New member = plenty of questions.

[Fezza]

Hi all,

Been reading this forum for some info and decided to join and participate in all the fun.

I live in SE QLD and the weather has been perfect for mushrooms, ie lots of rain and temp has been within the perfect range.

Since i am only new to mushroom cultivation i will start with my very first dilema.

(question 1)

Can I use instant mash potato powder instead of, lets say 200g( most texts suggest this amount) of sliced potato(boiled, then strained) with 20g of dextrose and 20g of agar per litre of water?

If anyone has had any experience with using mash potato powder please let me know.

I think its would save a bit of time rather then sliced potato.

I used 4g of powdered mash to the above recipe. I'm going to try it with button mushroom mycelium once

the dishes cool down. At least if it doesn't work, I haven't lost anything important to me.

(Question 2)

I am currently only experimenting with Agaricus bisporus since i have nothing else to play with.

So I'd just like to be pointed in the right direction for some spores that are good for research.

just finished PDA (powdered mash):

(note, the little jars on the bottom for another project.. Khat)

my Agaricus mycelium is loving this weather and humidity:

Spread the love..

FezZa

[occidentalis]

Hi,

Why are you choosing to start with PDA? Looks like you have a bit of aseptic knowledge, but agar really isn't the easiest way to start. If you really want to use agar, a lot of people here use milo (the chocolatey nestle drink) as a source of food in their medium.

[Fenris]

Instant mash potato. HAHAHAH I tried exactly the same thing when I first started experimenting Unfortunately im my case it was a failure and I didn't pursue it any more.

I recently used powdered starch from a $2.50 box of starch powder from the laundry aisle at the supermarket and a touch of milo in my agar and it worked. It did take a while for things to get going but it was the middle of winter and I was using prints that were over 2 years old so I didn't expect any more.

Give it a go though, it is good to learn from mistakes and you can only increase your knowledge along the way.

The first time I tried to make agar I estimated the weights as I didn't have any scales, I thought a tsp would hold about 5g and things failed badly. More recently I didn't bring my agar to the boil and it didn't set even though I used the right amount of ingredients. I felt a bit embarrassed at that one, I should have known better. Its all a learning curve.

[gecko]

I've made up PDA but not with instant mash.

I cant think of any reason why it shouldn't work.

let us know how it goes .

I use the following very simple recipe as an alternative to the usual Malt Yeast Agar (MYA).

It seems a lot lighter in nutrient than MYA

Beer Based Media (BBM)

1 part beer

2 parts water

simmer/boil to drive off alcohol

then add 20gm/litre agar

or a 25gm sachet of agar to 1.25 litre

no need for weighing - only measuring liquids for thse without scales

though i haven't tried it yet,you could use the same quantity of good quality dry dog food

as agar ie.

Dog Food Agar

25gms agar

25gms dry dog food

1.25 litre water

possibilities are endless for potential agar media recipes

[Rev]

make mash spuds n save the water

make up to 1L

then add 10g/l brewing sugar

and 12- 15g agar

sterilise 10 mins

thats simple PDA

its the salts in the spuds that make it so useful not so much the starch

Milo agar is good but PDA is a good to rotate through.

sometimes i forget how good it is

Edited September 1, 2006 by Rev

[Fezza]

Thanks for all the useful info.

I forgot to mention that I also added hyrdogen peroxide with the water,

From text that i've been reading, adding 20% h2o2 with 80% h2o in substrate eliminates the need to sterilise and also provides your mycillium oxygen especially if you have sealed it from atmosphere.

Unfortunately on examining the "set" agar dishes I noticed that i had not added enough water to compensate for the loss of water though evaparation, And the product was a little too hard. So I will make up another batch. But I am also very interested in trying the milo/agar combo.

I'll let you all know how well they all work in comparison. agar-mash vs agar-milo. Also wouldn't mind trying gelatine in stead of agar as i heard it is also a suitable substitute. so I also add the gelatine-mash vs gelatine-milo to the comparison.

FEz