AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!) - Mushroom Cultivation - Shroomery Message Board

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root3r
Stranger

Registered: 07/02/25
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Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: HILLBILLY OUTLAW]

1
#29269268 - 07/04/25 11:05 PM (1 year, 2 months ago)

And use distilled water.

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BeefExtreme
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Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: root3r]
#29269280 - 07/04/25 11:39 PM (1 year, 2 months ago)

ive never used anything but straight up tap water.

yes less agar in your ratio means softer agar. i like a firm agar personally. easier to work with.

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Dala
Rad Visuospatial Sketchpad

Registered: 11/23/08
Posts: 2,925
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Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: Changed]

1
#29269407 - 07/05/25 06:56 AM (1 year, 2 months ago)

Pouring thicker plates can prevent them from drying as quickly. IME soft agar is hard to cut and transfer cleanly.

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BeefExtreme
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Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: Dala]

1
#29269412 - 07/05/25 07:08 AM (1 year, 2 months ago)

yep. same. thick plates are whats up.

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Smellyhobbit
Amateur Wizard

Registered: 04/01/22
Posts: 18,447
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Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: BeefExtreme]

6
#29269415 - 07/05/25 07:14 AM (1 year, 2 months ago)

Thick plates and thick dates keep your spores happy and your ropes white baby

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tryptkaloids
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Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: Smellyhobbit]
#29269467 - 07/05/25 08:29 AM (1 year, 2 months ago)

:splooge:

--------------------
"Remember, kids, the difference between science and screwing around is writing it down" -adam savage
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BeefExtreme
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Registered: 11/02/11
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Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: tryptkaloids]
#29269564 - 07/05/25 10:49 AM (1 year, 2 months ago)

yyyessaaaaa

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mushboy
modboy

Registered: 04/24/05
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Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: BeefExtreme]
#29270019 - 07/05/25 07:47 PM (1 year, 2 months ago)

'im all about the ropes.'

has to be one of the weirdest movies ive seen. really liked it tho.

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Changed

Registered: 05/07/23
Posts: 243
Loc: 38.864, -77.0573

Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: mushboy]

1
#29270110 - 07/05/25 09:32 PM (1 year, 2 months ago)

Not only is the dating scene dry here in the desert, but so are my plates... less agar & thicker plates it is.

:jaded:

:jaded:

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ThurmanMurman
Sandwich Artist

Registered: 06/25/24
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Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: mushboy]

3
#29270111 - 07/05/25 09:35 PM (1 year, 2 months ago)

mushboy said:

'im all about the ropes.'

has to be one of the weirdest movies ive seen. really liked it tho.

I will check this out bc I love weird movies. Idk if you do too, but check out Gummo and Swiss Army Man, if so.

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Blopblop
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Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: ThurmanMurman]

3
#29270121 - 07/05/25 09:53 PM (1 year, 2 months ago)

+1 for Swiss army man👍

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BeefExtreme
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Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: Blopblop]
#29270141 - 07/05/25 10:04 PM (1 year, 2 months ago)

ill always maintain that a thick ass clingwrapped plate will outlast a slant.

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Smellyhobbit
Amateur Wizard

Registered: 04/01/22
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Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: ThurmanMurman]
#29270157 - 07/05/25 10:28 PM (1 year, 2 months ago)

ThurmanMurman said:

mushboy said:

'im all about the ropes.'

has to be one of the weirdest movies ive seen. really liked it tho.

I will check this out bc I love weird movies. Idk if you do too, but check out Gummo and Swiss Army Man, if so.

I love both of these movies.

Sometimes my friend will say “You smell like wetback dick, rabbit!” At me randomly.

Probably not the best thing to quote, but you know. He’s a wild one.

--------------------
A Love Letter to New Growers
The 7 Edicts of Mushroom Cultivation as Decreed by Smellyhobbit

:kodama:

:kodama:

Anyone can get a canopy. But can you get what you want?

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So Anyway
Boner donor

Registered: 07/11/21
Posts: 1,025
Last seen: 6 days, 14 hours

Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: Smellyhobbit]

1
#29270186 - 07/05/25 11:59 PM (1 year, 2 months ago)

I am currently experiencing my worst plate contam rate in history, worse than ham fisting my first pasty plates in a SAB in my filthy kitchen back in the day. Granted I've been away for a few months, but I've taken off for longer and never had this much trouble starting back up. Made about 60 plates, tossing 25 of them. Most of the plates are exhibiting edge contam, but a few seem to have something walking around in there.

