liquid culture tutorial FAQ

[@dhaval4570]

Gary can you share your cordyceps substrate recipe?

[@blu12gaming44]

Hi Gary, have you thought about upgrading LC jars with a few more tubes so they can be used as bioreactors? Aeration supposedly results in a significantly higher growth rate and having the ability to continually pump in new growth media while also pumping out colonized media would be a huge bonus.

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

yes I have tried this - it needs a lot of space but it can be done effectively

[@henlomatt]

Hi Gary! Great video thanks! I had a doubt about how to restart each round of production. Does one clone a mushroom every time you start the process, or does one make a spore prints or is it that you make a whole lot of master slants and work from there every new round of production? I hope the question is not too confusing. Thanks and keep up the great work.

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

you should watch this video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3aklqqpmNeihsUsi=iPqc_yq-YL93RAcK - it is a convoluted answer because not everyone can afford the efforts to do things to the golden standard. We make slants, run G2’s on plates and LC from those slants for a while and intermittently go back to the mother slants. Then in the offseason we breed from spores and try to find better stronger mother cultures. Repeating this over time has led to a strong library. Some larger gene banks will cryo-preserve their strains so they can last indefinitely.

[@xzab5067]

Great video! How do you prep your grain?

[@Arkie087]

Great video... I'm just starting out and injected my first grain bag a couple weeks ago and I see nothing, how long does it usually take? Does the grain bag need to be in the dark?

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

cool! should usually take about 2 weeks for most varieties- it doesn’t need to be in the dark but it could trigger some varieties to fruit prematurely if it’s in an ambient light

[@Brianholmwood1973]

Hi Gary. Ive made a honey lc with 16g honey to 500ml water 3 days ago. Looks clear amber. i put 3 quarters in the jar. Ive added a wedge of agar with mycelium, ive no stirrer so i swirl it a few times a day. The agar went fluffy after a couple of days.. the myc side seems flat still.. if i stir it too much or shook it hard and that all broke up it would look confusing right as im looking for mycelium to grow... So i havent shook it, I have a couple of tiny pieces also flosting in there but i dont know if its myc or agar so il see. How soon should i be seeing mycelium growing anyway? Does it need light? I alwyas have it in thr dark Last time i tried the wedge method i believe i got tired waiting and shook it up hard ..then ended up wirh no idea what I had in there it just resembled mycelium but weak ..or it was agar 😅 i threw it away eventually as i couldnt test it.

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

it should grow within a week or so, the best way to verify is to take a small volume and plate on agar and see how it grows - it should be obvious within 72-80ish hours at 72F temp. hope this helps!

[@J155P]

Hey Gary, I transferred some Lions Mane LC into nutrient broth a few weeks ago (not from Fresh From the Farm Fungi). I notice some of the jars have small black specs in inside. Some people are saying its fine, others are saying its contaminated. Looks like a couple pepper flakes. Any thoughts?

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

I would suggest testing it on agar - any contaminants will reveal themselves this way - It could be debris from the jar if it wasn’t cleaned well prior to adding the nutrient broth, then was sterilized which would be ok, it could be that same debris coming from the original LC, some people use light malt extract as a broth which could also contain inert contaminants or it could be the start of a mold like penicillium which can sporulate in vitro and form this discolored sediment.

[@willit007]

Hello greetings. I want to ask how long a syringe with liquid culture can remain without being refrigerated for reasons of transport to another country. Thanks in advance.

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

it depends on the strain but it can last years unrefrigerated as long as it’s not frozen in transit. And even then, Ive seen frozen solid mycelium bounce back quickly once it’s thawed.

[@_Hannah_..]

awesome !!!! good to know that you sell spores ! ~~~ Could you please tell me what kind of mushroom it is ?;,,, in the thumbnail for this vid;~~ thanks

[@richardjohnson9212]

It's actually very easy to stab yourself uncapping the needle this way... proper procedure would be to hold the syringe pointing upwards with both hands and pinch the cap between thumb and finger of your dominant hand and kinda squeeze it upward so that you don't accidently recoil and send the needle back into your finger 🍄❤

[@redeyebanditandtherckid8807]

Thanks for sharing! I’m just getting into mycology and I haven’t stabbed myself yet but you are exactly right about the recoil being dangerous

[@richardjohnson9212]

@@redeyebanditandtherckid8807 trust me, I've stabbed myself more than a few times this way until I got frustrated with ruining good syringes and learned the correct way

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

there are alternatives for those who are too afraid to unsheathe a needle. This method has worked well for me for the past 6 years and it’s a sterile instrument so should avoid being touched as a fundamental aspect of aseptic technique.

[@zacharyswain7034]

do you put those ports on yourself or buy the bags like that?

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

I make my own bags and add the ports on before sterilizing

[@arcjen_]

@@FreshfromtheFarmFungi Awesome!!! Can you share a video of the process 🙏

[@JohnnyHarness-e9t]

I get it had to make the video because all the newbies be messing up. Don't you hate getting orders and it turns into a whole bunch of extra. I always tell everyone to save some liquid culture just in case for a 2nd chance.

[@FreshfromtheFarmFungi]

everyone has to start somewhere 🍄❤️