I just joined this group today. I'm looking for a group of people
that enjoy cultivating mushrooms and dabble in creating cultures of
wild mushrooms. I have some experience growing elm oyster using
Rush Wayne's peroxide method. I took a break from cultivating for
the last 2 years. I currently have an old bag of elm oyster spawn
that is starting to fruit. I'm trying to create a pure culture of
mycelium from this spawn, but the mushroom seems hopelessly
intermingled with at least 2 kinds of mold. I'm using agar plates
with peroxide to try to isolate things.

I look forward to reading posts from others that are creating
cultures from mushrooms found in the wild or from the produce
section.

For those of you that maintain a collection of gourmet mushroom cultures, would anyone be interested in a trade? Although I do not currently have any mycelium I can trade, I do have things like hardy citrus seedlings, pinenut seedlings, and other edibles I collect. Anyone want a wax jambu seedling?

-Mark in Seattle

Greetings
C1

Welcome Mark.

Welcome

G'day.

Have you tried isolating that Elm oyster onto a log? that might leave the moulds behind. Are they resistant to the peroxide?

How do you find the Peroxide method of Cultivation? does it compare favourably with the alternatives?

I am trying to grow oysters from bits of wood collected from a fruiting log. So far, mycelial growth is occuring on the wood in the fridge, but is very slow in colonising the coffee grounds I am attempting to cultivate in. Perhaps I should put the "cultures" outside in natural cold temperatures?
How did you cultivate yours?

Wumpsdad

The peroxide method does a great job of keeping bacteria and yeast out of cultures. It also prevents mold spores and mushroom spores from growing. Mature mold and mushroom mycelium react the same to peroxide. They both breakdown peroxide as they grow. If you have mold in your mushroom culture, it will be hard to isolate the two. That is the main problem I have had in the past.
One tricky part of using peroxide is that it is destroyed above 140'F. If you add it to melted agar, monitor the temperature or the peroxide will be ineffective. You also need to put in the lowest effective amount of peroxide, or you will inhibit the growth of your culture. Remember that agar starts to solidify below 120'F, so that gives you a small window of opportunity to stir in the peroxide yet also pour the agar while it is liquid.
I have had some success growing oyster mushrooms on wood pellets using Rush Wayne's peroxide recipe. There is much more info available online now than there was a few years ago the last time I tried cultivating. I think I will have more luck than in the past keeping my cultures going.
-Mark