🍄 Buying Magic Mushroom Spores: Your Complete Guide
Not exactly sure what you're getting into with our products? As passionate mycologists, we want mycology to be as easy as possible for you. Here are some in-depth answers to frequently asked questions about spores, what they're used for, and how to buy them.
1. The Basics of Psychedelic Mushroom Spores
These mushroom spores are the reproductive units of psilocybin-containing mushrooms, most notably varieties of Psilocybe cubensis. Like seeds, mushroom spores 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. They’re haploid in nature, similar to an egg. Other common names for them include psilocybin spores, psilocybe spores, psychedelic spores, and magic mushroom seeds.
2. What Spores Are Used For
The purpose of all mushroom spores is ultimately to ensure its species’ survival. Outside of nature, 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.
Using magic mushroom spores to propagate and grow any psilocybin-containing species is illegal in the United States. 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 psychedelic mushroom spores for bona fide research in the fields of mycological taxonomy, spore morphology, and microscopy purposes
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: Do not attempt to buy psilocybin spores from us and propagate them. The resulting mushroom will contain psilocybin and psilocin. These are both Schedule 1 controlled substances in the USA and thus federally illegal to use, own, and distribute.
Can I grow magic mushroom spores into mature 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 to then successfully produce multiple flushes of mushrooms. In fact, this is frequently done by people growing gourmet or medicinal mushrooms like shiitake and reishi. 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, you can appreciate and study psychedelic mushroom spores through the lens of a microscope.
How are spores different from liquid cultures?
Spores, as explained above, are basically like little packets of genetic information that have the potential to develop into the full organism—but they aren't living cells yet. This is fundamentally different from a liquid culture, which is typically living mycelium suspended in a nutrient broth. This nutrient broth is usually a dilute solution of LME (light malt extract) dissolved in water. When you order magic mushroom spores from Eden Shrooms, the spores you receive are 100% viable, clean, and dormant. Thanks to our rigorous QA and ISO 7 Clean Room workzone, we’re confident that they have zero contaminants and haven’t started germinating.
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. With all the resources and off the shelf products available today, it’s relatively easy—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 magic mushroom spores under a microscope, it is critical to understand the nature of the total organism you are examining. Here is a synopsis of how a wild strain of Psilocybe cubensis would grow on a cow patty in nature:
A mushroom ejects millions of spores into the wind.
A few psychedelic mushroom spores land on a fertile substrate such as cow dung, mulch, or rich soil.
Spores each form a haploid mycelial colony of its own with one nucleus per cell.
The mycelial hyphae from one magic mushroom spore meets a colony from a mated spore. They join to become a diploid mycelium colony with 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 airflow, shifting temperature, change in humidity, and so on 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 the next generation of magic mushroom spores.
We know it might be annoying to keep reminding you, but we are legally obligated to again remind you that our spores are for microscopy purposes only. All of this information is exclusively for educational context.
Which of our psychedelic mushroom spore products are most popular?
All of our magic mushroom 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. Our best-selling kind of product is our magic mushroom spore syringe.
3. How to Study Mushroom Spores
Mushroom spores are microscopic and only visible with the naked eye when clumped together. If you buy psilocybin 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.
Do all magic mushroom spores look the same?
Many strains of psychedelic mushroom spores have a lot of similarities in 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. 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 psychedelic mushroom spores 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 unless you’re handling these spores in a sterile cleanroom, the once-sterile spore solution inside of your spore syringe is subject to contamination as soon as they are released. It is possible to introduce various bacteria or other microbes via touch or even your breath. Proper sterilization and preservation practices help prevent contamination from occurring.
4. The Species We Source Spores From
While magic mushroom spores in general can come from a wide variety of genera, we primarily specialize in 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. In today's market, however, the most popular species for research purposes is Psilocybe cubensis. We also offer Psilocybe natalensis, Psilocybe mexicana, and Psilocybe tampanensis, with more exotic species coming soon.
Do you offer Amanita muscaria spores? Does anyone else?
Amanitas and magic mushrooms are very different and considered to be in different categories of fungi. We only offer varieties of magic mushroom spores. You may be able to find A. muscaria spores elsewhere, but be warned: successfully growing fruiting and sporulating bodies has yet to be achieved.
How many strains or varieties of Psilocybe cubensis species are there?
There are hundreds of strains—or, more accurately, varieties—in existence. These include 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.
5. How Magic Mushroom Spore Syringes, Swabs and Prints Are 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 magic mushroom spore syringes, the spores are harvested from the foil through a proprietary sterile process. Fresh spores are collected and put into our aqueous spore solution, which is essentially fresh spores suspended in sterilized distilled water. It is then sent into our production ISO 7 Clean Room where it is packaged in secure and sterile packaging. Plus, we designed our harvesting process to have a net-neutral impact on our carbon footprint, minimizing the harm we cause to the climate.
6. The Legality of Magic Mushroom Spores
Psychedelic mushroom spores are currently legal for sale, possession, and study in 47 states, though that number regularly changes. Check your local regulations before you buy psilocybin spores. The spores do not have any active compounds like psilocybin, psilocin, or baeocystin, and thus there is no law against possessing them. However, the resulting fruiting bodies will contain high levels of psilocybin, making propagating and growing magic mushrooms illegal under federal law.
Can these spores make you trip?
No, the spores of magic mushrooms do not contain any active psychedelic compounds and do not produce any psychoactive effects. As we mentioned earlier, you would need to germinate the magic mushroom spores and help them grow. The eventual mushrooms that grow will contain psilocybin and psilocin, both of which are associated with psychoactive “trips” and are federally illegal.
