+ Log a source
A source is where genetics enter your farm: a culture bought or given to you, or a sample you collected in the field. Log it once and everything descended from it carries the trail.
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How culture lineage works
A grow log tells you what a block did. A culture library tells you why — which genetics, from which source, handled by which method. Here is what this tool records and what it lets you answer.
The chain
Genetics enter the farm once and then get copied, over and over. Each copy is a chance to gain performance data — and a chance to let something in.
| Stage | What it is | Why it's tracked |
|---|---|---|
| Source | A culture bought or gifted, or a wild sample you collected. | Lets you re-order a strain that performs — or never buy from that lot again. |
| Petri dish | Agar plate, usually where you clean up and select a strain. | Isolates are where most strain selection actually happens. |
| Liquid culture | Sterile nutrient broth grown from a wedge of agar. | One LC seeds many jars — so one bad LC ruins many jars. |
| Grain spawn | Colonised grain, the thing you actually mix into substrate. | The last point where you can catch a problem before it costs you blocks. |
| Block / batch | Fruiting substrate, tracked in the Grow Log. | Where yield and biological efficiency finally get measured. |
Tracking codes that carry the lineage
Every item gets a code derived from its parent, so the code alone tells you the
chain: SHI-01 is a shiitake source, SHI-01-P1 is the first plate off
it, SHI-01-P1-L1 the first liquid culture off that plate, and
SHI-01-P1-L1-G2 the second grain jar off that LC. Write the code on the jar and the
jar explains itself — no lookup needed.
Contamination traceback, in both directions
Mark anything contaminated and the library walks the chain for you. Downstream: every culture and every block descended from it, listed as at-risk so you can check or quarantine them before the problem spreads. Upstream: the parent it came from and its siblings — if those are clean, the contaminant entered at your step; if they're failing too, it came in earlier, possibly with the source. That distinction is the difference between fixing your technique and returning a bad lot. New to diagnosing what you're looking at? Read the contamination ID & prevention guide.
Why record supplier and location at all
Two reasons, and both are practical. First, repeatability: if a strain performs you want to go back for more of exactly that, and if it doesn't you want to know not to. Second, chain of responsibility: if there is ever a question about what you sold and where it came from, the answer is a lookup, not an archaeology project. For a wild collection the location is the supplier — record the GPS or the address, because you can't re-order from a log you can't find again.
Your data stays on your device
This free library saves in your browser only — no account, no upload. It shares storage with the Grow Log, so backing either one up with ☁ Back up in the grow log covers both, and after that every change on this device syncs to your private link automatically. The paid Mycro app adds what a link can't: a real account you log into from any device, long-term history across seasons, cost per run, and multi-user access for a staffed farm.
Comparing tools? Most mushroom apps track blocks but not genetics, and the ones that track genetics don't do grow-ops maths. See the honest comparison of mushroom grow log apps.
For legal culinary & medicinal mushroom cultivation only. Guidance here reflects common practice, not guarantees.