Liquid spore vs Liquid culture
Let's figure out how mushrooms multiply in mushroom cultivator experience.
Hope mycologists forgive me, because in this article we are going to skip scientific terminology and try to explain this process on the fingers and analogies.
What is the difference between Liquid spore syringe and Liquid culture?
Newbies always confuse liquid spore syringe and liquid culture (LC). But they are not the same thing!
🍄 For example, we have a mushroom with a cap. Underneath that cap are the spores. It's like the seeds in a plant. As long as they're under the cap or just crumbling, they're moist.
When we have a spore print on our hands, those spores are dehydrated. That is, they are dry. Their cell shells are compressed toward the center to seal themselves. In this way, they try to persist. Under the right conditions, to wake up and germinate.
How can we initiate their awakening?
1️⃣ Liquid spore syringe or spore suspension
The spore suspension is the spores that we have diluted and soaked in water. This is how they get soaked in moisture and are ready to germinate. Without this rehydration, the spores will not germinate in the substrate.
🔴 This method takes more time for spores germination, mycelium development and substrate colonization.
✅ But it is the easiest and fastest method for beginners.
✅ It doesn't require any special skills or experience.
✅ No need to use a glove box or SAB. It's optional.
✅ This is a basic skill, which will come in handy for more complicated mushroom cultivation methods.
🔬 How do you make a suspension? How do you dilute it and get more material for seeding grains?
Check out step-by-step guide in: Liquid spore syringe
2️⃣ Liquid culture or liquid mycelium
Liquid culture (LC) aka liquid mycelium is already germinated spores that have begun to form mycelium in sterile liquid nutrient medium.
Main ingredients for preparing a liquid culture consists a liquid spore syringe and a nutrient medium (for example, based on honey, dextrose, fructoseб grain broth). This nutrient medium becomes a food for mycelium and support its development.
✅ LC has a higher viability than the spore suspension.
✅ A lot of material can be made from it by multiplying LC in nutrient solutions.
✅ The process of colonization of the substrate when inoculated with LC starts a few days faster and develops more actively.
🔴 But the process of preparing LC requires time for mycelial development in a liquid nutrient medium.
In fact, it is a ready-made mycelium, which quickly begins to grow in the substrate. It has already germinated. And these sprouts (hyphae) have begun to weave together to form mycelium.
When we inoculate grain substrate with LC colonization is much faster, because mycelium has ALREADY formed and continue its development. It's easier and faster from this point than to start from scratch.
✅ Liquid culture has a higher viability.
✅ The process of colonization of the substrate when inoculated with liquid culture starts several days faster and develops very active.
✅ Liquid culture allows to get ahead of contaminants.
🔴 Liquid culture preparation requires sterile conditions, additional manipulations with sterile liquid preparation and about 2 weeks of time before grain inoculation.
✅ With LC you can inoculate an incredible volume of substrate! And from the same LC you can prepare an unlimited amount of LC by multiplying it in new clean sterile nutrient solution.
How to make mushroom Liquid Culture
In the next articles we'll get acquainted with more sophisticated methods of fungi reproduction:
🧬 Grain-to-grain inoculation or G2G transfer
🧬 Growing mycelium on agar
🧬 Agar to agar inoculation (A2A)
🧬 Cloning mushrooms on agar
Enjoy the world of Fungi 🙏
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