microworm temperature?

[salamandergal]

How long could one keep the leftover culture that doesnt have the microworms in it? Or do you have to frequently mix up new cultures because you cant keep it in the refrigerator?
Thank you ahead of time.

 

[John]

Your subject and your content don't match up. Do you mean how long can you keep an old culture? I would say get rid of it when production drops off and it starts to smell more pungently than usual. If you mean if you can keep new culture medium, I would say not for long because it's mould heaven. It's easy to tell if it has gone off though because fungus should be visible on it and it ought to smell a little acidic.

 

[salamandergal]

Sorry I was about to go out on an important errand when I wrote that.
What I meant to ask is, can you keep the left over culture (with or without worms) in the refrigerator? I guess maybe you cant.

 

[pesco]

You can, but what's the point ?
Worms wont die off, however they will stop reproduce. Never tried to freeze them, but have to do it one day - just for experiment . They are surprisingly hardy, I had some of mine old exploited cultures dried to the crisp and left like that for few weeks (forgot to clean up the vessel ), when I added some water they came back alive!

 

[Tappers]

I would start a new culture every two weeks and have at least two on the go. I found older cultures prone to mould which can then be a headache to control in newer ones if you keep them hanging around.

 

[salamandergal]

Thank you for the replies.
Hmmm....Yes, I was just curious about the refrgeration issue .
Yes I have read that microworm culture is supposed to be at room temperature.
John, I didnt know where else to put this post, since microworms dont seem to be in a category here. Maybe I missed it somehow.