Mateja said:

Have very bright lights on your SAB/FH setup and get close to the plates when you're transferring has to be the only way of ensuring you got something on the scalpel and dropped it off

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Yeah, I think I did it right this time. One thing I learned is that the aerial mycelium is like cotton candy. I just stabbed it and tried to pull a tiny piece away but it's stringy and a lot came off so maybe it's better to still cut a wedge in it and then pull it away without touching agar.

And yeah it is sticky and hard to get off the scalpel, you can see the mess I made on the plate

f88888888 said:

myc piss or contam? sorry for terrible tek btw, i just trust you guys more than reddit so...

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Rasmodius said:

puddling like that

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f88888888 said:

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Turvenuija said:

So, faht talked about how he does transfers by only using the aerial mycelium that should be the cleanest. I tried this today on this fluffy TTBVI but it's hard to see what I'm doing in the SAB (and I have the hand shaking gene ) and I just don't see anything on the receiving plate. I guess I'll see soon if I made a transfer successfully.

I cooled the scalpel on agar but is it plausible that the bit of mycelium fell off or burned during the transfer? I know it's a vague question but... how do you ensure that you actually got the mycelium to the new plate because it's so hard to see?

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There’s definitely a learning curve to it.. my rule of thumb is that I need to see it actually transfer onto the new plate with bare eyes.  If you don’t see that white speck, you can assume it got smaller on the tip of the blade trying to get it off and is still stuck to it. 

A bent tip scalpel is your friend here.  I’ll plan on taking good pics for a write up on pans I’m doing eventually but to put a hook into your scalpel, heat the tip red hot and then immediately lightly push it into a hard metal surface.  Cold tips will snap. 


Lay the scalpel hook down as flat as you can on top of the aerial myc and move the plate away from the scalpel while keeping the scalpel stationary.. it’s easier to stabilize the heavier plate than a lighter scalpel when moving.

Ideally, you’ll end up with a small tuft that has ends sticking off the sides of the scalpel tip.  Now it’s very important you don’t pull the tip forward towards you when putting on the receiving plate.. you’ll hook the sample myc tighter onto the hook.  You need to push the scalpel tip/hook away from you on the receiving plate to release the tuft from the hook. 

If you have decently long ends of the tuft hanging off the sides of the tip, turn the scalpel tip to drag one end on the agar surface first and then as you continue to drag (away from you), rotate the scalpel tip to drag the other end hanging off and the sample should easily come off the hook

fahtster said:

Turvenuija said:

So, faht talked about how he does transfers by only using the aerial mycelium that should be the cleanest. I tried this today on this fluffy TTBVI but it's hard to see what I'm doing in the SAB (and I have the hand shaking gene ) and I just don't see anything on the receiving plate. I guess I'll see soon if I made a transfer successfully.

I cooled the scalpel on agar but is it plausible that the bit of mycelium fell off or burned during the transfer? I know it's a vague question but... how do you ensure that you actually got the mycelium to the new plate because it's so hard to see?

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There’s definitely a learning curve to it.. my rule of thumb is that I need to see it actually transfer onto the new plate with bare eyes.  If you don’t see that white speck, you can assume it got smaller on the tip of the blade trying to get it off and is still stuck to it. 

A bent tip scalpel is your friend here.  I’ll plan on taking good pics for a write up on pans I’m doing eventually but to put a hook into your scalpel, heat the tip red hot and then immediately lightly push it into a hard metal surface.  Cold tips will snap. 


Lay the scalpel hook down as flat as you can on top of the aerial myc and move the plate away from the scalpel while keeping the scalpel stationary.. it’s easier to stabilize the heavier plate than a lighter scalpel when moving.

Ideally, you’ll end up with a small tuft that has ends sticking off the sides of the scalpel tip.  Now it’s very important you don’t pull the tip forward towards you when putting on the receiving plate.. you’ll hook the sample myc tighter onto the hook.  You need to push the scalpel tip/hook away from you on the receiving plate to release the tuft from the hook. 

If you have decently long ends of the tuft hanging off the sides of the tip, turn the scalpel tip to drag one end on the agar surface first and then as you continue to drag (away from you), rotate the scalpel tip to drag the other end hanging off and the sample should easily come off the hook

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I know what I'm doing tomorrow, snapping one blade and bending another. That's genius. Say, for plates with very little or no aerial mycelium, this sort of hook would work well for taking tiny bits of agar to transfer too, yeah?