4 replies to this topic

[Freakyzback]

Some testing will be needed on my spore library that’s been in storage for about 14 years. Some of the prints are almost 20 years old even. Any syringes stored separately within library will be dumped and the syringes sterilized and reused to test the prints.

I’d like input though as my mycology skills are very rusty but hopefully trusty.
I had to trash my flow hood and I’m not building a new one. SAB should be able to provide enough of a safe clean environment to:
1. Make sterile syringes from select prints.
2. Test these syringes on agar plates - would rather waste plates than substrate jars.

Would it be better to drop spores into a LC jar rather than agar? I feel I’d find contam easier on agar than in LC.

Anyway it’s good to be back home at Topia and back to the hobby. I’ve missed you all.
Freaky

[Mrs.Hippie3]

We have missed you freaky! Good to see you're getting back into growing too! I personally have no experience with agar but I do with LCs so I'd go that route.. lol.. good luck and keep us posted..
Hugsndrugs

[Moby]

Cheers!

 

I'd personally go the route over agar.

Maybe a softer agar mix with a little less agar on the same amount of liquid to help it a little to hydrate the old spores.

 

Never worked with spores that old but from reading I know it can take long for them to germinate.

I had a plate with Rusty Whyte spores inoculated and it didn't germinate for 3 months on normal malt agar.

After three months I noticed that my culture fridge froze everything in there, it wasn't frozen for too long tho.

Currently trying to revive the dead cultures.

 

Surprisingly the freeze seemed to trigger the spore germination, the RW plate that didn't want to germinate for months now is the only living plate from all of them.

 

Obviously I can't say with confidence that this works generally since it happened accidentally and I didn't test it again. I usually don't have problems with spores but I'll give it a try next time that happens.

 

You might have to wait a couple weeks until you see growth, if they germinate.

Just wanted to throw that in here without promising anything.

Maybe as last option you could try to freeze a plate with spores for 30-60 mins or so, maybe it even does something to throw it in the fridge for a while and put it back on room temp after that, I don't know.

Again, it's pure speculation based on a happy accident.

 

In any case best of success!

[Freaky]

Mrs. Hip   thank you!   I will definitely be doing LC once I have some healthy mycelium. It's good stuff.

 

 

And DickMoby - thank you for that info, the old synapses are starting to fire now on some options and different methods I can mess with and maybe narrow down a good way to work with some of these.  I'll post some prints up in a few minutes of a portion of the library we have to work with.  I'm also thinking of sending some of these to some other folks who would like to work with some very old spores/prints.  There is no shortage of prints to work with so the odds seem in my favor.

 

Realized both of my AA sterilizers got dumped with the other hardware like my incubator cabinet, flow hood, pasteurization coolers and stuff.  Soooo I'll have to steam sterilize until I replace the AA. 

 

I'll start a thread over in proper forum now also

[mushit]

OMG!  Welcome back Freaky!!

Man you have been missed.

I know I am a bit late but I have been away for a bit.

I hope everything is well.

Glad to see You are back on the Myc wagon.