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Pack of 5

Two 12ml glass vials with white screw caps and black self-healing rubber injection ports set into the lids

Sterile & Lab Equipment

12ml Vials (5)

Five small borosilicate glass vials with a self-healing rubber port in the lid. You inject and draw through the port with a needle while the screw lid stays sealed, so they suit liquid culture and storing spore or culture samples.

£15.00

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Format

Clear

Supplied non-sterile. Clean and autoclave before first use.

Borosilicate glass
Low thermal expansion, so you can steam sterilise the vials in a pressure cooker or autoclave.

Self-healing port
Butyl rubber reseals after a needle, letting you inject and draw without opening the lid.

Reusable
Wash and re-sterilise between batches rather than throwing them away.

Pack size5 vials

Volume12 mL each

GlassBorosilicate, autoclavable

PortSelf-healing butyl rubber

SuppliedNon-sterile

Main useLiquid culture and sample storage

ReusableYes, with cleaning and sterilising

What it is

What you are buying

This is a set of five borosilicate glass vials. Borosilicate is the glass used in most laboratory glassware. It has a low rate of thermal expansion, so it copes with the heat of a pressure cooker or autoclave without cracking from the temperature change.

Each vial has a screw lid with a built-in self-healing port made of butyl rubber. When you push a needle through the port and pull it back out, the rubber closes the hole behind it. This keeps the inside of the vial sealed from the air, which is what lets you work without lifting the lid and exposing the contents.

The vials are reusable. After a batch you wash them, fit a fresh or cleaned port, and sterilise again. The rubber port takes a number of needle punctures before it stops sealing reliably and needs replacing.

How to use them

Using vials for liquid culture

Liquid culture is a sterile sugar and water solution that you inject with a small amount of culture or a spore syringe. The mycelium grows through the liquid, and you draw it out later to inoculate grain. The vial is the sealed container that holds that liquid while it grows.

Make the solution

Keep the sugar light, around 1 to 4 percent by weight. That is roughly 10 to 40 grams of light malt extract or honey per litre of water, so about 2.5 to 5 grams in 500ml. A weaker solution stays clearer and is less likely to feed contamination. Part-fill each vial and leave air space at the top so you can swirl it later.

Sterilise

Sterilise the filled vials at 15 PSI for 20 minutes in a pressure cooker or autoclave. Start timing once full pressure is reached. Leave the lids a quarter turn loose during the run so pressure does not build inside the vial, then tighten once cool.

Inoculate

Let the vials cool fully first. Wipe the rubber port with 70 percent isopropyl alcohol. Flame the needle, let it cool, then inject about 1 to 2ml of your culture or spore solution through the port. The rubber reseals as you withdraw.

Grow and draw

Keep the vial somewhere warm and dark and swirl it now and then to break up the mycelium. Once the liquid is colonised you draw it back out through the same port to inoculate grain, usually around 1 to 2ml per jar.

The vials also work as sealed storage for spore solutions or culture samples. Spores do not stick to glass as readily as they do to plastic, which makes them easier to mix and draw later.

Storage and care

Storing and looking after them

Keep finished liquid culture cool and dark. Many growers store vials in the fridge, around 2 to 8 degrees, to slow the mycelium and keep it usable for longer. Do not freeze them, as ice crystals damage the mycelium. Refrigerated liquid culture can stay viable for several months, but it works best when used within a month or two.

Borosilicate is strong but its strength depends on the surface. A scratch, even a fine one, weakens the glass and makes it more likely to fail under heat. Avoid scoring the vials with hard tools and retire any that are chipped or scratched.

Glass	Borosilicate, autoclavable
Lid	Screw lid with self-healing butyl rubber injection port
Pack size	5 vials
Supplied	Non-sterile, clean and sterilise before use
Reuse	Wash and re-sterilise between batches

What it is not

What these are not for

These are empty containers. They do not come sterile and they do not contain any culture, spores or nutrient solution. You supply and prepare all of that yourself.

They are general lab and cultivation vials. We supply them for microscopy work and for legal gourmet mushroom cultivation. Spores in the UK are sold for microscopy only, and growing psilocybin mushrooms is illegal here. Please keep your use within the law.

Sources

Sold for microscopy and legal gourmet mushroom cultivation. In the UK, spores are for microscopy only and cultivating psilocybin mushrooms is illegal.