Growing mushrooms is a chain of stages, and each material is used at a different point. Once you see how they fit together, the choices stop being confusing.
Agar: keeping cultures clean
Agar is a jelly of nutrients in a petri dish. Mycelium grows across it visibly, so you can see its health and spot contamination straight away. Growers use agar to isolate a clean culture, store it and select the strongest growth. Our malt extract and potato dextrose agar plates arrive pre-poured and sterile. See agar and petri dishes.
Best for: isolation, storing cultures, checking for contamination, and anyone who wants precise control.
Liquid culture: fast and convenient
Liquid culture is mycelium growing in nutrient liquid in a syringe or jar. It is easy to inject, and spreads quickly because the liquid reaches many points in the grain at once. Typically 1 to 3ml goes into a jar or bag. It is the usual choice for beginners. Browse our liquid cultures.
Best for: quickly inoculating grain, kits and bags with minimal equipment.
Grain spawn: building bulk
Grain spawn is sterilised grain (rye or millet) colonised by mycelium. It is the working stage between a small culture and a big substrate. Mixed into bulk substrate, it gives the mycelium a head start and many starting points. Our sterilised grain comes in jars, bags and tubs, ready to inject. Rye is the standard; millet is smaller, so you get more inoculation points per kilo.
Best for: scaling up to monotubs and bulk grows.
How they fit together
- Clean culture on agar, or bought as liquid culture.
- Grain spawn: inject the culture into sterilised grain and wait for full colonisation.
- Bulk substrate: mix the colonised grain into bulk substrate.
- Fruiting: give it fresh air and humidity and harvest.
Where should I start?
Easiest: buy a beginner kit and inject a liquid culture. You will use the whole chain in miniature without needing to master each step. Next: grain jars with your own liquid culture. Last: agar work, which needs more skill and a still-air box or better.
For a worked example, read growing oyster mushrooms with a kit.
Our kits, cultures and supplies are intended for legal species such as gourmet and medicinal mushrooms. Growing mushrooms that contain psilocybin is illegal in the UK. 18+ only.
