21 replies to this topic

[PerseidTraveler]

Hello all, I have been looking over the last couple days and I am having trouble finding information regarding the long term viability of mycelium on agar...long story short, I have some agar plates with mycelium on them that are about two years old, still beautiful white, fluffy stuff. I feel as though I will transfer to fresh agar plates anyways to see what happens, just was curious if anyone had any tips or experience working with older myc...it is on MEA plates, which have been in a drawer in a room which stays about 65-68...any links to previous discussions on this topic would also be appreciated, I just haven't been able to find anything.

[Sidestreet]

Hi Perseid,

 

I don't have any links but I'd be interested to see how your plates do.  I have some spores in sterile water that were still very good after 2-3 years.  I plan on testing them periodically to see how long they stay good.

 

I have heard that it's good to change up the agar recipe to "keep things interesting" for your mycelium over time, especially if you have a good strain you're trying to preserve.

[Arathu]

Absolutely try a transfer or six and see what happens....I have some old ones that I'm going to try the very same with as soon as the weather breaks into spring....

 

 

A

[PerseidTraveler]

Thank you for the responses, I am glad to have some seasoned experts chiming in on here...I will do my best to keep everything photographed and up to date so any critiques or hints can be applied, so please don't be polite and let me know when I'm doing something wrong lol

 

I have only done a few indoor grows, but I am attempting an outdoor project and I live in an area with long, cold winters, so the second the last frost happens I need to be ready to roll with plenty of spawn, and I feel like cleaning up some already existing myc and then starting an LC will be the quickest means to that end...

 

I plan on making 8 plates, doing 6 transfers (because it sounds like a nice round number Arathu lol) and dropping spores on a couple in case the myc is too old...once that's established I will make some LC and apply it to rye.

 

Hi Perseid,

 

I don't have any links but I'd be interested to see how your plates do.  I have some spores in sterile water that were still very good after 2-3 years.  I plan on testing them periodically to see how long they stay good.

 

I have heard that it's good to change up the agar recipe to "keep things interesting" for your mycelium over time, especially if you have a good strain you're trying to preserve.

varying the agar recipe is a good thought, I only have MEA, but I've read about people infusing water with composted manure and then making their agar out of that, so I'm wondering if this would be a good way to diversify the nutrients.

Edited by PerseidTraveler, 16 February 2022 - 11:14 PM.

[Sidestreet]

You can also add to your agar a pinch of whatever will be your ultimate substrate.  Supposedly it helps things along.

[ElPirana]

I’ve taken two year old dried shrooms and gotten them to start growing on agar again. So I don’t see why not with your two year old mycelium. Definitely worth a try. Even better, your old myc is likely contaminate-free.

Let us know how it goes!

[MushLuvR]

I have resurrected an old spore syringe that I left in a drawer at room temp for almost 4 years and was able to get it to germinate.  Never doubt the power of Spores.

 

I like to transfer my Agar plates once a year, but I have gone longer, closer to 2 years with NO issues.  Kept in a fridge in a mini cooler box.  They can last a long time, I wouldn't be worried.  I've even had plates on the drier side and still jump off.  

 

MushL

Edited by MushLuvR, 17 February 2022 - 01:56 PM.

[Myc]

If the agar plates haven't dried-out and the tissue is still live, making a transfer is worth a try.

 

I found that certain cultures, kept on agar for long periods without occasional transfer to fresh media, tend to lose their vigor.

 

Storing wood-lovers on sawdust seems to work like a champ. The mycelium will remain vigorous for a long time. Storing them on agar.......not so much. Your mileage may vary.

Otherwise, I would recommend storing live mycelium in liquid culture. You'll still have to transfer periodically but it's a pretty easy medium to work with. Just store the LC in syringes or similar sterile vessel to save space in the 'fridge. Swap-up the LC formula between transfers so as to keep the cultivar vigorous.

[PerseidTraveler]

Hey everyone, apologies for the delay...I had a big weekend and I was hoping to get the plates started last Thursday before I left town, but I found I had no parafilm lol...anyways, parafilm and micropore tape arrived today, so plates will be made this evening...hopefully in a week or so we'll have something worth photographing! Thanks for all the optimistic answers!

Edited by PerseidTraveler, 23 February 2022 - 05:37 PM.

[FunnyFarmer]

I've got a few plates that have totally dried out, what are the chances of using one of those "chips" for LC? If no one has it sounds like a pscience experiment for me... maybe it's time to drag out the SAB and see what happens.

Edited by FunnyFarmer, 24 February 2022 - 12:26 AM.

