Nameko Agar Plate

$29.99

Looking for the best Nameko Agar Plate around? Our Agar Plates are made-to-order, providing you with the absolute cleanest, aggressive mycelium on arrival.

Species Pholiota microspora
Difficulty ℹ️ ??
Spore Coloration Brown to Yellow-Brown
Ecology Saprotrophic
Edibility Choice

Pholiota microspora, commonly known as Pholiota nameko or simply nameko is a small, amber-brown mushroom with a slightly gelatinous coating that is used as an ingredient in miso soup and nabemono. In some countries this mushroom is available in kit form and can be grown at home.

It is one of Japan’s most popular cultivated mushrooms, tastes slightly nutty and is often used in stir-fries. They are also sold dried.Nameko is a cold triggered mushroom that typically fruits in the fall months when the temperature drops below 10°C for the first time, and flushes twice a few weeks apart.

The genus Pholiota includes mushrooms, with scaly, glutinous to dry cap surfaces, and that frequently grow on wood or at the bases of trees or on decaying tree roots, and spores that are brown, light brown, or yellowish brown in deposit. These spores are smooth with a germ pore, although the germ pore can be quite narrow in species. Usually the species have pleurocystidia that include a type called chrysocystidia.

There have been several varying concepts of the genus, ranging from a pre-molecular era very broad concept that nowadays would include the genera Phaeolepiota, Phaeonematoloma, Flammula, Meottomyces, some Stropharia species, some Hypholoma species, Hemipholiota, Hemistropharia, some Kuehneromyces and some Phaeomarasmius, etc. Currently the genus is restricted to a smaller but still large group of species that primarily grow on wood, causing a white rot, but other taxa occur on burnt ground following forest fires or camp fires, on peaty or forest soil, but none are known to be mycorrhizal.

Many species have prominent partial veils and form an annulus or annular ring on their stipes. None of the species have purplish or purplish brown spore prints. None form acanthocytes on their mycelia.

Some photos on this page have been sourced from iNaturalist, taken by Atsushi Nakajima, Alan Rockefeller or others. Licensed under CC-BY-SA3.0 or CC0.

Frequently Asked Questions

An agar plate is a petri dish with solidified nutrient solution (I make mine with light malt extract, generally). The dish is sealed with parafilm to keep it sterile while the transfer colonizes the plate. The mycelial bodies grow on our agar plates in sterile incubators before being shipped to you!

Keep your agar plates ideally in the fridge, within a ziplock bag. Let them come to room temperature before opening them – it’ll prevent condensation!

Grab your scalpel and get to work! Need a scalpel? Check my gear page!

Slides from agar plates can be propagated onto other mediums very easily. The beauty of agar plates is the ability to be absolutely certain that your sample is healthy and clean!

Some photos on this page have been sourced from iNaturalist or Wikipedia, taken mark-groeneveld, Alan Rockefeller, Matthew Borella, Denis Zabin, kaju, Andrey Loria, Juan Carlos Pérez Magaña or others not yet added to this list. See a photo your recognize that isn’t properly credited? Get a giftcard for letting us know!

Sometimes, contam happens! All of our samples come with a 30 day replacement policy. Please head to our Help Center to get the process started.

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All of my agar plates are made-to-order. This ensures that you have nothing but the freshest, most voracious mycelium when it gets to your doorstep.

Please check for your individual species on this page to see colonization times.

If you’re interested in ordering agar plates and other items like liquid culture, or mushroom spores, you can have your order shipped in two by adding this item!

Please note that once started, Agar Plates are non-refundable or returnable.

For each agar plate in your order, you’ll receive a healthy, colonized agar plate, and an additional piece of parafilm in case you need to reseal it.

Can’t wait to get your hands on your spore syringes or liquid cultures? Head over to our help center to get the most up to date information on your order.

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Nameko Agar Plate
$29.99

Availability: In stock (can be backordered)