For mycologists who grow mushrooms, there are two favorite spore products: liquid cultures and spore syringes. These two options are both syringes containing resources for mushroom reproduction that float in a sterile liquid. Both are meant to be deposited onto a substrate for propagation or a microscope slide for observation.

However, there are some key details that separate them. Plus, because magic mushrooms are illegal to grow in the USA, liquid cultures and spore syringes containing their spores are exclusively meant for microscopy and spore research. That means the criteria mycologists would be using to judge liquid cultures vs. spore syringes are different.

So which is better? Let’s dive in and discuss the similarities and differences between these two popular mushroom products so you can choose the right one for your research!

First: what’s a spore syringe?

A spore syringe is exactly what it sounds like: a syringe containing spores. Spores are the reproductive units of a mushroom, like a seed to a tree. These spores float in a sterile solution that keeps them safe from contamination or degradation. These are different from spore swabs or spore prints, two other popular spore products.

Spore swabs are cotton swabs that have been dipped in mushroom spores. These are typically used to collect spores from fungi with morphology that makes spores hard to collect, such as the Nutcracker mushroom strain of P. cubensis.

Spore prints capture spores falling from the fungal fruit, which retains the shape of the body. Prints are typically used to identify mushroom strains and study their structure alongside individual spores.

Mushroom spore syringes are the best option for easy application of spores to surfaces, such as a microscope slide. All you have to do is push down on the syringe to eject some spores, rather than awkwardly wiping with a swab or carefully moving a spore print.

But we’re not here to compare syringes with prints and swabs. We’re comparing magic mushroom liquid cultures vs. spore syringes. Let’s quickly cover what liquid cultures are.

So what’s a liquid culture?

Unlike spore syringes, liquid cultures don’t contain spores. They contain living mushroom mycelium. If spores are like seeds, then mushroom mycelium is like the root system of a tree. However, unlike with trees, parts of the mycelium can be removed, stored, transferred, and propagated elsewhere.

Differences Between Liquid Cultures vs. Spore Syringes

Now that we’ve covered what liquid cultures and spore syringes are, we can start comparing which is best for mycology.

Legality

It is legal to buy mushroom spores from magic mushroom species in almost all of the US. Only California, Idaho, and Georgia have banned mushroom spores.

The reason why magic mushroom spores remain legal is because they do not contain psilocybin, which is a controlled substance in the United States. It’s the mushrooms themselves that contain psilocybin.

Here is where the first flaw of magic mushroom liquid cultures is: while it doesn’t have the same concentration as the fruiting bodies, magic mushroom mycelium does contain psilocybin. This means that liquid cultures for psilocybin-containing fungi are illegal to own. So when we compare liquid cultures vs. spore syringes from a legal standpoint, spore syringes come out as your only option in the US.

Spore Microscopy

As mentioned before, spore syringes are fantastic for easily preparing microscope slides to study individual spores. Syringes offer you fine control over how much spore solution you want to apply and where you want to apply it to.

However, magic mushroom liquid cultures contain mycelium, not spores. That makes them useless for studying spores. If you’re choosing between liquid cultures vs. spore syringes for spore microscopy, spore syringes are the obvious winner here.

Spore Harvesting

Select research facilities permitted to grow fruiting bodies of magic mushrooms will use syringes to store gathered spores. That’s because syringes function as both a storage medium and spore application method—a two-in-one solution for spore gathering and study.

While liquid cultures obviously can’t be used for spore collection, they can’t even be used to harvest spores from. You need fruiting bodies to gather spores from; mycelium does not produce spores. Between liquid cultures vs. spore syringes, you can only go with spore syringes for gathering and storing spores.

Mushroom Propagation

While growing magic mushrooms isn’t legal for most citizens, a few research labs are approved to do so. For people working in these labs, the difference between liquid cultures vs. spore syringes is less clear-cut.

Magic mushroom liquid cultures contain an already-living mycelium of another mushroom. The mycelium can be planted in substrate and nurtured into growing into its own mushroom. It will be a genetic clone of the original, making liquid cultures better for creating new colonies of mushrooms with traits you want to preserve.

However, if you want to mix traits from two separate mushrooms to create a new strain, you’ll need the spores from each mushroom. When they germinate, you’ll have a whole new mushroom. If you’re looking to isolate specific traits or study how mushroom genetics work, spore syringes are the better option.

Find High-Quality Magic Mushroom Spores at Eden Shrooms

So there you have it: liquid cultures vs. spore syringes. Each has their purpose in mycology. However, because magic mushroom liquid cultures are not legal to own in the US, spore syringes are a hobby mycologist’s only option.

That’s why Eden Shrooms is committed to providing high-quality spore products like our mushroom spore syringes. Each one has been prepared and packaged in an ISO 7 Clean Room to ensure they’re 100% contaminant-free. Plus, they feature industry-leading concentrations of ethically and sustainably sourced spores. Order yours today and enjoy fast one-day shipping nationwide—only from Eden Shrooms.