for more than a couple days, personally....they're about 90% water, and that moisture will have to go somewhere! of course, in the fridge they wont go bad as quickly, but be careful, and dry them out soon! as was suggested, never use heat/light in the drying process. that WILL lower potency quite a bit, but they'll still be usable.
though if they're cubensis, 40g isn't much for fresh mushrooms, and won't be too intense a trip to eat all in one or two doses. i'd say just skip the drying and make some tea for the weekend and drink it all yourself, or share it with a friend. if they aren't cubensis (i see you're in the UK, so i suppose they may well be liberty caps or something) then they are probably at least somewhat more potent than cubes, and i dont know much about dosing with other species.
Im closet drying my shrooms, they seem to be drying, but developing white fungus like stuff on it too. Is this normal?
actually, i suppose it depends on the circumstances and what it looks like. if you could post a pic, maybe? it COULD possibly be mycelium starting to regrow if it was in a humid condition for a while, but i doubt it
dont stick the stuff in the fridge if you keep shrooms wrapped in plastic it will last at least a year don't keep shrooms fresh dry them or they will quickly rot
I kept it in a airt tight film in the fridge for a day then I took them out and placed on newspaper and into my draw to dry them off. its the second day today and this morning i realised that they have started developing the white fungus like cover, specially on the head of the shrooms. It is wipeable thou, it its more like a coating.
those are pretty low quality pictures unfortunately, so i can't see what you're talking about too well. if it's growing on the top of the cap, its not likely to be mycellium starting to grow again, especially if it's been out in the air. i can't say if they'll be safe or unsafe to use, i have no way to make that call. sorry. try the shroomery forums.
Well if you still want to store them the best place is...HONEY...*gasp! No joke honey is absolutely the best place to store them (wet). Dont dry 'em out cause they lose potency. Anyway the honey will actually absorb the phycedellic chemicals and will become a phycedellic honey pot (watch out pooh bear). Take out the hony, stick it in your tummy, and enjoy a tasty trip. This is really no joke try it and you will be glad. (lots better than letting em rot in your closet)
