In case it might be of use or interest to fellow psilonauts, sharing some testimonials concerning cultivation and perceived potency and qualitative differences between P. natalensis and P. cubensis mushrooms sourced from the mycelial interwebz, having scanned a few forums (such as the Shroomery and Mycotopia) and various Reddit groups. I did this while doing some research because I was unable to track down a single article on the web on Natalensis (or much information on it of any kind really). Due to the lack of available information, sharing this in case it might inspire interest or be useful to people. I feel this is important information to share, particularly for beginner mushroom growers, as this is widely reported to be a more forgiving and tenacious species to grow (with more aggressive mycelium that can eat through moulds potentially, unlike Cubensis), while also generally being preferred for the experience it provides. As I'm sure some mycotopians are already aware, it can be grown in the same way as Cubensis, with some growers stating that it prefers a little more fresh air exchange during fruiting. It is widely reported as being more potent than your average Cubensis while being smoother on the body, with less body load and an easier come-up, and yielding a cleaner/clearer headspace that is often reported as being friendlier and more positive or uplifting in comparison to Cubensis. My intention here is not to slate Cubensis...I'm hugely grateful for this mushroom and some of my most amazing experiences have resulted from ingesting it. But still there is more to the psilocybin mushroom world than it alone, and Natalensis seems like a species worthy of more attention.
These accounts in no way suggest that ingesting Natalensis mushrooms make one bulletproof when it comes to bad trips or anything like that, and I appreciate these accounts may come across as cherry-picking. I haven't read the gargantuan 375-page thread on the Shroomery linked below in its entirety, and this would be worth delving into if you want to find out more, as it likely includes negative experiences too which may provide some balance.
Please feel free to add your own views based on your experiences growing or sampling this species in response to this post.
Summary taken from a Shroomery thread on P. natalensis:
Psilocybe natalensis:
- Are stronger than most Cubensis, on average.
- Grow with same teks and substrates as Cubensis.
- Grow fast.
- Have super aggressive, unstoppable mycelium that uses contam as food.
- Sometimes overlay, but you can pick that off and make it into active tea.
- Fewer bad trips than Cubensis.
- Different trip than Cubensis, some folks like it more. Maybe "friendlier" trip is a better term.
Cultivation:
"I wouldn't be surprised if Natalensis becomes the most common cultivated species within the next 5-10 years, lots of cloning/isolates needed to dial in specific phenos but yeah, IMHO it's far superior."
"Natalensis ticks all the boxes, from cultivation to the experience they offer."
"My favourite strain, my culture is stupidly fast and aggressive and hella potent."
"It grows under the very same conditions as Cube varieties do, only much more aggressive. So it's actually easier to grow than Cubes."
"Natalensis are as easy to grow as Cubensis but stronger and seem to be a happier experience for most."
"Treat them the same as Cubensis."
"Treat just like cubes. Super aggressive mycelium."
"Natalensis are like Cubensis, but grow some really vigorous mycelium."
"They’re a great trip and a nice alternative to growing Cubensis with pretty much the same process. They need more FAE (fresh air exchange) but will manage with standard Cubensis process."
"They require a little more fae than cubes but not much else different."
"You can pretty much treat them exactly like cubensis. They do like a little more fresh air."
"P. natalensis will grow easily and aggressively. Needs 5x more air [than Cubensis]."
"I do think nats like just a little more fresh air than most cubes do."
"They need a shit ton of FAE, a lot more than cubes."
"Q: Any more difficult than Cubensis to grow? A: Not at all, used the same process/tek as Cubensis. I was worried with all the information I was coming across on whether cvg would take or not, worked out just fine."
"Natalensis are pretty hardy and this was only 210g wet first flush. They are a little quicker than Cubensis but yield less. I’ve been getting 3 decent flushes so total yield isn’t much different."
"Growing these guys is definitely fun tho and the extremely aggressive behavior of the myc might be much better for new growers."
"They do seem more resistant to contams than cubes. They appear to respond with super aggressive growth and overlay to any contams."
"I think this species is so close to wild yet that a lot of work cloning/isolating yet to be done but hoping soon they will be the go to for new cultivators as it's such a forgiving species, I've seen the mycelium clouds literally eat trich and bacteria and shit out flushes in response."
"Here is another example of how tough Natalensis is. …it got some funk [mould] on it. Despite that, the mycelium colonised the rest of the jar and is starting to work on the bad section."
"The mycelium of this strain is crazy hungry, and extremely resistant to contamination. If you see mold growing, it will soon be consumed."
"Super aggressive mycelium that's so fast it's contam resistant almost like oysters."
"I love how aggressive the mycelium is. It marches through what seems to be contaminated grain like an unstoppable juggernaut."
