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Goatrider
Rhythm Guitarist



Registered: 04/08/20
Posts: 4,396
Loc: Germany
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Re: BOD's Comprehensive Agar TEK [Re: baldur]
#27728692 - 04/10/22 11:19 AM (1 year, 9 months ago) |
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What i do:
Fill media bottle with ~300ml distilled water. Pour MEA in, shake up. Same with Agar-Agar. Fill bottle up to desired volume. Microwave for a short boil. Shake up, ready for PC. 5 minutes prep time in total, no stove needed (when using all powder) 
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baldur
Stranger

Registered: 06/30/21
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Re: BOD's Comprehensive Agar TEK [Re: baldur]
#27729193 - 04/10/22 05:47 PM (1 year, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
baldur said: I also in order to shorten the time of this operation, I tried this method:
1. Boil water 2. Mix part of the water in a blender with the agar 3. Pour back into pot and mix
Now this resulted in massive separation when I poured it into bottles, so this method wasn't working well.
Then I tried boiling the agar mixture, but that resulted in burnt agar even before it started to boil.
Now I might be able to boil it if I was stirring it constantly. But I figured that I'd read up and ask around more before ruining more MAE 
Anyone have some hints on how to make this process better?
Oh I just found these directions from my Agar supplier:
For Best Results:
Boil water. Keep stirring water and sprinkle the pre-mix powder gradually into the water (amount varies by formula, and is specified on the packaging) Allow the powder on the surface to dissolve before adding more. Keeping the mixture moving whilst adding the powder will help to prevent clumping. Mix until fully dissolved. Add to your vessel of choice, sterilise, and pour!
I will try this next time, sounds way faster than microwaving every bottle.
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baldur
Stranger

Registered: 06/30/21
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Re: BOD's Comprehensive Agar TEK [Re: bodhisatta]
#27729201 - 04/10/22 05:55 PM (1 year, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
bodhisatta said: The energy it takes to overcome the hydrogen bonds in liquid water are a big part of why despite steam being the same temperature as the water it transmits far more energy and thus is the sterilization agent in the cooker.
I'm trying to understand here, not to be a smart ass 
But the thermal conductivity of water is about 25x more than of vapor at 120C. See this link.
So shouldn't the water be a better agent for transferring thermal energy than steam?
I'm not saying you're wrong. Quite the contrary I think it's obvious that all those autoclaves wouldn't be relying on steam if steam wasn't better than hot water. Just trying to understand the mechanism behind this.
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Cadee
Stranger
Registered: 04/02/22
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Re: pour agar TEK [Re: baldur]
#27733560 - 04/13/22 09:16 PM (1 year, 9 months ago) |
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I'm new here, so please be gentle if this was asked and I missed it in the vault. Do my agar plates need to be fully taken over with Rhizomorphic mycelium before storing them in the fridge? Or can I just have a healthy colony to store them?
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TheTimelessDon
The Don


Registered: 03/19/22
Posts: 194
Last seen: 1 year, 2 months
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Re: pour agar TEK [Re: Cadee]
#27733629 - 04/13/22 09:56 PM (1 year, 9 months ago) |
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I don't know specifics about different varieties or species - BUT - I believe I just read a thread here saying that a healthy plate of mycelium will be good in the agar plate for at least 2 years at room temperature. No need for the fridge. If I can find that post I'll put the link up, but surely someone here will beat me to it!
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hOxt
Life During Wartime

Registered: 02/19/22
Posts: 255
Loc: Gilded Splinters
Last seen: 17 hours, 25 minutes
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Quote:
TheTimelessDon said: a healthy plate of mycelium will be good in the agar plate for at least 2 years at room temperature
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Goatrider
Rhythm Guitarist



Registered: 04/08/20
Posts: 4,396
Loc: Germany
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Quote:
Cadee said: I'm new here, so please be gentle if this was asked and I missed it in the vault. Do my agar plates need to be fully taken over with Rhizomorphic mycelium before storing them in the fridge? Or can I just have a healthy colony to store them?
You wanna leave some space to the edges of the plates. In the fridge it lies dormant, but not dead. It will still colonize a very little bit. Rhizo or tomentose doesn´t matter, both produce great fruits. For the fridge be sure to use an insulated lunch box or similar. You want to avoid temp swings, which makes your plates puke out moisture, resulting in dried out plates.
Quote:
TheTimelessDon said: I believe I just read a thread here saying that a healthy plate of mycelium will be good in the agar plate for at least 2 years at room temperature.
Don´t know what it´s good for. After about 2 months plates start to pin. Now make your math 
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TheTimelessDon
The Don


Registered: 03/19/22
Posts: 194
Last seen: 1 year, 2 months
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Ok, I knew I wasn't crazy... I'm going to attempt to copy this thread from a few days ago - I think I lurk here too much. Post Titled :Re: Mycelium from two year old dish left unrefrigerated... growing fine!?
Quote:
capitalcod said: As promised, here are the pictures. Apologies for the photo quality.
Samples from Dish 1. These look poor and like something is riding along with them. They will not be used.


