How To Make Liquid Culture For Mushroom Cultivation.
In this post, we're going to break down how to make liquid culture, why it's a game-changer for growing mushrooms fast and what a good or contaminated liquid culture looks like (with photos).
Liquid culture, or LC broth, is a blend of water and some basic sugars. It's is used to expand mycelium before you introduce it to grain spawn. There's a variety of recipes out there for liquid culture, and I'll walk you through how to make 3 of them today.
Over my years of dabbling in mushroom cultivation, I've whipped up more batches of liquid culture than I can count. Trust me, even a small misstep like drilling the hole in the wrong spot on the jar lid can lead to losing half your precious culture. So, stick with me as I guide you through the essential do's and don'ts of making liquid culture – because getting it right makes all the difference.
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How To Make Liquid Culture?
I have created a table below which covers the most common liquid culture recipes, choose a mixture you wish to use then follow the instructions in this post.
I believe these are the best ingredients since they create a clear culture which can be easily analysed.
Recipe Name | Nutrient Amount (Grams) | Water | Percentage (NA:W) |
---|---|---|---|
Karo LC | 24g | 600ml | 4% |
Honey LC | 24g | 600ml | 4% |
LME LC | 1g | 600ml | 0.16667% |
If you want to create a formula which is not listed in this table then you simply do the following:
(Water X Percentage) / 100 = Nutrient Amount.
OR
(Nutrient Amount / Percentage) X 100 = Water.
OR
Follow the links in the table which contain a more detailed table for each technique.
We recommend creating multiple jars at one time to improve the chances of creating a clean liquid culture broth.
Requirements
- Pressure Cooker (pressure cookers for mushroom cultivation).
- Micro-pore tape/polyfill (here is a discussion on gas exchange lids, however for this tutorial micropore tape will do).
- Liquid Culture Syringe
- Nutrient (Honey, LME, Karo).
- Butane Torch (seriously get one of these it makes flame sterilizing needles very very easy, the needle will glow red in seconds).
- Jars
- Alcohol
- Stirring plate (this will speed up the process).
Create the Liquid Culture Jar.
Grab a jar and put a hole in the lid using a screwdriver or something similar. The hole should be as close to the edge of the lids as possible as show in this picture below, if you put it in the centre it will be difficult to tilt and remove all the liquid culture.
Next, fill the jar with 600ml of warm water. Some people like to use distilled water but realistically tap water is perfectly fine and probably adds nutrients.
Measure out the amount of nutrient (24g for me) you are going to be using and add it to the jar then give it a quick swirl/mix with a spoon.
Place 2 strips of micropore tape over the hole you created in the lid and screw on the lid to the jar.
Finally, place some foil over the top of the jar and secure it with a rubber.
Sterilize the Liquid Culture Jar.
Place the liquid culture jar into your pressure cooker and sterilize at 15psi.
It should take around 30-40mins to sterilize the culture and remove all contaminants.
When the time is up, turn off the heat and allow the pressure cooker to cool overnight before moving to the next step.
Inject the Liquid Culture Jar.
The first thing you want to do is find somewhere to inoculate your mixture. It is possible to do this on a kitchen counter if it is clean however using a still air box is always advised.
- Collect your butane lighter, liquid culture syringe and micro-pore tape.
- Wipe down your surfaces and put on gloves and a face mask.
- Remove the jars from the pressure cooker.
- Wipe the lid of the jar with alcohol wipes.
- Pop a piece fo micro-pore tape on top of the jar which you are going to fold down.
- Shake the needle to spread out the current mycelium.
- Flame sterilize the needle until it is glowing red.
- Insert syringe and inject 1cc of liquid culture.
- Remove the syringe and flip down the micropore tape.
- Place the jar into incubation temperatures(18-20c or 64-68f).
Wait 7-14 days.
Stir the jar daily to prevent clumpy solid mycelium masses (without opening the jar).
Note: Alternatively you can place your jar onto a stirring plate to speed up the process.
What Does Good/Bad Liquid Culture Look Like?
Good Culture
The liquid should be clear and you should be able to see through to the other side of the jar. Inside the liquid, there should be a white clump of mycelium or lots of little clumps.
Bad Culture
Common signs of contamination are if the culture is cloudy and you cannot see through it (wait a week after inoculation to check this as sometimes the mycelium cleans up the culture), if it releases a foul smell or has a green colour scum on the top of the culture when it is left to settle for a few days.
Normally the best way to find out if the culture is clean is to try it out on grain or agar and see if it contaminates. If you follow sterile technique but the jars are repeatedly being contaminated in the same way it’s likely your jar of liquid culture.
Benefits Of Liquid Culture?
- Faster Growth – Since the medium already contains live mycelium it normally colonises a substrate substantially faster. This gives LC an advantage over spores.
- Unlimited Mycelium Supply – if you learn how to make liquid culture you can turn 1 LC syringe into an unlimited supply. However, you must take senescence into consideration (so use a master jar).
- It’s Cheap – making liquid cultures is very cheap and can be done with household ingredients.
Does Liquid Culture Need Gas Exchange?
No, Liquid culture does not need gas exchange. The mycelium is submerged in a liquid solution therefore there is no need to for air exchange holes to be placed in your lid.
I am not sure exactly how the mycelium breaths in this situation however it most likely has something to do with absorbing the oxygen which makes up H2O (water).
Does Making A Liquid Culture Require A Pressure Cooker?
Actually, no, you can sterilize the liquid culture recipe in a microwave if you don’t have a pressure cooker.
Place your mixture into a microwavable container, the put it inside the microwave for 3 minutes, remove and shake, then place it in for another 3 minutes.
