26Sep
What Magnification Do You Need to See Mushroom Spores?
Spores show as specks at 100× and clearly at 400×, and 1000× with oil is used for measuring them. How magnification is calculated, and why 2500× and USB microscopes do not help.
Plain guides to mushroom spores, spore prints and spore syringes. Learn what is inside a syringe, how to store it, and how to spot contamination.
26Sep
How to Make a Microscope Slide From a Spore Syringe
One drop, a cover slip lowered at an angle, and focusing from 40× up to 400×. How to make a wet mount from a spore syringe, what cubensis spores look like, and how to dispose of the needle.
26Sep
How Many Spores Are in a Spore Syringe? (And Why Some Look Clear)
There is no reliable published spore count for a syringe. Why it varies, how a hemocytometer count works, and why some syringes look clear or show dark specks.
26Sep
Spore Syringe vs Spore Print: Which Should You Buy?
A spore print holds dry spores on paper or foil, and a spore syringe holds them in sterile water. How the two compare for viewing, storage, contamination checks and making slides.
26Sep
How to Choose a Trustworthy Spore Vendor: 9 Red Flags
Nine red flags to check before you buy spores, from shipping into restricted states to reviews you cannot verify, and how we handle them.
25Sep
How to Tell If a Spore Syringe Is Contaminated
Cloudy water that won’t settle, cottony strands, a tint or a smell mean contamination. What is normal, how to check under the microscope, how to keep it clean.
25Sep
What Does “Isolated” Mean on a Spore Syringe?
An isolated spore syringe holds spores from one selected, maintained genetic line rather than a random specimen. What that means under the microscope.
25Sep
What Is a Spore Print? How Mycologists Use Spore Color to Identify Mushrooms
A spore print is the deposit a mushroom cap leaves on paper or foil. Why mycologists make them, spore print colors by genus, print vs. syringe, how long they keep.
25Sep
What Are Mushroom Spores?
Mushroom spores are single-celled reproductive units, the fungal counterpart of seeds. How they are made and released, why they have colors, what they look like.
25Sep
What Is a Spore Syringe? What’s Inside, What It Looks Like and How Microscopists Use It
A spore syringe is sterile water with mushroom spores suspended in it, used to put spores on a microscope slide. What's inside, sizes (10 cc filled to 12), isolated vs multispore, and how it compares to prints and liquid culture.
