It may be because I am becoming more overweight, that I have a really powerful mind, or simply that the mushrooms I've grown are not all that potent for me, but here is my experience with dosage.
The first time I ever ate psilocybin mushrooms I ate 2 grams - it wasn't enough. It gave me somewhat of an insightful mood, commenting on the lives and choices of some people I know, but that was about it. Any euphoria was arguably there or part of a placebo effect. I think 3 grams for a first time dose isn't overdoing it, because even to this date, I eat more than that each time. Two grams gives a really subtle, yet slightly pleasant, effect on me, but for anything remotely psychedelic I need at least a few grams.
Since then, I slowly worked my way up on each subsequent trip.. I'd go to 3 grams for a couple trips, and then 4, and then 4 and a half, and then 5. The last few trips I've done are in the ballpark of 6 grams, though my second most recent trip was 7.5 grams.
For me, the trips can become more intense, but all usually last about roughly as long.
I have been eating Psilocybe Cubensis Cambodian.
About half of the time I eat the mushrooms straight up and drink something sweet like cola at the same time to wash it down. But more recently, I've started crushing them into powder and consume them in pills (thanks to a pill making gadget I got).
I weigh mine with a small digital scale I bought off ebay for about 10-15 bucks - it reads in tenths of grams. Though, anymore I just take the pills as I know 12 size 00 pills I make usually weigh in at about 5 grams.
I would suggest picking up a cheap digital scale; ebay should be your first stop because you will get one for far less than if you bought one in a headshop or in some other store.
If you reaaaaallly want to play it safe, have at least 3 or 4 grams available if you want them, and start with 2 grams, and if you aren't overwhelmed after 1.5 hours when you start feeling some effect, eat the rest of them. When I took my maximum dose, I didn't start at 7.5 grams, but started at 5 and added half the dosage again after about an hour or so when I started to feel really nice.
Oh, and again - psychedelics are different for each person. I've loved analyzing myself, my history and my interactions with those around me for as long as I've lived. Because I've always been somewhat of a loner and had some traumatic experiences when younger, I've always gravitated towards trying to understand how the mind works as much as possible. With that being said, I may be in a situation where I am less likely to freak out simply because I've spent so many years trying to know myself and learn who I am deep down. Several years ago, when I was first smoking pot regularly, I was always interested in LSD and hallucinogens but scared out of taking them because of many of the horror stories. But more than that, I was scared because I was lead to believe that my inner "soul" was dirty and hateful. After finally getting the courage to start with LSA and then moving on to Psilocybin, I realized that deep down I am not an ugly or dirty person as I once was scared I was.
I think it was Timothy Leary who was the first to say it best in that, hallucinogens are basically magnifying glasses. If deep down you are a beatiful person filled with love, that is what is going to come out. If you are a legitimately sick, cold and hateful person that will come out. Granted I have quite a bit of a dichotomy inside me, I am happy to know that after many exporations in my mind I've come to realize that my inner psyche is beautiful and filled with love, and the hate that I thought consumed me was all exterior, coming from my experiences that jaded me. Though I felt I was a hateful person for the longest time, the hate I felt was not coming from who I was deep down, but coming from my trials.
I know you're probably thinking by now - what the fuck is the point of all this? The point is pretty simple: as long as you are a legitimately beautiful person inside your heart, you will have beautiful experiences, so the dose is fairly insignificant.
And the second most important factor when considering tripping (aside from whether or not you are clean or dirty inside) is how well you know yourself... If you know yourself very well, you'll have pleasant, progressive and insightful trips. If you really don't know yourself, you're more likely to have a "negative" trip, because your mind will be at war trying to make sense of things your subsconscious has been haunted with.
I personally don't believe that there is a such thing as a "bad trip" - just failed interpretations.
So again, who you are and how much you know about yourself is far more important to take into consideration when considering to trip than how many grams and what not. Though it will have a subtle difference in effect, the first two elements are far more siginificant in deciding your experience.
Be safe!
