Cardboard Disc Spore Germination

[TheGreenMan]

Hey All, I have another question.

I am about to use the cardboard disc spore germination method with my spore-print and I was wondering if anyone knew why it is suggested that you use the colonized discs in petri dishes of agar.
I want to know if anyone knows why the colonized discs can not be placed into a grain jar directly. Any thoughts on this?

Also...and this may seem like a silly question...but what is agar? My book only says agar...not what it is made of...is it something you can buy, or is it something you make up yourself?

thanks all

[Jesse Lou]

Nutrient agar is used throughout the world to provide a solid surface containing medium for the growth of bacteria and fungi.

In the mycology world, the most commonly used formula is MEA (Malt Extract Agar).

Agar formulas usually come in powdered form. To get it into a state that can be used, you mix the agar powder with water, mix it well, then sterilize it by pressure cooking @ 15 PSI for about 45 minutes.This pressure cooking process kills just about any existing molds, bacteria, or fungal spores. After you remove the jar containing your agar from the pressure cooker, in a sterile environment such as a glove box or a laminar flow hood, you CAREFULLY pour the hot agar from the jar into the petri dishes you are going to cultivate the fungi in. Once cool, the agar solidifies to about the consistency of gelatin. Now you have petri dishes ready to be inoculated with whatever type of fungus you are trying to cultivate. The fungus then uses the gelatin like surface to grow. It uses the nutrients and water to spread and cover the entire dish. You can then cut small pieces of the colonized agar out and use them to inoculate your sterilized (pressure cooked) grain jars.

http://forums.mycotopia.net/attachments/agar-strain-isolation/18483d1141141106-my-first-strain-isolation-attempt-pe-2006_0228image0007.jpg


If you didn't sterilize (pressure cook) your agar and you just heated it to a liquid and then poured it into your dishes, any molds or bacteria would grow instead of whatever you were trying to grow.



Here is a healthy petri dish with some mushroom mycelium growing in it.

http://forums.mycotopia.net/attachments/agar-strain-isolation/19106d1141594545-my-first-strain-isolation-attempt-pe-3-5peisolated.jpg



If you have any thing growing in your plates besides nice white mycelium then its probably contaminated.

Any greens, yellows, reds, even grays are contaminates.




I am very pleased to hear that you are interested in mycology Greenman. Once you get the hang of it you can grow your own delicious edible mushrooms such as oyster, shiitake, ect.... Whatever arouses your interest :D


Please visit this (http://forums.mycotopia.net/agar-strain-isolation/) site. Its the best on the net for the information you're looking for


Best of luck to you.


Lou