Home | Mushroom Info | Growing Mushrooms | Archive | Experimental Techniques (outdated info) | Archive | Poor Man's Mycelium Syringe Tek

MushroomMan Mycology
This site includes paid links. Please support our sponsors.

Poor Man's Mycelium Syringe Tek

A document describing making a mycelium syringe using a colonized PF cake.



Can a healthy colonized cake be contaminated? Yes or no?

cake

Survey SAYS%u2026

NO%u2026

Materials:

materials

1 fully colonized substrate Jar
1 sterile syringe (larger and longer needles are better)
1 empty jar (? pint, plastic lid is required)
1 bottle of Karo (honey may be substituted)
Bottle of distilled water
Incubator
A table spoon
Electric tape
Pin
Alcohol
Paper towel
Lighter
Microwave
A coffee filter
A rubber band

Note :

All procedures must be done as clean as possible. The cleaner the better. If you have one available, use a glove box or flow hood.

Karo preparation:

Jar lid: Poke a single hole through the lid of the jar. This will be how you suck the Karo into the syringe.

Using your Table spoon, put one spoon full of Karo in to the empty jar. Now fill the jar up with the distilled water. Put your lid on the jar and tighten it down. Now tape the holes over using the electric tape. Taking the pin carefully poke a hole through tape. This is so after you sterilize the jar a vacuum will not remain.
Now place a coffee filter over the jars lid and hold it with a rubber band.

Karo sterilization:

Note: Clean the microwave out. Clean it as well as possible with bleach.

Place the jar into your microwave. Set the heat setting on high. Cook it for 1 minute. Wait 5 minutes and cook for another minute. CAUTION THE JAR WILL BE HOT! Leave it in the Microwave over night. This will keep it clean as it cools.

Inoculation of the Karo:

Inoculation of the Karo

Unwrap the syringe from its packaging. Make sure the needle touches nothing. Take the alcohol and wet a corner of the paper towel. Take the coffee filter off and wipe the tape on the jar with the paper towel. Using the lighter flame the needle until it glows red. Now using the paper towel with the alcohol on it, wipe the needle clean. Insert the needle into the hole on top of the jar. Pull the plunger until the syringe is almost filled. Wipe the needle down with the paper towel again and recap it.

Wipe the lid with the paper towel. Now uncap the syringe and flame the needle again. Insert the needle in to the hole on the jar and inject the Karo in to the side of the jar in-between the cake and the glass. With draw the syringe and wipe and recap. Now shake the Colonized jar vigorously for about a minute or two. Then Uncap the syringe and draw up the water back into the syringe from the colonized jars.

syringe in jar syringe in jar 2

Note: The syringe might not fill completely back up. But shouldn%u2019t be a problem. Try and get as much as possible from inside the jar without taking the needle out, As this may cause contaminations. *also. Holding the jar on its side for a moment or two while sucking the Karo back up might help. Now you have Live mycelium in your syringe.

Incubation:

Normal incubation ranges. 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Incubate in the dark for 3~5 days.

incubator syringe syringe detail

Substrate preparation:

Prepare substrate jars normally. Sterilize them and allow to cool. To break the mycelium up while in the syringe, Draw air through the needle while flaming it. Then give the syringe a shake for 2 minutes. Then inoculate the jars with the syringe that was made.

There you have it. Colonization should complete in about one to two weeks.


My thoughts:
Now the jar you injected the Karo into doesn%u2019t ever need to be birthed. It could be taped and put into the refrigerator to be re-used. You%u2019ll never need another spore print in your life. When the cake gets old. Use another colonized cake you have made, But I suggest you do this if it%u2019s a isolated strain or clone. If its not, there is no need to keep them around.

This Tek was first done by Magash. Then told to me. The secret has been unleashed! Enjoy!

Grow Simple, Be Safe. laugh

by ~LiL KuSsH~

Copyright 1997-2025 Mind Media. Some rights reserved.

Generated in 0.016 seconds spending 0.003 seconds on 4 queries.