How to Extract Mushroom Spores from Prints for Slides & Cultivation

Collecting mushroom spores is a simple process that allows you to grow your own mushrooms and make beautiful natural prints—you just need a bowl, some water, a piece of paper, and a mushroom. Whether you’re starting a mushroom patch, creating a microscope slide, or want to make spore art, this article will help you get set up for extraction, plus give you tips on what to do with your spores!

How to Extract Spores From Mushrooms

Remove the stem from a fresh mushroom, then put the cap gill side down onto a piece of paper or sterilized tin foil. Put a drop of water on the cap, then cover it with a bowl and let it sit for 24 hours. Remove the bowl and cap to reveal your spores.

Section 1 of 6:

Preparing the Mushroom for Extraction

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1
Get a fresh mushroom from the store or ground. You can extract spores from any mushroom as long as it’s fresh and healthy. For best results, use a mushroom with a large cap. ^{[1]
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- You can also get more than 1 mushroom to extract more spores or make different designs.
- If you plan on growing the mushrooms to eat, make sure you get a type you know is safe and edible. It’s best to buy mushrooms from the store if you want to eat them because eating wild mushrooms can be dangerous.
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Check for mold, brown spots, and mushy areas. Unhealthy mushrooms may not produce spores. Feel the cap to make sure it’s firm and not wet and mushy. Flip the mushroom over and check that the gills are moist; if they’re old and dry, they’re less likely to release spores. ^{[2]
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- If your mushroom has pores instead of gills, you can still extract the spores following this method.
- If you want to reduce the risk of contamination, wear gloves sterilized with 70% rubbing alcohol.
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3
Remove the stem from the mushroom so the gills can touch the paper. Use scissors or a knife and cut the stem at its base, as close to the gills as you can. ^{[3]
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Research source} You can also just pull the stem out since it usually separates easily.
- Sterilize the scissors by holding them over a flame until they turn red hot, then dipping them into distilled water. ^{[4]
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  Research source} Wear heatproof gloves and work on a metal surface.
- On some mushrooms, the top of the cap grows down and over the gills a little bit. If that’s the case, use a heat-sterilized knife to carefully carve out the skirt of the cap, avoiding the gills.
- You can still make a spore print if you accidentally damage the gills; the pattern will just be affected.
- You can still extract the spores even if you want to keep the stem attached to the mushroom. Cut a hole in an index card and place it over a bowl, then insert the stem into the hole so the cap rests on the paper.

Section 2 of 6:

Making a Print to Collect Spores

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Sterilize a piece of wax paper or aluminum foil. Either wipe a piece of wax paper down with 70% rubbing alcohol or hold a piece of aluminum foil over a flame. This helps prevent other bacterium from getting into your print. ^{[5]
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- Wear heatproof gloves if you are sterilizing aluminum foil.
- If you’re making the print for an art piece, you can just use paper.
- If you’re doing this project to make a decoration, try putting a few mushrooms on paper of all different colors. White and black are good choices, since these are the most common colors for mushroom spores. ^{[6]
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Put the mushroom gill-side down onto the paper. Flip the mushroom so the gills are facing down. Then gently lay it onto the wax paper. ^{[7]
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Research source} If you want to be as sterile as possible, use heat-sterilized tweezers to touch the cap.
- If your mushroom has pores, put the cap pore-side down. The pores will often face down (in the same direction as the gills).
- Don’t press the mushroom down or you might crush it.
- You can put more than one mushroom on the same piece of paper or follow the same steps for a different piece.
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Add a drop of water to the top of the mushroom so the spores release. The water helps keep the mushroom moist and encourages it to release spores. ^{[8]
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- Don’t soak the mushroom or you might ruin the spores. Dry the cap off if you accidentally add too much water.
- If you’re trying to keep your culture pure, use sterilized water. Either boil the water, let it cool, and boil it again, or pressure cook it in a beaker at 15 psi for 15 minutes. ^{[9]
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Cover the mushroom with a cup or bowl to lock in moisture. Anything will work as long as it covers the mushroom entirely. This helps lock in the moisture and also prevents the spores from blowing away when the cap releases them. If you’re worried about cross-contamination, consider making your print in sterilized box. ^{[10]
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- Make sure the bowl or cup doesn’t press on the top of the mushroom. This might damage it. ^{[11]
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Leave the mushroom alone for 2-24 hours while it releases spores. Mushrooms start releasing spores within a few hours, so just leave it alone and let nature do its work. ^{[12]
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Research source} In general, the longer you leave the mushroom out, the more spores it will release.
- If you’re trying to do an art project, try leaving multiple mushrooms out for different lengths of time. That way, you can create a cool mosaic of different designs.
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Lift the mushroom up to see your spore print. After a few hours, go back to see the result. Pick up the mushroom and check out the spore print on the paper. ^{[13]
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- Spores usually just look like dirt or dust on the paper. The main difference is that there are a range of colors. They could be brown, black, white, red, yellow, and a few other shades.
- If you want to collect more spores, you can always leave the mushroom out a little longer.

