How long do spore syringes stay good?

[ShamanHut]

How long do spore syringes stay viable when kept at room temperature? Got some old ones lying around and would like to know if I should junk them.

 

[Viaticus]

I've once used a syringe that had been kept at room temperature for two months. It took over a week before any mycelium appeared, but after that everything went smoothly. So why not just trying them out to see if they still work?

 

[fuuz3r]

They stay better in the fridge I think.

 

[ShamanHut]

The strains are all over 6 months old, stored in a closet and I would hate to waste a lot of time and medium mix to test them to only have nothing to show for it. I guess I could try just one of them to see how it goes.

 

[Viaticus]

Or you could try to use them for making liquid culture. The liquid is easy and cheap to produce and if they work, you get a nice amout of LC you can use. If they don't work, you haven't wasted considerable amounts of time nor money.

 

[ShamanHut]

Thanks for the Idea. I will get a few injectable spawning jars of liquid nutrient to see if they cloud with mycelium. They are pretty cheap and can make 1 syringe into 10. Awesome!

 

[Viaticus]

And please tell wether or not your syringes worked. That might inspire others to put their "old" syringes in to use.

 

[Mycophile]

Nobody can guarantee you that syringes which are older then 6 months will work.

But it will be a shame if you threw them away without tryin'. I think that the chance that they're still ok are over 50%. Might go a little slower though.

 

[sandman_130]

^ he's right, the only way to be sure is to at least try, never just throw a syringe away.

Last year I over ordered on syringes, and had used some that I had been storing for almost 8 months, and they still worked fine.

so don't give up!