Description

Designed for Wood and dung loving mushrooms

Hear from the bench of Dr Myc
I don’t put my name on anything I wouldn’t pour myself. So when we set out to build Platemate, I gave the team a simple brief: match the best agar in the world, or don’t bother.
It took us twelve months. We tested agar from dozens of suppliers across Europe and Asia, plating, pouring, and pushing each one until it failed or impressed. Most failed. The one that impressed went head to head with the names you already trust, the Sigma Aldrich tier, and held its own: roughly 1000 gm/cm2 gel strength, high nutrient holding capacity, and low ash. A true 400 quality level agarose. That became our foundation.
But foundation is only the start. From there we built the blend around the mushrooms you actually grow, the wood lovers and the dung lovers, and tuned it for the way you work.
What goes in:

Hardwood activated charcoal, for that clean, high contrast background that makes reading your plates effortless.
Multiple carbohydrate sources chosen to mirror the composition of common grains, including rye, wheat, millet and popcorn. Your cultures meet these sugars on the plate, so by the time they hit grain the enzymatic groundwork is already done.
A measured agar fraction tuned for film strength, giving you a gel that holds together under the scalpel and makes transfers genuinely easier.

That last point is the part I’m proudest of. Most agars make you choose between a clean working gel and a culture that adapts well to grain. Platemate gives you both. Your cultures arrive at grain already carrying the enzymatic adaptations to break down a range of carbohydrates and proteins, which shortens the lag while they adjust and gets them moving sooner.
The practical bits:

Each bag makes 100 plates comfortably, or 125 if you’re feeling frisky. Pour in a still air box or flow hood. Because of the blend, drop a stir bar or a marble in before sterilising so you can homogenise it properly once it comes out of the autoclave. That step matters, so don’t skip it. Pour at 50°C.
Pour your cultures, read them clean, and let them do the rest.
Dr Myc

This Products is shipped from Marrickville, Sydney.

Shipping Cost and Time—The shipping cost will be displayed on the checkout screen.

Handling Time—Packages typically takes 0-3 days to prepare for shipment. Unless otherwise stated as ‘Lead time’ on the listing as something different.

Please note that handling time may vary, especially during busy holidays or sale period.

Certain products, like Colonised agar plates or Sawdust spawn, Spray and grow kit, have longer handling times as they are made to order.