Not exactly sure what you're getting into with our products? We want mycology to be as easy as possible for you. Here are some in-depth answers to common questions about magic mushroom spores, what they're used for, and how to buy them.
1. What are magic mushroom spores?
Magic mushroom spores are the reproductive units of psilocybin-containing mushrooms—most notably, Psilocybe cubensis varietals. All mushroom spores are essentially like seeds which contain the genetic material required to reproduce and form brand new mushrooms. Unlike seeds, they only contain half of the genetic make-up required to produce the full organism, that is, they are haploid in nature. Other common names for them include: psilocybin spores, psilocybe spores, psychedelic spores, and magic mushroom seeds.
2. Can you grow magic mushrooms with spores?
The purpose of any mushroom spore is ultimately to ensure its species’ survival. So yes, of course spores can be used to grow new mushrooms of any kind. People across the globe use mushroom spores to grow mushrooms for food and medicine. In the USA, however, you are limited to growing culinary or medical mushrooms like oyster and reishi mushrooms. Growing magic mushrooms, or any psilocybin containing species is illegal in the United States, so please refrain from using our spores to grow magic mushrooms. We cannot condone such use of our spores, so please do NOT ask us for any information or guidance regarding such matters. We do however encourage and promote the use of psilocybin spores for bonafide research in the fields of mycological taxonomy, spore morphology, and microscopy purposes
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: Do not attempt to propagate magic mushrooms from our spores, as the resulting mushroom will contain psilocybin and psilocin which is are both Schedule 1 controlled substances in the USA, and thus, federally illegal drugs.
Can I Grow Psilocybin Spores Into Magic Mushrooms?
The answer here depends on where in the world you are. If you are asking if you're legally allowed to grow them in the USA, the answer is no. If you are asking if it is physically possible to grow them, then the answer is yes.
Do our products work with grow kits or all-in-one grow bags?
Grow-bags are certainly capable of being inoculated with mushroom spores and then successfully produce multiple flushes of mushrooms. In fact, this is very frequently done by people who want to grow gourmet or medicinal mushrooms like reishi and shiitake. However, doing the same with any magic mushroom spores is against US law and cannot be condoned by us or any other US spore supplier. Instead, buy some spores and a microscope and go to town studying these little psychedelic wonders.
How are spores different than liquid culture?
Spores, as explained above, are basically like little packets of genetic information that have the potential to develop into the full organism, they are not living cells. This is fundamentally very different than liquid culture, which is essentially living mycelium suspended in a nutrient broth, typically a dilute solution of LME (light malt extract) dissolved in water. When you order spores from Eden Shrooms, the spores you receive are 100% viable, clean, and dormant—meaning they have not yet started to germinate.
Is it easy to grow mushrooms with spores?
According to thousands of testimonials, growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms from spores is a very attainable goal for people willing to put in a little bit of research, patience, and effort. Some would even say that it is "easy" with all the resources and off the shelf products available today, but everyone's experience is different when growing culinary mushrooms. While the same may be true for magic mushrooms, growing them is prohibited and should not be attempted according to federal laws.
How Do Magic Mushrooms Grow In The Wild?
When you view spores under a microscope, it is critical to understand the nature of the total organism you are examining. You wouldn't research a plant seed without understanding that it has the potential to grow if exposed to some soil, water and sunlight, would you? You'd be missing some serious contextual insight! The same is true for fungal spores. With that said, here is a synapse of how the mushrooms grow in the wild. For this example, we'll discuss a wild strain of Psilocybe cubensis growing on a cow patty in nature.
A mushroom ejects its spores into the wind by the millions.
A few spores land on a fertile substrate such as cow dung, mulch, or rich soil.
Spores each form a haploid mycelial colony of its own (one nucleus per cell)
The mycelial hyphae from one spore meets a colony from a mated spore and joins to become a diploid mycelium colony (two nuclei per cell). The diploid mycelium formed at this junction now has all of the genetic material required to grow a full colony capable of producing mushrooms when the right conditions arise.
