Changing Physarum Polycephalum growth rate?

[Parker Lovein]

I have recently acquired a small petri dish of P. Polycephalum which I am absolutely intrigued by and cherish very much. As much as I want to see my horror movie monster grow, it is becoming a major problem. I am aware of the basic needs of caring for P. Polycephalum, such as constantly having to move it to a new, larger environment about once a week. So far I am managing to keep up with it's constant growth, but I am worried that I will run out of space or new enviroments for it to live in with it's rapid increase in size. So I ask you this question, is there any way to change a Physarum Polycephalum's growth rate? I do know that the use of a fan can slow down a P. Polycephalum colony while in plasmodial stage, but I am worried that it might go entirely dormant and create spores. If there are any alternatives, it would be great to know about them.

Thanks for any input!

- Parker

P.S., Are there any tricks on making a P. Polycephalum colony move or grow faster? Just incase I ever want to present it and demonstrate it's growth in a short period of time or want to quickly bring it back from a slower state.

[François-Joseph Deminiere]

Hi Parker,

Could I help you to take care about your protected by offering it some more space in Paris France ?

I believe it could be very happy to visit Eiffel tower and send you photos from greatest places of French monuments... ;-)

If you insist to give him some tourism holydays, I'll be pleased to receive it in a 5 stars hotel as a VIP in embassy delegation from you.

This is my mail to plan travelling : [e-mail]

Best regards,

FJD

[ian]

It won't make spores without light and you can feed it lightly to reduce growth. The easiest option is just to cut off a section, discard the rest and move the section to fresh paper/agar

[François-Joseph Deminiere]

And give the rest a cool travel to Paris, France... ;-)

FJD

[Parker Lovein]

Hi Joseph,

As much as I want to send and share my slime mold with everyone I know and of course give it the vacation of a lifetime, I'm not sure if I can send it to Paris, France all that easily. I can imagine that certain importation and exportation laws may restrict me from doing so without a permit, and I just don't know if my Physarum could survive such a trip from here in America all the way to France.

Best regards, Parker

[Parker Lovein]

Well, that it was I have been doing, but I just feel so bad to get rid of it, because it's still alive and I also hate to waste or get rid of any of it. I have also been giving it to friends and fellow peers who may want it, but I am running out of takers and I also really have to force it on them to take it XD. But if that is your suggestion, I suppose it is the best option.

Thanks a lot!!!

- Parker

[ian]

If you want it to grow fast, feed every time it gets close to covering its existing food. I start mine in the middle of a 20cm square petri and feed twice a day adding fresh oats in a ring around it. Takes just five days to fill a dish BTW at that size if you miss a feed they will go walkabout and make quite a mess