Agar Work & Culture

Isolate genetics, clean cultures, pour plates, and build a strain library.

62 tips across 6 topics

Agar Basics

10 tips

  • What is agar and why do mushroom growers use it?
  • What is a petri dish and what size should you use?
  • What is a mushroom culture?
  • +7 more...

Agar Recipes & Pouring

11 tips

  • What is the basic LME agar recipe for mushroom cultivation?
  • How do you make PDA (potato dextrose agar)?
  • How do you sterilize agar media?
  • +8 more...

Transfers & Isolation

11 tips

  • How do you transfer mycelium on agar?
  • How many transfers does it take to isolate a clean culture?
  • What is the difference between a monoculture and multispore?
  • +8 more...

Long-Term Storage

10 tips

  • How do you store mushroom cultures on agar long-term?
  • What is an agar slant and how do you make one?
  • What is Frank's slant method for culture storage?
  • +7 more...

Advanced Agar Techniques

20 tips

  • What is the agar sandwich technique for isolating from contamination?
  • How do you use hydrogen peroxide agar to clean contaminated cultures?
  • What is a serial dilution streak on agar?
  • +17 more...

Mushroom Genetics & Strain Selection

15 tips

  • What is a mushroom strain and how is it different from a species?
  • How do you evaluate the quality of a commercial mushroom strain?
  • What is genetic senescence and how many generations can you run?
  • +12 more...