Slime mold living conditions ( food, temperature, wetness,agar)

[Kornelija]

Hello, I wanted to ask few questions about slime mold living conditions:

At what temperatures do slime molds like Leucogala epidendrum, Trichia decipiens, and Physarum polysephalum grow the best at?

At what temperature do you recommend setting an incubator?

Is there anything I can do to slow down the appearance of white fungus on the surface of oat, later on, all slime mold?

Could it be because of wetness of the environment?

Do all of them prefer oats as a food source?

Or it does not have that much of a difference and they only consume the bacteria from the surface of the oat?

Should I sterilize the oats?

Does the percentage of agar have an impact on how much water will condensate in the petri dish?

Please leave any other advice you have on how to successfully grow slime molds like Leucogala epidendrum, Trichia decipiens.

[Jan-Maarten Luursema]

I grow Ph. Polycephalum at room temperature, but it will grow at lower temperatures just fine, just slower.. if I were in the opportunity to provide a specific temperature, I would look at the geographical distribution and life cycles of these organisms, and take my cue from there. Maybe nobody looked at this yet, and you can do some interesting experiments?

If you sterilize the agar, boil oats in a pressure cooker, and plug the air hole of your enclosure with cotton wool, you delay the onset of white fungus and other opportunists. Slime molds do need a damp environment though and will form a sclerotium, or change into the sporulating phase of their life cycle if things get too dry.

Good luck!