Magic mushroom spores are the reproductive cells of psilocybin mushrooms, which are a type of fungi. These spores contain genetic information that allows them to develop into mushrooms under the right conditions. The spores are typically microscopic and can be found on the underside of the mushroom cap. They are responsible for the spread and propagation of these unique fungi. Magic mushroom spores are highly sought after by enthusiasts, researchers, and cultivators alike. They are often used for the purpose of cultivation and cultivation research.

Magic mushroom spores

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What kind of mushrooms can I grow at home?

There are A LOT of edible mushrooms you can grow at home, but it really depends on where you'd like to grow them! For the beginner, we recommend oyster mushrooms (indoor and outdoor), Wine Cap (outdoor beds) and shiitake (outdoor logs). All are reliable producers, and will increase the likelihood of a successful first attempt!

Do I need special equipment to grow mushrooms?

If you've never grown mushrooms before, we recommend starting slow and easing your way into it! Start with a Spray & Grow kit or beginner Fruiting Block kit that doesn't require any special equipment to get the feel for it. Once you're comfortable, invest in a monotub or martha tent for indoor growing. Or, if you're an outdoor grower, invest in a container or drill bit (for plug spawn) and go from there. As you become more comfortable, you can level up your equipment. But it shouldn't take a huge investment to get started.

What are the best conditions for mushroom growing?

Mushrooms prefer indirect sunlight, lots of humidity, and temperatures between 60-75 F. Some species are more tolerant of heat (like pink oysters), while others are more tolerant of humidity changes. But generally speaking, it's best to create conditions that are relatively cool, moist, and shady.

How long do mushrooms take to grow?

Many species go from "pin" to "flush" in as little as two weeks! But others, like reishi, can take months. Also note that, if you're growing on logs, you'll need to factor in inoculation time (which is generally 6 months to a year).

Can kids grow mushrooms?

Absoulately! Kids love the mushroom growing process as much as adults. As long as they have adult supervision and somebody to cook their mushrooms thoroughly, the process of growing and harvesting can be a fun year round project for children. Note that mushrooms produce spores at the end of their growth cycle, so children (and adults) with respiratory allergies or compromised immune systems should only grow mushrooms in well-ventilated areas and take extra precautions when handling (like wearing a face covering) to prevent overall spore load.

Is it safe to grow mushrooms around pets?

Most pets are generally inquisitive, and some may try to dig into substrates and/or eat raw mushrooms. For this reason, we recommend growing mushrooms in an area of your home that is off limits to pets. Mushrooms are generally safe, but like humans, pets can get sick to their stomach if they eat raw mushrooms . Or, you may come home to a floor covered in spawn and/or sterile substrate, which isn't fun to clean up.

Where can I grow mushrooms?

Indoors, you can grow mushrooms on your countertop (with a kit), in jars, in bags, in a monotub, or in a martha tent. Outdoors, you can grow mushrooms in containers, garden beds, and on logs, stumps, and totems. Check out our mushroom growing guides to learn more.

Does light impact mushroom growth?

Yes. Mushrooms don't do well in direct sunlight. However, they do need ambient light to grow. So, if you plan to grow indoors in a basement, closet, or other dark space that sunlight can't reach, you will need to supplement with an artifical grow light.

Do I need to feed or fertilize my growing mushrooms?

How often should I water my mushrooms?

If you're not using a humidity-controlled environment (like a humidity tent or martha tent), you will want to generously water your mushrooms 2-3 times a day. That said, you don't want to soak them either. Spray with a fine mist until water droplets appear, then keep an eye on them for signs of moisture loss. Dry mushrooms will wilt and the edges will curl, which means they might need to be moved to a different space or be watered more frequently.

Do I need to cook my mushrooms?

Yes. If you’re going to consume home-grown mushrooms, make sure to cook them thoroughly with heat. If it is your first time eating a particular species, it is best to start with a small amount to check for allergies, even if cooked.

What do you mean by "fruiting" and "flush"?

The word "fruit" can be very specific, referring to foods like berries and apples, or a bit more general to refer to how an organism reproduces. So tomatoes and rosehips are the fruits of those plants; they contain the seeds. Likewise, mushrooms are the fruits of a fungus; they contain spores. So when a fungus starts to produce mushrooms, we call that fruiting. A "flush" refers to the production of multiple mushroom fruit bodies at one time. Many of the fungi we cultivate tend to produce many mushrooms simultaneously - this is known as a 'flush' of mushrooms. Interested in learning more? Check out our mushroom growing terminology guide .

