Utilizing a mushroom liquid culture recipe is an excellent way to elevate your growing. It is quick, simple, and transportable; not to mention easy inoculation!
To prepare a jar, combine sugar (such as light malt extract or honey) with water and sterilize. Next, introduce mycelium through either a syringe or piece of sterile agar into the jar.
Ingredients
Liquid culture allows you to take your mushroom cultivation to the next level, providing a method to innoculate large volumes of substrate at one time. It’s ideal for both novice and veteran growers.
Typically, mycelial cultures are mixed with light nutritive water (for instance 1g Light Malt Extract to 600ml water). This solution provides the mycelial cells with enough fuel to expand.
Stirring the mixture on a daily basis is key to successfully cultivating Liquid Culture (LC). Stirring introduces oxygen and breaks up mycelial clusters, keeping your solution sterile. A magnetic stir plate or simply hand twirling your jar are great tools to use – though for maximum viability we suggest using within two months for maximum viability. Sterilization is key – ensure all tools and jars have been cleaned with 70% isopropyl alcohol before beginning.
Preparation
Employing a sterile needle and syringe when transferring mycelium into liquid culture will prevent contamination of any kind. Be sure to sterilize both pieces and work in an environment with an effective laminar flow hood for best results.
When making a nutrient solution, always use distilled or reverse osmosis clean drinking water – this will eliminate contaminants such as chlorine that might otherwise be present in untreated tap water.
Many mushroom growers opt for a straightforward recipe of honey or light corn syrup (Karo) combined with distilled water for rapid myceliation. These ingredients have proven their efficacy.
Liquid culture can be used to inoculate spawn bags, but most growers opt for making grain spawn first and inoculating their substrate with it instead. This method ensures more consistent temperatures and environmental conditions as well as easier monitoring; directly inoculating from liquid culture may result in unevenly distributed mycelium which prevents colonization while increasing contamination risk.
Storage
Liquid cultures are becoming an increasingly popular way of growing mushrooms as they take up less space than innoculated substrate. Plus, liquid cultures allow you to experiment with various nutrient solutions more freely while being easier to handle overall.
Liquorice Root is an extremely effective liquid culture recipe which has proven itself time and again, producing robust early-stage mycelium growth. Ideally suited for cultivating oyster and shiitake mushrooms, but can be used with other strains as well.
To create this recipe, combine sugar (such as honey or karo) and water in a canning jar fitted with an airport lid, aluminum foil or pressure cooker and sterilize before leaving to incubate in warm and dark environments. Regularly check your jar for signs of contamination such as green scum on top or foul smells; if any are detected they should be replaced by another new jar before discarding the old one.
Maintenance
Liquid cultures are known to colonize substrate much faster than spores, making them an excellent option for home cultivators. Plus, liquid cultures tend to be cheaper than agar plates and require minimal maintenance – just ensure regular agitation using a magnetic stirrer specifically designed for liquid cultures to achieve maximum results!
Liquid culture contamination can be more challenging to detect than its agar counterpart, so be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. If you notice green moldy scum on the top or gray-black growth at its core, it’s time to start over with fresh material. Other signs include dense mycelium clumps which smell stale or appear irregularly-shaped; other than these indications of contamination are dense mycelium clumps with scent reminiscent of old cheese that have smelled old cheese since ages!