Let’s face it—mushroom cultivation isn’t easy. It’s an extensive and delicate process that you need to monitor and adjust as necessary. Luckily, mycology isn’t something you need to go to school for. Instead, you can turn mycelium into mushrooms that you can grow in your home! One of the easiest ways you can do this is by learning from our beginner’s guide to using mushroom liquid cultures.
What Is a Mushroom Liquid Culture?
A mushroom liquid culture is a mixture of water that you’ve sterilized. It’s also comprised of a few sugars, and we’ll discuss which kinds below in our process for creating liquid cultures. This nutritious mixture helps develop mycelium to full growth, and once it does, it becomes inoculated with spores. Think of it this way: a liquid culture is just nutrient broth with mycelium floating inside. The culture makes inoculating substrates easier.
What Are the Benefits?
No beginner’s guide to using liquid mushroom cultures would be complete without underscoring their benefits. First, you don’t need to leave liquid cultures in sterile environments for inoculation to occur. Instead, you can put them in non-sterile environments, which is much easier for beginners. Novices tend to struggle with mushroom contamination, so being able to inoculate your grains on your kitchen counter or any other non-sterile area is a boon. Essentially, liquid cultures leave far less room for error.
The inoculation process is also far shorter in liquid cultures. You can expect mushrooms to only incubate for 10 days to three weeks, which is significantly less than normal. The level of mycelium growth is practically limitless, giving you a high yield every time. You’ll boost colonization using liquid cultures, and the more you use, the better your yield.
What Are Some Challenges?
Creating your first liquid culture could result in some contamination. You can reduce the risk, but as a beginner, expect many trials and errors. It also requires significant sterilization, which can be frustrating if you aren’t used to it. You need the right mycology products to advance the process further along. However, with the right tools and enough practice, you’ll eventually adjust to the process.
Differences Between Mushroom Liquid Cultures and Spore Syringes
They might seem similar at first glance, but we promise you, they’re not. Mushroom liquid cultures are essentially just mycelium that grows in liquid, and you can put them in jars. On the other hand, spore syringes don’t contain mycelia at all. They have to germinate before they begin to grow into that form.
When you choose to inoculate a liquid mushroom culture, you can grow mycelium virtually immediately. However, the shelf life of spore syringes is longer because you can keep spores for some time if they aren’t refrigerated. Cultures from spore syringes also germinate faster than liquid cultures. Lastly, spore syringes don’t yield as many mushrooms but can handle many more variations of mushroom genetics, making them perfect for individuals looking to grow various types.
Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Liquid Cultures
So now that you know all that you need about the theory of liquid culture, what do you do with a liquid culture? How do you make one? We answer these questions below as we dive deeper into the process.
Necessary Supplies
Before you get started, you’ll need a few things to complete the process. You’ll need a grain spawn jar, which typically holds substrate but will hold the solution in your case. You’ll need a pressure cooker for sterilization.
You’ll also need to procure a few 10-milliliter syringes and several needles to go with them. Don’t hesitate to get extra of this supply in case you make a mistake. Also, remember that the higher the syringe’s volume, the smaller the needle will need to be. Since this is the case, picking up an 18 gauge is wise.
Finally, you must decide which sugar type you want to use. We recommend organic honey, corn syrup, light malt extract, or dextrose. Additionally, you’ll need micro-pore tape, perfect for filtering pollutants that would normally enter your jar while allowing fresh air to enter through the lid. You should also have sterile items like gloves, masks, and headgear.
Mixture Creation
Create a hole in the lid of one of your glass jars with a screwdriver or some other device. Make sure the hole is close to the edge of the lid. After this, fill the jars with 550 milliliters of warm water. You can use distilled water—better for sterility’s sake—or tap water, which is fine. Measure the number of nutrients you’ll use, add it to the jar, and then mix it. Put two strips of micropore tape over the hole in the lid. Then, screw the lid onto the jar. Place some foil over the top of the jar, secure it with a rubber band, and you’re ready to go!
Jar Sterilization
The next step is sterilizing your jars. You’ll want to place them in the pressure cooker until the pressure reaches 15 psi. Once it reaches this pressure level, keep the jars in the cooker for 35–40 minutes. This will ensure you’ve fully sterilized the culture. After that, turn off the heat and let the cooker cool overnight. Yes, we said overnight. Be patient! This entire process will be worth your efforts.
Inoculation Phase
The inoculation phase is delicate, so be careful with this process. First, you need to find a place to inoculate your mixture. You can do this on a kitchen counter, as we mentioned earlier. However, a still-air box is also advised. Collect your lighter, micropore tape, and liquid culture syringe. Wipe down your surfaces again. Put on your gloves and mask, and wipe the lids with alcohol wipes. Ensure you put a piece of your micropore tap on your folding jar. Shake your syringe to disperse the mycelium inside, and sterilize the needle with the flame until it’s glowing. Insert the syringe into the jar and put 1.5 cubic centimeters of liquid culture inside. Remove the syringe and flip down the tape. Finally, place the jar in a place with a temperature between 65 and 68 degrees.
Be Patient
After that, it’s just time to be patient! Stir your jar daily—this helps prevent the mycelium mass from getting clumpy—and watch the results! Good culture will look clear enough that you see through to the other side of the jar. Mycelium should also be in the middle, with a few clumps around the jar. Your culture is contaminated if it’s cloudy if you can’t see through it. Also, something’s wrong if it has green scum at the top or releases a foul smell when you open it to check after about a week. In this case, it’s time to repeat the process with another batch.
As you can see, creating a liquid culture requires some practice, but it isn’t the hardest thing to experiment with. However, you’ll need the right tools for the job to create one successfully. At Midwest Organics, we have all the tools you need to make your cultivation process the best. Shop Midwest Organics today!
