Add agar to jars

Add Agar to Jars

Now that your workspace has had time to settle, you can begin adding agar to each jar.

Open Mason Jars

Pressure cooking your mason jars can cause the lids to tighten significantly. If you can't open the lid with your hands, use a spoon to pop the lid open. Place the spoon in the tightest seam between the lid and jar and slowly push the lid up.

Opening Jar with Spoon

After opening the lid, put it back on top of the mason jar until the agar is ready to be added.

Add Agar to Mason Jars

Remove the para-film from the agar culture and lift the lid with your non-dominant hand. Keep it over the dish, but slightly expose it enough to cut out a small piece.

Grab the scalpel with your dominant hand and cut out a small triangle of 1/2 to 1 inch in height. Make sure to cut out a triangle for every mason jar you plan to inoculate.

Cutting Agar with Scalpel

After cutting the triangle, put down the scalpel, grab the tweezers, and pull out the cut agar piece.

Dropping Agar in Mason Jar

Note: Avoid touching the Petri dish sides with the scalpel, tweezers, or your hand.

Quickly (but under control), place the lid back on the Petri dish and open the mason jar lid. Drop the agar piece closer to the side of the jar so the future mycelial growth will be more visible. You can also shake the jar a little so the agar can lean against the glass with grain above and below it.

Agar against Mason Jar Side

Inoculated Mason Jar

Immediately put the lid and aluminum foil back on the mason jar and repeat the same steps for the remaining jars.

Wrapped Mason Jars with Petri dish

Make sure to wrap the Petri dish with Poly-fil again.

Petri dish Wrapped with Para-film Again