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Tripglass420
Old Head back from hiatus


Registered: 01/27/20
Posts: 200
Loc: Southeast
Last seen: 2 years, 9 months
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Agar recommendation
#26485680 - 02/14/20 03:57 PM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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Any recommendations on the most reliable places to source agar plates. And are prepoured the way to go?
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bodhisatta 
Smurf real estate agent


Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,889
Loc: Milky way
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Google.com, No
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Tripglass420
Old Head back from hiatus


Registered: 01/27/20
Posts: 200
Loc: Southeast
Last seen: 2 years, 9 months
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Re: Agar recommendation [Re: bodhisatta]
#26485877 - 02/14/20 06:13 PM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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Google?? Really?? I woulda never guessed...
Smh
I kinda meant someone may have already found a good vendor with good prices. But thanks for that awesome recommendation.
Should I ask why you say prepoured isn't preferred or will the response be genuine information..
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Antigov



Registered: 03/17/19
Posts: 792
Loc: Deep within the BibleBelt
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I wouldn’t be able to afford this hobby if I bought pre poured plates. Follow the link below. Pastyplates are easy AF. Mentally I’m about half a notch above a retard chimpanzee so if I can do it I’m pretty sure you can too. Good luck
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/19208976/fpart/1/vc/1
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bodhisatta 
Smurf real estate agent


Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,889
Loc: Milky way
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I look up the best deal every time
Prepour isn't preferred In fact most people find them to be absolutely shit
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Tripglass420
Old Head back from hiatus


Registered: 01/27/20
Posts: 200
Loc: Southeast
Last seen: 2 years, 9 months
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Re: Agar recommendation [Re: bodhisatta]
#26486051 - 02/14/20 07:48 PM (3 years, 11 months ago) |
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So as a noob to the agar prepoured should be avoided....any other quick vice before I steer my learning curve into the direction of the agar I hear so much about here on the forums
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DickBiggenstein
Mycelium Junkie

Registered: 12/28/17
Posts: 15
Last seen: 2 years, 10 months
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Quote:
Tripglass420 said: So as a noob to the agar prepoured should be avoided....any other quick vice before I steer my learning curve into the direction of the agar I hear so much about here on the forums
Have you considered going the no pour route? It might be an easier way to get started as all the needed supplies can be found locally for virtually everyone.
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/14788118/fpart/all/vc/1 https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/19208976
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bodhisatta 
Smurf real estate agent


Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,889
Loc: Milky way
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Pour agar is also something a middle school aged kid could handle. Its easy but seems like a hurdle because its something you may not be immediately good at.
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dark-goblin
Stranger


Registered: 01/16/20
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Re: Agar recommendation [Re: bodhisatta]
#26512632 - 03/02/20 10:59 AM (3 years, 10 months ago) |
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prepoured plates will be expensive if you're buying them regularly. also the most expensive of all your options.
buying plates + agar ingredients + learning how to pour agar is a better investment if you intend to work with agar more than once.
more to the point, if you're intending to work with agar, you're probably also going to require some kind of sterile practice. learning to work with agar is an important part of that sterile practice and will help you be in control of all of your contamination vectors.
personally i think the best tech for you would probably be no-pour agar. it's easy, and cheap because you can re-use the containers.
the tek linked above (pastywhite's) is a good no pour tek.
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EbilPhish
🏻🏼🏽🏾🏿


Registered: 06/20/18
Posts: 63
Last seen: 2 years, 10 months
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ebay/aliexpress ?
I just ordered 10 for around $0.70 USD from a random Chinese ebay vendor with a decent amount of feedback. From the feedback specific to the item 4 people where fine, 1 person had them arrive cracked, 380+ sales. Other people on here mention getting Chinese ones and finding the the bags damaged.
It's a bit of a crapshoot but at that price, worse case I'm out $3 (since I ordered 3 sets). There cheaper than any of those flimsy 'deli container' style PP5 ones I could see (although they lack reuse). If I was ordering like 500 I might go with a better source.
I'm just starting and haven't done agar yet since I'm waiting on spores, but I think I'm not going to bother with no-pour (other than the initial ones since the plates will take a while to arrive and I'm too impatient to wait).
The main issue is i can't find any decent no-pour containers since they all seem to be USA only, or with high shipping. For now I'm just stuck using all the dipping sauce containers I have around most of which aren't very wide. Luckily my family are borderline hoarders so there are enough.
Plus is seems like there is more prep work, sticking holes in them, micropore taping them, adding the agar, running them through the pressure cooker. There's the drawbacks, dealing with condensation, hard to open lids, less visibility, odd shapes, possibly overflow, cleaning them up for reuse. I figure you have to open them anyway to inoculate them and again to get a wedge, once more isn't a huge issue so I figure I might as well go the pour route. But maybe I'm underestimating the difficult or pouring agar.
I might think differently if I could get those decent PP5 petri dishes.
Edited by EbilPhish (03/04/20 05:44 AM)
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staytrippy420


Registered: 03/23/13
Posts: 2,337
Loc: Canada
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Re: Agar recommendation [Re: EbilPhish] 1
#26519257 - 03/05/20 06:15 PM (3 years, 10 months ago) |
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Pre made plates are whack. Most of the time they show up all fucked up and slushy because of shipping and condensation. I have had some good ones show up but I’ve had more bad ones then good.
Your better off doing no pour pasty plates or holy grails.
-------------------- Tek's I use LAGM2020
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Kyngwhatt
presbyter


