Fungal microscopist here! Most expert mycologists actually avoid staining fungi because it can make identification more difficult, as color and ornamentation are super important for identification. (However, I know there are many technicians to say to use cotton blue.) If you want a good sample of a wonderful amount of different fungi, take a clear piece of tape and go stick it on a dead log outside. You can use the tape as your cover slip. Usually, mycologists will use lactic acid instead of water between the slide and tape to hydrate the subjects, but water will do if you don't have lactic acid. Most of my work is aero-allergens, so that is fungi and pollen flying around in the air. We use machines to capture air samples that allow particulates to impact onto sticky slides, but you can hold a piece of tape out of your window as you drive lol or keep the tape outside facing windward for an hour or so and look at all the magnificent little particles that are constantly flying through the air.

Ageing agronomist here; excellent videos Oliver. I was taught by a crop pathologist many moons ago to use sellotape to lift fungal growth off diseased crop and use that as the cover slip. And I always stain my slides with diluted red food dye, and that works for me.

I like this hands-on approach as you set a limited, but interesting, task for yourself and then step us through it. I hope you do more of these kinds of videos.

Oooooh excellent!!! My microscope will be here on the 6th and I can't wait to look at fungus!!!

Thank you Oliver for your videos. I have watched many of them over the last few days as I really enjoy and appreciate the way you show your passion for microscopy, in all forms. You are a great teacher and I am leaning lots from you. Thank you for sharing this with us. And now I have found your website, wow!

Entertaining and educational as always. Thanks Oliver. Hoping for more livestreams!!

I like to wash the specimen after staining, gives it more definition, and better photos, with clear mounting solution! But it’s extra steps some not will to do witch is fine, but for videos and photography is amazing!

Great video. If I may ask, how would you make a permanent spore slide?

this stuff is so neat to see! thank you for sharing this!

Thank you! This video was so cool!

Trypan blue is what is used usually as a stain for fungi and spores

Useful video. Thanks!

Would love to see mold vs chlorine. There doesn't seem to be any youtube videos of it. We're able to see bacteria explode from it, but I'm wondering if mold does the same. There are, however, a ton of videos of fungicide sellers trying to convince people to buy their product and not use chlorine. "Is it lies or truth?" I'm wondering.

Rookie Microscopist here. I had not considered Methyl Blue for staining, it makes the fruiting bodies stand out.

Thank you for the great videos! Could it be possible to put into video descriptions some technical parameters for the captures and also the model ids of used microscopes? This could help us to get an idea how to get to similar results. Thanks again!

This is great. I’m checking this out and maybe choosing a microscope this weekend

Excellent ... kind regards Alex

This was very helpful in viewing the mold that grew on some salmon I forgot about... for 2 months

I'm sure you know this Oliver, but the best way to observe micro fungi is to grow it on the edges of a thin agar square with a cover slip on top. Then remove the cover slip after a few days and place it on a slide on a drop of Lactophenol cotton blue stain. It makes a beautiful thin sample without distorting the fungi.

Cool! I had fun

as a stain for funi i prefer cotton blue or congo red to methylene blue. ah, and those are not fruiting bodies, those are conidiophores. fruiting bodies produce sexual spores. but those are conidia. most molds only exist in anamorphic form.

Always nice....

01:30 I think I have some kind of spores on me and inside fuzzy and scratchy on skin and another type of black oily stuff that is shiny under magnifying

excellent video as always!!! - is it generally safe to do this with pretty much all mold/bacteria/fungus on food? i thought i had read somewhere to avoid putting bacteria under a microscope - i imagine washing my hands, and cleaning the microscope is alcohol would also be good after imaging fungus too right?

How would you prep a slide to look at cuvularia black mold and which type microscope is best to identify mold spores? I see the stain you’re using but from what I’ve heard the wet prep for mold should be with KOH . Btw, is there a microscope that can now do aa read out without a human identifying it such as A I.? I recently saw the Vet get A.I. results from an xray.

lol *seems to struggle picking up cover but still doesn't get a fingerprint on it, this is definitely some kind of magic 😀

So what are the tiny moving specs? I see these super tiny moving specs in my pond water samples. They're about 1/50 the size of a paramecium or rotifer and move in straight lines pretty fast.

Those are bubbles not bacteria?

sir how do you colour your videos? is it something you do while editing or you do it while making samples or use filters?

Hi, I just found your channel recently as I'm researching some microscope to buy my 5yrs son who's interested to see some cells, good content btw. I have a question, I've narrowed down my choice for microscope to Omax 40x-2000x. For a beginner, is it better to get a New binocular (82ES) or Open Box trinocular (83ES) when they're about the same price. This is my first time buying microscope and really need expert opinion like you. Thank you!

What magnification levels are used in this video?

what microscope u using here?

take a shot anytime he says yeah?

Mr. Microbehunter, what is that glass block where you placed water called?

EWW. THAT IS MOLDY!

I ended up here after watching the last of us