How to Make the Perfect Liquid Culture for Mushroom Cultivation with DrMyc's Adaptive Liquid Culture Premix
Liquid Cultures are a fantastic way to rapidly expand your favorite genetics for use in spawn bags, spawn jars, agar plates, or for resale. Unlike Spore Syringes which are never sterile (it is just a question of whether the contamination takes hold), Liquid Culture provided by reputable suppliers should have been agar tested for sterility, providing rapid colonization of presumably refined genetics.
Below is a comprehensive "how to" guide to make the perfect Liquid Culture, along with a helpful ratio table calculator for a precise application. Please note, these ratios are specifically calculated for our Adaptive Liquid Culture Premix, and may not be correct for other LC mixes.
Items Needed:
- DrMyc Adaptive LC or other LC mix
- Aluminum foil
- Low-weight scale
- Stir bar or marble
- Mason jar
- Jar lid with air exchange & injection/luer lock port
- Pressure cooker.
PLEASE NOTE - YOU MUST USE REVERSE OSMOSIS OR DISTILLED WATER WITH OUR LIQUID CULTURE. DIFFERENT MUNICIPITAL WATER SUPPLIES HAVE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF MINERALS AND A DIFFERENT CARRYING CAPACITY, WHICH MAY LEAD TO SETTLING OF CONTENTS AND DISCOLORATION AS SEEN BELOW:
Step 1: Establish how much Liquid Culture you’d like to make using our handy table below:
(Or just use 1 g of LC Premix per 100 mL of water)
Liquid Culture Dilution Ratios & Desired Spore Syringes @ 10 mL
| Material | Amount |
|---|---|
| Water | |
| Liquid Culture Premix | |
| Liquid Culture Syringes Created |
Step 2: Gather your ingredients. If you have a tea kettle, fill it with the desired amount of water & boil. Weigh out the necessary LC Premix amount on aluminum foil on a properly "tared" scale and add to your mason jar. Add stir bar or marble to mason jar, then add boiling water from tea kettle (or not boiling if you don't have that luxury). Use a magnetic stirrer, or agitate manually with the marble to ensure constituents are in solution. Attach mason jar lid, leaving it 1/8th of a turn cracked for pressure equalization.
DO YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH AGAR OR LC BOILING OVER? If so, watch out YouTube Video here:
Step 3: Set jar in pressure vessel, and bring pressure vessel to 15 PSI. Once at 15 PSI, set a timer for 20 minutes or for 30 minutes if you used cool water. After 20 minutes has passed, turn off heat to pressure vessel, but DO NOT VENT. Once at 0 PSI, open pressure vessel and remove LC Premix using appropriate caution & heat protective gear.
Step 4: Tighten mason jar lid and place in front of a laminar flow hood if available, or on a clean kitchen counter. Let liquid cool down to room temperature, and sanitarily inoculate. Once Mycelium is visible, agitate with stir bar or marble for 10 seconds each day.
Congratulations, you've created a perfect LC! Remember to always test culture on Agar before to ensure it's clean.