Liquid Cultures 101 | Mycelium Inoculation Techniques

Ever worked with liquid culture?
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The liquid culture technique is a go-to method for fungal cultivation, as it's great for growing and spreading lots of mycelium.

Prior to inoculating an agar plate you will need to kick-start a liquid culture by mixing healthy mycelium into a sterile liquid.

🧪 What’s a Liquid Culture?
Liquid cultures are jars or syringes filled with sterile, nutrient-rich water (often with sugar or light malt extract) that have been inoculated with living mycelium. The mycelial "cloud" is suspended in the liquid and needs to be stirred or shaken up before use.

You can:
Use a pre-made LC syringe from a supplier
Create your own by transferring mycelium from agar into a sterile jar of LC
Use LC to inoculate more agar plates, grain spawn, or even grow bags

Once you have a healthy liquid culture syringe prepared you can proceed with this technique.

→Sanitize the injection port on your LC jar or bag with 70% isopropyl alcohol
→Shake the syringe to evenly disperse the mycelium
→Needle Sterilization: Use a flame to sterilize the needle tip of your liquid culture syringe.
→Wait until the syringe is cool to avoid heat damage to your culture.
→Lift the agar plate lid at a 45° angle
→Gently drop 1–2 drops of LC onto the center of the agar plate
→Don’t worry if there is too much pressure on the syringe and a larger amount falls on the dish.
→Close your plate lid.
→After the inoculation, flame the needle again and cap the syringe
→Seal your plate with micropore tape or parafilm

📝 Label Your Plates:

→Culture type (e.g., Pink Oyster)
→Date (e.g., 04/18/2025)
→Transfer type (e.g., LC to Agar)
→Agar recipe (e.g., MEA)
→Any extra notes on color, texture, or source


Once sealed and labeled, you’re ready for incubation. Keep your plate somewhere warm and clean, and check back in a few days for signs of mycelium growth.

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Stay entangled,

Jess & Cat