The Legality of Magic Mushrooms in California

Psilocybe cubensis photographed in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, by mycologist Alan Rockefeller.

California has been at the forefront of psychedelic policy change for years. In 2019, the City of Oakland became “the first in the nation to decriminalize a wide range of psychedelics such as psilocybin mushrooms and ayahuasca.” Similarly, in early 2020, city leaders in Santa Cruz unanimously agreed to “decriminalize the adult use, possession, and cultivation of entheogenic psychoactive plants and fungi.” More broadly, Decriminalize California, a statewide grassroots effort to legalize psilocybin mushrooms in the Golden State via a voter initiative, picked up considerable momentum, but unfortunately stalled out after the outbreak of COVID-19 made the in-person collection of signatures practically impossible.

Most recently, on November 15, 2020, State Senator Scott Wiener tweeted, “It’s time to take a health/science based approach to drugs & move away from knee-jerk criminalization. Psychedelics have medicinal benefits & they shouldn’t be illegal. That’s why, when the Legislature reconvenes, we’ll work to decriminalize their use.”

Senator Wiener’s tweet linked to a news article which discusses increasing numbers of patients and therapists coming out of the psychedelic closet.

“Magic mushrooms” as they are colloquially known, have been the focus of intense research in recent years. In late 2018, Compass Pathway’s psilocybin treatment for treatment resistant depression received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the Food and Drug Administration.

The question remains: how illegal are “magic mushrooms” (defined as fungi containing the controlled substances psilocybin or psilocyn) under California law? Is there a viable medical defense? What about a religious defense?

Under California law, psilocybin and psilocyn, two active substances in “magic mushrooms,” are classified as Schedule I hallucinogenic controlled substances.

California Health & Safety Code Section 11054, subdivision (d). There is no medical or religious exception in the statutes.

California law prohibits, as an alternate felony-misdemeanor or “wobbler”, the cultivation of “any spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other substance” containing psilocybin or psilocyn, if done with the intent of producing psilocybin or psilocyn.

California Health & Safety Code Section 11390. This means that, depending upon the circumstances, a person suspected of unlawful cultivation of mushrooms faces the possibility of a felony arrest and conviction with an exposure of up to three years in the state prison.

California Health & Safety Code Section 11391 similarly prohibits various types activity related to mushrooms, if done for the prohibited purpose of facilitating a violation of Section 11390. Because of the intent requirement, the scope of Section 11391 is quite narrow, and this particular section by its terms does not prohibit the sales, possession for sales, and, transportation for sale of mushrooms or other material which contain psilocyn or psilocybin unless there is specific intent. Depending on the circumstances, a person suspected of a violation of Section 11391 faces the possibility of a felony arrest and conviction with an exposure of up to three years in the state prison.

California Health & Safety Code Section 11392 provides a limited exception for “bona fide research, instruction, or analysis” provided such activity is: 1) “not in violation of federal law” and, 2) “the research, instruction, or analysis is approved by the Research Advisory Panel established pursuant to Sections 11480 and 11481” of the Health and Safety Code.

Because psilocyn or psilocybin are classified as Schedule I hallucinogenic controlled substances pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 11054, subdivisions (d)(18) and (d)(19), any “material, compound, mixture, or preparation” containing psilocyn or psilocybin is subject to prosecution pursuant to another set of statutes applicable to Schedule I controlled substances under California’s Uniform Controlled Substances Act.

In particular, Health and Safety Code Section 11377 forbids the possession of any “material, compound, mixture, or preparation” containing psilocyn or psilocybin, which ordinarily is classified as a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in the county jail unless the person has certain aggravating “priors.”

Pursuant to Proposition 36, anyone charged with personal use, possession for personal use, or transportation for personal use of a controlled substance, may qualify for drug treatment instead of jail. The court must grant probation as an alternative to incarceration to qualifying defendants convicted of “nonviolent drug possession offenses,” as defined in Penal Code § 1210(a). Penal Code § 1210.1(a). Courts must impose, as a condition of probation, completion of a drug treatment program not to exceed 12 months, with optional aftercare of up to six months. The court may also require that the defendant participate in vocational training, family counseling, literacy training, and/or community service. Penal Code § 1210.1(a). Qualifying defendants must consent to participate in a drug treatment program, must be amenable to treatment, and must not otherwise be excluded from participation under Penal Code § 1210.1(b).

