Working with mushroom spores can introduce new complexities into your amateur microscopy hobby such as how to store mushroom spores, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing by any means. Studying viable specimens (and, ostensibly, keeping them in a viable state or living state) will teach you a lot about handling research subjects with delicate properties. Learn more about microscopy topics here such as how long are spore syringes good for? Mushroom spores may last for years especially in a liquid culture psilocybe syringe that’s preserved.

Psilocybe mushroom spores and through mushroom cultivation are a great way to learn these skills, since they have varying degrees of overall robustness. For example B+ spores, which originated in the wilderness of Florida, are known for their general versatility. These psilocybe cubensis spores or originating from spore syringes are more resistant to contamination and can tolerate a wider range of temperatures than many of their cousins.

B+ Spores
The mature fruiting body of a b+ mushroom. b+ mushroom spores are a popular psilocybe cubensis strain among amateur microscopists for educational and taxonomic purposes thanks to their overall sturdiness.

Working With Mushroom Strains like Albino Penis Envy When Studying Spores for Microscopy

Conversely, a spore strain like what’s created from Albino Penis Envy Spores (APE spores) is usually considered to require more patience in the lab due to its more challenging properties. Nevertheless, many amateur microscopists have reported that many of our top mushroom strains are a joy to study once one they conquer the initial hurdles in the lab for microscopists studying spores for microscopy.

The differences in complexity and attributes of mushroom strains provide you with a psilocybe cubensis spore strain with characteristics that match your level of skill and comfort. Few other microscopy specimens offer such a wide degree of variability, so it’s easy to understand why our psilocybe mushroom spores are so popular!

Having said that, you will of course want to do your best to take care of your spore specimens for the optimal educational experience. In today’s post, we’ll be answering a number of common questions, many of which are related to proper storage and handling of your mushroom spores.

What’s The Best Mushroom Spores Growing Environment for Colonization?

Can Mushroom Spores Go Bad? How Long Do Spores Last?

In other words, how long do mushroom spores last and do mushroom spores go bad?

Do mushroom spores expire? How long do mushroom spores last? How long to spore syringes last? Do mushroom spores go bad? Do mushroom spores expire? In this context, “going bad” refers to anytime after the period during which a spore specimen is viable – i.e., as close to the state in which it would be if it was discovered in nature. The good news is that mushroom spores may last for years as long as you don’t have a bad spore syringe initially. The quality of your initial spore syringe is critical.

As for the psilocybe cubensis spores themselves, here’s an interesting article about how 250 year old mushroom spores germinated by researchers is evidence of the resiliency of fungi.

Care And Storage of Mushroom Spore Syringes, Psilocybe Spore Prints, and Storing Mushroom Spores The Best Way

Learn how to store mushroom spores and how to store spore syringes for keeping them fresh. A great many factors play a part in how long mushroom spores last and in exactly how to store mushroom spores the best way. Also questions people are asking refer to how and where the spores are stored, whether the spores are in a print or a syringe for safely keeping, storage temperatures, and the unique characteristics of that particular mushroom strain itself. It gets complex but it’s always best to start with a reputable mushroom spore supplier to get viable spores from the start, that are live cultures.

How long to spore prints last? How long are spore syringes good for? With these questions in mind, a properly sealed psilocybe cubensis spore print containing psilocybe cubensis spores tend to last substantially longer than spore syringes for comparisons; at least a few years for normal mushroom spores storage time intervals, with some anecdotal evidence suggesting that a lifetime of nearly ten years is possible for spore prints vs. spore syringes.

How long do spore syringes last? How long are spore syringes good for? Do you know how to store spore syringes. Spore syringes, like the ones we carry at Quality Spores for safely storing mushroom spore syringes, they should generally be stored in your refrigerator (or at least a cool, dry place if you plan to study them immediately) and be used within no more than 30 days. This is, of course, a general recommendation for mushroom syringe spore storage. Mycologists have reported observing viable spores from a syringe which has been refrigerated for up to a year.

How to store mushroom spore syringes vs. mushroom spore prints is another valid question. Clearly mushroom spore prints last longer, but since spore syringes are generally much easier to use than a psilocybe spore print, the syringes are generally preferred by amateur microscopists despite their shorter shelf life.

If it were only this easy!

Can You Freeze Mushroom Spores? How To Store Mushroom Spores

If your goal is to study viable psilocybe mushroom spores, freezing is almost always a bad idea. While it’s possible that frozen spores may still be viable after having been frozen, it’s just as likely that they won’t be.

The strain makes a difference, but so does the kind of freezer being used. Most household freezers have temperature cycles which can cause the aqueous solution to crack and damage the spores, whereas deep freezers (the chest-style freezers people often keep in their garages) often maintain a constant temperature.

Regardless, we do not recommend freezing your spores if at all possible.

What’s the Best Way to Store Mushroom Spores?

The best place to store a spore syringe is in your refrigerator. We recommend studying our spores as soon as possible after you receive them, but as we discussed above, you can expect refrigerated syringes to last for up to 30 days and often longer.

How Do Mushroom Spores Germinate?

A cubensis mushroom in the wilderness with dark lighting.

As law abiding amateur microscopists, we of course want to always be very sure that our mushroom spores never germinate—at least not to the point where they begin to form mycelium or fruiting bodies, as those stages of development contain psilocybe (unlike the spores) and are thus illegal in the vast majority of the United States.

Please keep in mind that the legalities surrounding psilocybe are in a seemingly constant state of flux; for example, not even a couple of weeks prior to the time of this writing both Oregon and Washington D.C. passed psilocybe-related initiatives related to decriminalization or legalization for licensed therapeutic applications.

Having said all that, here’s the good news: there’s exceedingly little chance of “accidental” spore germination in your amateur microscopy lab. Mushroom spores germinate only after being placed in a suitable substrate (such as agar or grain in a lab setting), having enough moisture, temperature control, and so on.

Resources For Learning More About Exotic Mushrooms

If you’re new to the amateur microscopy hobby or you’d just like to learn more, we’ve prepared plenty of resources to help you get started. You can dive right in and start learning right away about quality spore syringes for exotic mushrooms and you’ll be ready for the educational experience of a lifetime!