The Pajaritos grow kit is a container with a living truffle culture in which you grow Pajaritos truffles yourself. Avalon sells it as a pair, two kits for the price of one (Avalon, Pajaritos grow kit). You leave it at room temperature for at least four weeks, then rinse the truffles out. In the Netherlands growing truffles is legal; in the United Kingdom, Germany and most other countries it is not.
How the kit works, per the shop
Avalon's instructions are short.
- Keep the kit at room temperature for at least 4 weeks. The truffles can grow for up to 20 weeks.
- Aim for 21 to 23 °C. Keep it out of direct sunlight and away from places where the temperature swings, such as a windowsill or next to a heater.
- After a few weeks you will see the truffles grow.
- To harvest, empty the container into a colander and rinse it with tap water. The substrate slowly comes loose; help it a little by washing the truffles with your hands.
- Store the truffles in the fridge. According to the shop they keep for at least two weeks, and are best used within three days.
The yield per kit is not stated on the product page, so we do not give one.
Grow kit or shop pack
| Shop pack | Grow kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Ready | straight away | after 4 to 20 weeks |
| Amount | 15 g per pack, known in advance | depends on how long you wait |
| Freshness | packed fresh, keep within a month | harvested the day you choose |
| Practical for | a visit to the Netherlands | someone living in the Netherlands |
For a short stay, the pack is the obvious choice. The grow kit only makes sense if you live in the Netherlands, have a stable warm spot, and are patient.
The legal position in the Netherlands
The Opium Act does not list truffles. List II has banned "mushrooms that naturally contain psilocin or psilocybin" since 1 December 2008, and names the species one by one, Psilocybe mexicana among them (Opium Act, List II). Truffles are sclerotia, not mushrooms, and fall outside that list.
In a tax case of 10 April 2026, the Dutch Supreme Court took as its starting point that "magic truffles do not fall under the Opium Act, so they can be freely grown and traded" (Hoge Raad, ECLI:NL:HR:2026:450, paragraph 2.1). The case itself was about VAT, but the starting point covers growing.
The line is the mushroom. What you harvest from a truffle kit are sclerotia. Should a mushroom of the species ever appear, that mushroom falls under List II, wherever it grew. The Trimbos Institute says the same about mushroom grow kits: buying the kit is legal, but as soon as the mushrooms come up, they are illegal (DRUGSinfo). Do not dry the harvest either; the status of dried truffles is not settled (see the law).
Outside the Netherlands
- United Kingdom. Since 18 July 2005, "fungus (of any kind) which contains psilocin or an ester of psilocin" is a Class A drug (Drugs Act 2005, section 21). The wording covers truffles as well, so growing them means producing a Class A drug.
- Germany. Psilocin and psilocybin are in Annex I of the Narcotics Act, and the annex also covers biological material suitable for producing them when misuse for intoxication is intended (BtMG, Annex I). A truffle grow kit falls under that wording.
- United States. Psilocybin and psilocin are Schedule I substances under federal law (21 CFR 1308.11). State and city rules differ; we have not checked them.
- Everywhere else. Psilocybin and psilocin are listed in Schedule I of the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 (UNODC), and most countries control them. Shops in the Netherlands may ship abroad, but the law that applies is the law where the kit arrives and grows. Check it before you order, including the rules on import.
Checked on 16 October 2026. This is information, not legal advice.
Related pages
- The law: truffles, mushrooms and taking them across borders
- Storage: keeping a harvest fresh
- A first session: amounts in grams