Welcome

A General Continuation on Petri Dish Utilization

Now having a general introduction to psilocybin, mycelium, and spore reproduction and growth, it is time to examine how to do so via dish transferring, or otherwise known as wedging. This can be done several ways, but I find the triangular method to be the best.

Having previously examined Agar as a planar growth medium on StemGeeks, also this week: @trezzahn/an-introduction-to-agar-and-its-utilization-working-with-it-proper-technique-and-further-use-p2-4-in-a-two-blog-series , and HypnoChain (links below), options of storage examined now include liquid culturing, freeze-storing, and syringes, as well as development of agar on sterilized petri dishes.

We will examine the usage of syringes and other storage methods similar, including freeze-storing, next week

Today, we will be learning, having previously overviewed, wedging.

Agar and Other Mediums – Wedging: How to Successfully Work With Agar Agar, and Additional Growth Mediums

Wedging: Wedge-Transferring

Triangulating

This method can be utilized until a liquid culture develops, chancing air contamination, or simply out of desirability; but the risk is higher for a new agar petri dish being transfered to, to develop mold or other bacteria when exposed to air opposed to an injection syringe from already developed liquid culture that is not due to the exposure to air and the surrounding environment.

With a flame-sterilized scalpel, touched to a receiving transfer dish’ agar to cool first, slice two triangular lines from a central point branching to the edges of the petri dish and connect with another straight slice, making a triangle piece of mycelium loose from the agar medium.
With a sterilized (in Isopropyl Alcohol) tweezer, or the used scalpel blade, grab or stab the cut piece of mycelium from the source dish and drop into the receiving transfer dish. If doing many wedges, ensure minimal airflow is to enter the surroundings by sealing right after dropping off the wedge.

See below, examples of wedges transferred from a source dish in good and bad conditions, as well as development;

Slicing/Stabbing

This method can be utilized when one wants to minimze airflow and petri dish time left open, or when new to wedge transferring/learning still and do not want to risk ruining a specimen(s).

With a flame-sterilized scalpel, touched to a receiving transfer dish’ agar to cool first, slice down in one line from the squared corners of a circular petri dish to its lower circle edge, where the lines essentially if cut all around the dish the same would form a perfect square, cutting circle edge-to-edge.

The sliced line will leave a semi-circle shaped corner cut of the medium that makes a now loose piece of mycelium that can be either: a) plucked and dropped on the receiving dish with tweezers, or b) stabbed from the agar medium with the slicing scalpel (still heated) and droppes onto the receiving dish.

Skinning/Emptying

This method is utilized when petri dish medium usage is to be large and fully accomplished, odten involving emptying an entire petri dish' worth of medium into the receiving substrate, not medium in this case.

This will be discussed later however.

Utilization

One wedge per agar petri dish to colonize is ideal, and in prime conditions - room temperature, sealed/in a container tonprevent moisture buildup, rarely disturbed, and left in a semi-dark environment - will do just that within one to two weeks.

See below, top left a bad example of a wedge transfer with exposure to open air, bottom right small contamination, and the latter, little to none.

Congratulations, for Life has begun!

Hopefully interest has continued throughout and you have reached this point with genuine fascination and intrigue. Last weeks posting may be of interest, @trezzahn/a-cross-examination-of-the , and this ultimately concludes this section of day 1 of 2, part 2/4 of my blogging series.