The scope of Proposition 36 is narrow and does not apply to sales-related offenses. For example, Health and Safety Code Section 11378 forbids the possession for sale of any “material, compound, mixture, or preparation” containing psilocyn or psilocybin. The crime is classified as a non-reducible felony subject to sentencing pursuant to Penal Code Section 1170(h), which generally means up to three years in the county jail.

Moreover, Health and Safety Code Section 11379 forbids numerous activities as felonies which are generally punishable by up to four years in the county jail. Thus, anyone who “transports, imports into this state, sells, furnishes, administers, or gives away, or offers to transport, import into this state, sell, furnish, administer, or give away, or attempts to import into this state or transport” certain specified controlled substances (including any “material, compound, mixture, or preparation” containing psilocyn or psilocybin) faces substantial criminal exposure for conduct which constitutes a non-reducible felony under California law.

Additionally, subdivision (b) increases the criminal exposure to nine years for any person who transports controlled substances “within this state from one county to another noncontiguous county.”
This means, for example, that if a person were to transport for sale from one county to another any “material, compound, mixture, or preparation” containing psilocyn or psilocybin, and the counties are contiguous (meaning adjacent), the criminal exposure is a maximum of four years; however, if the counties are not contiguous (meaning the person travels through a total of three or more counties) the criminal exposure increases to a maximum of nine years in the county jail.

The case law interpreting Health and Safety Code Section 11379 is draconian. For example, in People v. Patterson (1999) 72 Cal.App.4th 438, the Third Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal held that, in order to prove the offense of transportation of a controlled substance for sale between noncontiguous counties, the prosecution did not have to prove that defendant intended to facilitate the sale of the drug in the noncontiguous county. The Court of Appeal rejected the defendant’s construction of the statute, which would “place an onerous burden upon law enforcement to identify the county in which a defendant who is transporting illegal drugs intends to sell them.” 72 Cal.App.4th at 445.

Let us consider the following thought experiment. A person travels by car from San Francisco to San Jose to sell a few dozen psilocybin chocolates. The vehicle is pulled over for speeding on 280 near Sunnyvale. The driver is nervous, and the officer starts asking lots of questions. The person panics and blurts a confession: they were transporting psilocybin chocolates from San Francisco to San Jose to sell at cost .

Because the City and County of San Francisco is not contiguous with the County of Santa Clara (one has to travel through either San Mateo County or Alameda County), such transportation for sale would constitute a non-reducible felony punishable by three, six, or nine years in the county jail, depending on the circumstances. It makes no difference that the person intended to sell the chocolates at cost; the law does not require that the seller intend to make a profit, only that the seller intend to make a sale.

Could there be a viable medical defense? Possibly, if one can establish medical necessity by showing that the person has no adequate alternatives to the charged conduct. Realistically, it would be an uphill battle given that criminal courts tend to be skeptical of the medical necessity defense. For example, in People v. Trippett (1997) 56 Cal.App.4th 1532, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s rejection of the medical necessity jury instruction requested by legendary activist Pebbles Trippet, reasoning that she was not entitled to a medical cannabis necessity defense because she failed to establish that she had no adequate alternatives as she could have taken prescription Marinol instead.

What about a religious defense? As one can also read in the Trippett decision, criminal courts tend to be skeptical of the religious defense and treat such claims dismissively. Absent express statutory protections, the religious defense is challenging given United States Supreme Court precedent such as Employment Division v. Smith, which held that the First Amendment does not require states to accommodate illegal acts performed in pursuit of religious beliefs, and City of Boerne v. Flores, which struck down the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act as it applies to the states as an unconstitutional use of Congress’s enforcement powers.

A different approach would be to rely on the Free Exercise Clause of the California Constitution, which provides, in pertinent part:

Free exercise and enjoyment of religion without discrimination of preference are guaranteed. This liberty of conscience does not excuse acts that are licentious or inconsistent with the peace and safety of the State. The Legislature shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.

California Constitution, Article I, section 4.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee of the California State Legislature has authored an extensive Background Paper summarizing California’s Free Exercise Clause case law, and distilling arguments concerning a proposal, Assembly Bill 1617, to augment existing protections via a California version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. As the Background Paper notes, there is considerable ambiguity about the level of judicial scrutiny afforded by the Free Exercise Clause of the California Constitution. The California Supreme Court has declined to decide the question of whether the compelling interest test applies when the Free Exercise Clause of the California Constitution is invoked, leaving open for a future day the question of the scope of state constitutional protections for the religious use of psilocyn and/or psilocybin.

