Tutorials/Spores/Prints and Syringes

Spores are where most grows begin. A single mushroom drops millions of them, each carrying a slightly different mix of its parents' genetics. This page covers collecting spores and turning them into something you can inoculate with.

Prints, swabs, and syringes

Form	What it is	Good for	Keeps
Spore print	Spores dropped onto foil or paper	Long-term storage, trading, making syringes	Years, dry and dark
Swab	A sterile cotton swab rubbed across the gills	Quick transfer to agar	Months
Spore syringe	Spores suspended in sterile water	Inoculating agar, LC, or grain	Months, in the fridge

Spore syringes are convenient, but they can't be checked for contamination until something grows. Starting spores on agar first lets you see what you have, clean it up with transfers, and only then move it to grain.

Taking a spore print

Pick the mushroom

Choose a healthy, mature mushroom whose veil has just torn, exposing the gills, but before the cap flattens and starts dropping spores on its own. A cap that has already dropped spores in the tub will be covered in contamination from the air.

Set it up

Do this in a still air box if you have one; prints pick up whatever is floating around.

1. Wipe a sheet of aluminum foil (or paper, or a glass slide) with alcohol and let it dry.
2. Cut the stem off flush with the cap using a clean, flame-sterilized blade.
3. Set the cap gills-down on the foil.
4. Cover it with a clean glass, bowl, or plastic cup to keep air from moving and to hold in a little humidity.
5. Leave it for 6–24 hours.

Collect it

Lift the cap straight up without sliding it. You should see a dark pattern of the gills. Let it air-dry for an hour, then fold the foil over it into a packet, seal it in a labeled zip bag, and store it somewhere cool, dry, and dark.

Label each print with the strain and date. Prints from different strains are indistinguishable once folded.

Making a spore syringe

You'll need

• A clean print
• Distilled water, sterilized: pressure cook it in a jar with an injection-port lid (see altitude times), or boil it for 20 minutes and let it cool covered
• A sterile syringe and needle

Method

1. In your still air box, open the print and the water jar briefly.
2. With a flame-sterilized scalpel, scrape some spores into the water. A little goes a long way; a few scrapes will make several syringes.
3. Close the jar and swirl. Let it sit for 12–24 hours so the spores hydrate.
4. Flame the needle, let it cool, and draw the solution up. Re-cap the needle.

Syringe water should look faintly cloudy or have visible dark specks. Clear water may have too few spores; a dark, muddy suspension is more than you need.

Using spores

• On agar: 1–2 drops in the center of a plate. Look for white growth in 3–10 days, then start transferring.
• In LC: 1–2 ml per jar. See liquid culture.
• In grain: 2–4 ml per quart jar. Slower and riskier than LC or agar.

Spores germinate slowly compared with living mycelium, so expect spore-started cultures to take noticeably longer to get going.

Swabs

Rub a sterile cotton swab gently across the gills of a freshly opened cap, then return it to its sterile sleeve or a sealed bag. To use it, streak it lightly in a zigzag across an agar plate.