The Ultimate Guide to Penis Envy Mushrooms

Penis Envy mushrooms (PE) are one of the most potent psychedelic mushrooms in the world. Our guide will teach you about the common PE strains, what makes these shrooms special, their history, and other FAQs so you can work intentionally with this special strain.

Disclaimer: Psilocybin is a largely illegal substance, and we do not encourage or condone its use where it is against the law. However, we accept that illicit drug use occurs and believe that offering responsible harm reduction information is imperative to keeping people safe. For that reason, this document is designed to enhance the safety of those who decide to use penis envy mushrooms and other psilocybin-containing substances.

This article has been medically reviewed by Katrina Oliveros, MSN-ED, BSN

Maria Katrina is a trauma-informed Wellness Educator and Psychedelic Harm Reduction Consultant. Beyond nursing, she supports health & wellness teams through medical aid, psychedelic harm reduction, and integration services.

Penis Envy mushrooms may be the most popular shroom strain in the world. But why? 

We all know first impressions are important, and the name of this magic mushroom doesn’t disappoint. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out how the name came to be. So we’ll leave that to your imagination. 

Penis Envy mushrooms are special not only because the name can make you stop (and maybe stare) but also because of the potency and power of this psychedelic mushroom. 

Touted as one of the strongest strains in the world, Penis Envy (PE) mushrooms punch above their weight class. Better still? PE has multiple varieties, thus leading to a diverse set of shapes, sizes, colors, and levels of psilocybin. So there’s truly a Penis Envy mushroom to match varying sets and settings.

What Exactly are Penis Envy Mushrooms?

Penis envy (PE) is the colloquial name for a particular strain of Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms prized as one of the strongest psychoactive magic mushrooms.

With multiple varieties in circulation and only several decades of known history, PE is a mushroom worth getting to know before working with it as medicine.

How Did Penis Envy Get Its Name?

The name Penis Envy comes from the mushroom’s physical appearance being similar to the human penis. These mushrooms are often long and thick, phallic shaped, representing a strong masculine energy.

What Makes Penis Envy Different from Other Mushroom Strains?

The potency of Penis Envy mushrooms is consistently higher than that of any other Psilocybe cubensis strains. They’re considered one of the most potent of all magic mushrooms, with up to 50% higher concentrations of the psychoactive ingredients psilocybin and psilocin compared to Golden Teachers. However, the lack of accessible test results, which differentiate strain potencies, makes this hard to confirm.

Consuming Penis Envy Mushroom Safely

Penis Envy Dosage & Preparation

Penis Envy is considerably more potent than other varieties of Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, so it is important to be mindful of your mushroom dosage. Generally, 1.0 to 1.5 grams of dried mushrooms per 100 pounds of body weight is recommended for milder varieties. However, due to their increased potency, the dosage for Penis Envy should be reduced by at least 30% to have a safe journey. 

If you plan on microdosing, your dosage will be slightly different. When microdosing, you use about 1/10th to 1/20th of the amount you need for a macrodose experience. This also holds up for Penis Envy. If a macrodose is 1 gram, then a microdose will be somewhere between 50 and 100 mg.

The exact amount of Penis Envy to take depends on your intention. You could, for example, try microdosing Penis Envy for a more manageable and easily integrated psychedelic experience. 

Here are some suggested dosage guidelines to start your journey with Penis Envy mushrooms:

• Micro – 0.05g to 0.2g
• Mild – 0.2g to .5g
• Medium – .5g to 1.5g
• Strong – 1.5g to 3.0g

Penis Envy Effects

The most common effect when taking Penis Envy is an increased sense of creativity with visual and auditory hallucinations. Sensing what can happen in these altered states allows you to feel better prepared when the powerful effects of a shroom trip start coming on. Other reported effects include:

• Emotional shifts
• Thoughts starting to evolve
• Synesthesia
• Colors look enhanced or vivid
• Euphoria
• Deep introspection

Preparing Your Environment

If you’re planning to take psychedelics in the comfort of your own home, it is vital to take steps to ensure a proper set and setting to create a safe experience. 