In sum, the time has come to update the legal landscape pertaining to magic mushrooms in California, and we thank visionary legislators such as State Senator Wiener for envisioning a better future. Hopefully, 2021 will be the year when exciting legislative proposals begin long-awaited changes in the laws that govern our relationship with our ancient fungal allies.

This information is provided as a public educational service and is not intended as legal advice. For specific questions regarding psychedelics law in California, please contact the Law Offices of Omar Figueroa at 707-829-0215 or [email protected] to schedule a confidential legal consultation.

psilocybin mushroom

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They are often used for the purpose of cultivation and cultivation research. Due to legal restrictions on the cultivation and use of psilocybin mushrooms in many countries, spores are typically sold and purchased for their research potential and as novelty items. It is important to note that possession or sale of psilocybin mushrooms or their spores may be illegal in certain jurisdictions.

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psilocybin mushroom, any of several species of hallucinogenic fungi found across a number of genera, especially Psilocybe mexicana and P. cubensis. Often called “magic mushrooms,” psilocybin mushrooms produce two primary psychoactive compounds, psilocybin and psilocin, which are responsible for their mind-altering effects. Many psilocybin mushrooms have a long history of traditional use and are popular as recreational drugs.

Psilocybe mexicana, a mushroom that contains the hallucinogenic compounds psilocin and psilocybin. (more)

There are more than 100 psilocybin mushroom species worldwide, the majority of which are members of the genus Psilocybe. Other genera with psilocybin-containing fungi include Agrocybe, Copelandia, Galerina, Gerronema, Gymnopilus, Hypholoma, Inocybe, Panaeolus, Pholiotina, and Pluteus. While the fungi can be found on every continent except Antarctica, most species are found in tropical and subtropical forests and are especially common in Mexico. In general, psilocybin mushrooms are gilled and produce dark spores; they may closely resemble poisonous species.

The spores themselves do not contain the psychedelic compounds that are characteristic of psilocybin mushrooms. Psilocybin and psilocin are the primary psychoactive compounds found in these mushrooms, and they are typically concentrated in the fruiting bodies, rather than the spores. However, the spores do contain trace amounts of psilocybin and other related compounds, which may have some effects if ingested in large quantities. Cultivating magic mushrooms from spores typically involves creating a suitable growth environment, such as by using a substrate made from materials like straw or vermiculite. The spores are then introduced to this environment, where they can develop and eventually form mushrooms. It is important to note that the cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms may be illegal in certain jurisdictions, so it is essential to familiarize oneself with local laws and regulations before attempting cultivation. In conclusion, magic mushroom spores are the reproductive cells of psilocybin mushrooms. They are sought after for their research potential and are often used for cultivation purposes. However, it is crucial to be aware of the legal restrictions surrounding the possession and cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms and their spores in different jurisdictions..

Reviews for "Tips and Tricks for Successfully Germinating Magic Mushroom Spores"

1. Sarah - 1 star

Unfortunately, my experience with Magic Mushroom Spore was quite disappointing. The spores I ordered did not germinate properly and after weeks of waiting, I was left with nothing. I followed all the provided instructions carefully, but nothing seemed to work. I reached out to customer service for assistance, but the response was slow and unhelpful. I expected a better quality product and better customer support, especially considering the high price I paid. Overall, I would not recommend Magic Mushroom Spore if you are looking for a reliable and effective product.

2. Mark - 2 stars

I decided to give Magic Mushroom Spore a try after reading some positive reviews, but unfortunately, my experience was not as good. The spores I received were not as potent as I had anticipated and did not produce the desired effects. I followed the given directions precisely, but the growth was slow and the yield was significantly lower than expected. For the price I paid, I expected a higher quality product. I will be exploring other options in the future, as I was not satisfied with the performance of Magic Mushroom Spore.

3. Emily - 1 star

My experience with Magic Mushroom Spore was extremely disappointing. The spores I received were of poor quality and did not germinate at all. I attempted multiple growing methods and followed all the provided instructions, but nothing worked. I reached out to customer support for assistance, but received no response. This lack of communication and support further added to my frustration. I would strongly advise against purchasing spores from Magic Mushroom Spore, as you may end up wasting your time and money like I did.

The History and Cultural Significance of Magic Mushroom Spores