The mycelium colonizes the substrate completely with the help of rain, humidity, and nutrients in the substrate. This stage is basically the mycelial colony eating and digesting the nutrients throughout the growing substrate and spreading its rhizomorphic tentacles—scientifically known as hyphae—further and further into the substrate in order to form as large a colony as possible before the time comes for fruiting.
When full colonization of the substrate occurs, the mycelium goes dormant until an opportunity to fruit (produce mushrooms) arises.
A disturbance such as increased air-flow, temperature change, change in humidity, etc. will trigger the colony into fruiting mode.
The mushroom primordia will start to form at the surface level of the substrate. This is known as the pinning phase.
The mushrooms become fully mature and release their spores, helping to contribute to the survival of its lineage for another generation.
We know it might annoying to keep reminding you, but we are legally obligated to again remind you that our spores are for microscopy purposes and all of this information is exclusively for educational context.
Which of our magic mushroom spore products are most popular?
All of our spores deserve appreciation, and we’ve had great experiences in researching all of them! That said, there are a few strains that are clearly more popular than others such as Golden Teacher, Jedi Mind Fuck, Albino Penis Envy, and Nutcracker!
3. What Do Spores Look Like? How Do I View Them?
Mushroom spores are microscopic, and only visible with the naked eye when clumped together. If you order mushroom spores online, you should expect concentrated spores to look like a bit of black or brown clumps or specks floating around in the spore syringe. The spores can almost be thought of like a baby powder. Individually, it'd be hard to see a single grain or particle of the fine powder, but join thousands of them together and it is very evident and visible to the naked eye.
Do all magic mushroom spores look the same?
Many strains and their spores have a lot of consistencies in regard to color, shape, and size. However, they are all unique to varying extents. Albino Penis Envy, for example, has translucent spores whereas Costa Rica has dark brown spores.
What magnification should I use for spores?
For best viewing results, we recommend no less than 400x magnification for researching mushroom spores under a microscope. Obviously, the higher the magnification, the closer the magic mushroom spores will appear, and the better detail you will be able to see.
How long will they last on a microscope slide?
Your research material will last a very long time on a slide, as long as it is not placed in direct sunlight, or frozen. Also, keep in mind that the once-sterile spore solution inside of your spore syringe is now subject to contamination once they are released from the syringe, unless of course you are doing this in a completely aseptic environment such as a cleanroom with very careful sterile practice. With this in mind, it is possible to introduce various bacteria or other microbes via touch or even simply by breathing on the slide, so proper sterile technique is always best for the best results.
4. What species of mushrooms do our spores come from?
While magic mushroom spores in general can come from a wide variety of species from a variety of genera, we primarily specialize in a wide variety of new and exciting Psilocybe cubensis spores for research. In general, psilocybin spores can come from these genera within the Fungi kingdom: Psilocybe, Panaeolus (including Copelandia), Inocybe, Pluteus, Gymnopilus, and Pholiotina. There are more and more new psilocybin producing mushrooms being discovered each day, and the list is becoming quite long! In today's market, however, by far the most popular for study purposes is the Psilocybe cubensis species. We also offer Psilocybe Natalensis, Psilocybe Mexicana, and Psilocybe Tampanensis, with more exotic species coming soon.
Do We Offer Amanita Muscaria spores? Does anyone else?
When speaking about magic mushroom spores, the spores of Amanita Muscaria are NOT mentioned. Amanitas and magic mushrooms are very different, and are considered to be in different categories. You may be able to find them elsewhere, but growing them has never been achieved anyways.
What Strains or Varieties of Psilocybe Cubensis Species Are There?
There are hundreds of strains—or more correctly, varieties—in existence, such as Golden Teacher, Albino A+, Penis Envy, and so many more. There are even new strains being developed all the time, such as our novel Blue Teacher mushroom spores. You can view 50+ cubensis strains simply by scrolling back up to the top of our catalog!
5. How Are Magic Mushroom Spore Syringes, Swabs and Prints Produced?
Our mushrooms are grown from select genetics in a controlled, clean-air environment for the duration of their vegetative phase. When spores are close to dropping, we move the monotubs or bags into a special positive pressure cleanroom where caps are cut and laid out on sterile foil. Here they are left to fully drop their spores onto the sterile surface of the foil. For producing large volumes of spore syringes, the spores harvested from the foil through a proprietary sterile process in which a large volume of fresh spores are collected & expertly prepared into our aqueous spore solution, which is essentially a suspension of fresh spores in sterilized distilled water. It is then sent into our production cleanroom where it is packaged in secure and sterile packaging. We're proud to have a net-neutral effect on the environment while producing these genetics.
