How to Inoculate with Liquid Culture

1. Prep Your Workspace:

Start by making sure your workspace is clean to avoid any contamination. Wipe everything down with some isopropyl alcohol. Wash your hands thoroughly, or if you prefer, wear sterile gloves. Set out your sterilized grain bag and liquid culture syringe so everything is ready to go.

2. Shake the Syringe:

Before you start, gently shake the liquid culture syringe. This helps mix the mycelium evenly within the liquid, ensuring a more even inoculation.

3. Clean the Injection Point:

Find the self-healing injection port on your grain bag. If your grain bag doesn’t have an injection port, wipe a small spot with rubbing alcohol, and have a piece of tape ready to cover it once you’ve injected the liquid culture. Wipe the injection port (or the spot you’ll puncture) with an alcohol wipe to sterilize it.

4. Sterilize the Needle:

Unpack the syringe, remove the tip cover, and attach the needle securely. Take off the needle cap and sterilize the needle by holding it over a flame until it becomes red-hot. Allow it to cool briefly before proceeding.

5. Inject the Liquid Culture:

Now, insert the needle into the injection port (or, if there is no port, carefully insert it into the prepared hole in your bag) and slowly inject 1-3 ml of liquid culture, depending on the size of the grain bag. For most bags weighing 3-5 pounds, 1-2 ml is typically sufficient, but you may use up to 5 ml to accelerate colonization if desired.

6. Seal the Grain Bag:

If you're using a self-healing port, it’ll seal itself once you remove the needle. If you made your own hole, cover it immediately with sterile micropore tape or a similar sterile seal.

7. Store the Bag:

Put the inoculated grain bag in a warm, dark spot, ideally around 70-75°F (21-24°C), and let the mycelium grow. Within 7-14 days, you should start to see white mycelium spreading through the grains. Keep an eye on it daily for any signs of contamination, like green, black, or slimy patches.

8. Shake the Bag (Optional):

Once about 20-30% of the grains are colonized, you can give the bag a gentle shake to spread the mycelium more evenly. This can speed up the process a bit.

9. Wait for Full Colonization:

Let the grain bag fully colonize before using it to inoculate a bulk substrate. You’ll know it’s ready when the grains are completely covered in white, healthy mycelium.