![]() ![]() Had it been some colour other than brown we would not have classified it in CortinariusĪ second reason for obtaining a spore print is to be assured of a collection of mature spores for microscopic examination. armillatus shown here is clearly a light brown colour. In common with other species of Cortinarius the spore print of C. The page on mushroom classification briefly discusses how that works. First, and perhaps most important of all, is that for more than two centuries mushrooms have been classified according to the colour of their spores. There are several reasons why you might want to make a spore print. Usually white paper is used for spore prints, but white spore prints may be difficult to see and some people have chosen to make spore prints of a mushroom on both black and white paper. It is a photograph-like impression of the pileus and lamellae. The spores produced on the lamellae had been discharged during the night and had formed a thick deposit on the paper, a result called a spore print. The same pileus that had been removed from its stipe was place lamella-side down on a sheet of white paper, covered with a bowl and left overnight. At far left is a scan of the same pileus inverted to show the lamellae. The leftmost mushroom in the picture had its stipe removed and placed beside the pileus. These were "photographed" on a flatbed scanner not long after they were collected. This way the chance that the spores will germinate is much higher.The picture above is of four fruiting bodies of Cortinarius armillatus, a mushroom commonly collected under birch. The advantage of a spore syringe is that this spore water can be used to inoculate the substrate of your choice. It contains sterile water with hydrated spores in it. This method is not the best as concentrated populations of spores are grouped together.Ī spore syringe is a bit trickier to make.In this method, the spore print can be folded and rubbed together so that spores drop onto nutrified agar media.See page 93-95 of Paul Stamets’ Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms, 3rd edition for great photos of this process.Colonies of germinating spores can then be subcultured into more petri dishes.5 to 15 days later, your spores (should) germinate according to the streaking pattern!.Streak the tip into an “S” pattern across the surface of the petri dish.Touch the spore print with the scalpel tip to collect hundreds of spores.This way the scalpel gets covered with a moist and adhesive layer of media for better spore attachment. Sterilise a scalpel by passing it through a flame, then cooling it in the “receiving” nutrified agar.Germinating the spores from your spore print is best done on nutrified agar plates in a glove box setup, as with tissue/agar cloning.Īlternatively, a spore syringe can be made, but this is a bit more tricky. Glass allows for easy future use of spore as well as observation without risk of contamination.Seal the three remaining edges with more tape, creating a “Spore Booklet”.Remove, dry and store mushrooms for later reference purposes.Place mushroom caps on top of both plates for 12 to 24h, covered with bowl.Create a bind between both plates by joining the two plates with duct tape.Wash glass with soapy water, dry with wipe, clean with alcohol.Can be stored at room temperature for years, in a dark and cool location.Pick up spore printed paper with clean tweezers and put in a ziplock bag. ![]() Place mushroom cap on a piece of paper for 12 to 24h, covered with a clean bowl.Cut stem with sterile scalpel, at the highest possible point without touching gills.Try and keep things as sterile as possible during the whole process. Make sure you have a mature mushroom (no veil), which is as fresh as possible. – Spore prints offer much more diversity of characteristics to the home mushroom grower than making a phenotypic clone – it’s just like the difference between growing from seed, as opposed to grafting. – Spore prints can be made on the go – you can even seal them up and easily post them home if you’re mid-mushroom-hunt. – Spore prints are a great simple technique for capturing new genetics to add to your mushroom cultivation setup In 6 – 12 hours, the mushroom should release its millions of spores onto the paper, in the radiating pattern of the gills. For gilled mushrooms, simply cut off the stalk of a freshly picked mushroom and lay it gill side down on a piece of paper, or glass.Ĭovering your mushroom/s at this point with a glass vessel or similar is a good idea, as this will reduce evaporation and airflow, ensuring a clearer (and hopefully less contaminated) spore print. ![]()
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