success rate with traded spore prints?

[Mushrooms201]

I have a number of prints that I have received from members on this site, some are from established members and some are from those new to mycology. Thus far I have randomly tested 3 prints from the collection on agar, thus far all have been grossly contaminated and not salvageable.

What kind of success rates have you all seen when using prints that were traded/gifted? Any tips as to increase my success rate?

I am leaning towards purchasing a few new strains/syringes from one of the sponsors and leaving the agar behind. It was fun for a spell but I am busy at this point and don't have time to try to isolate mycelium from contaminants.

[MLBjammer]

My success rate is about 50%. I test the spores with popcorn jars myself--after a couple shakes I know if it's sterile/viable or not. I have not delved into agar work yet.

Even the best cultivator can take a dirty print here and there (everybody's human). The only way to know if a print is good is to test it, as you have been doing. I would certainly never count on a traded print for growing. Always have a backup plan.

Peace--Jammer

[ashroom]

i havent been able to trade yet, due to my status. personally i would start the myc on agar and once it gets going transfer to cardboard. i havent had any contam issues with cardboard. it takes for ever to germinate on cardboard so just start on agar. you should check out some of the cardboard cloning teks. good luck. i hope this helps

[Om shanti]

Since you already stated that the population you are sampling from is not (or should not be expected to be) homogenous, it doesn't make much sense to make a random sample... with all respect, one possible reason for your result from that sample is that your agar procedure might not be good. But if you have a very high degree of confidence in your own agar procedure's sterility you should inform those members about the apparent bad quality of their prints. That is, unless they already told you prints were not clean/from wild specimens etc.
Otherwise how can they ever be expected to improve their printing procedure?

Since it may be that people don't have the same ideas about what constitutes a "good print" or good printing procedure, and what happens if the print is lousy, it might be a good idea to discuss this a bit in PM before making the deal.

Most of the times when I have sent out a print to a member here, I informed the recipient about my level of confidence in said prints, and I asked them to tell me if there were any problems that appeared to be due to the prints, and I hope they will. I also expect those I trade with would want to know if their prints were bad with a significant probablity. So far I only got clean prints from those who said prints were clean.

BTW, I also agree that one should start out any new print by testing in a small number of jars only, so as not to risk wasting a ton of time/material.

[mycowarrier]

I've only traded twice. One guy said he got mine and i should get mine soon. I never did and he mysteriously never posted here again. The other did send a nice print although misidentified.
I'll spend 10$ on a syringe before i'll spend the time with petri dishes and contams.

PS: Always use a safe addy and if you include a return addy it should be safe too.

[MushroomJoe]

I have used (not recently) MANY traded prints from these very forums. Specifically the free trade thread of the past. And have had overwhelming success. Here are some of the steps that I take, as this may help you.

1) MAKE SURE YOUR AGAR PROCEDURE IS SPOT ON. I cannot stress this enough. If in doubt, make some of my recent recipe of cheap agar and pour jars and sit them into the incubator. After a week or two you'll know how good your procedure is. Continue this until you get your method down.

2) When inoculating the jars, ALWAYS sterilize the utensil after each jar.

3)When I use a particular print, I always start on one side, and pick spots to pick up spores that are a decent distance away from each other, thus minimizing the chances of an "infected" area of the print affecting my isolation.

That's about all I can think of ATM. I have to run to work though, so there might be more I'm not thinking of ATM.

[Outer]

0% cuzz i never got mine.Waited a month, pmed , waited another month, natta.

[Getafix]

i would say 99% but,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
When i started this hobby i was given a wild Transkie print so i had to start on agar and have never tried ms inoculations. Agar is great whether going from agar to grain or agar to LC, working with agar is working with confidence.

[wildburr]

That is why its called trade at your own risk. I personally test mine and have not had a problem except when I first started. Keep your area clean and use a glove box, sterile techniques are something to be adhered to.

[PsychoDrogue]

try taking spores from different spots on your print. I have had great success with trades, although i get used to a few members prints coming my way and usually trust their quality more than the general populations.

many people seem get get good success making syringes straight from wild prints from some traders. amazes me, but it happens.

on agar you should be able to walk away from contams in most cases. if its spreading so much faster than the myc and you cannot get away from it, i would double/tripple check your technique. if the contams originate from the exact point you innoculated, it may be whatever tool you use to scrape your spores.

there have been times everything started contaming on me and i had to break down my entire room and clean it from the top down. some stuff gets in the air and is a bitch to get rid of.

[marmy]

i have seen no contams under the microscope on any of the trades i have viewed so far.

[Mushrooms201]

Thanks all for the input I will apply many of your suggestions and thoughts. I also wanted to clarify that I am in no way upset or disappointed with these trades that I have received. When I began trading to collect many interesting strains I was planning on having to do a reasonable amt of work with some. Recently I have just had other things going on and not able to face the time it takes to sit down and do agar work for hours. (To much time to think while working.)

Below is not related to this thread, just rambling thoughts....
PS: If you are lucky enough to find a girl that is willing to work with you on agar and a dozens other projects, many of which she could care less about. Think twice before you take her for granted. I had a wonderful girl that I was able to work on countless projects with. That bless her, could put up with me and my obsessive type tendencies. Recently we have parted and now I realize how much work (though fun) my hobbies are. Ohh well, sorry kinda out of place......