Okay, so, I’ve been messing around with this thing called “liquid cultures” lately. It’s basically a way to grow mycelium, you know, the white fluffy stuff that makes mushrooms, in a sugary water solution. Sounds weird, I know, but it’s actually pretty cool.
First thing I did was to clean some jars, you know, just regular canning jars. Gave them a good wash with soap and water, and then I soaked them in bleach water for like 25 minutes. Gotta make sure they’re super clean, right? After that, I rinsed them out really well. No one wants bleach in their mycelium.
Next, I boiled some distilled water. Once it was boiling, I turned off the heat and added some light malt extract. Honey works too, but I had malt extract on hand. This is basically the food for the mycelium. This is the “sugar source” for my liquid.
Now comes the tricky part. I poured this sugary water into the jars, but not all the way to the top. You need some air in there. Then I put on the lids that I made and make sure it have those little filter things on top so it can breathe but keep the bad stuff out. Then I got my big pressure cooker and sterilized everything. This is super important because you don’t want any other things growing in your jars, just the mycelium you want. Then put it into a pressure cooker to make it totally sterilized.
Once everything was cool, I injected some mushroom spores into the jars. And then, I waited. And waited. It takes a while, but slowly but surely, you start to see the mycelium growing. It looks like little clouds floating in the water. At the beginning, it’s a bit cloudy, and then it becomes clear, which is a good sign.
From what I’ve read, you’re supposed to store these liquid cultures in the fridge, like around 2-4 degrees Celsius. But not the Pink Oyster one. I didn’t know this before. Apparently, they don’t like the cold that much.
It’s been a learning process, for sure. I messed up a few batches at first, but now I’m getting the hang of it. It’s pretty amazing to watch the mycelium grow and know that you’re basically creating life in a jar.
My takeaways so far:
- Cleanliness is key. Seriously, sterilize everything.
- Patience is a virtue. It takes time for the mycelium to grow.
- Different types of mushroom have different needs, especially Pink Oyster.
I’m still a newbie at this, but I’m excited to keep experimenting and see what other kinds of mushrooms I can grow. It’s like a fun, slightly mad scientist kind of hobby. But hey, who needs a social life when you have jars full of growing fungi?
