How to Make Agar Media and Pour Petri Dishes for Mushroom Cultivation

Once you’ve mastered the basics of DIY mushroom cultivation and you’re ready to take a deep dive into the heart of mycology, making your own agar media and petri dishes is a must.

In this in-depth video, you’ll discover the secret recipe to unlock infinite nutritious growth media for your fungus. Learn how to prepare, sterilize, pour, catalogue and store your very own petri dishes. Pick up lots of great tips and tricks along the way, including how to make hydrogen peroxide media (a great alternative to antibiotic agar), how to avoid senescence, get the most out of your mycelium and keep your fungus well-fed and happy for years to come.

Made with love by Fungaia, a heart-centered, donation-based mushroom company:

For the best, most reliable and super affordable mushroom
genetics and liquid culture, visit our favorite culture library:

True Blue Genetics
Discount code: BLAGAR

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Supplies List

1. Mushroom Genetics

Gourmet and Medicinal Mushroom Cultures from Fungaia

The best liquid culture on the market:
True Blue Genetics
This is the last genetics provider you will ever need!

2. Ingredients

Organic Gelidium Agar & Media Premix

3. Petri Dishes

Sterile, Disposable Petri Dishes

Pyrex Petri Dishes

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Recipes

MEA
10 grams agar
10 grams malt extract
pinch each gypsum & yeast
500 mL water

PDA
10 grams agar
8 grams dextrose
3 grams potato flakes
pinch each gypsum & yeast
500 mL water

VIDEO CORRECTION!
The correct dilution for hydrogen peroxide is 0.03%, not 0.3% as said in the video. The measurement shown is correct, 1 ml 3% H2O2 into 100 mL agar. Sorry!

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Other Useful Supplies

The Fungaia Cube Kit
An organic, all-in-one grow kit for dung-lover mushrooms

Pre-Sterilized Grain Bags

Pasteurized, Manure-Based Mushroom Substrate

Monotubs and monotub filters: Microppose
Discount code FUNGAIA

Bulk Liquid Culture IV Bags

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More Videos from Fungaia

Mycology Lab 101: Sterile Culture Technique

How to Grow Mushrooms the Easy Way:

How to Make Grain Spawn:

How to make your own liquid culture

Advanced liquid culture method

How to make your own injection port jar lids:

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Upcoming videos:

Introduction to Mushroom Cultivation
The Basics of Breeding
Storing Genetics and Managing a Mushroom Culture Library
Troubleshooting Contamination: Identification, Prevention and Problem-Solving
Working with Mushroom Grow Bags
Making Substrate for Dung-Loving Mushrooms
Making Substrate for Wood-Loving Mushrooms
Building a Home Lab
The Laminar Flow Hood
The Fungaia Flow Hood Kit
DIY Bulk Pasteurizer
DIY Cold Storage
DIY Water Filtration
Tyndallization: How to Make Grain Spawn without a Pressure Cooker
Low-Tech Mushroom Cultivation
Outdoor Mushroom Cultivation
The Liquid Culture Revolution: 5 Ways Liquid Culture Will Change the World
Fungaia's Bulk Liquid Culture System
R.E.M.I.S.: The Remarkably Efficient Mass Inoculation System
Myco-Materials

Created by Paul Lynn. All rights reserved.
(Made using some free stock footage.)
© 2024 Alembic Enterprises LLC
Walla Walla, Washington

0:00 Intro
3:18 Overview
3:35 Background
5:48 Side Note: No-Pour Agar Tek
6:26 Supplies
10:48 Ingredients
17:49 Recipes
23:05 Part 2: Prep & Sterilization
26:12 Part 3: Pouring Plates
29:14 Pro Tip #1: Color Coding
29:47 Pro Tip #2: Hydrogen Peroxide Plates
31:38 Drying
32:06 Pro Tip #3: Collating
32:34 Storage
33:44 Cleanup
34:08 Outro

[kristofdonatkovacs]

No words to express how much your videos are exactly the perfect content for an absolute beginner and also for someone who has been working with mushrooms for years. Thank you for your enthusiastic content.

[calebkotewa]

Dude has character and extremely useful information I have not found elsewhere.

[scousertommy]

Great video Paul, I've seen this and the mycology lab 101, and it has been some of the best long-form content on this website as of late. The quality of information and production is greater than quite a few of my university professors (albeit embarrassing on their behalf). Thank you!

[ihaveanalienhidinginmybackyard]

This was exactly what i needed this morning, you are a legend!

[Prometheus_s_Creations]

A fan after 2 videos. Awesome work dude.

[gustavorodrigues]

looking forward for your diy laminar flow hood video. its really expensive to ship your stuff to EU. love the videos tho, keep it up!

[ambrosioplaza]

This is the best free mushroom cultivation educational channel on the internet! Thank you so much Paul from Caracas Venezuela!

[donovanholm]

Not only great as an informative guide, but an entertaining content creator. Great video!

[lawrencered]

Can't wait for that library video

[tonydouglas]

Thanks Professor. I really enjoy your videos and all your great info. You’re a true pleasure to watch. Looking forward to more great videos.

[RomeoTena]

Excellent, very timely, and informative video (for starters like me) giving glimpses of the shroomie enthusiasts and astonishingly, the fungi world pov. I am thinking you must be sharing a pack or two with mycophilia and maybe munchauzen. You guys are admirable in your honest to goodness presentations of your efforts in advancing the field of mushroom growing science. Congratulations!

[barrytrujillo]

I wish I could like this video 1000x ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[TerpyTen]

I love your organization. I wish I had the space to do agar and cultures. I'm limited to ordering spores or cultures for now.

[cclayton]

i bet those old peaveys still crank!! hehe niiice!

[Dhidhi-lj]

Wow those are big speakers! Fungi Rock!

[jasonrobb]

Dude! Hiw loud do you listen to your music? 😂 the size of those speakers! Love you content 👍🏻

[freakface]

So, I never have an issue with the media bottle. I always had issues with pouring from a jar.
Now, i have to sut my media bottle at a tilt in my PC. I use a small jar to keep it lifted. While also keeping the lid slightly loose with foil on. Never had it boil over.

[anonharingenamn]

I use grafting tape instead of the specialized tape. I guess it's only an issue if you do no-pour agar?

[hajotge]

Are you using chlorinated tap water for your agar?

[bebophippie]

anyone have any insight on putting mycelium from a pf cake on an agar plate. It should work to clone right? I'm going to try no matter what just wondering what some of you think.