Home | Community | Message Board
You are not signed in.
Sign In New Account
Forum Index Search Posts Trusted Vendors Highlights Galleries FAQ User List Chat Store Random Growery


This site includes paid links. Please support our sponsors.

Mushrooms, Mycology and Psychedelics > Mushroom Hunting and Identification
Threaded Mode Threaded  Previous topic Previous  View all topics Index  Next topic Next 

Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!

Shop: Sporeworks.EU Spores for European Microscopy   Mushroom-Hut Substrate Bags   North Spore North Spore Mushroom Grow Kits & Cultivation Supplies   Myyco.com Isolated Cubensis Liquid Culture For Sale

Jump to first unread post Pages: 1
Some of these posts are very old and might contain outdated information. You may wish to search for newer posts instead.
Prints and Microscope
    #859312 -

any resources on where i can learn about spore prints and microscopic viewing?
How much does this ability narrow down identifying ?

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Prints and Microscope [Re: acenXA]
    #859432 -

To learn how to do a spore print, try the first thread in this forum. If you're not sure which it is, try this link.

As far as using a microscope in mycology, there are entire textbooks on the topic. The book I use is How to Identify Mushrooms to Genus III: Microscopic Features by David Largent, David Johnson, and Roy Watling. It is published by Mad River Press with ISBN 0-916-422-09-7.


Spore prints are essential in the identification of a mushroom. The main families of mushrooms are partially defined based on the spore print color.

Microscopy is how the professionals identify mushrooms when they want to be sure. If you want a certain identification, you need to learn how to look for what they want you to see, and get a copy of the latest monograph for the genus of the mushroom you're identifying. On the other hand, you can do a pretty good job without using a microscope on the majority of mushrooms you'll be interested in. If you want to get into microscopy seriously, expect to spend significant time, effort, and money.


--------------------
Happy mushrooming!

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Prints and Microscope [Re: ToxicMan]
    #859463 -

thanks, i'll look into that book.
mostly i'm interested in the biology of fungus reproduction. i would like to be able to sorta track from spore begining to spore ending. it's the sorta thing i would just like to add to my general body of knowledge.
any tips on using the microscope? like adding color or introducing a liquid medium?

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Prints and Microscope [Re: ToxicMan]
    #859479 -

- Post History Deleted Upon User's Request -

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Prints and Microscope [Re: ToxicMan]
    #860509 -

I've been thinking to get a good microscope for a long time, but those who seem good (oil immersion) are very expensive. What kind of microscope do you have and at what magnification is enough for viewing spores?
Can you view also hyphae, clamp connections, cystidia, etc.?

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Prints and Microscope [Re: zeronio]
    #860710 -

I got an inexpensive student microscope from the local science supply (about $250). You can see spores and other structures reasonably well at 400x which isn't high enough to require oil immersion. The main things I use 1000x (oil immersion) for are looking at spore ornamentation and photography. The hyphae, clamp connections, and cystidia are visible at 400x.


--------------------
Happy mushrooming!

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Prints and Microscope [Re: ToxicMan]
    #861334 -

- Post History Deleted Upon User's Request -

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Prints and Microscope [Re: acenXA]
    #861357 -

I'm not sure what you mean by "spore beginning" or "spore ending". As far as liquid media, I use water about 80% of the time and Melzer's Reagent the other 20%. As far as adding color, the book lists the stains that are most commonly used. Melzer's is the one I use by far the most. I also use Methylene Blue (cheap, easy to get, one of the best stains out there), an eosin (Rose Bengal, but most will do), and a few miscellaneous stains that were available. Thus far I'm mostly experimenting with the stains to see what features each tends to bring out. Melzer's is still the best one on the list, because it only stains amyloid within the cells, and only adds a brownish color (at most) to any other features. They are fun to play with for photography - ooooo, look at the pretty colors!


--------------------
Happy mushrooming!

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Prints and Microscope [Re: ToxicMan]
    #861371 -

- Post History Deleted Upon User's Request -

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Prints and Microscope [Re: ]
    #862315 -

yea thats exactly what i meant whole life cycle. and thanks TM, i've got plenty to go and keep me busy. only one more question which is do you print right onto glass? becuase i tried to transfer from paper to the glass and it didnt turn out that great becuase i ended up with globs of spores whicch i couldnt seperate. mad for poor viewing.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Prints and Microscope [Re: acenXA]
    #862319 -

- Post History Deleted Upon User's Request -

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Prints and Microscope [Re: ]
    #862335 -

MM i meant for microscopic viewing. how to get the spores to the microscope glass.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Prints and Microscope [Re: acenXA]
    #862353 -

- Post History Deleted Upon User's Request -

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Prints and Microscope [Re: acenXA]
    #862829 -

No, I don't do the spore print right onto the glass. There would be so many spores that you could hardly see them. I do the print on paper, then use a dissecting needle to transfer a tiny amount to the slide. If you can see a tiny dot of spore material you have plenty. Then add a drop of water and a cover slip and look at spores.


--------------------
Happy mushrooming!

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Jump to top Pages: 1

Shop: Sporeworks.EU Spores for European Microscopy   Mushroom-Hut Substrate Bags   North Spore North Spore Mushroom Grow Kits & Cultivation Supplies   Myyco.com Isolated Cubensis Liquid Culture For Sale

Mushrooms, Mycology and Psychedelics > Mushroom Hunting and Identification
Threaded Mode Threaded  Previous topic Previous  View all topics Index  Next topic Next 

Similar ThreadsPosterViewsRepliesLast post
* Positive ID with a Microscope sublimished 2,335 5 03/23/04 08:54 PM
by Anonymous
* Question about Microscopes and IDing
( 1 2 all )		 cheesenoonions 5,614 23 11/17/02 09:47 PM
by ToxicMan
* Melzer's Reagent St. Chibes 1,819 8 03/01/11 11:54 PM
by St. Chibes
* Mixing Melzer's reagent georgeM 2,298 11 06/16/08 04:26 PM
by Mr. Mushrooms
* Melzer's Reagent? sve 723 2 09/18/10 10:17 AM
by sve
* Yessup Wild Copelandia microscopy EonTan 1,256 11 03/09/06 07:00 PM
by YESSUP
* Re: spore prints.... Psylosymon 1,627 1 01/05/00 10:38 PM
by Psylosymon
* microscope leafing 2,048 8 03/19/05 11:44 AM
by kadakuda

Extra information
You cannot start new topics / You cannot reply to topics
HTML is disabled / BBCode is enabled
Moderator: ToxicMan, karode13, inski, Alan Rockefeller, Duggstar, TimmiT, Anglerfish, Tmethyl, Lucis, Doc9151, Land Trout
2,426 topic views. 0 members, 62 guests and 65 web crawlers are browsing this forum.
[ Show Images Only | Sort by Score | Print Topic ]
Search this thread:

Copyright 1997-2026 Mind Media. Some rights reserved.

Generated in 0.027 seconds spending 0.008 seconds on 16 queries.