![]() The highest level of hygiene is recommended, disinfected hands, clean clothes etc. This medical terminology is also a clue to the care you should take when growing shrooms from spores. Spores can be bought online (check the legality in your own country of residence), along with tools to administer them to your substrate, such as a ‘spore syringe’. While growing from spores is cheap, it takes some work, as you must produce the substrate (fertile ground from which the spores will grow), inoculate and incubate all yourself. However, this can be difficult if you are not an expert in mushroom cultivation. There are many techniques and tools for growing mushrooms from spores at home, particularly magic ones. After that time, the millions of spores which have fallen from the cap will leave a clear print, from which you can identify the mushroom species. You then place a cup or bowl over the mushroom and leave it for between 2 and 24 hours (depending on the freshness of the mushroom). To make a spore print, you cut the cap of a mushroom off and put it gill/teeth/pore-side down on a piece of light coloured paper, glass, plastic wrap or foil. Taking a ‘spore print’ is a common technique with which to identify a mushroom. Identifying what sort of mushroom you are dealing with is essential if you plan to eat them (whether for psychedelic reasons OR just because you’re hungry), as many species are poisonous, and occasionally deadly. Spores, fascinatingly, can also act like the ‘fingerprint’ of a mushroom. It’s not your-celium, it’s mycelium How To Make A Spore Print Together they connect, expand and grow the subterranean fungus system. They send shoots into the ground, which find other shoots from other little spores and they begin the reproductive process. Although the majority of spores will land on inhospitable ground, the ones that are lucky find a fertile spot and get to work. When they fall, their tiny size means they can be picked up by air currents and carried along to be disseminated. Spores, depending on the mushroom, can drop, or be ejected, from underneath the cap. This means that if a mushroom is producing spores, it is by default a happy and healthy fungus. Like, for example, an apple tree, the mushroom will only grow its reproductive components if there is enough nutrients (food) and water to produce the extra energy needed for it to make the spores. Like plants that fruit or flower, most mushrooms do not produce spores all the time. From The Fungi Name Trail by Liz Holden & Kath HamperĪnd each little spore works as a calling card for the mushroom it came from- useful to know for mushroom hunters who want to identify a particular species. These terms (gills, teeth, pores) reflect the shape of the spore-producing part of the mushroom. They are found on the underside of the mushroom cap, in the gills, teeth, or pores- depending on the species of mushroom. Clyde Martin Christensen describes spores as being 1/2500 of an inch long in his book ‘Edible Mushrooms’- pretty darn small. This is because successful germination of a fungus is relatively rare. They are single-celled, tiny in size, and on a healthy mushroom they exist in huge populations. ![]() Spores are the reproductive cells from which fungi multiply and grow. However! This is a deep dive, and there is far more to spores than meets the eye… You might already know this if you checked out our Magic Mushroom Glossary- essential for the burgeoning shroom-expert. Well, in basic terms it’s the mushroom equivalent of a seed. So how to begin on your shroom growing career? Well, it all starts with a little spore… So What Is A Spore For? Yup, for those who like their gardening a bit more subterranean and fungus-y, this is the hobby for you! And, what’s more, I don’t think that you can take a psychedelic trip from chowing down on those orchids you’ve been fawning over… Why, the growing trend for growing your own mushrooms of course! However, there are some who might consider themselves ‘grey-fingered’… (or should that be ‘beige-fingered’?) But, what are we talking about? With sales of plants and seeds through the roof, people are attempting to both make their homes nicer, and to find something to do. ![]()
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