Section 3 of 6:

Viewing Spores on a Slide

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Wash a glass slide with soapy water, or put it in a pressure cooker on a dry cycle at 15 psi for 15 minutes. Cut the stem off of a mushroom, then put it on the slide. ^{[14]
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Only use a drop or two of water, then cover it and leave it for 2-4 hours. ^{[15]
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Research source} To clearly see the spores, you need a very small amount on the slide. Ideally, the print should just barely be visible to the naked eye.
Spores usually stick to the glass by themself, but to preserve them for a long time, put a single drop of distilled water on the print, then place a slide cover on top. ^{[16]
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Research source} Otherwise, your print is ready for observation!

Section 4 of 6:

Transfering Spores to a Syringe

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Sterilize your water, syringes, and tools in a pressure cooker. Pour 10 mL of distilled water per syringe you have into a glass or shot glass, then cover the top with aluminum foil. Wrap your syringes and a tool for scraping (like tweezers) in aluminum, too, and put everything in a pressure cooker. Pressure cook them on a dry setting for 15 minutes at 15 psi. ^{[17]
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- Let everything cool before you start work on your syringe.
- Some water will likely evaporate in the pressure cooker, so put a little more than you need to fill all your syringes.
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Sterilize a work area or make a sterile box. To keep out all contaminants, consider making a sterile box out of a clear plastic storage bin and heavy-duty kitchen gloves. Cut two holes large enough to fit your arms through into the bin, then tape the kitchen gloves so they go into the holes. Wipe the entire inside down with rubbing alcohol, then Lysol. ^{[18]
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- Alternatively, wipe down a counter with rubbing alcohol and Lysol.
- If you use the sterile box, place your sterile instruments and spore print inside and close the lid. Make the syringe using the kitchen gloves taped into the box, and don’t open the lid until your syringe is capped off or ready to use.
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Scrape the spore print into the distilled water and fill the syringe. Use the tip of the syringe or the tweezers to scrape up the spores, then mix it into the distilled water. Fill the syringe, and cap it off or use it to inoculate a mushroom bag. ^{[19]
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- If you use the tip of a syringe, pull up and squirt out small amounts of water to mix it.

Section 5 of 6:

Growing Mushrooms in a Bag

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Select a growth medium for your spores. Different mushrooms prefer different growing media. Common substrates include wood, manure, and grain or straw. Choose wood for oyster, shiitake, and chicken of the woods mushrooms. ^{[20]
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Research source} Portobellos like manure, and enoki and oyster mushrooms both grow well in straw. ^{[21]
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- Research your spores to find what kind of grow bag to buy or make. If you’re not sure what mushroom you have, try growing it in straw.
  - If you don’t know what kind of mushroom you have, do not eat it .
Spray a disinfectant on the small, breathable area at the top of the bag (it will always be above the substrate), wait 20-30 seconds, then wipe it off. Inject 10-20 mL of spores per 2 litres (0.53 US gal) of growth media. Then immediately cover the injection hole with a piece of masking tape. ^{[22]
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Shake the bag and put it in a warm, dark area. This helps mix the spores into the medium. The perfect temperature for your mushroom grow bag depends on the species of mushroom, but between 60 to 75 °F (16 to 24 °C) is generally good. ^{[23]
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- If you don’t see mycelium (white strands) spreading through the bag after ten days, shake it up again.

Section 6 of 6:

Growing or Preserving the Spores

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Rub the paper onto compost to grow the mushrooms. If you’re not too worried about cross-contamination, fill a pot with a growth medium like compost, then scrape your spores from the paper onto the substrate. Mix it together, water it, and put the pot in a dark area, ideally between 65 to 75 °F (18 to 24 °C). ^{[24]
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- Mushrooms don't need a lot of care, but keep the soil moist. Spritz it with some water if it's dry.
- The mushrooms should start sprouting in 3-4 weeks. If you don't see any by then, the spores may have gone bad.
- You can use compost mixed with straw for your medium. If you have a wood-eating mushroom, mix the compost with sawdust.
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Store the spores in a dry, cool place and out of sunlight. Store spore prints in an airtight container, like a plastic bag. If you live in an area with high humidity, store your spores in the fridge but don’t freeze spore prints or syringes. ^{[25]
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- Try not to scrape the paper on the opening of the bag when you're putting it in or you might rub off some of the spores.
- If you're saving spores on multiple pieces of paper, use a different bag for each piece.
- Kept in favorable conditions, the spores can last about a year. You can't really tell if they're still fresh with a visual check, though the color might start fading as they dry out.
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Spray the spore print with hairspray to save it as an art project. Since mushroom spores look really cool, you might want to save yours. Luckily, you can! Simply spray the paper with some hairspray or clear spray paint to lock the print in place. ^{[26]
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Go to source} Then you can hang it up to show off your work.
- Try experimenting with different mushroom types to get different spore designs. You can make all kinds of great posters with the prints.

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