Registered: 02/05/20
Posts: 272
Loc: The pharcyde
Last seen: 2 years, 11 months
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Quote:
Tripglass420 said: Any recommendations on the most reliable places to source agar plates
Here's the best deal I've ever came across https://www.amazon.com/Nest-Scientific-Polystyrene-Semi-Stackable-Sterile/dp/B07RCCB3N2
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Whatt
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shevanel
Gone til November


Registered: 01/27/08
Posts: 1,517
Last seen: 1 year, 11 months
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Re: Agar recommendation [Re: Kyngwhatt]
#26539725 - 03/17/20 12:02 AM (3 years, 10 months ago) |
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Edited by shevanel (03/17/20 12:03 AM)
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Tripglass420
Old Head back from hiatus


Registered: 01/27/20
Posts: 200
Loc: Southeast
Last seen: 2 years, 9 months
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Re: Agar recommendation [Re: shevanel]
#26548879 - 03/21/20 12:59 PM (3 years, 10 months ago) |
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You guys are awesome!
One last question before I jump into it....I've seen agar powder with and without the yeast as well as the malt....Does it make a difference whether the agar powder is isolated or do the premises powders do just as fine?
I owe you all a clone of my finest specimen 
Great white monster and Moby dick are up next and will be doing a grain run to get a good clone sample to begin my agar work soon
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CosmicKramer
Life Scientist



Registered: 10/23/12
Posts: 61
Loc: Forward thinking Colorado
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I use the Telephone brand agar. There are many recipes you can choose from to add your nutrition. I prefer the grain soak water (GSW) recipe because it is simple and always available.
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Solipsis
m̶a̶d̶ disappointed scientist


Registered: 12/28/09
Posts: 3,398
Loc: the Neitherlands
Last seen: 5 months, 18 days
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I really like GSW too and use it a lot. Malt is probably second place for me.
Maybe a bit hypocritical looking at GSW agar, but i don't really trust something like PDA because the starch coming from the potatoes seems (multi)variable. I guess it's not ultra important tho, but the other thing is i don't like how cloudy it is.
If you use grains, make grain water (I concentrate the soak water I don't use and save it as ice cubes - simply calculating how much stronger the concentration is. And I use unconcentrated regular soak water (not more water than is needed to submerge the grains and set outside in the cold for oh about 16 hours or something? not more than 24. Anyway that soak water i use 1 part soak water and 2 parts regular water to dilute it for the agar use.
If you don't use any wholegrains at all in your grows, then brown/wholegrain flours are a similar option.. if you dont use that either i recommend getting light malt extract. Then when you get more experienced, do other agar recipes as well and mix it up a little.
Off-topic but i love gellan gum for my gels. My favorite right now is 90% of a dose of gellan gum and 10% agar, not by weight tho. Amounts to iirc 750 mg of both, for 400 mL medium (but the gellan is much more potent in effect, maybe like 10x - it is also nearly 10x as expensive by weight). Gives clear gels with brittleness you can modify for slicing nice wedges. Does require to add something such as calcium chloride.
In general i dislike just about anything 'pre-mixed'. Unless it's like MS salts (for plants) or yeast nutrients, which are mixtures of minerals and vitamins which for now are too many for me to mix myself.
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PrimalSoup
hyperspatial illuminations



Registered: 11/17/09
Posts: 13,568
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 1 year, 5 months
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Re: Agar recommendation [Re: Solipsis] 1
#26583730 - 04/07/20 10:58 AM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Why is this in advanced mycology anyway? 
I get agar from a local whole foods store, LME (light malt extract) from a local home brew store.
My experience with PDA is variable due to potato differences - one time I used a tater that had been treated with fungicide without knowing it - needless to say that didn't work very well. 
me grumpy not much sleep
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if you stand too close to the machine it'll start to eat youPrimal's simple tested teks and projects: Wheat Prep 2.0 Acidic Tea Tek Potency Project!
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BooShow
Spooky



Registered: 03/05/20
Posts: 884
Loc: Sunshine Province, Canada
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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I get my Agar at a local Asian food shop; it comes in ten-inch long strips that I powder up later. One pack is like $2.50.
-------------------- You are what is. That's all.
  
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mycoflow
Stranger
Registered: 02/26/18
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Re: Agar recommendation [Re: BooShow]
#26589005 - 04/09/20 02:33 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Like many have already said above, buy a large pack (there are 500 plastic plates on Amazon and Ebay) and pour your own. It's way cheaper, you control the (lack of) contams, the color, everything! Plus it's easier to store a bunch of empty plates vs storing a bunch of pre-poured plates if you are planning to use them over a long period of time.
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Je77Ce11ar



Registered: 01/09/19
Posts: 244
Last seen: 3 months, 17 days
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Re: Agar recommendation [Re: mycoflow]
#26618672 - 04/21/20 08:29 PM (3 years, 9 months ago) |
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Def take the advice and do your own agar, prepour plates are easy af, although i dont use them personally. Theres a bunch of commercial growers you can find either online or on IG that sell prepours to get you started. MycTyson on IG sells prepours and cultures, often doing promos for a $1 a plate. Great way to get started til you start making your own plates
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