Lab & agar 3 min read
Agar plates for beginners: isolating a clean mushroom culture
Agar is where luck stops being part of the method. One plate shows you what a culture really is before you spend three weeks finding out in a grain bag.
AMK Store Est. 2026
Sub & grain fit for a kingdom.
Sterilised grain and premium CVA substrate for gourmet and medicinal mushroom growers. All-in-one grow bags, pre-poured agar, cultures and grow kits are on the way.
- Sterilised
- Injection-port grain bags
- Filter-patch sub bags
The staples
EVERY GROW STARTS WITH THESES STEPS
STEP 01• CHOOSE WHAT CULTURE YOU WANT TO GROW
The range
Everything for the grow.
Build your grow
How much grain do you actually need?
Tell us how much substrate you are filling and the spawn ratio you like. We will work out the grain, pick the cheapest mix of bag sizes, and bag the lot in one click.
Substrate
Grow docketAMK Store
2.5kg grain
+
5kg substrate
Total$0
Bag mix is the cheapest combination of our bag sizes that covers what you need.
Grain guide
Pick your grain.
Four grains, one standard. Here is how they compare, in grower terms.
How it fits together
Plate to harvest in four moves.
-
01
Inoculate
Introduce your culture to a bag of sterilised grain through the injection port.
Sterilised grain -
02
Colonise
Let the mycelium run through every kernel until the bag turns white.
Agar for clean starts -
03
Spawn to sub
Break up the colonised grain and mix it through your substrate.
Premium CVA substrate -
04
Fruit
Give it fresh air, humidity and light, then harvest your flush.
All-in-ones do 01 to 03 in one bag
The culture library Coming soon
Gourmet & medicinal, on the bench.
The library is being catalogued now. Join the drop list and you will hear the moment it opens.
The kingdom standard
Made properly, bagged properly.
Sterilised
Grain and substrate both arrive sterilised and sealed, ready to use.
A refined recipe
Our CVA recipe has been refined over years of growing for consistent results.
Nutrient-enhanced grain
Prepared with proven methods and carefully selected nutrients for a strong start.
Proper bags
Grain bags carry an injection port. Substrate bags breathe through a filter patch.
Questions
Good to know.
Something not covered here? Ask us and we will add it.
What is the difference between grain and substrate?
Grain is what you inoculate first. Once the mycelium has colonised it, that grain becomes spawn, and you mix it through the substrate: the bulk material your mushrooms fruit from.
Which grain should I choose?
Wheat is the all-rounder. Oats and milo break apart easily, and milo gives you the most inoculation points per kilo. Corn has the biggest kernels. The grain guide compares all four.
How much grain do I need for my substrate?
It depends on your spawn ratio. At 1:2 you use one part grain to two parts substrate, so 5kg of substrate takes 2.5kg of grain. The grow builder does the maths and picks the bag sizes.
What is an all-in-one grow bag?
Sterilised grain and substrate layered in one bag with an injection port. You inoculate the grain, let it colonise, then mix it through the substrate without opening the bag. They are coming soon.
How should I store my bags?
Keep them sealed, somewhere cool, clean and out of direct sunlight, and use them soon after they arrive.
When do cultures, agar and grow kits land?
They are being prepared now. Join the drop list and you will hear first.
Shop all
Sterilised grain, premium substrate and everything coming next.
Culture work
Pre-Poured Agar Plates High nutrition
$255 plates bag
Poured, set and ready for clean culture work: isolating, cleaning up and expanding.
1
About
Look no further for premium, high-nutrient agar plates designed to deliver exceptional results. Our carefully formulated recipe has been extensively tested by experienced mycologists and refined to promote strong, healthy mycelial growth.
Made with high-quality ingredients and backed by proven results, our agar plates provide the ideal foundation for your mycology work.
Details
- Use
- Isolation, clean-up, expansion
The expansion plate
High-nutrition agar is the plate you grow a known-clean culture out on. The richer medium feeds fast, dense, rhizomorphic growth, so a wedge from a clean plate becomes a full plate in days and gives you plenty of healthy tissue to send to grain or liquid culture. Ours is a recipe tested across many species by experienced mycologists, poured and set in a clean environment, and sealed for the trip.
Sizes and prices: 5 plates for $25, 10 plates for $45, 20 plates for $75, 30 plates for $105 and 50 plates for $145. Colour: Blue, Purple, Orange, Turquoise, Pink and No colour. Prices in AUD, GST inclusive where it applies, shipped tracked Australia-wide.
Coloured agar is not decoration: a tinted plate makes white mycelium easy to read against the medium, and makes a green, black or yellow intruder obvious a day earlier. Pick a colour per species and your library sorts itself.
How to use them
- Work clean
Still air box or flow hood, 70% alcohol on hands, tools and the plate sleeve, scalpel flamed and cooled between every cut.
- Transfer
Cut a small wedge from the leading edge of a clean colony and set it face down in the centre of the new plate. Seal the edge with cling film or tape, label it, date it.
- Grow out
Room temperature, out of light. Watch the growth: fast, white and even is what you want. Transfer the best sector forward and bin anything off-colour. The agar guide covers the reading.
Questions
About this product
What is high-nutrition agar for?
Expanding clean cultures, growing out tissue from a mushroom and building stock before you send mycelium to grain or liquid culture. The rich medium gives fast, dense growth.
When should I use low-nutrition plates instead?
For isolating out of a mixed plate, germinating and testing liquid culture. Slower growth on a lean plate separates competitors so you can pick a clean sector. See the low-nutrition plates.
How many plates come in a pack?
Packs of 5 plates, 10 plates, 20 plates, 30 plates and 50 plates.
How long do pre-poured plates keep?
Weeks in the fridge, sealed and upside down. Discard any plate that has dried out, cracked or shows growth before you have used it.
Do I need a flow hood?
A still air box is enough for careful agar work. A flow hood is faster and more forgiving once you are doing lots of transfers.
Guides for this product
All guidesLab & agar 3 min read
Still air box vs flow hood: clean inoculation at home, on any budget
Mould spores fall through air. One tool stops the air moving; the other pushes clean air at you. Both work. One costs ten dollars.
Checkout
A few details, then you pay on a secure page.
The drop list
Join the kingdom.
Restocks, new cultures and first dibs on grow kits. One email when something lands, nothing more.