"They are fast growers, very strong against contams."
"Natalensis grow fast and rhizo and resist most contams IME, but they often overlay like crazy."
"My culture does eat through Trichoderma [mould], or at least I’ve seen it happen with this culture on two tubs. My other tubs didn’t contaminate visually if at all but a couple got a green spot, next day completely dusted green, thought it was dead but left it with the lid locked for four days and I came back to check it and it had pinned. 1oz dry flush too, no fruit damage."
"Natalensis are so fun and forgiving. I think one of my jars has (had) mould but it looks like it might be eating it up."
"I just grew a few bags, I did 16 different strains, I have very positive reviews on the P. natalensis - they finished 3 flushes before the other strains could do the first flush."
"Your next grow should be Psilocybe natalensis. Not much more difficult than Cubensis to grow. But they will take you out of this universe."
"I feel like Nats are the new, next gen easy-to-grow cultivation mushroom, and there is so much research to be done."
"If these aren't Cubensis, and they consistently behave as this thread suggests, they may just become the new Cubensis."
Potency:
"They’re usually around 1.5x potency of Cubensis."
"They are about 1.5x as potent as a standard Cubensis I’d say."
"Natalensis are more like 1.5 times as potent as Cubensis."
"Psilocybe natalensis are 1.5-2x more potent and average cubes, less mental fuck and more blissful."
"Natalensis are about double the potency on average compared to Cubensis."
"They are about double the potency on average compated to cubes."
"They are close to 2x stronger than most cubes."
"About twice as strong [as Cubensis] with a nicer come up."
"They are super strong though like 2x the strength of cubes."
"The natalensis I've had were 2-3x stronger than regular cubensis. Although that could just be personal sensitivity or an unusually potent variety."
"Tried Natalensis out for the 1st time last night. A 2.3g tea fried me! Totally taken by surprise how strong these were. Thought I peaked then an hour later - got slammed hard. I'd put these right up there with APE [Cubensis]."
"It was very very obvious that 2 grams of Natalensis felt like 5 grams Cubensis. My reality was shattered. I began to question my career and intentions. Trip is very “loopy” and visually stimulating. Will potentially kick your ass."
"…it's a different species then Cubensis. They are much stronger too."
"I’d say they are potent like a TaT or ape [Cubensis] strain, definitely stronger than a golden teacher."
"Natalensis are super strong just warning you lol it felt like I took almost 5g [of Cubensis] but I took 2.6g."
"My experience was very profound on just 1.5g via tea; definitely stronger than cubes at the same dose, but extremely gentle, as many have stated."
"Last night I took Natalensis. 1.5g knocked me out of this world. It came on very quickly (about 30min) and then kept intensifying for about 3 more hours."
"Natalensis are about twice as potent as Cubensis but the body load is still there."
"South African here, I recently grew P. Natalensis and tripped last Friday... WOW. A friend and I wanted to give these guys a try – so we each took 1.8g, expecting a light buzz and maybe some mild visuals. To keep a long story short, the come up was at most 10 minutes, and the 1.8g was the strongest, most intense trip I’ve experienced by a lightyear – far exceeding my previous maximum dose which was 8g of P. Cubensis."
"I suggest starting at 1g to test potency, 2-3 grams people reporting DMT like OBE already."
Qualitative effects:
"Finally tried 2 grams. Never eating cubes again. Freakin amazing. Cubes just don't mix well with me, bad body load on the come-up it is always uncomfortable. Large doses of cubes also just made me so fucked I didn’t really remember much. But damn these are so smooth and clean."
"They are usually on par with PE. So around 2x but the trip is superior to cubes. They are more visual, highly euphoric and zero body load. I stopped taking cube’s because they made me bloated and miserable. Nats are really clean feeling. Even high doses are wonderful."
"Don’t want to make a super long post but this HAS to be said. I’ve tried a few different types of shrooms, and many different types of cubes. But I can wholeheartedly say, without a shadow of a doubt, that Natalensis is the best of the best. Incredibly strong and visual, but with such a “clean” headspace. I could hardly believe it was only mushrooms, felt like I was hippieflipping in a way. Guys, please try some nats."
"These are hands down the best strain I ever have tried...haven't tried pans yet but these grow super fast and easy. Deff more therapeutic/healing/spiritual for me...cubes give me a crazy body load and I feel more on edge it's weird af."
"P. Natalensis hands down... the headspace is so uplifting and enjoyable where cubes have tendency to get weird and heavy introspective shit..."
"I personally won't dose high with cubes cause they're scary as shit but nats are so much nicer."
"I tend to be happier on Nats. They seem less edgy to me [than Cubensis]."