Let's rip the bandaid off, this is probably my worst plate ever:

This is the plate that most looks like something is moving around on it, a couple different contams following a meandering trail around the plate

Detail shot of some of the trails

This one was bizarre, didn't notice anything off about it, opened a few plates in front of the FFU to get rid of some condensation before transferring to them and came back to this, don't understand it, no way I would have missed that when opening it up. Left it in front of the FFU for about 15 minutes (the blotches are on the underside of the plastic, the agar surface just has the trails on it)

All contaminated plates are originating at the edge, the ones with trails all seem to lead from the edge. My sterile technique is probably a bit rusty but again I've never thrown away so many plates from one run in my life! Contams are appearing in about 5-7 days from inoculation. A lot of these were transferred from old plates, which have been sitting for anywhere between 3-9 months, some were straight up potato chips

Considering my contam vector possiblities-

The plates were all quite condensated, which usually just gets dumped out, however this run seemed to have a lot of water remain in the threads which could be wicking contaminates up through the thread and into the plate.
The FFU has been sitting for a while, and possibly has spore load on the face of the filter/on the metal grate which covers it (seems less likely to be my issue since the contams all appear to be coming from the edge)
The table/grate in front of the FFU that gets worked on has also been sitting, and shit is getting stirred up by working on it and finding its way onto my hands, tools, or into the flow and into the plates
Something very tiny is getting in and running amok, throwing a roller disco on my plates
I just totally lost my touch and sucked it up bad enough across 3 separate transfer sessions to achieve a near 50% contamination rate
All of the above, or some combination thereof

Kinda leaning toward some combination; the water in the threads wicking shit up seems likely, I'm definitely on the rustier side (but not the rustiest I've ever been), my workspace is pretty disgusting and it's possible I've been breeding some sort of microscopic mite army, and the ancient plates I'm transferring from have had plenty of time for something to find their way up through the threads of those plates & lie in wait for an unsuspecting idiot to transfer them into fresh goods.

So far a couple test plates have been left in the flow for 15-30 mins to check for FFU failures, cleaned the surrounding workspace, table, racks & metal grate of the filter, ran the fan on the highest setting to try and blow anything loose that might have settled on it, changed the scalpel blade & deep cleaned all tools (usually flame those entirely at the start of a session, let them cool in the flow while getting stuff ready, then flame the tip/any part that will go into or over a plate while working), cleaned under my fingernails and behind my ears.

Appreciate any and all thoughts :facepalm3:

:facepalm3:

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So anyway, uh...

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DERRAYLD
Constructus

Registered: 05/13/02
Posts: 14,959
Loc: South Africa
Last seen: 2 hours, 40 minutes

Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: So Anyway]
#29270192 - 07/06/25 12:25 AM (1 year, 2 months ago)

I'd be interested to see how the test plates look after a while, could be filter damage after sitting but it's tough to say.

You don't just forget how to ride a bike so I doubt it's just some massive technique issue.

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So Anyway
Boner donor

Registered: 07/11/21
Posts: 1,025
Last seen: 6 days, 14 hours

Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: DERRAYLD]
#29270199 - 07/06/25 12:32 AM (1 year, 2 months ago)

DERRAYLD said:

I'd be interested to see how the test plates look after a while, could be filter damage after sitting but it's tough to say.

You don't just forget how to ride a bike so I doubt it's just some massive technique issue.

I've checked the filter pretty thoroughly but can't rule that out yet. It does seem like ffu/filter isn't going to likely be the issue as the contam is all originating from the outside edge. I'd guess if the filter had a tear or was otherwise blowing muck all over my shit that they'd exhibit initial contam randomly in different spots on the plate.

The other strange thing is that it isn't contaminating right away, like usually if I botch a session I'll know in a day or two if I have a major problem. Most contamination seems to outpace cube myc or at least keep pace with it. Just checked my plates again and found another that's 9 days old with solid myc growth that hadn't exhibited signs of contam, and today it has tiny bacterial dots leading toward the center from the edge. Starting to strongly suspect some kind of little bastard who's letting themselves in and aren't wiping their damn feet. Maybe I'll try wrapping a few after transferring to see if that changes anything

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So anyway, uh...

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RoscoeReturns
We’ve outstayed our welcome

Registered: 02/12/18
Posts: 3,117
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Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: So Anyway]
#29270439 - 07/06/25 09:48 AM (1 year, 2 months ago)

Mites? They leave trails like that in the condensation of my tubs when I get them bad.

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tryptkaloids
Learner

Registered: 02/08/15
Posts: 16,339
Loc: Exact Center
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Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: RoscoeReturns]

1
#29270483 - 07/06/25 10:32 AM (1 year, 2 months ago)

Id bet mites too

--------------------
"Remember, kids, the difference between science and screwing around is writing it down" -adam savage
Flowchart for Recommended plan of action.
Learn the tried and true way to grow mushrooms
Use the Damn search engine
After you know what you're doing, take a break
Pick a book, Make some chips!
Josex said:Don't take the site seriously bro, ain't worth it.

Extras:

So Anyway
Boner donor

Registered: 07/11/21
Posts: 1,025
Last seen: 6 days, 14 hours

Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: tryptkaloids]
#29270578 - 07/06/25 11:37 AM (1 year, 2 months ago)

Dangit

:mad:

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So anyway, uh...

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MojaveMyc
Fractal Farmer

Registered: 05/08/21
Posts: 1,052

Re: AGAR ENVY! (Anything and All things agar!)

[Re: So Anyway]

1
#29270633 - 07/06/25 01:26 PM (1 year, 2 months ago)

Yeah, that’s mites. Sorry broheim, at least they can be dealt with.

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CV+

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