Liquid Culture and Agar Cultures

Liquid culture and colonised agar are now available for selected mushroom species. Before you can grow any type of mushroom, you need either spores or a live mycelium culture in the form of a liquid culture syringe or pre-colonised agar which has already been cultvated from spores. All our liquid cultures are carefully developed and lab tested the same way prior to use by us, or for sale to you. Although we have a wide range of liquid cultures for various species, some are only available from time to time, or to special order. Those listed below are the most popular strains of mushrooms for home growers.

Liquid Culture – Basic instructions are provided with every liquid culture syringe, but using liquid culture requires users to understand and follow strict sterile working practices. If you haven’t used liquid culture before you’ll need to read the provided instructions, particularly in relation to sterile working. Our liquid culture is supplied in your choice of 10ml, 20ml and 30ml syringes, one sterile (sealed) needle with 10ml syringes or two needles with 20ml and 30ml syringes (in case you want to use more than once), along with sterile needle swabs.

Colonised Agar – An alternative way of inoculating grain is to use pre-colonised agar with mycelium from your chosen mushroom species. As a general rule it tends to be a little slower than using a liquid mycelium culture but it offers the benefit of firstly being visibly free from contamination and, secondly, can be used to inoculate further supplies of agar if you want to extend it. Our 90mm colonised agar petri dishes are of course supplied sealed with parafilm. While the process of using agar to inoculate your spawn if different to using liquid, strict sterile working practices are of course still required.

Liquid Culture and Pre-Colonised Agar
All our liquid and colonised agar cultures are produced in a sterile environment, supplied from stocks we use ourselves and are prior tested to ensure they are free of contamination. Regardless of your chosen product, buyers must always remember to use great care when handling them and follow all advice on sterile working methods to avoid the ever-present risk of accidental contamination.

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