I have about 900 wild mushroom specimens in my small herbarium. Since I was on leave for 6 month the people in my office has shifted the cabinet from the room and now all my specimens are infested with mold. I do not want to throw away the specimens as these are my 10 years collection and some of them I will never be able to collect again. Therefore, please advice me how to get rid of mold and further preserve them
What a pity!
I think, You should dry out the collection as soon as possible . Use a hair dryer or place the specimens on a radiator. Place each of them to a new bag, and put next to them a small bag of silica gel.
But, I am afraid, that it will to the devil anyway.
Attila
Thank you Attila Koszka
Oki, will drying kill the mold? There was already silica gel as you mentioned but looks like the air moisture was too much as it has turned pink. I am planning to dry it again and keep them but afraid the mold will not die or it will grow again.
Hi Sabitra Pradhan
Drying should be used as quickly as possible
regard
I am afraid, not even the totally complet drying can kill the mold :-(
it will only returns to a passive state...
You should separate the most valuable collected pieces (and keep them), and throw out the resting ones.
It is a big loss...
Hi Sabitra
You can see this video
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=19&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi8q_XS9p3gAhWp-yoKHZOdD3IQwqsBMBJ6BAgDEAc&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Ds_WzSq17Vbc&usg=AOvVaw3gKPdD8ni1LrqU2z3xSFUV
Hello Laith Al-Ani
Thank you so much for the link. But mine is the mold in herbarium specimens not in cultivation.
Any ways thank you, I am looking for the expect ideas so that I do not have to throw away the specimens because I cannot afford to throw my 10 years collection.
We found an inexpensive way to treat plant herbarium specimens with room temperature nitrogen. This should kill the mold. It would still have to be cleaned off separately, if at all, after it is dead from the nitrogen. Maybe dilute hydrogen peroxide on a wipe would do that, if you are very gentle and immediately re-dry the specimen fully again, but this is a guess. Peroxide will not leave a residue but can act as a solvent and might cause discoloration. You could test a small area, then decide. At least the specimens won't get worse if you kill the mold. Here's a link to a description of our nitrogen method. It is more certain that you reach full anaerobia in a set amount of time by putting oxygen absorber packets inside the bags with the specimens, but it should work without them. I hope it saves your specimens. Let us know.
http://journals.atlas-publishing.org/index.php/AJB/article/view/24/23
By the way, if you want to retain viable spore, you should remove some before treating with nitrogen.
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