Hello guys. I received a psilocybe cyanescens spore print for use on a school project about two weeks ago. It came in one of those fold over sandwich bags everyone sells their weed in. From a trusted online supplier I might add. I cut much of the bag away and taped the open sides together to keep contaminants out and make It more presentable. It's been in there about two weeks now I believe.

I'm hoping I can use it for a grow if its any good still. I'm not sure if how it was packaged is standard or not. What are the chances its good and free of contamination? Is there any way to sterilize it if it is or is It destined for for my spore collection?

I'd just give it a go and see.

I've successfully grown some prints that were taken in way less than ideal conditions.

there's a high chance that it can contam. so its better to clean it (kinda like re-x ) using agar plates. thats the most fullproof way to get a contam free pure culture. if u dont have that or dont wanna spend on it, then maybe try isolating the mycelium from a layer of popcorn bed (like with agar)...dont know how well that would work, but i *think* it can be used.

oh, and you cant sterilize it, cuz then u would kill the spores with it..(duh..)
let us know how it works out

I've kept cyan prints for way longer than that without loss in viability.

@phantastica- its just a print. No way to get mycelium from it just yet. How would an agar plate clean it?

Im not sure on the conditions it was printed in but im not concerned as it was from a trusted source. I might try inoculation of a single jar in hopes of zero contamination and successful growth. I guess that's one way to find out.

Sorry for asking my question in your topic, but how long does a fresh print last? can we keep it in a freezer to longer the spore life?

watch these 2 vids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNNSdciEwiE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...mfu_in_order&list=UL

once you innoculate ur agar plate with the spores, the myc will grow healthy on some sides, and maybe contamed on the other sides (depending on if it was contamed or not). then, you can transfer the clean myc from the agar to a new agar plate, and let that myc propagate. then, once u have clean myc, cut it out of the agar plate once again, and innoc ur wbs jar with it, or whatever

oh nice! Never heard of that. I'll give that a shot. Thanks a lot!

EDIT: any idea on the cost of materials for this? I'd love to try this. I'm so new to all this though.

Quite awhile. I've still got prints from upwards of 4 or 5 months ago, just sitting in my... box... I'm sure they are still usable, and I probably won't even break them out for a long time yet... xD
The oldest I've ever used was upwards of around 8 months old. And they worked fine.

I doubt that you have contams in your print. If you got it off a trusted vendor, it should be fine... provided you didn't do anything to hinder it.

How much of the print typically goes into a syringe vs On agar?

in the temperatures in outer space, -270C, spores can survive for millions of years so i'm sure if stored in a freezer, they will last for at least a few years.


mmm not sure..maybe ~60$ to have enough for a while. i would suggest getting glass petri dishes tho rather than the plastic ones, cuz glass ones can be re-used over and over again.


a one sporeprint with a 2inch diameter can make upto 5 good syringes (12ml each), but i think upto 10-15 can be made. but i would suggest keeping your spores concentrated and maybe go with 3 syringes..(even one syringe is a shitload for a long while cuz u can do g2g over and over).
...as for the agar.. i think 1-2 drops of concentrated spore syringe water should be enough, but a little more can be used..

Cool thanks for the response! I'll look into that some more when I think I'm ready to begin the process.

I did have one more question though. I have ten innoculated jars with a lot of colonization. They should be for the FC very soon . Once they are ready for dunking what should I do? I've read that a fridge is a good spot but I can't do that as I live in a shared house. I don't exactly know what to do. Can I leave them in my room at RT? What container is best?

This is so far my first successful grow. 1 of 2.

once your cake is colonized, just dunk it any container of ur choice for ~12-15hrs. the important thing here is that the cake should be submerged in the water, so you will probably have to use something to hold it under water, since the cake will float.
i'm 98% sure that doing it at room temperature will work just as well. the cooling temps of the fridge are recommended when dunking because it initiates pinning a little bit faster. this is because the mycelium receives signals that temperatures are dropping and becoming unfavorable; so it pins faster in order to sporulate all it can, while it can.
So, i think room temp will still work since the myc has to end up fruiting sometime regardless
oh, and make sure to dunk after every flush for max yield