You’ll want to clean up your physical environment and tidy up your internal landscape, as clutter, stress, or anxiety can be a prerequisite to an avoidable challenge experience characterized by paranoia or panic.

How to Grow Penis Envy

While these mushrooms were discovered in the Amazon in the late 20th century, most are grown in labs today. This is believed to be because PE takes longer to mature and produces fewer spores, making them somewhat difficult to find and cultivate.

Between a multitude of how-to-grow guides and online sources, growing mushrooms quickly becomes overwhelming and confusing.

Add in the fact that there are many places to go wrong, and you might just give up before they even start. Fortunately, the best magic mushroom growing kits include guides and all the equipment necessary to start foraging mushrooms in your own home.

It’s important to note that growing your own Penis Envy mushrooms can be challenging, as growers struggle to pin down when exactly they’re supposed to harvest this strain.

B+, Golden Teachers, Cambodian, and Tidal Wave are all magic mushroom types easier to grow.

That said, we’ve created the most user-friendly Mushroom Grow Kit on the market and paired this product with a new digital community where you’ll get support from expert mycologists and fellow amateur growers. So whether you’re trying to grow an easier strain, like B+, or a potent Penis Envy strain, we’ve got you covered. Head to our Mushroom Grow Kit to learn more.

Penis Envy Spores

Penis Envy mushrooms are known for low spore production, resulting in faint prints and weak spore syringes. To cultivate them, one must use a swab to transfer spores from the mushrooms directly to sterile agar plates.

Penis Envy spores can be legally bought for microscope observation in many areas, and in some, the cultivation of Penis Envy mushrooms is even decriminalized.

You can readily find and order Penis Envy spore syringes and microscopy kits online through many third-party vendors. They sometimes ship internationally and require alternative forms of payment, like cryptocurrency.

If you’re based in the US, you can check out Spore Vision Lab Link Supplies, and if you’re in Canada, head to Mushroom Prints.

When should I harvest Penis Envy?

The average growing cycle for psilocybin mushroom spores takes about four to six weeks from spore inoculation.

While most strains are ready to harvest when the fruiting caps break their veil, Penis Envy mushrooms require an extra waiting period of around three to five days, or until the inner portion of their gills neighboring the stem begins to turn blue.

The Most Common Penis Envy Strains

There are several different Penis Envy varieties in circulation, distinguished by their hybridized genetics and physical characteristics.

Albino Penis Envy or Blue Penis Envy

Albino Penis Envy is a slightly smaller hybrid with the albino A+ strain, with caps sometimes tinged deep blue. Albino Penis Envy mushrooms are sometimes known as Blue Penis Envy due to the bluish bruising that occurs when they are handled (even lightly). This is considered an indicator of their high psilocin content.

Penis Envy Uncut

Penis Envy Uncut is another albino cross named for having caps that adhere to the stem. These are considered THE most potent PE variety.

Albino Penis Envy Revert

Albino Penis Envy Revert is a stabilized mutant substrain of Albino Penis Envy.

Penis Envy #6

Penis Envy #6 is a hybrid created with Texas P. cubensis for increased spore production.

Trans Envy

Trans Envy is a hybrid with the South African Transkei strain. It has slightly thinner stems and less potency than other PE varieties.

Yeti

This is a variation of the albino Penis Envy mushroom known to have an extremely high potency. They are white, just like the Albino Penis Envy.

Pearly Gates

Pearly Gates are also white; however, they are a slight variation of the original Penis Envy mushroom.

What’s the History of Penis Envy Mushrooms?

Famed ethnobotanist and psychedelic advocate Terence McKenna is generally credited with the discovery of the Penis Envy strain, though the details of said discovery remain shrouded in mystery.

As the legend goes, in the early 1970s, McKenna stumbled upon a massive patch of psychedelic mushrooms deep within the Amazon rainforest with the help of several local guides. He smuggled his findings undetected back to the U.S. by taking spore prints of the culture and sandwiching them between microscopy slides labeled with a different genus name.

