Mushroom Liquid Culture Kit — 40x Expander System

Pressure-Sterilized in California • Lab-Made Liquid Culture Broth • Call (530) 300-9292
Mycology-Supply • Liquid Culture Expander Kit

Turn One Syringe Into
Forty Inoculations

A complete liquid culture expander kit: pressure-sterilized nutrient broth in a mason jar, a self-healing inoculation port lid, and a magnetic stir bar. Inject a single $25 spore or culture syringe and grow weeks of liquid culture for less than $0.60 per inoculation — lab-made in our Northern California facility.

Buy LC Kit — $15.99 See How It Works
$15.99
Per Kit
40×
Expansion
$0.60
Per Inoculation
Mycology-Supply Liquid Culture Expander Kit — sterile nutrient broth in mason jar with self-healing inoculation port lid
Lab-Made • $15.99
🔬
Lab-Made in California
🔥
Pressure-Sterilized
💉
Self-Healing Port
🧫
15% Off Agar Forever

What Is a Liquid Culture Kit?

A liquid culture expander kit lets you take a single mushroom syringe — spore or live culture — and multiply it into dozens of inoculations of vigorous, ready-to-use liquid culture.

A mushroom liquid culture kit is a sterilized nutrient broth in a mason jar with a modified lid that contains a self-healing injection port and a gas-exchange filter. You inject a small amount of spore solution or existing liquid culture through the port, incubate the jar at room temperature for 10–14 days, and the mycelium colonizes the broth. The result is a full jar of vigorous, ready-to-inject mushroom liquid culture that can inoculate roughly 40 substrates at 1–3 cc each.

Mycology-Supply's kit ships with a pre-measured, pressure-sterilized nutrient broth formulated specifically for mushroom mycelium, a magnetic stir bar for periodic agitation (which dramatically accelerates colonization), and a modified lid combining the injection port and the filter patch. You supply the syringe and the heat source — we supply everything else.

This is the same workflow commercial mushroom labs use to stretch a single named strain across hundreds of inoculations. The kit collapses that workflow into a $15.99 product that ships ready to use.

The Math

A single mushroom liquid culture syringe runs $20–$25 retail and gives you about 10 inoculations. The expander kit takes that same one syringe and yields 40 — a 4× multiplier on the genetics you already paid for.

Buying More Syringes

$100
4 syringes @ $25 each
  • Inoculations~40
  • Cost per inoculation$2.50
  • New genetics neededEach time
  • Strain controlLimited

1 Syringe + LC Kit

$40.99
1 syringe @ $25 + kit @ $15.99
  • Inoculations~40
  • Cost per inoculation$1.02
  • New genetics neededOne time
  • Strain controlLock in winner
Saves $59 vs. buying 4 syringes

How to Use a Liquid Culture Kit

Four steps from syringe to fully colonized jar. Total time: ~14 days.

Sanitize & Inject

Wipe the self-healing injection port with isopropyl alcohol. Inject 1–2 cc of spore or liquid culture syringe through the port. Work in front of a flow hood or inside a still air box for cleanest results.

Day 0 • 5 min

Incubate & Agitate

Place the jar on a stir plate or warm shelf at 70–80°F. Shake or stir gently every 1–2 days to break up colonies and distribute oxygen evenly through the broth.

Days 1–10 • Daily check

Verify Colonization

The broth turns from clear amber to milky with visible white mycelial flakes suspended throughout. No yellow, green, or pink staining — those signal contamination and the jar should be discarded.

Days 10–14 • Visual

Draw & Inoculate

Draw culture into a sterile syringe through the port and inoculate BRF jars, grain bags, or all-in-one bags at 1–3 cc per substrate. Refrigerate the jar between uses; stays viable for months.

Day 14+ • Ongoing

What's in the Kit

Everything pre-measured, pre-sterilized, and ready to inject. You supply the syringe; the kit supplies the rest.

Component Detail
Nutrient broth Mason jar of pre-measured, pre-mixed sterile liquid culture broth (proprietary mycology-grade formulation)
Sterilization Commercial autoclave pressure-sterilized at 15 PSI, 121°C
Lid Modified mason jar lid with self-healing silicone injection port + gas-exchange filter patch
Magnetic stir bar Included — use on any standard lab stir plate or rotate by hand
Yield One full jar of vigorous mushroom liquid culture from one input syringe
Inoculations per jar ~40 substrate inoculations at 1–3 cc each
Colonization time 10–14 days at 70–80°F
Shelf life Several months refrigerated after colonization — perishable, use as soon as possible
Price $15.99 per kit
Made in Northern California

Compatible Species

The kit works with any mushroom species — gourmet, exotic, or medicinal. Inject any spore syringe or any existing liquid culture syringe through the port.

