I am trying a new way to preserve fungus that I thought of: cover them in rubber cement. I'm using mushrooms that are slightly dried. This way it keeps a certain amount of flexibility, then I cover them in rubber cement. My dad told me that the mushrooms might rot from the inside. Is he right? Is this a good idea? I have one that's been covered in rubber cement for 2-3 days now, and it seems to be doing fine.
Sounds strange to me! Can you post a photo of the result? I'd guess research collections of fungi are stored in preservative liquids like formalin or alcohol.
Hi, The commonest way of preserving fungi for scientific purposes is to dry them carefully at a low temperature (usually 60'C = 140'F). However, the result rarely looks anything like the original. Maybe you have come up with a new method ! To record a fungus, I reckon you are generally best to take several photos and perhaps draw or paint the fungus whilst still fresh. Good Luck with your experiment! Ciao BrianO
I too would like to hear how this turns out - there are some mushrooms I'd like to preserve in more of an art sense. What sort of mushroom have you tried so far? I expect with the moister, thicker types one would risk rot continuing on the protected interior (?), but hopefully the airtightness of the cement would stop most decomposing agents. Best wishes for success! frog
Thanks for the support everyone! Heres a photo of the mushroom I chose for the experiment (in the upper right hand corner) before the rubber cement: and here is a picture of it after rubber cement (along with some accidental overcooking on one part and a bit more drying): Sorry about how long I took to post this, my computer's been cluttered and slow today.
