Microscopy technique
Slides, objectives, magnification, measurement and the things on a slide that are not spores.
The practical craft of spore microscopy: preparing a wet mount, choosing a compound microscope, knowing what 400x and 1000x each show, measuring a population against a graticule, reading a spore print and recognising bacteria, moulds and yeast when they turn up. Each guide is built around Psilocybe cubensis as the reference and the other species in the library as comparisons.
Microscopy techniqueNo. 12How to view mushroom spores under a microscope: slide prep, magnification and what to record
A practical guide to spore microscopy: preparing a wet mount from a spore syringe, which magnification to use, measuring spores with a graticule, and what to write in your notebook.
20 September 2026 · 2 min read · Read →
Microscopy techniqueNo. 13Choosing a microscope for spore study in the UK: what matters and what does not
What microscope do you need to study mushroom spores? Compound not stereo, 400x as the working magnification, a 100x oil objective for detail, and the features worth paying for.
20 September 2026 · 2 min read · Read →
Microscopy techniqueNo. 14What magnification do you need to see mushroom spores?
Mushroom spores are visible at 100x, clear at 400x and fully resolved at 1000x with oil. What each magnification shows, why more is not better, and how to measure what you see.
20 September 2026 · 2 min read · Read →
Microscopy techniqueNo. 15Psilocybe cubensis spore morphology: shape, size, wall and germ pore under the microscope
What Psilocybe cubensis spores look like at 400x and 1000x: subellipsoid, 11 to 17 micrometres, thick-walled with a germ pore, purple-brown in mass. How to measure and record them and how strains differ.
20 September 2026 · 2 min read · Read →
Microscopy techniqueNo. 16Spore print colour: what purple-brown, black, white and pale grey tell you
Spore print colour is a primary taxonomic character. What purple-brown, black, rusty, white and pale grey deposits mean, how to read density and pattern, and how to store a print.
20 September 2026 · 2 min read · Read →
Microscopy techniqueNo. 17Contamination under the microscope: telling bacteria, mould and debris from spores
How to recognise bacteria, mould spores, yeast and debris on a spore slide, what a contaminated syringe looks like, and how sterile preparation keeps a specimen clean.
20 September 2026 · 2 min read · Read →Specimens for this chapter
The strains these stories talk about, when they are in stock, prepared under sterile protocol and posted from the UK.
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