Lion's Mane

Hericium erinaceus

Reishi

Ganoderma lucidum

Turkey Tail

Trametes versicolor

Cordyceps

Cordyceps militaris

Chestnut

Pholiota adiposa

Chicken of the Woods

Laetiporus sulphureus

King Blue Oyster

Pleurotus ostreatus

Wine Cap

Stropharia rugosoannulata

Browse our full liquid culture library for compatible starter syringes.

LC Kit vs. Other Approaches

Compared to buying more syringes or making your own broth from scratch.

Factor LC Kit Buy More Syringes DIY From Scratch
Upfront cost $15.99 $25 each $200+ (pressure cooker)
Cost per inoculation ~$1.02 ~$2.50 ~$0.40 (after equipment)
Sterilization required Done for you Done for you 15 PSI pressure cooker
Time investment 5 min setup 5 min setup 2–3 hours per batch
Strain control Lock in winners Each syringe = different genetics Lock in winners
Self-healing injection port ✓ ✓ Sourced separately
Magnetic stir bar ✓ Included ✗ Sourced separately

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about the mushroom liquid culture kit.

A liquid culture kit is a sterilized mason jar of nutrient broth with a modified lid containing a self-healing injection port and gas-exchange filter. You inject a small amount of mushroom syringe through the port, incubate for 10–14 days, and the mycelium colonizes the broth, giving you a full jar of ready-to-inject liquid culture suitable for about 40 substrate inoculations.
A single Mycology-Supply LC Kit yields enough vigorous mushroom liquid culture to perform approximately 40 substrate inoculations at 1–3 cc per inoculation. That covers 40 BRF jars, 40 grain bags, 40 all-in-one bags, or any combination.
Yes. The kit accepts any standard mushroom syringe — spore solutions, multi-spore syringes, and existing liquid culture syringes all work. Spore syringes will take slightly longer to colonize (typically 12–16 days) because the spores must germinate first, while a live liquid culture syringe colonizes faster (~10 days).
No. The nutrient broth ships pressure-sterilized in a commercial autoclave at 15 PSI and 121°C in our California lab. There's no boiling, no pressure cooker, and no sterilization step required from you — just sanitize the injection port with isopropyl alcohol and inject.
The broth is a proprietary mycology-grade nutrient formulation optimized for mushroom mycelium growth. It contains carbohydrates for energy, nitrogen sources for protein synthesis, and trace minerals that mushroom mycelium needs. The exact ratio is dialed in to match the most-cultivated gourmet and medicinal species.
Unopened and stored at room temperature in a cool, dark place, the sterile broth jar is shelf-stable for several months. Once injected and colonized, the resulting liquid culture stays viable for several months refrigerated, but is perishable — use it as soon as possible for the most vigorous, fastest-colonizing mycelium.
A laminar flow hood is ideal but not required. The self-healing injection port is engineered to minimize contamination during injection. For home growers, a still air box (SAB) plus thorough surface sanitation produces excellent results. For commercial or repeated runs, a flow hood is worth the investment and dramatically lowers contamination rates.
The lid and stir bar are reusable indefinitely. The broth itself is single-use — once you've drawn most of the culture out for inoculations, refill the jar with fresh sterilized broth (or buy another LC Kit) and inject a small amount of your existing culture to colonize a new batch. This is how commercial labs maintain genetics across years.
Healthy mushroom mycelium turns the broth milky with visible white flakes or filaments. Yellow, green, pink, gray, or brown staining — along with off-smells (sour, putrid, sweet) — signal bacterial or mold contamination. Discard contaminated jars and start fresh; never inoculate substrate with a contaminated culture.

Complete Your Workflow

Pair the LC Kit with substrates and culture-handling gear from the rest of our catalog.

Mushroom Liquid Culture Syringes

Live mycelium starter syringes for the kit — 17 species, $12 each.

Starter Genetics

BRF Jars (PF Tek)

Sterilized brown rice flour substrate jars, ready for liquid culture injection.

Ready Substrate

Pre-Poured Agar Plates

Transfer your colonized culture to agar for strain isolation and storage.

Isolate Strains

Flow Hoods & HEPA Units

Clean laminar airflow for contamination-free injections and transfers.

Clean Air

Expand One Syringe Into Forty

Pressure-sterilized broth, self-healing port, magnetic stir bar — lab-made in Northern California, $15.99 per kit, ready to inject the day it arrives.

Buy the LC Kit — $15.99