One such spore print he gave to his colleague Steven H. Pollock, a medical doctor and fellow believer in the potential of psychedelic plant medicines.

Over several years, Pollock refined this culture by selectively fruiting mushrooms from generation to generation until he found one mutation, with an exceptionally thick stem and pallid cap, that could reliably propagate its recessive genetic characteristics.

Thus, the Penis Envy mushroom strain was born.

Legality of Penis Envy Mushrooms

To this day, psilocybin and psilocybin-containing mushrooms are illegal to cultivate, possess, or consume throughout most of the US and the world.

The United Nations 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances first listed them as Schedule 1 drugs with high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use.

However, much of the world is reevaluating this classification in light of new research clarifying psilocybin’s comprehensive mental health benefits.

In the US, Oregon became the first state to legalize psilocybin for medical use, while more than a dozen local jurisdictions have decriminalized the substance or deprioritized enforcement against it.

As of now, these include:

• Arcata, CA
• Oakland, CA
• Santa Cruz, CA
• Denver, CO
• Washington, DC
• Cambridge, MA
• Easthampton, MA
• Northampton, MA
• Somerville, MA
• Ann Arbor, MI
• Detroit, MI
• Washtenaw County, MI
• Seattle, WA

Also, thanks to a critical oversight in the law, the spores of magic mushrooms are legal to possess and sell in every state except Georgia, Idaho, and California because they do not contain the banned substances of psilocybin or psilocin.

Selling them with the intent to produce hallucinogenic mushrooms, however, is still illegal.

In Canada, you can find Penis Envy mushroom spores and other varieties in stores or online, generally in the form of spore syringes and grow kits.

Penis Envy FAQ:

Are all Penis Envy strains strong? 

While there’s no definitive answer to this, the general consensus is that yes, if a strain is associated with Penis Envy, it’s likely to be 2-3x stronger than the average magic mushroom. You can learn more about the common strains by clicking here or scrolling up.

Where can I source Penis Envy spores?

Finding a reputable brand to source or buy psilocybin spores will largely depend on where in the world you’re located. 

One of our favorite US vendors is Spore Vision Lab Link Supplies. If you’re in Canada, we’d recommend Mushroom Prints. Leave a comment below if you’re living outside the US and Canada; we’d be happy to point you in a good direction.

Are Penis Envy mushrooms being used in therapeutic settings or clinical trials? 

No. These places are using synthetic psilocybin, and it has nothing to do with the strain. 

Should I lemon tek with Penis Envy? Or how would you recommend I consume these? 

Even if you have experience with psychedelics, we invite you to thread with caution if you plan on lemon tekking with PE. This psychedelic mushroom is already stronger than most, and combining that with a lemon tek, which is known to intensify the trip, could lead to a very potent experience. 

We’d recommend brewing PE in a mushroom tea and easing into this already powerful shroom.  

Can I mix Penis Envy with other shrooms or substances? 

Mixing it with other mushrooms totally works. Just make sure you’re aware of the unique characteristics each strain holds and experiment responsibly. 

When it comes to combining Penis Envy, or any magic mushroom, with other substances, the answer is that it depends.

A common way to microdose mushrooms is with niacin and other functional mushrooms, which is known as the Stamets Stack. This combination can potentially supercharge your brain with many benefits, like increased focus and creativity, plus immune support, pending the functional mushrooms you’re stacking psilocybin with.

Another popular combo is known as hippie flipping, which pairs magic mushrooms with MDMA. They say the MDMA opens up the heart, which allows a great space to regulate the nervous system, should the mushrooms be intense. 

Disclaimer: Psilocybin is a largely illegal substance and we do not encourage or condone its use where it is against the law. However, we accept that illegal drug use occurs and believe that offering responsible harm reduction information is imperative to keeping people safe. For that reason, this guide is designed to enhance the safety of those who decide to use psilocybin.