Culture Info

All of our cultures here at Cap n' Stem are grown on PDYA or MYA plates, depending on the strain. PDYA stands for Potato Dextrose Yeast Agar, this is what most of our common strains are grown on. MYA stands for Malt Yeast Agar, and is used for varieties that typically grow slower, as MYA has more nutrients for the mycelium to draw from.

Agar cultures are used for the preservation of fungal genetics and the careful sub culturing of a given phenotype for cultivation.

We also make and provide slants as an alternative culture method to petri plates. Slants are cultures that are kept in small tubes where there is less surface area. This makes slants good for long term preservation in refrigeration whereas petri plates are used for medium term preservation.

All of the cultures we offer at Maine Cap N' Stem are stored in cryogenic deep freezers to preserve their commercial viability. Each strain is readily available but will take up to 3 weeks to transfer from cryovials to agar plates to ensure you're receiving a clean culture at its youngest possible genetic state.

Every step of our process is to ensure the least amount of genetic degradation.

Grain Spawn Info

Our Certified Organic spawn is kettle hydrated, batch mixed and sterilized in a vacuum autoclave system. Vacuum cycles compared to gravity cycles are a much better system for sterilizing spawn. We produce large batches of grain in a speed-cycle, which minimizes caramelization and maillard reactions; these tend to be more common occurrences in gravity cycle produced spawn.

Our spawn will colonize your substrate faster for healthier mycelial growth and faster fruit body development. We have several in-house recipes tailored toward optimal growth of our strains.

All of our phenotypes are cryogenically stored in deep freezers for the proper preservation of strain longevity and vigor; that way you can get the freshest genetics possible. We have each strain go through careful in house testing before commercial expansion.

Our company goes through the shortest expansion process in the industry; each master bag is produced from a single plate of agar and each master bag inoculates a series of G2 spawn bags. We do not expand past G2 on grain in order to keep the strains running strong and fast for our substrate and yours.

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Spawn Form

If you would like to purchase bulk spawn, place your order by filling out this form here! If you would like to just purchase one bag or culture to try it out, then you should check out our shop!

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Mycowizards Video!

View a detailed video on proper sterile techniques when working in a flowhood.

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