Mycology (the study of Fungi) is rapidly gaining popularity as humanity comes to the realization that fungi can provide several physical, cognitive, economic, environmental, and psychological benefits. Fungi are some of the oldest organisms on the planet, and interestingly shared an ancestor with humans until about 1.5 billion years ago when they split from the “animal” branch of the tree of life. This split occurred when organisms in the animal branch began to encapsulate nutrients in a cellular sack (a stomach) for digestion, whereas Fungi continued to digest at an individual cellular level. Fungi propagate their genetic code through the dispersion of spores, and survive by consuming nutrients from their environment (mostly in the form of detritus and decaying material). Therefore they play a crucial role in the health of any ecosystem, as they are the primary decomposers of both plant debris like cellulose/lignin, and dead/decomposing animal tissue. Furthermore, they also have extraordinary capacity to recycle/decompose toxic material, from petroleum oils, to nuclear waste.

The benefits which Fungi provide are not limited to the ecosystem level, they can also have significant benefit to the individual. Several edible/gourmet species promote increased cognitive, cardiovascular, and mental health, while Psychoactive varieties (Psilocybe Cubensis in particular) have shown remarkable results in the treatment of many psychological conditions. These benefits have catalyzed many to begin growing their own medicinal mushrooms, and the greatest information repository known to man (the internet) is awash with forum posts and dubstep-overlaid tutorials. Unfortunately many of these tutorials don’t go into detail or explain why certain parts of the process need to be done. We at Spores Lab designed this manual to give a quick gloss over of our tried and true process, and also try to explain the mechanism behind why our process works.


Before we get into the specifics of cultivation, let’s go over the basics of the magic mushroom life cycle under natural conditions.

If spores are successfully dispersed in an environment with sufficient nutrients and specific environmental conditions, they will begin to utilize available nutrients to grow and form what is called “mycelium”. Mycelium consists of a mass of branching root-like strands, each strand a single cell thick, called Hyphae. Mycelium can be described as the vegetative portion of a fungus (where all nutrients and energy are put towards growth instead of gene propagation). Mushroom mycelium will continue to grow and spread as long as nutrients are available, and as long as the environmental conditions are congruent with this “stage” of the mushroom life cycle. This part of the life cycle (where the mycelium is growing but no mushrooms are present) is often called “spawning” or “colonization”.

The next step in the mushroom life cycle happens once the mycelium has “colonized” (utilized most of the nutrients available). At this point (under natural conditions) changes in environmental conditions (like temperature and humidity) will trigger the mycelium to switch from a “spawning” or “colonization” state to a “fruiting” state. It is in this fruiting state that mushrooms grow out of the mycelial mat, and mushrooms will continue to sprout until all available nutrients and moisture in the environment are used or environmental conditions are changed back to conditions congruent with the colonization state.


Explained above is the mushroom life cycle under natural conditions, however when cultivating in an artificial environment certain steps (like working from an isolated culture, or adding extra nutrients via a fruiting medium before switching to fruiting conditions) can be taken to increase potency and yield. Most people will begin the cultivation process, with a mushroom spore syringe (which is recommended for beginners) however this is not the only way, or the most efficient way to propagate a mushroom culture.

Advanced mycologists can clone mushroom tissue by placing it in an *agar medium*. This process (called “isolation”) creates a culture that has a narrow genetic profile, and results in faster ‘colonization’ time, higher yield, larger fruiting bodies (mushrooms), and increased potency. Further isolation from the initial mushroom tissue sample can be done using agar, by selecting especially strong mycelial strands and propagating these onto another agar petri dish. Another way in which yield can be increased when cultivating indoors is through the addition of a high-nutrient “fruiting medium” when the mycelium has completely colonized its initial medium. When the fruiting medium is combined with the initial grain based medium (that is fully colonized) it is called a “fruiting substrate”.

*Agar is a high-nutrient gelatinous medium, the caveat to working with isolations/agar is that a “flow hood” is highly recommended. (a flow hood consists of a HEPA filter enclosed in a box with a fan situated opposite the filter. This allows filtered are to be continually blown over your workspace)*

Since this manual is aimed at the “hobby” cultivator, we will cover the process of cultivation using a Spore Syringe. If you are interested in learning more about agar cultures please contact us!

Regardless of whether you will start with an Isolation in an agar medium or a Spore print/syringe, you will need to procure some supplies and equipment. We recommend budding mycologists begin with a “Still Air Box” (instead of a Flow Hood which is quite expensive), a stovetop pressure cooker, and use jars with inoculation port lids for spawning/colonization.



*An inoculation port lid has a rubber self-healing injection port for error-proof inoculation.
*A pressure cooker is used to sterilize the mediums that the mushrooms grow in
*A Still Air Box (SAB) is a container that provides an area with no airflow. One can be built for ~$50. Visit https://sporeslab.ca for a video tutorial on building your own SAB.

It is imperative that we now stress the importance of STERILITY. When you cultivate Magic Mushrooms, you aim to create a perfect environment for fungal growth. Unfortunately this environment is also ideal for bacterial spread, or the spread of other unwanted fungi. Every cubic meter of air (in an unfiltered environment) contains millions of fungal and bacterial spores, and each of these spores can potentially compete with your Psilocybe culture. You must take extreme care to clean/disinfect all of the surfaces, tools, and body parts that will come into contact, or even come near your mushroom culture. This is also why colonization and fruiting mediums must be sterilized/pasteurized in a pressure cooker, and why a SAB/Flow hood is so important.

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