How Long Does Liquid Culture Last?
Liquid Culture can survive at room temperature for 6 months until the nutrients in the solution have been used up.
So you're Liquid culture is good for a decent amount of time suspended in the solution
If you need to your liquid culture to last longer putting it into a refrigerator should allow it to survive for years.
When to Stir/Shake Liquid Culture?
It is recommended to shake or stir (using a magnetic stirrer like this) at least once a day.
If you don't do this the mycelium will create a huge blobby mass as seen below.
This also speeds up the expanding process as there is more surface area for the mycelium to grow off.
I did not shake those Jars so I could highlight what a clean culture would look like (clear).
How Long Does Colonization Take?
Liquid culture usually takes between 7-14 days to accumulate enough mass to be used in an actual inoculation.
It can take longer for the Jar to be completely colonized and the growth to slow down.
Several factors can come into play here such as whether you shake the culture, temperature and Mycelium vigour.
34 thoughts on “How To Make Liquid Culture For Mushroom Cultivation.”
Earlier traditional methods for multiplication of mushroom was used. This technique for multiplying the culture will be helpful for faster growth and full fill the demand of the mushroom growers.
how should I store my just made up liquid culture jar and for how long before refrigerating it? also what temp and lighting should I use when starting the new jar? thanks
Hi Chris,
I just put it on a shelf somewhere (room temperature), i don’t worry about lighting. After about 30 days I will move it into a fridge but really it depends on growth, if the there is a large clump (when i haven’t stirred it) or the jar is full with Mycelium (when i have been stirring).
Thanks.
Mr Mush thanks so much for the fast response I been looking for a page exactly like this that answered all my questions and finally found it thanks for all the info will help out and save me tons of $$$~~~Chris
I have successfully made liquid culture from your instructions (Thank-You!) I do have another question as I have successfully used up my culture and have Some left which is great my question is can I make this recipe up and add the remaining culture via syringe in the same manner and have a successful grade culture usable to the same effect thanks again~~~Chris
I think you are referring to transferring the culture and making more from your current leftovers? Yes i have done this with varied success so it does work.
The best way to do it however is when i use my culture (the first time i draw it into a syringe) I transfer some to a new jar then use the remaining culture (in the syringe) for inoculation. This means the needle hasnt been going in and out of the same jar more than one time.
Great thank you very much for the response~~~Chris
“However, you must take senescence into consideration (so use a master jar).” How and just how long can you keep it?
Thank you so much for a clear straight forward explanation. I have read other recipes before and yours is the best for me. I will try it and report back.
Good stuff here, and what the video teks do not share because then we will not need to buy spore syringes at all. Ive tried this from captured spores with no luck but I will get it!
Hi. I bought a magnetic stirrer. How long shall I stir it? And do I stir daily for a week?
People have different preferences. Pop it on the stirrer for 10 minutes a day would be my advice. You really just want the Mycelium to break up a bit and spread out so it doesn’t clump like some of my pictures above^.
Congratulations on an excellent fungal site.
I’m starting down the road of edible fungi with a slight complication.
We are living in Dominica, Caribbean island, minimum temp is 23, highs around 34. We are in a rain forest environment growing Cacao and Sugarcane. The idea is to use the Sugarcane waste as the substrate.
Any thoughts on the issues of the climate here ?
Leaf
Why does 4 teaspoons of honey in 400 ml of water sound too sweet? Is 4 teaspoons correct?
Yes a teaspoon is 5ml. So 4 of them is around 4-5% of 400ml. Dont get to worried about the exact figures here its far easier to just get a flat tsp measure (or just under) and mix it into 100ml hot water than weighing out sticky honey to exact figures.
This is just wonderful article. Great job!
So interesting, I’m going to try this methods
This is awesome I have been searching for this forever. So easy I’m going to do this
When I add honey to distilled water it instantly becomes cloudy even before pressure cooking it. Maybe it depends on the honey I use? Mine is organic honey.
Its best to use clear honey so you can see through the glass
Hello MrMush, I’m wondering if you are planning to write an article about how to make a tincture out of lion’s mane or other mushrooms. Pros and cons.
Thank you
Gaspar
Yes i am soon.
Thank you for this wisdom.
You need gas exchange if going from spores to oxygenate and remove metabolites. Source: Stamets – Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms.
We do not have already prepared liquid syringe in my country so please, show me how to prepare liquid culture without any,
william
Checkout how to clone mushrooms, the syringe transfer method could be used used if you dont have access to LC.
https://ezmushroom.com/grow/how-to-clone-mushrooms/
Hello
Great article on liquid culture, seems like the best solution for me to use. I’m curious, can I take mycelium from a full jar and using a syringe put some into a fresh jar and keep this growing in this stage forever? I mean continue to put some from the mature jars into fresh jars. Does that make sense?
Yes you can do that eventually the mycelium will loose vigour but it will keep you going for a while.
You could also learn how to make / use agar then go from the liquid culture to the agar then chop the agar up and put it into the grains. Then next time repeat from the jar to the agar to the grain. That should last a while.
if LC doesn’n need air exchange why do you flip down the micropore tape? you can use self sealing injection ports
Because you cannot inject into a Jar without an air exchange hole. The jar pressure will not equalise in the jar as air needs to leave it, try it.
thanks, your instructions are perfect
How do you avoid rust on jar lids? I applied high temperature silicone to the edges of the hole
and one more question i have. what if i use a lighter instead of butane torch?
For the Rust I use rust cleaner like vinegar to remove it.
If you use a lighter it will be a lot slower and you’ll probably burn you finger before you heat the needle lol (done many times before).