Propagating Amanita Muscaria

[amanitadreamer]

I've been thinking about propagating Amanita Muscaria in areas where they don't grow yet.
Ursus as mentioned smearing some of the spores from freshly picked muscaria near trees without Amanitas.

Does anyone know of other methods?

I take home all the stipes when out foraging, and I was wondering if I mushing up these stipes and then buried the pulp under a silver birch or pine tree, would that work, for in the technique of growing the fleece, any part of Amanita muscaria is able to grow mycelium even after it has been dried; or have I got that all wrong?

What about letting the spore fall into a porridge solution, and burying that under a tree? Does anyone think that might work?

Rebis.

Hey folks, not to rain on your parade but all of this is really not possible OR is a waste of time. If you see my videos I talk about the science of AM and why its not possible. I also talk about helping to grow amanita in the wild. I don't mean to sound harsh, I speak plainly so don't take it personally. I know we are all learning here. BUT there is some science that is conclusive and those sites and links you mentioned I have read are full of a lack of understanding of some really basic science. I would disregard them.
There is a simple way to help grow amanitas in your area and I made a video on it, if you care to see it it is called simply, How To Grow Amanita. Punching holes in roots is a waste of time. The mycellium doesn't touch the roots of the trees, they are separated by cells and space. They each produce the molecules each one needs and put them in the space in between where each can easily take them into their roots and mycelium. I didn't mean to shut down an interesting thread just wanted to help. The video on how to grow amanita should help. Signed Debbie Downer LOL!

[amanitadreamer]

I personally take spore prints on paper and bury them near the roots of trees. I have yet to see actual mushrooms, but I usually do this to sick or stressed trees and I've noticed that many of the trees I've done this with have gotten healthier.

Again, don't know if this works for sure yet. I've done it as an experiment. A mycologist friend of mine claims this works, so I've been trying it myself. I'll keep everyone posted if I do get actual fruitings.

This is a good practice. I have started putting slurry around baby pines in my area to help them grow. I notice that once they get to be a little older and strong, the amanita stop fruiting there. Then later when the same trees are much older, say 15 or so, they start fruiting again.

[Donn]

I see there's more complexity to the web - there's a "mycorrhizosphere" where bacteria also play a role in the system. Various genera like Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Streptomyces. From an article about influence of Streptomyces strain AcH 505 on A. muscaria - https://aem.asm.org/content/72/5/3550.

Mycorrhizal hyphae do grow into the roots, but it's certainly no help to them to injure the root - that would be pointless for several reasons, among them that the larger roots that you could work on like that aren't so much the site of the symbiosis anyway.

[amanitalover]

Maybe its just an urban myth, but some shroomers told me I should knock on a shroom before picking it, as it will release whatever spores are ready.

[Donn]

You can do that, certainly nothing wrong with it. It makes no immediate difference to the mushroom (a.k.a. fruiting body) whether it's been picked or not, so you might hold it up in the air while you're doing this, for better dispersal.

In general, for something like Amanita muscaria where the fruiting body is a small part of a an extensive mycelial network, the immediate neighborhood of the fruiting body could probably be considered irrelevant in terms of spore propagation - whether spores become established or not, the mycelium is about as abundant as it's going to be in any case. It isn't like an annual vascular plant that depends on the seeds from this summer if it's going to come back next spring - it's perennial, perhaps practically immortal for all I know. So it's kind of like planting pine tree seeds under a pine tree.

Spore dispersal is important for long distance dispersal, of course. It would be interesting to know how much of the typical landscape is waiting for A. muscaria spores. My guess would be that in the northern hemisphere, most of the area has had plenty of opportunity, spores landing for millennia, so it's more a matter of dispersal of different genetic strains.

[amanitalover]

thanks for clearing that up.

[amanitalover]

Could it be AM is growing in symbioses with other trees then pine as well?

I went scouting for good spots today in the wood. I noticed that where I picked them before, they are not under pine trees. @AmanitaDreamer said in her vid to smear the mashed up shrooms under young pines. But on those locations, pines are like 20-30meters away. Could it be AM is growing in symbioses with other trees as well? in this case birch or oak?

[Donn]

Yes, they are known to associate with a variety of tree species. Birch for sure. I don't know about oak, but for all I know they work with just about anything. I found some under Arbutus unedo, the medronho of mediterranean Europe, a small ericaceous tree (thus related to rhododendron and blueberry.)

It may be getting easier to research these matters, as genetic analysis gets easier, but in ancient times when I was in school, you could see fungal hyphae associated with vascular plant roots, but there was no earthly way to identify them, past "mushroom" (and that if you're lucky.) So ... we may know for sure one of these days, what binds to what, but most of what we know now is more like pretty good guesses. My wild guess is that we will find that Amanita muscaria will form mycorrhizal relationships with practically anything - dandelions, blackberries, redwoods, whatever - but all we know now is that it isn't real choosy.

[amanitadreamer]

I made a video on this if anyone cares....

[amanitadreamer]

Could it be AM is growing in symbioses with other trees then pine as well?

I went scouting for good spots today in the wood. I noticed that where I picked them before, they are not under pine trees. @AmanitaDreamer said in her vid to smear the mashed up shrooms under young pines. But on those locations, pines are like 20-30meters away. Could it be AM is growing in symbioses with other trees as well? in this case birch or oak?

In the description of the video I posted above, I left a long list of trees where amanita grow based on your country. I also have a video on where to look for amanita. This last season I found a patch growing with a pine tree that was 75 feet away.