Samples from Dish 2. Better than the first. May do another transfer from the rhizomorphic sections of the best dishes.



Samples from Dish 3. By far the best. One had explosive rhizo growth. I will make transfers from this to as many dishes as I can and the good ones will go to grain 



What I gather from this:
1. You are better off leaving fresh, unused dishes of agar outside the fridge so long as temperatures are within a reasonable range. Reason being: contams will appear sooner and can be removed. If there are no contams within a reasonable period, your dish is more likely pristine for use.
2. Mycelium can survive a long time (2+ years) on clean, nutritious agar, even without refrigeration.
3. This mycelium can be successfully transferred.
Whether or not this produces a successfully producing cake remains to be seen, so I will update on progress as I transfer from 2nd gen transfers to masters and then on to a final grow.
I will still be acquiring more spores just in case, but I'm hopeful the fast-growing dish will work out just fine.
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hardlee53
Stranger
Registered: 03/13/22
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Re: BOD's Comprehensive Agar TEK [Re: bodhisatta]
#27741735 - 04/19/22 10:11 AM (1 year, 9 months ago) |
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Sure wish I would have started with your Easy AF lessons. Just scratching the surface of Agar.
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dna24
Darth Randal



Registered: 04/19/22
Posts: 360
Loc: Savages
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Re: BOD's Comprehensive Agar TEK [Re: bodhisatta]
#27782881 - 05/18/22 11:31 AM (1 year, 8 months ago) |
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putting this here so i can always come back. this thread is amazing
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 FUCK STIPE 
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submedusa
Stranger
Registered: 05/10/22
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Re: BOD's Comprehensive Agar TEK [Re: dna24]
#27798468 - 05/29/22 11:45 PM (1 year, 7 months ago) |
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Great TEK. Quick question: EDIT: Nevermind, reread post and saw I can microwave.
I made 500ml of 10g of agar and 5g of LME (I read woodlovers like less nutrients). Think I poured too much into my first dishes as they are rather lumpy. I'm having a hard time heating it up to liquid again, even using boiling water it's taking forever. Is it safe to microwave with the cap loose until it's liquid?
Edited by submedusa (05/30/22 12:24 AM)
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Broom
Sponge


Registered: 08/03/21
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Last seen: 1 year, 7 months
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Re: BOD's Comprehensive Agar TEK [Re: submedusa]
#27798531 - 05/30/22 02:24 AM (1 year, 7 months ago) |
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This is epic for first time agar
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Broom
Sponge


Registered: 08/03/21
Posts: 52
Last seen: 1 year, 7 months
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Re: BOD's Comprehensive Agar TEK [Re: Broom]
#27799225 - 05/30/22 03:58 PM (1 year, 7 months ago) |
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Would there be a tangibly higher contamination rate with SAB instead of flow hood. I find it hard sometimes working in the SAB but I'm new at it and mine is a little small I think.
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WyoMX

Registered: 07/06/15
Posts: 2,102
Loc: PNW
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Re: BOD's Comprehensive Agar TEK [Re: Broom] 1
#27799383 - 05/30/22 06:04 PM (1 year, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Broom said: Would there be a tangibly higher contamination rate with SAB instead of flow hood. I find it hard sometimes working in the SAB but I'm new at it and mine is a little small I think.
I'd say the problem is definitely the size of your SAB. Flow hoods rock and give you lots more room to move around and are a little bit more forgiving but if you get the right size SAB and use the right techniques your success rate should be 95%+. If you've got money to burn flow hoods or FFU's are dope but you can grow many many pounds or mushrooms in just a SAB.
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Broom
Sponge


