I have been trying to get a hold of spores for a really long time and since no website will send anything to California I am kinda sol. I have successfully got one out of 6 jars to colonize with just some leftover particles from a bag that had dry caps in it. I didn't think it would work! If this jar becomes fully colonized, could I grow healthy fruits from it and then make a spores print from the fresh caps? Or would potency be lost, ect...

Yes for sure you can make a sporeprint yourself and potency will not be affected, thats how shrooms reproduce, by spreading spores and colonizing substrates

Good luck!

I really hope for your sake that what colonized your jar is indeed P. cubensis mycellium, but I hate to rain on your parade, it's extremely unlikely... The # of contams in that bag with the dried cap in it must have been astronomical. And cubensis spores, compared to its competitors, are pretty weak. I have never heard of anyone successfully spawning from unsterilized materials without going the step be step agar petridish mycellium isolation route, let alone attempting from a dried cap at the bottom of a bag!!

So, now the caveat is out of the way, I really hope you meet with success!! Is your mycellium white and fluffy? Free of any colour? How fast is it colonizing? The faster it colonizes and the faster you set it to fruit after full colonization at ideal temp and humidity, the less chance real contams will take hold. And yes, if you sccessfully colonize and fruit, a spore print will preserve full poency AND a full strain crossection.

Good luck and keep us posted!

JBArk

You can probably befriend someone on a mushroom forum that can send/trade you some prints
if you run out of spores.
Can't remember where I have seen trading but it's out there=)

I just read the faq over at spore works and cant find anything about not shipping prints to california.
http://sporeworks.com/

(It was at least 2 years since I ordered from them but back then they where legit)

I think you gotta take the good with the bad when it comes to law, you got medical MJ in Cali!
Mushroom spores being illegal is of course is completely ridiculous.

Ya I really didnt think it would work but since I had jars and rice flour I figured I would give it a go just to get the tek down. One of the jars is really green and I trashed it the second I saw it. The other four jars have nothing. The jar that I think has potential is sort of a milky white, I dont know Ive never seen real micellium before so I cannot say if it looks healthy or not. Its definitely only one color. Well if anyone wants to send me a spore print that would be great!

This is from their site and its on every other site Ive ever seen that sells spores.

"California, Idaho, and Georgia residents: Orders requesting Psilocybe Genera Spores shipped to California, Idaho, and Georgia will be refused, voided, or refunded. Possession of these mushroom spores may be illegal in CA, ID, and GA without the proper permissions."

The only site I have seen that I cant find anything about it being illegal in California is Free Spore Prints Earth. But I dont know how credible they are. Anyone have input on that site?

Q

www.Fsre.nl is a good site. Follow their rules and you will be ok.

A picture or 2 and we can probably tell if your jar is good or contammed

Have it mailed to your friend in another state. (if you have no out of state friends, I suggest you take a road trip and make some)

Also, you could go "pick'n" when the season returns.

fsre ftw
..if the colonizing jar does not have ropey, rhizomorphic mycelium growth, then it is most likely a contam. the milky white growth u describe could also be cobweb mold. post a picture of it..that will make it easier to identify.

rhizomorphic myc:


cobweb mold (notice its not ropey like rhizomorphic myc):


if you jar has even some rhizomorphic growth, then you can isolate it via agar and clean the myc from its contams...but i really doubt that your jar actually contains shroom myc.
however, i know that spores from dry caps can be used to grow shrooms, but that requires purifying methods such as agar. you also need to be as sterile as possible...u can't just dump a dry cap in a jar lol.

I am sorry mode for asking on the forum.

I would say that my jar looks more like the bottom jar with the cobwebs. The jars are actually at SWIMs house, so I can't get a picture for a few days but SWIM and I will attempt to fruit in a few days and I will take a picture of it then. It's also not very thick. Like, I can see through it and see the rice cake pretty clearly. Buy no point in debating if I don't have a pic for you guys. I will update soon, and in the mean time fsre will be getting a euro from me

if its cobweb, then i wouldn't recommend fruiting it. you will introduce contaminants and risk all your future grows at that location

Ok I will be careful then. Thank you guys for the help! Ill try and get around to this soon.

Let us know what they turned out to be..

Also, let me know how the FSRE works for you. Or if you find any other way of getting spores. Thanks.

So its been a very long time and still have not gotten a print from fsre. I followed their directions exactly. Oh well my hopes are not down, for I have discovered a jar from my test batch that for sure has micellium! It was a late bloomer but it looks exactly like the picture posted here. Its probably colonized about 1/5 of the jar and there are no noticeable contamination's from the outside. It is now being properly incubated and I will take a picture soon when it has progressed further. If you guys could then give me an opinion on whether or not I should birth it that would be awesome!

Let's say I know a site that has a good reputation for shipping spores to cali, should I post a link in this thread? or would it be more advisable not to do so?

This is sort of a funny story. So after today it will have been 2 and a half weeks from the day I sent in a FSRE order form. I emailed them 30 mins ago just making sure they would send them to California and how long it would take. (Not a complain I was just asking) Then 15 mins ago the mail man came and what do you know, there it is with Golden Teacher spores. The first on my list! FSRE actually emailed me back 5 mins after I emailed them saying it could take 4 weeks or longer. I just emailed them again to thank them and to tell them the funny news.

Now the only thing I need is a syringe. Can you buy them locally? I dont want to wait around for them to come in the mail, Im so excited to start this first grow!