ABOUT AGAR PLATES AND INCUBATION TEMPERATURES

Agar plates are petri dishes with nutrient agar (culture medium) used to create colonies of molds (fungus), bacteria or other micro organisms.

Agar plates can be purchased from various websites, such as Amazon or evvivasciences.com.

Some micro organisms grow best on certain agars.
And each agar type has ideal incubation temperature ranges.
Here is a table with incubation temperature ranges for certain types of agars.



Once I place the sputum, blood, or micro organism sample, to be cultured, into the petri dish,
I write the current date, on the lid, and seal the dish in a plastic bag (Ziploc).



Once I see that a colony has formed, usually 2 to 5 days (depending on the organism, agar, and temp),
I take it out of the bag, photograph it, and make a microscope slide from one of the colonies.

They do make some agars with a black tint on them.
This helps to identify certain colonies.
Here is a sample of a black tinted agar plate.



Its a good idea to allow the camera to date the photographs.

In the near future, I will make a video (unless I find one on Utube) illustrating how to make a mold (fungus) microscope slide from a petri colony, using the scotch tape method.

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