Mushroom cultivation can be a great hobby to grow fresh and organic mushrooms for your friends and family, but it requires a bit of knowledge and skill to get started. One of the first things you'll need to learn is how to make agar and liquid culture, which are essential tools for mushroom cultivation.

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Agar is a gel-like substance that is commonly used as a growth medium for mushrooms. It's made by mixing agar powder with water and sterilizing the mixture to kill any bacteria or other contaminants. The resulting agar can be poured into petri dishes or other containers and used to grow mushroom spores or spawn.

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Liquid culture, on the other hand, is a liquid growth medium that is used to grow mushroom spores or spawn. It's made by mixing water, sugar, and nutrients, and sterilizing the mixture to kill any bacteria or other contaminants. The resulting liquid culture can be used to grow mushroom spores or spawn in a liquid form.

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Here's how to make agar and liquid culture for mushroom cultivation:

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Make malt extract agar (MEA) petri dishes

1. To make agar, start by mixing agar powder with water in a large pot. The ratio of agar to water will depend on the specific recipe you're using, but a common recipe 2% agar solution. Additionally, you can add nutritional yeast and malt extract to provide extra food supplement for the mycelium to grow. The components of this recipe are:

• 1000 ml of water
• 20 grams of agar agar powder
• 20 gram of malt extract
• 2 gram of nutritional yeast

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Make malt extract liquid culture media

1. To make liquid culture, start by mixing water, malt extract, and instant potato flakes large pot. The ratio of the specific ingredients to water will depend on the specific recipe you're using, but a common recipe is:

• 1000 ml of water
• 20 gram of malt extract
• 2 gram of nutritional yeast
• 20 gram of instant mashed potato powder

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1. Place the pot on the stove and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. This will help to dissolve the malt extract and mix the nutrients into the water.
2. Once the mixture is boiling, turn off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
3. Once the liquid culture has cooled, filter the liquid from the undissolved potato flakes and transfer into a clean and sterile container. You can use a funnel to transfer the liquid culture media without spilling it. The sterile container should have a hole with a small micropore filter to allow for gas exchange and prevent outside contaminants from entering.
4. Place the liquid culture media into a pressure cooker and add enough water to fill at least 3 to 4 inches deep. Close the lid and turn on the fire. Let the pressure build up to 15 psi. This will create a high-pressure temperature environment that is effective at killing bacteria and other contaminants.

1. Let the liquid culture media cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes at 15 psi, then turn off the heat and let the pressure cooker cool down naturally. This will allow the liquid culture to cool slowly and evenly, which can help to prevent it from becoming contaminated again.
2. Once the pressure cooker has reached room temperature, remove the liquid culture solution.
3. Next step is to inoculate your liquid culture media. Add mycelium to the liquid culture media to begin growing. Mycelium can be grown out from a spore print, or taken from a mushroom tissue sample, or transferred from previous agar culture, liquid culture, or grain spawn. You should perform this task inside a sterile work environment such as the Bella Bora Still Air Box to reduce the chances of contamination.

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By following these steps, you can easily make agar and liquid culture for use in mushroom cultivation. These growth media are essential for growing mushroom spores and spawn, and can help to improve the success rate of your mushroom cultivation. So, it's worth taking the time to learn how to make agar and liquid culture before starting your mushroom cultivation project.

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