mubba said:

.

Here is a video that can get you started, although it would really be helpful if you could watch the entire video, either way it is a good start:
http://www.mushroomvideos.com/Strain-Isolation

---

Quote:

I guess my question was where do I need to sector to get the best rhizomorphic mycilium?

---

That's kind of a toughie - it's why you're being advised to do more transfers off each plate and grow them, then repeat, until you have a lot of examples to select from. 

With some experience it's easier to judge which areas you want to transfer from, without that it's more of a guess.  Doesn't mean you can't get lucky, but you won't know if there were other possibilities there on the plate that you missed.

It might be helpful to use actual petri dishes instead of half-pint jars (?) as they're easier to work with and allow more space for growth. You can use glass ones or get the presterilized plastic ones easily enough.  Advantage is you can grow the cultures out longer in between transfers, allowing you to judge how fast they're growing and, uhm, "rhyzomorphicity" since they change characteristics as they grow. 

I'd also suggest you use a scalpel/knife not an innoculating loop for the transfers, allows you to pick out just the part you want (you don't need much), but this doesn't have to be fancy, just a tiny blade will work.

Yeah, the 4th transfer still is sectoring a lot, it doesn't have a lot of room there to stretch out, so to speak.  But keep at it, it's fun to do and experience helps it make a lot more sense.

Peace
-PS

RogerRabbit said:

A sector is a strain.  A sector develops when compatible hyphae join to become a single organism, sharing genetics.  Strains can also join with other strains via dikaryotic pairings, known as anastomosis.  An isolate is a single strain, meaning you have transfered all the sectors to their own plates.

By taking tiny pieces of mycelium when I make transfers, I can often get to single sector isolates with three to four transfers.  The dish in the picture on the left below is the result of two or three transfers.  You can clearly see each sector by holding the dish up to the light.  Tiny cuts were made in each of these sectors to move that mycelium to new dishes, and each of those became a single sector isolate.  The right picture shows a dish that is still sectoring, and on the right is an isolated strain.  Note there is no sectoring at all.  Each and every isolate should be grown through the fruiting stage to determine the best performers.  Prior to doing so, a small amount of mycelium should be carefully labeled and placed into the refrigerator on a petri dish or culture slant.  This way, after fruiting, you can go back to an earlier stage in cell division for each future grow, capturing an aggressive strain.
RR

---

Not to thread jack but that cleared up a whole lot for me. Thanks RR

Quote:

The myc looks different in the center than on the outer edge on the 4th transfer. So should I take sectors from the middle or just the outer edge?

---

Quote:

Also where is a good place to get glass petri dishes? The ones I ordered are from sporeworks and idk if they are plastic or glass..

---

I just got another dozen off eBay to supplement the ones I've had almost forever.

Check regularly, they come up but don't stay long - the ones I got were Kimax and cost $23+shipping, brand new in old stock boxes - less than I paid years ago.  If they don't say the material or they're cheaper they are plastic, and though plastic works fine, when you run out, you're out...

Peace
-PS

Deej3987 said:

I want more space for the mycelium to colonize maybe sectoring would be easier?? I don't know, just something I want to try. Where did you say you got yours at?

---