Mexican Psilocybe cubensis Spore Print Microscopy Kit

General information about the Mexican Psilocybe Cubensis strain:

Origin:  Mexico,
Caps: 45+ mm, Caramel red brown to lighter brown in color, sometimes with nipple/ acute umbo. Bell shaped, round, flat the caps are different within and in every flush
Stem: 50-120 + mm, medium to tall slim in size. White yellow color. Turns blue when touched.
Spores: Dark brown almost black.1.5–17 x 8–11 µm, subellipsoid, basidia 4-spored
Substrate: Brown Rice Flour, PF Tek and Rye grain. Enriched soil and dung

Trivia: Classic cubensis

Mexcian psilocybe cubensis Spore print

The Mexican spore prints are made on sterile foil or glass which is stored in sterile ziplock bag and kept under refrigerated conditions. Only spores that germinate are released as a print.

How to store your mushroom spore prints

Spore prints should be stored in a spot away from light, moister and heat. They should not be frozen, but can be stored refrigerated. Keep refrigerated between 2*C-8*C Celsius or 35*F-46*F Fahrenheit. 

Well-preserved spore prints can remain viable for many years.  Refrigerated between 2*C-8*C Celsius or 35*F-46*F Fahrenheit.

What is a mushroom spore print?

A mushroom spore print is the pattern of spores deposited on a surface,like foil, from a sporulating mushroom cap. The spores are released (ejected) from the gills underneath the cap of the mushrooms. You can see it as a stamp made with the mushrooms spores.

Spores

Mushroom spores are how mushrooms reproduce. A spore is the single-celled, reproductive unit of the mushroom, it can be seen as the seed of the mushroom.

The mushrooms spores are ejected from the cap by the mushrooms, the spores then germinate (grow) from were the mycelium develops and the mycelium fruits the mushroom. This is called the mushroom lifecycle (write article and insert link). With a spore print you hold the starting point of this life cyle.

Besides being the starting point of the mushroom life cycle the msusrhoom print is also the starting point of mushrooms research and cultivation. A spore print is an way to identify, transport and preserve the genetics of mushrooms.

Identification

A mushroom spore print is a collection of spores taken from a cap of the mushroom. It's 'printed' on a surface as a form of identification, because spore color is an important factor in mushroom identification.

Cubensis spores are deep lilac to purple brown. As they look black on the first sight. The P. cubeniss spores have a size of 11.5 to 17.5 by 8 μ. (μm = micrmetre) A single spore you can not see them by the eye, only with a microscope. But on a print you have millions of spores and they leave a clear dark print.

Preservation

Spore printing is a method of preserving the genetic makeup of mushroom cultures. A spore print will contain different genotypes, because spores are the product of sexual reproduction.

A spore print will never contain exactly the same genetics as the mushroom it came from. However psilocybe Cubensis are quite stable from one generation to the next, witch results that the majority of the spores in a print wil be almost identical to their parents.

It is not an exact copy of the genetics of the mushroom it came from. But it will be more or less identical.

Why use a Mushroom spore print?

Spore prints are the starting point of mushroom cultivation. They contain millions of spores, each of them is a growing point for mycelium, and therfore mushrooms. You will have to do some preparation before you can use the spores. But from a single print you can make many spore syringes, spore swabs and can inoculate lots of agar plates.

As mentioned before spore prints harbour the genetics of a strian. If you are in need of new genetics, because your mushroom culture is degerenating you will need a spore print.

Besides that spore prints are easy to store, swap and last a very long time. And can last 18 months in teh vacuum of space, according to NASA.. Hence spore are awsome.