"Cubes have an edge and a dark side that make me wary. But Nats are kinder to me. I did get paranoid one time on a higher dose but it was much more manageable than with cubes."
"The experience is also very unique. Really hard to beat, and can make cubes seem harsh and synthetic in way, when compared."
"Gotta say I don’t really have any interest in cubes anymore, they never had me laughing and having that much fun as natalensis."
"Will never eat another regular cube again after eating these lol love to grow them as well."
"Yeah definitely do feel way more healing and therapeutic [than Cubensis] for sure! I definitely feel way better for days after unlike cubes. Just overall better experience from start to finish and the days after are all noticeably better."
"They are a superior trip to cubensis for sure. Stronger than most cubes, very euphoric, and very little body load. I’ve done high doses with them and feel like I could have doubled my dose and just had more fun lol."
"After Natalensis, I'll rarely touch a Cubensis again save for microdosing."
"I've tried some other strains since making this first post, but still had the best experiences with Natalensis."
“Currently my new favorite the only way I can describe it is it feels cleaner I don't get any preflight anxiety...I wouldn't say their a whole lot more potent definitely stronger but it's a much clearer headspace for me love em.”
"These are a great trip. Little to no body load, very visual, and extremely euphoric."
"They do IME have a different trip than Cubensis too. I find them to have little body load, great visuals, and very euphoric. Very nice trip."
"They are amazing, fairly certain there's compounds present that aren't in ps cubensis, they are noticeably different both in the headspace and visuals."
"I can only compare them to APE [Cubensis], and I prefer these. I guess you could say they're about equal in strength, but they give me a whole different level of trip. If cubes are 3D, Natalensis are 4D."
"Like 3g of Amazonians or GT's [Cubensis] vs 3g Natalensis strength wise the Natalensis is more potent but not by much (IMPO) but the trips are different, that much is for sure...put it this way this strain is in many growers top 5."
"It was such a clean feeling trip too. Minimal nausea. Smooth come up. They’re a 10/10 for me and I probably won’t grow anything else for a while."
"They have the most gentle come up, no nausea at all for me. And they are very strong. It's a much more intense trip than Cubensis. And longer lasting."
"Cultivators are describing Natalensis to be as potent as Penis Envy Cubensis while offering a qualitatively superior experience to P. cubensis."
"The trip is definitely a bit different. Better come up and down. Also feel overall on general that lasts longer."
"Come up and down was super smooth. Overall trip felt longer than cubes. No come up anxiety either."
"In my experience they have a pronounced empathogenic like headspace and overall sedating feel to them, also no thought loops like cubes. They are all around better for me. Definitely a different compound profile."
"Can confirm these are cube killers! I will also most likely not dose cubes for an experience again. The come up is strong, but so clean! And to put clean into words I mean there is ZERO body load that you find with regular cubes. No stomach aching, no weird uncomfortable state between sober-peak, it just shoots you off in about 20-30 minutes."
"I just tried P. natalensis for the first time recently, the South African cousin species to cubensis. The trip was actually rather different from cubes, for me at least. It felt more mellow in the head, but the body load was euphoric and lovely. If P. natalensis is an available option (it is growing in popularity, largely because you can grow it exactly like cubes) I highly recommend it."
"A friend imported Natalensis spores from Africa, and he says hands down his favourites to grow and eat. They have a different vibe, he says."
"Nah I won’t say twice as strong [as Cubensis] although it is a hard hitter once it comes on, uncontrollable euphoric giggles at the most random shit, personally a unique experience that I personally feel is characteristic of this strain."
"Less nauseous [than Cubensis], and more clear. … Head space is clearer, sometimes I feel a little confused on Cubensis, wandering around the house not sure what I was going to do next."
"Natalensis is more crystal clear [than Cubensis], hard to explain."
"Natalensis always has a little sparkle to the trip, can't explain it, but we like them."
"They are more like MDMA and not so confusing for me compared to cubes."
"My new favorite for sure, any body load ya do get from them, is a good one."
"I tried out the Natalensis last weekend. 3.18g and holy shit. It was extremely intense and strange. The visuals were more of a light show quality than the normal crawling swirling. Almost like everything was lit by moving neon light."
"These were the most uplifting, less anxious, most friendly mushrooms I have ever taken and for those who are yet to try them, I highly encourage you do so. I am in love."
Commonly reported qualitative differences vs Cubensis:
- Smoother experience with an easier come up
- Less body load and nausea issues
- Cleaner/clearer headspace
- Friendlier and more uplifting and positive headspace, more prone to euphoria
- Distinct/superior visuals
Edited by Samwise, 03 January 2023 - 04:54 PM.