Registered: 08/03/21
Posts: 52
Last seen: 1 year, 7 months
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Re: BOD's Comprehensive Agar TEK [Re: WyoMX]
#27799571 - 05/30/22 09:17 PM (1 year, 7 months ago) |
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Interesting. Thanks for the response.
I guess I will have to upgrade my SAB and try proper technique. looking forward to getting into agar asap. This last round of LC has totally failed so far. Either I took too long to get the cultures going again since my last grow. They died or I messed up the recipe because I am not getting much growth at all. Might have to start over from spores or a culture I dont currently possess lol. Hoping one of these cultures pulls through and that's not the case
Edited by Broom (05/30/22 09:30 PM)
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themuv
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Registered: 09/28/21
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Re: BOD's Comprehensive Agar TEK [Re: bodhisatta]
#27809869 - 06/07/22 04:15 PM (1 year, 7 months ago) |
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Soaking up everything I can here, thank you again.
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BugabuzoLTD
Eager Novice


Registered: 03/29/22
Posts: 34
Loc: United States
Last seen: 8 days, 21 hours
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Re: BOD's Comprehensive Agar TEK [Re: bodhisatta]
#27861299 - 07/13/22 02:26 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Question from an amateur here. I used organic rye berries to fill quart jars for grain spawn. I know this tek says yo use the “soak” water, but I used the water from AFTER the boil. Will this affect anything? I used a lot of coffee as well (exactly 1/2 water, 1/2 coffee for 2.5 gallons and 10 cups of rye and the TBSP of gypsum. Mixed with agar and PC’d for 30 min (because there appears to be a bit of sediment). Now the mixture is nearly opaque because of the coffee, not translucent or slightly transparent/clear as the tek suggests. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and good vibes 🙏 Here’s a picture for eval

EDIT: I know the tek suggests multiple recipes for nutrition to add to your agar. Just wondering if what I did will work based on the description and the picture. I also made the coffee pretty strong. Just wondering if it will be TOO nutrient dense for the myc to spread successfully.
Edited by BugabuzoLTD (07/13/22 02:33 PM)
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butterjesus
n00b

Registered: 10/03/22
Posts: 1
Loc: Michigan
Last seen: 9 months, 24 days
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Re: BOD's Comprehensive Agar TEK [Re: bodhisatta]
#28139631 - 01/14/23 02:58 PM (1 year, 15 days ago) |
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Is it okay to unscrew the cap of the solid agar bottle while you are re-heating it in the microwave? I went to put the bottle in the water bath afterwards to cool it and it exploded. I think the pressure build up caused my bottle to explode or something, or maybe the drastic temperature differential. I am also using cheap amazon borosilicate rather than pyrex, not sure if that was an issue here. Stupid stupid mistake by me regardless.
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NuclearTidalWave
Dyler Turden



Registered: 09/07/16
Posts: 370
Loc: Simulation #7
Last seen: 2 days, 1 hour
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Re: BOD's Comprehensive Agar TEK [Re: butterjesus]
#28139633 - 01/14/23 03:00 PM (1 year, 15 days ago) |
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Yes unscrew the lid slightly.
You can not go from one temperature extreme to the other with glass. Always change temp gradually.
-------------------- Signature text goes here. NTW's LAGM 2.023 P̫̻̳̮͎̥̬͋͊̂͐Ä̡͓̜̩̤̠̮́́̔̽̇Ṛ̹̱ͅA̠͉͒F̹̦̣͇̘̻̍̎ͬ͋͒̅͌͘I̖̻ͨͧ̇̋ͯ͡L̩̩͋́M͕̳͎̱̎ ̤̜͇̰̉̿ͫ̑͑͡ͅC̶̲̝̉̔U͚̙͕̬̘̗̐ͮ̀ͣ̎L̏́̂͋Ṯ̥̪̠ͩ͛̃͊
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Greg
always learning




Registered: 10/28/15
Posts: 1,536
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Re: BOD's Comprehensive Agar TEK [Re: butterjesus]
#28139643 - 01/14/23 03:08 PM (1 year, 15 days ago) |
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I leave mine open half a turn when I microwave them and I microwave in 1 minute intervals at most in case things start getting a little crazy. Works with my Pyrex media bottles.
However, I would not be surprised if that isn't actually boro and is regular soda-lime glass instead. Amazon is getting harder to trust, even for name brand products. I once bought syringe caps sold as polypropylene which were in fact HDPE and promptly melted into a wad of garbage at the bottom of the jar I PCd them in.
Edited by Greg (01/14/23 03:10 PM)
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