6. Are Magic Mushroom Spores Legal?
Magic mushroom spores are 100% legal for sale, possession, & study in 48 states (Sorry Idaho & Georgia). The spores do not have any active compounds like psilocybin, psilocin, or baeocystin, and thus there is no law against possessing them. Please note that magic mushroom spores can be used for microscopy research only, as it is illegal to propagate them. The resulting fruit-bodies will contain high levels of psilocybin, which is illegal under federal law.
Can magic mushroom spores make you trip?
No, the spores of magic mushrooms do not contain any active psychedelic compounds, and thus they do not create any effect if consumed. Be warned that if you germinate magic mushroom spores, the eventual mushrooms that grow will contain psilocybin and psilocin, both of which are illegal in the states.
7. Magic Mushrooms In Science: References & Publications
Psychedelic mushroom spores are frequently used in reputable scientific research to make discoveries about their behaviors and potential for a multitude of technologies, medicines, etc. Learning about these uses may offer some inspiration into your own approach. It is our hope that you use our products for research & advancement as well!
Scientific articles about mushroom spores:
When beginning your research with spores, it may help you to see what some of America's top scientific organizations are doing with them. Research, mycology, and education is at the centerpiece of our mission. We believe that these articles properly represent some of the amazing work being done in the field.
Mushroom spores have been mentioned in the New York Times, Fox News, Epic Gardening, LiveScience.com, Double-Blind Magazine, and even ESPN (thanks Aaron Rodgers). On the other hand, magic mushrooms themselves seem to be flooding the news with new breakthroughs, policies, or realizations about magic mushrooms and their potential to assist with mental health disorders.
Helpful Articles & Links
Here are 3 links from our website that will help you in your journey into mushroom spores. Each one will give you a unique set of context that will either inspire you or prepare you for your journey ahead.
What Are Magic Mushroom Spores Used For In Science?
Our products have been used in a multitude of professional & personal research projects leading to an advancement of the mycology field. For example, our spores have been studied in order to determine how various anatomical attributes of a spore may affect its ultimate germination and genetic expression. We'd hope that one day, our spores can be used for more research pertaining to depression, substance-abuse, and alcoholism. There are also other efforts in the US currently that involve alternative approaches to various mental health disorders that have so far shown promising benefit from preliminary research done recently in the field of psychedelic research.
Who Are Some Notable Mycologists (Mushroom Scientists) That You Can Learn From?
When diving into the world of magic mushroom spores or mycology in general, things can get overwhelming. It helps a lot to have some folks to follow and gain inspiration from. Some of the most renowned mycologists that you should look up are:
Alan Rockefeller: Alan is an astute mycologist responsible for the discovery of a wide variety of psilocybin-containing mushroom species.
Paul Stamets: Paul is revolutionary in this field, responsible for bringing mycology into the mainstream through his Netflix documentary "Fantastic Fungi". He's most well known for his incredibly detailed books on mycology that are widely regarded as the mushroom grower’s bibles: Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms and The Mushroom Cultivator.
Giuliana Furci: Giuliana Furci is a Chilean woman who founded the Fungi Foundation, a foundation designated to fungal conservation and discovery across the globe
Dr. Gordon Walker: Dr. Gordon Walker is one of our favorite people because he is able to communicate mushroom science in an incredibly fun way. His ASMR mushroom videos educate you on a variety of topics while keeping you relaxed and engaged.
Note From The Founders Of Eden Shrooms
We hope that all of this information helps make your shopping experience seamless, clear, and inspired. We love mushrooms, and nothing makes us happier than serving passionate, good people. If you have any questions about our products, need guidance, or simply want to talk about mushrooms, do not hesitate to contact Daniel@edenshrooms! Thank you for your business, and we hope our products make a lasting impact on your mycology hobby, and ultimately, your pursuit of happiness!
