How to pour and store blank Petri dishes for home mushroom cultivation.

[@BadddDoggg-id4po]

Interesting... I use glass petri dishes and individually wrap them. I actually keep the lid tilted and open for 30 minutes to allow them to cool and to eliminate condensation before the wrap. I dont use that many plates, I only have 24 but I can reuse them over and over. Never thought of wrapping them all at once.

[@piperongalarga6072]

nice channel

[@skunk929]

do you wrap them when still hot?

[@StipeCap]

Wait for them to cool or you'll end up sloshing the agar around inside.

[@skunk929]

@@StipeCap Thank you! also, does it have to be glad cling wrap or will any plastic wrap work? I know they say glad is "breathable"

[@StipeCap]

I only have experience with cling wrap, but anything similar should work fine. Just don't use press n seal.

[@melkerdandenell6003]

@@StipeCap doesn´t make sense to me that plastic wrap would be breathable. Parafilm I can understand since it´s designed for gas exchange but plastic film is made for airtight seals. I´m new to this though and I´m just wondering how important it really is to let the agar breathe? I wont be using it for long term storage, just until the plates fully colonize. Do you think I could get away with your method? Not sure if my cling wrap is the same as yours, we don´t have glad over here, but I mean it looks the same. If it works it sure will save a lot of time and money.

[@StipeCap]

Parafilm isn't designed to be breathable, it was originally purposed for map backing, not microbiology. Yes, cling wrap is breathable. You can store plates in their original sleeve or even in large ziplock bags. It's not a big deal.

[@BeugConnoisseur]

do you do any kind of sterilization to the empty plates prior to the pour?

[@StipeCap]

They come in sterile sleeves.

[@kulled]

plastic ones are gas sterilized by the manufacturer and cannot be reused. glass ones can be reused just as long as they're pressure cooked in between uses.

[@gendopetrov2709]

take a plastic bag of the same size and vacuum tightly

[@StipeCap]

Good idea 💡