Cordyceps Militaris Mushroom Liquid Culture for Mushroom Cultivation Growing on Grain or Agar

Update 3/10/26 I messaged the seller regarding this issue and received a new batch right away. This batch did in fact grow really well. The seller was quick to try to resolve the issue when asked so changing the 1 star to 5 stars. I purchased the 10 ml syringe of Red Reishi liquid culture in August 2025. Along with 3 other LC syringes from other distributors. Split all of them between grain and more LC. All of the others have grown and produced. But not the Reishi. It appears to be dead. No growth in the grain. No growth in the liquid culture. It is now mid January. I’ve tried several times from the liquid culture on grain and agar. Nothing.

I’m always a little worried about going with a new vendor. But the vendor that I normally buy from does not have Stropheria. The liquid culture came in very healthy and was ready to inject into my liquid culture base and some pasteurized corn grain. It took off immediately in both, and I’ve used the liquid culture to inoculate quite a bit, and I just took some of my grain and did a grain to grain transfer. Started another jar of grain in a modified masters mix, and I’ve got growth through the wood after about five days. Having spent lots of money on grain, spawn and sawdust spawn to ensure I have my garden mushrooms I can tell you I have saved a tremendous amount of money with this one syringe. Nice genetics, y’all.

Received this, lions mane and king oysters. I attempted agar inoculation when I first received. after 15 days no growth was observed. I attempted a second round, ever changing my agar recipe from malts yeast agar to potato dextrose. Still nothing, so decided to throw it under magnification. These images are the result of what I found. It looks like there was possible growth in the syringe, however, it seems contamination has taken place. Plates were inoculated in a positive pressure clean room with laminar flow hood and strict aseptic technique followed. I’d be really surprised if the contam was a result of my inoculation environment. Possibly the syringe froze during transport, seeing as how it is winter… still a big disappointment. I’d say be careful and aware of when you’re ordering these to make sure that you are not paying for what will be received as a ruined spore syringe. Obviously there is a plethora of organic material… just nothing active apparently🫠😢

I ordered two spore syringes: one Portobello and one White Button. Unfortunately, the Portobello syringe was contaminated—the mycelium inside had a clumpy, slimy texture, clearly unsuitable for use. I’ve contacted the seller and am waiting for a refund for this syringe. On the positive side, the White Button syringe was perfect, with clean and healthy mycelium. Update: The refund process worked perfectly, and the seller took the time to address my concerns in a very professional and friendly manner. I am happy to update my review to 5 stars.

I was not impressed with the amount of mycelium present as the syringe did not contain much at all compared to other reviewers. Never the less I planted it; some in used coffee grounds with ground wheat flakes and the other half in hardwood pellets and ground wheat flakes. Both appear to be growing a healthy amount of mycelium. Since there was not much mycelium in the syringe compared to the growth medium I was unable to instill any into a log as I had hoped.

Was able to produce great oysters!! Expanded fine and everything is good!

First of all this is for Wine Cap mushroom liquid culture (also recommend lions mane 100%) So far I have used half a syringe for propagating the spores in 4 mason jars, 3 days later and I have started to notice progress I used 16oz mason jars. -brown rice (boiled and then lowered to simmer for 12 minutes to absorb water) then I drained the rice for 2 hours and then pressure cook/can in a Ninja foodi/instant pot for 30 mins each. 8 hours later I used 1 CC per jar. You can drill 2 holes on the jars lid, one in the center 1/4 and one more on the side 1/8. I used hitemp-silicon to seal the 1/8 hole and pillow stuffing for the bigger one, this way you can inject the 1CC through the silicon (after sterilizing with the instant pot) and the silicon will seal as you pull the needle out, preventing contamination (; . Good luck, it has worked 100% for me, I have tried other sites and their spores are not nearly as successful as these ones. -I do not get anything form the seller or amazon by leaving a review, I just hope it works for you. -make sure you cover the lid (with the holes, silicon and pillow stuffing) with aluminum foil before sterilizing, wait until the jar has cool down before adding the spores. -I have great succes with brown rice, keep the jars in a dark spot during the propagation process, and you can use a lighter instead of alcohol to heat the needle (lightly 2-3 seconds) between jars, I notice alcohol will kill the spores more than the fire. With Wine cap I took me 3 days to notice progress, Lions mane 6 days and Enoki 11 days.

I bought 3 strains, and made a large batch of agar solution to work with, worked with a sill air box and a flow hood. The white enokitake took wonderful hold, rizomorphic mycelium. 10 dishes, no contam. Wine caps, same thing maybe a little less aggressive growth. With the lions mane, every single dish had bacterial contamination which leads me to believe the stringe was the source of the issue. Unfortunately it was the lions mane i was most excited for 😅 If it weren’t for that I’d recommend this seller but this was the first case ive ever had with a contaminated syringe.

Purchased two syringes of the King Oyster Mushroom liquid culture. From time of purchase to delivery, it was possible to track every step of the way. The packaging is designed to protect the syringes and ensure that they arrive intact. Instructions in my syringes are clear and straightforward. I will update this once I have inoculated my rye spawn bottles. From what I can already see, the liquid culture is robust and not affected by the trip from Florida to Calgary, Alberta.

Unfortunately did not produce fruits.

Haven’t planted yet but very excited to get started as I’ve read it takes 3 or more years for the morel mushrooms to pop up!