From: ~.^.~@~.^.~.sHIT   
      
   "Scott L"  wrote in message   
   news:1166070429.389600.18630@80g2000cwy.googlegroups.com...   
   > While cleaning up some leaf debris in the yard a few weeks ago, I   
   > happened to look down into the pile of leaves I was raking up and saw   
   > mushrooms! Alas, my raking had ripped most of them in half.   
   >   
   > I regret not photographing the shrooms, but I am, oh let's say, 80%   
   > confident that they are blewitts (Lepista nuda). I feel fortunate to   
   > find such a delectable species in my own back yard.   
   >   
   > A few details: these mushrooms were growing entirely hidden by leaf   
   > debris, under a rhododendron bush. Caps anywhere from 8-12 cm across.   
   > Caps had a slightly purple tinge, stems a similar color but more   
   > white-ish. Spore print lilac/salmon in color. Flesh tone is a fairly   
   > good description.   
   >   
   > When I cleared all the leaf debris away, significant mycelial   
   > colonization was evident under the rhododendron bush. Nearby was a   
   > mycelial patch from a (presumably) different species. And just inches   
   > further up the hill was another area visibly infested with white   
   > mycelium!   
   >   
   > I am wondering if I can somehow clone this patch from its mycelium. The   
   > fruiting bodies were far too damaged by my raking to be considered   
   > viable for cloning. Is it possible to dig up a chunk of this colonized   
   > soil and mix it into some kind of substrate?   
   >   
   > My first inclination is to shred up some cardboard, soak/pasteurize it,   
   > and mix it with some takings from the patch of mycelium. But would this   
   > work? I don't want to risk injuring the mycelium bed underneath this   
   > rhododendron.   
   >   
   > Next year, if the patch yields again, I will start fresh from spores.   
   > But for now, cloning is my only option.   
   >   
   > Thanks folks!   
   > Scott   
   >   
   Sounds like Blewitts to me...   
   Another method [stolen from Stamets 'Growing Gourmet and Medicinal   
   Mushrooms'(pg 25)] is the is the 'transplantation method'...'mining   
   mycelium' and relocating to a similiar substrate location. Samples should   
   probably be cut out with a sharp knife [to avoid disrupting the rest of the   
   bed], but only your imagination can control where you plant it.   
   Blewitts are typically a cold weather fruiter and supposedly take a year to   
   mature...but who says one could not force the time line by giving the   
   mycelium an indoor chance in the correct environment?   
      
   ~jim~   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)