Z Strain Mushrooms

Z-Strain, sometimes called “Z-Cube,” is an average potency magic mushroom strain with uniquely aggressive growth characteristics. It’s an excellent strain for the hobby cultivator.

This strain has been found to have roughly average potency on several occasions, but online trip reports would have you think otherwise. It’s often renowned for having especially strong physical effects. Some users report intense tactile sensations — often described as a “gentle buzzing” of the skin.

Z Strain Mushroom Review

What makes z strain magic mushrooms so special is its affinity for producing rhizomorphic mycelial growth. This refers to a particular growth pattern involving thick “threads” of mycelium that spread quickly through the mycelium. This is in opposition to the tomentose growth pattern, which is much more fluffy in appearance and slow-growing.

In general, the string-like rhizomorphic mycelium is viewed as more resistant to disease, faster growing, and produces dense flushes of potent mushrooms later on during the fruiting stage.

All strains can produce both rhizomorphic and tomentose mycelium, but the Z-strain appears to be a genetic isolation of a strain that (almost) always produces the superior rhizomorphic form.

History of Z Strain Mushrooms

Z strain mushroom belongs to the Psilocybe cubensis family of psychedelic mushrooms. The history of this mushroom is unclear (and somewhat controversial) — but this isn’t unique to this strain. Many mushroom strains are born from underground cultivation by unknown hobbyists and expert mycologists. Because magic mushrooms are illegal, few people have stepped forward to take public credit for their creations.

The z strain magic mushroom is no exception, but there are a few theories floating around about its possible origins.

There’s another story about a mysterious mycologist named “The Keeper,” who claims to be responsible for cultivating this strain.

The controversy is that The Keeper would take established mushroom strains, rename them, and sell them online as their invented strain through ads in High Times magazine and online.

According to a Reddit thread, The Keeper was caught when they used photos of established strains and forgot to change the names of the files when uploading them online under their new strain name.

Others believe this strain came straight out of stock and developed by the legendary mycologist Paul Stamets.

Regardless, the consensus on the origin of the Z Strain mushroom is that it’s an isolation of the famous Golden Teacher strain, which hails from Mexico, but this hasn’t been confirmed.

Z Strain Mushrooms Potency & Psilocybin Content

Oakland Hyphae hosts a yearly Psychedelic Conference and The Psilocybin Cup, in which cultivators from around the world submit their mushroom strains to compete for the most potent shroom.

In the Spring Oakland Cup 2021, a Z-Strain sample submitted by No Cap was graded “A.” The sample strain had a psilocybin content (PCB) of 0.66% and a psilocin content (PCN) of 0.17%. The total tryptamine level was listed as 0.83%.

While these figures certainly aren’t the highest on this list, we only have one sample to go off. It’s likely that under the right conditions, the Z-strain is capable of much higher potency levels.

We consider the average range for Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms to fall somewhere between 0.5% and 0.9% total tryptamines (dried weight).

Comparing Z-Strain to a popular shroom stain and Z-strain’s presumed relative, Golden Teacher, we can see that they’re relatively similar. However, Golden Teachers have a slightly lower psilocybin and psilocin content of 0.73% (based on 11 separate Psilocybin Cup entries across 2 years).

Z-Strain Variations & Genetic Relatives

The closest relative to Z-Strain is the Golden Teacher mushrooms, perhaps the market’s most dominant variety of shrooms.

Z strain mushroom and Golden Teachers share distinctive yellow-gold caps, which is just one of the many reasons many people believe that Z-Strain is an isolation of this shroom.

You can find Golden Teachers and other variants of this strain at virtually any major spore vendor online, and it’s a reasonably beginner-friendly spore to start with.

Other relatives of the Golden Teacher strain include:

• Albino Penis Envy
• Alcabenzi
• Golden Emperor
• Golden Halo
• True Albino Teacher
• White Rabbit
• Yeti

A wide variety of Psilocybe cubensis grow naturally in the wild, but Z-Strain is not one of them.

To get a shroom like Z-Strain, mycologists will selectively breed strains in a lab to pass on specific characteristics such as their potencies, life cycles, resistance to contamination, and large fruiting yields.

To grow Z-Strain shrooms, you’ll need to find spores and a grow kit, which you can DIY if you’re up for it.

Z-strain’s ability to form rhizomorphic mycelium without much intervention makes it one of the easier strains to cultivate. Most strains will produce rhizomorphic and tomentose mycelium, but rhizomorphic growth is considered the best for cultivators. It grows faster and offers better contamination resistance. These effects lead to more abundance and higher potency.

Many growers will germinate their spores in agar plates to isolate the rhizomorphic patterns. They then cut sections of the rhizomorphic mycelium from the agar and use that to innoculate their substrate jars.

Despite having a somewhat higher contamination resistance, growers must ensure their workstations and equipment are sterile to avoid botching the process.

The ideal temperature for Z-Strain is around 24°C (75°F), and you want to keep your fruiting chamber humid.

You can pick the fruit from the stems once the caps open and leave them dry. Don’t throw away your substrate cake just yet — you can expect multiple flushes from these shrooms by maintaining the temperature and humidity. With each flush, the yield will become sparser and sparser.