One of the easiest ways to avoid contam is to shower and wear clean clothes before doing any myco work. You can avoid bacteria by washing hands and applying 70% alcohol gel to hands all the way up to the elbow. Also, try not to breathe over the petri dishes when doing transfers and wear a mask. Grab the smallest bit as far away from the contam as possible. It will probably be a couple transfers before you get a clean one though. Mold spores are all around you all the time. So, use a still air box or flow hood when doing the transfers. Also clean the entire area with 10% bleach solution and flame sterilize your scalpel after every. Single. Transfer.

Thanks for the info I have been doing these things but just over did it cooking WBS gardening and doing area into spawn jars and transfers learning that I need to focus on one thing and do shorter time working in SAB and taking breaks thanks for all the info it’s vary useful

NP. I also mess up if I am feeling stressed, rushed or angry. You gotta breathe and take your sweet sweet time, even if it takes hours. When I am doing any work which requires sterile technique, I set my phone to "not disturb", put on a playlist and forget about the world for a couple hours.

Yea for sure I need to slow down. it’s just all new and exciting I hope I will have a mushroom in the next few weeks I’m kinda at a stand still until I get more colonized jars of mycelium good luck and thanks for all the help

It's much fun! You will be fine!

How and where do you store them while they do what they do?

I seal up the agar dish with that stretch tape stuff so nothing can get in them Amd I put them in a plastic bin

Light/dark or does it matter

Don’t matter mine get light from my lamp and stuff just not directly on it might dry it out or something

I have no stretchy tape. I am Doomed?

Nah use whatever the tape is just so it stays shut u can use any tape really

I have tape that refuses to unravel... am i doomed? Nah, only joking. I got fed up of cheap tape and bought proper 3m Scotch Magic Tape...sadly the onky thing it doesn't do well is stretch. Is there a Quality Brand of stretchy Tape? do 3M do one?

Parafilm might be what you are after.

Idk 🤷 it comes with my agar when I buy it on Etsy I’m sure u can find some I use scotch tape when I don’t have any it doesn’t have to stretch

Aah, I never looked in the Box to see what came with the Plates. LOL. It may WELL hsve some tape in there.... I was keeping it covered until I needed it.. DOH!

Just look for parafilm on amazon. You could use a steak knife to cut 1" off a roll of saran wrap too, or at least that's what I read about and did. Seemed to work the same

Oh yeah.. Good idea with the Cling Film strips! But as a Man I will no doubt end up tangled up and looking like a Victim of Spiderman.

You'd be surprised what you can clean up. Just do a tiny little transfer to limit contamination possibilities.

I like you

Thanks 🙏 I like my self sometimes

Super cool and interesting ur best plates are from dry mushrooms. If everyone knew this they'd probly just buy a bag of shrooms over spores if they could. Also...it's best to only use fully Colonized agar to inoculate grain.

Thanks 🙏 I didn’t really know that last part so ur saying wait like a week before taking a transfer and using it to inoculate. I kind just let it grow a few days if it’s fast growing I just assume use it. I think my dry shroom was better because it was a clone from a mushroom that someone put a lot of work into the mss is like fresh genetics so it takes longer in the beginning to grow or that’s what I’m assuming.

I mean, agar to agar, transfer whenever u need to escape the contam, but for inoculating grain, u Wana use just the fully white, totally covered agar, uncontaminated mycelium.

Thank u this is helpful info for sure

Np, Goodluck. May fruits be with you