Measuring Mushroom Spores with a Microscope

[@V1ctoria00]

I got a shipment of those wine caps you made. Got 300ml of amazing looking LC from it and 2 amazing looking 600ml jars of popcorn that I'm gonna spread out in a month or two. That's only half the syringe!! Thanks Gary!!! Mush Love

[@CHRISTisKing197]

Gary is one of my favorite mycologists. Gary and 90sm are great people and the other people out there should take notes

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

“we need to follow the science” In “Fraudci’s” voice.. lol Thanks for following along! MUSHLOVE

[@themyceliumnetwork]

Alan Rockefeller has a video on measuring spores & it had a very simple measuring tool in it like a ruler. his video may be on the "crime pays but botany doesn't" YT page that seems like a lot of work you have to do to get a simple measurement.

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

that ruler would need to be calibrated before hand, so yes it is easier but this microscope did not come with a micrometer in the objective which is why I showed this method. There are three different ways to measure spore for the most part. Wet prep (this way) dry slide which is probably what he did and with an EMS

[@Lemonz1989]

Checkmate people who said we will never use geometry again, after school, in our daily lives 😜

[@benjamindejonge3624]

Ever thought about the concave drop, thanks

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

yes - you can do this on a flat surface the concave is good for holding liquids without heat fixing- they do fall to the surface so the microscope focuses on one plane - if I had a heating block or something to fix it Id use a flat slide

[@Milkex]

this is a great use for my latest OpenFlexure microscope!

[@treeclimber2917]

Hi. Great video. I'm a bit lost on the maths though. Could you explain where the 27.5 came from? Thanks

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

thanks! The 27.5 was from multiplying 110 pixels with .25mm field of view - so it’s 27.5 mm*p - then divided by the pixels gives you the length in mm. Hope that helps!

[@ianthebastard8128]

Although it's been many years since I studied algebra, it came back very quickly. I have to ask Gary, do spore sizes alter that much between strains!!!

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

yes they can - spore sizes, shapes, cell wall thickness etc.

[@syberphish]

I think the Pythagorean theorem and the percentage formula are probably the two I've used the most throughout my life since leaving school. They're so incredibly useful. Great for determining the height of a tree too.

[@laziacoff503]

great work.

[@billlumberg5746]

Really cool stuff gonna try that thanks!

[@ErikAnders]

Brilliant

[@carlosornelaslim9713]

Very interesting, thanks for the great work and sharing it !

[@BigfootPrinting]

Can the camera be used with the 25x oculars that the scope comes with for greater mag? Or is that only possible for direct viewing

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

@@BigfootPrinting It doesn’t fit mine but maybe there is an adapter Im not using that came with it

[@WalterWhite-de7vu]

Hey Gary! What software are you using for live viewing?

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

it was from the amscope website

[@SkellyMC]

any easier way to measure spores sizes?

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

yes - micrometers but they are a bit pricey - once I have some room in the budget I will re visit this stuff with more advanced techniques and tools

[@ziggysplace3858]

How do you transfer a spore print to a dish? The only option i can find is spore print to foil. As always thank you

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

I make them in used or broken dishes and store them in stacks 👍 you can do the same procedure off of foil though it’s all relatively the same 🍄❤️

[@carlosornelaslim9713]

Can you test your spore dilutes under the microscope to experimentally test the spore concentrations?? It would make a great video

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

yes! I will do this!

[@MysticForce92]

Hey there. I never really make comments but I have a very important observation. I ended up with an okay microscope with one of those usb eye piece cameras. I think the camera is similar to the one you have, but not identical. I have wondered how people took measurements and have heard some ways to guess, but this video was the first time I heard of a method like yours. My eyepiece field of view is much larger than it is with the camera. My camera does not have the exact same field of view as my eye pieces. I think its inaccurate to attribute the numbers on the objectives and eyepieces to the field of view that is present in the camera. I think your method holds up as a decent estimate, but like you said its "pretty subjective at that point". I like this method of guessing, but I do not think it is "much more accurate" than other methods. I think maybe some improvements could be made if we had more information about the camera, or maybe just the difference in FOV between eyepiece and camera. Maybe I'm wrong or have the wrong camera, either way, lets discuss this. Thank you for your work with mycology and microscopy, I enjoy your videos.

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

I will test this

[@DangerRussDayZ6533]

Gary what is your background? Do you have an education in mycology? Or was it just a hobby that took off?

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

I am formally a certified medical lab tech but started as a hobby about 7 years ago

[@RubberDuckStyle]

👍👍👍👍👍👊

[@ChristopherWozniak]

I'd really look elsewhere for information on microscopic measurements! As a biologist, I find his explanation really simplistic and not necessarily realistic. There are a lot of other variables with computer screens and camera hookups that are not integrated. Pythagorean theorem for a rectangle? Some folks should be reading rather then writing!

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

this is what I had available on hand, I did mention the micrometer in the very beginning. I will cover more methods in the future (hemacytomer is also a good method if you don’t have an ocular measurement system)

[@danielboomers]

why measure a spore.. when you never ever will find out how intelligence behind does the magic.. by the way you never grown a shroom.. but the ego is telling you that

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

to identify an unknown mushroom or compare species- I am an observer 🙏🏻🍄❤️

[@danielboomers]

@@FreshfromtheFarmFungido you really believe you grown a single mushroom ?