How to Obtain Spores From Mushroom Caps

Mushrooms are a healthy and versatile food enjoyed cooked in pies, soups or sauces or raw in salads. They are also the only vegan food source of Vitamin D. If you would like to harvest your own mushrooms to eat, or if you would simply like to observe and study different types of mushrooms, the first step is to collect their spores. The easiest way to do this is to take a spore print.

Berry basket
Piece of paper or glass
Knife
Latex gloves
Alcohol hand rub
Bowl

Instructions

- 1
  Pick the mushrooms you want to collect spores from and place them in a berry basket or similar collection container. You will have the best luck with fresh, mature mushrooms. You can use supermarket mushrooms, but these are usually too dry to produce a good print.
- 2
  Rub alcohol on your hands and put on a pair of latex gloves.
- 3
  Using your knife, remove the stem from small mushrooms. For larger mushrooms, slice off sections of the cap.
- 4
  Place the cap or cap sections gill-side down on a piece of paper or glass. If your mushroom has white spores, black paper is best, and vice versa. Glass will accommodate all spore colors.
- 5
  Place a bowl over the mushrooms to reduce air movement.
- 6
  Leave your mushrooms for 12 to 24 hours. When you return and lift the mushroom caps, you will see millions of tiny spores on your paper or glass. It will look like a fine dust.

Birds That Eat Raw Sunflower Seeds in the Shell

Sunflower Seeds for Oil

Garden Seeds