You’ll want to be on the lookout for three major contributors to the quality of your microscopy spores from quality spore sellers.
- Authenticity. This is a big one—there are many rare (or at least hard-to-find) different mushroom strains out there, and some vendors aren’t always honest about what they’re selling you.
- Purity. In order to have a proper microscopy session, the spores you buy must be pure—that is to say, free of contamination.
- Price for Rare Strains. Cheaper doesn’t always mean better. Generally speaking, expect to pay between $20–$50 for a single 10ml spore syringe from a reputable seller. The rarer the strain, think of rare mushroom spores, the more expensive it’s likely to be if it’s authentic.
➢ Spore Companies: Cubensis Mushroom Spore Companies and what to look in due diligence.
➢ Mushroom Spores Etsy, Ebay, Amazon: Learn where to use caution when buying Cubensis Mushroom Spores: Mushroom Spores Etsy
How to Confirm the Authenticity and Purity of Spore Syringes From a Seller
Unfortunately, it can be difficult if not impossible to really know what you’re getting from a mushroom spore seller until you have the product in your microscopy lab. This is why the following section is so important—check out the seller’s reputation in the amateur microscopy and mycology community, and make sure that they offer great customer service (pro tip: Quality Spores passes these “tests” with flying colors!).
Once you have the spore syringe, you’ll want to examine it under your microscope as you would with any other syringe. The syringe should have a standard Luer-lock and contain a non-nutrient solution (distilled water). This is to prevent any colonization from occurring and thus ruining the sample (or worse, violating the law in the case of psilocybe mushroom spores).
Compare the spores to known spores of the strain that you’re interested in studying and see if they match up. Also keep an eye out for any contaminants under the microscope. This will confirm whether or not the spores are legitimate and pure.
How to Choose a Mushroom Spore Vendor? Look at their Customer Support & Community Reputation
Perhaps the most effectual way to determine whether a spore seller is worth doing business with is to first check out their customer support policies—do they offer customer support?—and their reputation within the community.
Here at Quality Spores, we’re proud to report that we have a great reputation in the amateur microscopy and mycology communities because of our high quality customer support. When we founded Quality Spores, one of the things we wanted to do in order to separate ourselves from others in the industry was to provide excellent customer support (which few people were doing at the time, to be honest).
Ready to Work With an Industry-Leading Spore Seller? Visit the Quality Spores Shop Now
We’re so glad you’re here—we invite you to visit our mushroom spore shop as soon as you’re ready to take your fungal taxonomy and amateur microscopy hobby to the next level!
If you’re still just getting started in this wonderful hobby, we invite you to download a completely free copy of our informative eBook.