[WelcomeUniversal]

I've got a few plates that have totally dried out, what are the chances of using one of those "chips" for LC? If no one has it sounds like a pscience experiment for me... maybe it's time to drag out the SAB and see what happens.

I used dried mushroom(cub, about 1 year in ziplock) for cloning to LC - and it works!

[PerseidTraveler]

had enough agar powder left to mix up 500mL, so I ended up making 7 large petri dishes, and ten small plastic condiment containers...I used the plastic containters to start spores, and I used the large petri dishes to transfer the aforementioned mycelium samples. it has been a few days but I haven't checked on them. I will go take a look tomorrow and post some photos if there's anything to see.

[PerseidTraveler]

Alright, so I'm not too sure what to think. I transferred my mycelial samples about 5 days ago, and I checked on them 3 days ago, and then again today. Three days ago there was white staining that traveled down through where moisture had condensed on the agar, and I freaked out and assumed it was contamination. however today, the white staining has more or less 'dried up,' definitely hasn't spread, and looks like maybe it was just some sort of residual goo or something from the original plates just sitting there for two years. No idea, I just felt it would be weird that a contamination would be so aggressive initially for three days, then instantly stop and dry up two days later. I would also like to mention that the actual mycelium itself has shown zero signs of waking up and/or spreading, which almost always has happened within a day or two in my previous experiences. Also, when I initially opened the original agar plates, I could faintly smell the mushroom smell, but could not smell and sort of sweet or ammonia type smell.

The agar with spores I'm attempting to germinate are showing no signs of contamination, and that's what makes me think whatever the white stuff is that came from the agar transfers is from the original plates, and not something I introduced last week, since I did both sets of agar together. Who knows, I'm just a biochem dropout who became an electrcian, so my theories probably have a little more real life experience to gain before I can pretend I know what's going on.

[PerseidTraveler]

Well after 11 days or so, there is absolutely nothing as far as growth goes. I have ordered new spores, and I shall be starting again from scratch! On to the next one.

[ElPirana]

That’s unfortunate there’s no growth. How old are the spores? And is it from a spore print or syringe? If the spore print is old, you may need to hydrate the spores to get them to germinate. I’d like to think that the moisture from the agar is enough, but I’ve had some old prints that wouldn’t germinate directly on agar. I have then scraped spores from the same print into a jar of LC and got them to germinate, then transfer back to agar to verify no contamination. Another option is to make up your own syringe from the print.

Edited by ElPirana, 08 March 2022 - 01:18 PM.

[PerseidTraveler]

That’s unfortunate there’s no growth. How old are the spores? And is it from a spore print or syringe? If the spore print is old, you may need to hydrate the spores to get them to germinate. I’d like to think that the moisture from the agar is enough, but I’ve had some old prints that wouldn’t germinate directly on agar. I have then scraped spores from the same print into a jar of LC and got them to germinate, then transfer back to agar to verify no contamination. Another option is to make up your own syringe from the print.

Hey Pirana, so I started 7 agar plates with the two year old mycelium, which hasn't done anything, but I also dropped spores from a two year old spore print on 9 other plates...I threw the 7 plates away that had agar transfers on them, but I still have the plates with spores, and I will give them a few weeks before I give up on them. I went ahead and ordered more spores just so I can have more variety to grow...the prints and mycelia saved were from mushrooms that really weren't all that special, so if I have to start my genetics collection over again it's no big deal.

[PerseidTraveler]

Hey everyone...so I forgot to throw those plates away with the 2 year old myc on them that I had given up on...anyways yesterday I went to toss them, and I found this on one of the plates. I am just very confused because it looks super white, just like mushroom mycelium, but there is zero rhizomorphic growth to it at all...it's just like a big ball of tomentose mycelium. I was thinking it could be cobweb mold, but the pure whiteness of it leads me to believe it may be mushroom mycelium. Any thoughts?

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[Boebs]

Definitely looks like some deep myc growth, maybe it will ryzo out in a day or two

[ElPirana]

Looks good to me too. You don’t need to have rhizo growth on the agar plate to get it to grow mushrooms. I’ve transferred this type of growth into grain jars many times and got plenty of successful tubs of mush. A while back I was reading that you could try transferring to a low nutrient agar and promote rhizo growth, maybe give that a try if you’re interested.

[PerseidTraveler]

Pirana I may try that. I am honestly just really impressed this mycelium woke up so since it tried so hard to survive, I figure I owe it the best chance I can give it lol...I'll look into that when I get off work tonight.