Availability: Only 5 left in stock (can be backordered)
Pearl Oyster Agar Plate
$29.99
Looking for the best Pearl Oyster Agar Plate around? Our Agar Plates are made-to-order, providing you with the absolute cleanest, aggressive mycelium on arrival.
Species | Pleurotus ostreatus |
Difficulty ℹ️ | ? |
Spore Coloration | White |
Ecology | Saprotrophic |
Edibility | Choice |
COMPOSTING. Wheat straw is chopped at 3-5 cm and wetted. Moisture must reach 72-74%, beware not to lose too much structure to keep the stack aerated. Periodically straw is wetted and mixed with other N rich raw materials to balance C/N ratio and conditioners to balance pH. Be sure the stack is mixed homogenous. After wetting the substrate needs a pasteurization at 58-62°C for 10-12 hours or more (max 70°C – 36 hours) and then Conditioned to 48-50°C to reduce the ammonia and increase selectivity. Pasteurized substrate must have 70-71% moisture, pH 7,0-7,6 and Ntot 0,8-1,3% (dry weight). N contents depend on the raw material used: usually N rich substrates are produced in winter while full straw substrate are produced in summer.
INCUBATION. Substrate is spawned at 2,0-2,5% then packaged in 15-20 kg blocks. Keep the temperature at 27-29°C. Mycelium will grow aggressively and after 12-18 days it will be fully grown. Consider Pleurotus mycelium grows best at 28,5°C, but do not exceed the growth temperature!
PINSETTING. As optimum values air T° must fall on range 14-17°C and by humidification R.H. is kept 95% to avoid drying pins. CO2 levels around 1.000 ppm depending on the demand for number of pins per cluster. 100 lux for 12 hours a day is enough. First primordia appear at 15-20 days. More light and cold temperatures will darken the fruit bodies extra.
FRUITING. When primordia reach 1,5-2,0 cm diameter room temperature must be increased to 16-17°C, CO2 under 700-900 ppm and RH% lowered to 85-90% to stimulate evaporation. After the first flush CO2, R.H. and substrate temperature need to go up in order to get a good new pin-setting. Decrease again when the pins are set.
Some photos of this product in its wild-foraged form are sourced from iNaturalist or Wikipedia, by mikebishop21, kastik-talsu, Fluff Berger, Keith Seifert, Jake McCumber, and others. Licensed by CC-BY-SA.
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.