r/Agarporn

I got an agarplates with LC. an ai said thats normal for King Oster Mycel to be like Gray and fluffy but I don't know cuz this looks very much like mold

put one colonized grain of brown rice in each agar 10 days ago; whats diference from A to B?

transfered on the 16/03/2026- stored upside down at 4°C since 01/04/26, and how long are these good for if kept stored?

so after posting this on another forum I was told that this was not just mold please say that it ain't so I've been having so much difficulty just getting this off the ground as it is I've already been at this over a year and still have yet to have any real success and I mean literally not one successful crop this is just driving me insane so I really really hope that they were wrong when they said that give it to me straight

heyy,

can you guys help me figuring what are the white small dots (dont mind the big contams)

its my 6 th agar transfers and i can’t eliminate conden and i know i have these dots

Hello my fellow agar and mycology enthusiasts!! First of all, you. Yes, YOU with the eyes and the face. YOU who are reading this - you're friggin awesome and thanks for being a fellow agar nerd.

Second, lookit. THEY'RE SO CUTE! 😇 I had to share because they look pretty, and I'm so glad we have this community. I feel my S.O. lacks the enthusiasm that some of you fine folk are likely to have~

......Not much I could do about the condensation, sucks I know. I really wish the second dish had been the dry one.

These are isolate transfers from LME to cleaning plates. I received some Maitake (Grifola frondosa, aka "Hen of the Woods) liquid culture from a company who-shall-not-be-named. Seemed like no matter what I did, the bags I injected with that liquid culture ended up getting bacterial contamination.

Long story short, through my tests and experiments, I happened to identify a clean leading edge on an LME plate and transferred a couple wedges over to these cleaning plates in hopes of getting a solid isolate. The endeavor appears to have been successful, so now I have some clean genetics I can store and make my own liquid culture with!

What is a cleaning plate you might ask? Why is the agar black and filled with debris you might ask? Excellent questions.

I add a pinch of my substrate materials to the agar mix and the black is activated charcoal. The substrate materials are to provide adequate nutrition and otherwise to "train" the mycelium for my process. Rye grain, wheat bran, wheat straw, coconut coir, worm castings, HWFP powder, oak sawdust powder, nutritional yeast, gypsum, etc. Just a pinch!

There is a fair bit of speculation about the magical properties of activated charcoal. Some allege it reduces bacterial growth. I'll let the experts have their telekinetic mind energy battles over all that. For my purposes here, the black background contrasts against the mycelium making it easier to see and inspect. Activated charcoal + white mycelium = pretty pictures.

It is a "cleaning" plate because it contains hydrogen peroxide. Mushroom mycelium generates it's own peroxides to help it duke it out with competitors, so it will survive while bacteria and mold spores are destroyed or inactivated by the peroxides. The goal was to make 100% sure I removed all possible bacterial hitchhikers

What are your thoughts? Time for break and shake? All tips are welcome!

Feels like I’m finally starting to hit my stride with agar after moving to pouring my own. Still tweaking the recipe, always room to improve!

Send it or burn the house down? How’s this look to everyone is that contaminated? I read that so times it can look fuzzy like this and be healthy.

Wondering about the fringe at the bottom

Wondering about the fringe at the bottom before going to LC

If these are clocks which hours should I transfer? Both plates between 21:00-23:59 would be my guess? Left is Albino Bluey Vuitton and the right is Albino A+

Thanks!

First 2 come from a print, that’s why you can see black spots, third is from a swab. I believe the swab was showing 1-2 days after putting it to the agar. One of the prints was not long after. My other agar looks quite a bit different.

30x on the loupe. Cubensis.

Choose to see the beauty in every moment and every moment will be beauty full. 🍄🧡

I feel like there are things I could have done better, but for my first LC Inoculation to transfer. I think im doing alright. I will say I transferred early. I was trying to see if I could isolate colonies before they got together. Please be critical. Thanks y’all!