"Mushroom Cultivators
Dictionary" ***Agar (A-gar); A product made out of seaweed and used for its gelatinizing properties. This is commonly used to solidify liquid growing medium in order to isolate a pure strain of mycelium tissue. Agar is not used if cultivation is carried out using the "Shroom Wizard's Grow Guide" technique. ***Canning Jars; These are the same kind of glass jars that Grandma used to can her jellies and vegetables. They range in size from 1/4 pint to 1/2 gallon, but the ones most commonly used for mycelium cultivation are the 1/2 and one pint size. These jars have two piece metal lids (disc & ring) that are self sealing when pressure cooked. ***Casing (k-sing); Water retentative materials (vermiculite, perilite, potting soil, etc.) that are applied to a substrate to encourage and enhance mushroom production. ***Mycelium (my-cell-e-um); A network of fungi roots. The mycelium is the actual mushroom plant. The mushroom itself is just a fruit of the matured mycelium and not actually a plant, the same as an apple is to the apple tree. Once the mycelium has reached maturity it is capable of producing fruit (mushrooms) as long as the temperature and humidity conditions are right. ***Substrate (sub-straight); Straw, sawdust, compost or any fiberous material on which
mycelium is known to grow. This is where the mycelium gets its nutrients to grow from. In
"Shroom Wizard's Grow Guide" this consists of a mixture of organic brown rice
flour, vermiculite and water pressure cooked or boiled (to sterilize) in glass canning
jars.
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