My slime mold won't wake up: what should I do?
Hasn't your sclerotium moved after 48 or 72 hours? Don't panic. Here are the 6 causes to check in order, what to do in concrete terms, and our 100% awakening guarantee.
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The sclerotium hasn’t budged after 48 hours, or even 72? Before you assume your slime mold is dead, read this guide: it reviews the protocol details that can hinder a revival, well before blaming the sclerotium itself. And if it really is the sclerotium, we replace it for free.
First: what is the normal timeframe?
- 0-24h: the cell rehydrates its cytoplasm. The first signs — a yellow border on the edge of the crust — appear around 24 hours.
- 24-48h: the revival becomes clear: the plasmodium emerges from the sclerotium and begins to spread across the agar.
- 48-72h: it reaches the oat flakes and starts to eat.
- 72h+ with nothing: there is a problem. Read on.
The 6 causes to check
1. Temperature too low
The slime mold is comfortable between 20 and 25°C. Below 20°C, it slows down significantly. Around 15°C, it may seem completely inactive for several days — it is not dead; it is waiting.
2. Lid left open
The agar is moist by nature; the agar itself isn't the problem. What can be an issue is the environment. A closed petri dish maintains a humidity-saturated atmosphere — exactly what the sclerotium needs. With the lid wide open in a dry room, however, the air is constantly refreshed, and the sclerotium may begin its revival only to go back to sleep. On fresh, closed agar, "lack of humidity" is never a cause of failure — you should look at the lid, not the agar.
3. Too much water (the sclerotium is drowning)
Paradoxically, too much water kills the slime mold, too. If you see a puddle at the bottom of the dish, it is too much. This can come from agar that is too diluted, which remains soft and leaves free water at the bottom.
4. Too much light
The slime mold avoids bright light — this is documented negative phototaxis. Direct exposure can push it to sclerotize again right after waking up.
5. Contamination
If you handled the sclerotium with your fingers, you may have deposited bacteria and mold that consume its reserves before it can wake up.
6. It just needs more time
Some sclerotia restart more slowly than others. There is nothing abnormal about that.
1. Check the three basics: 20-25°C, darkness, dish closed on moist but firm agar
2. Move a fresh oat flake to within 1 cm of the sclerotium
3. Close and leave it alone for 48 more hours
To avoid: sudden temperature variations. A sclerotium taken from the fridge to a radiator is more stressed than helped — stability is better than a "perfect" temperature.
Our 100% revival guarantee
If after 7 days of following the protocol your sclerotium still hasn't revived, we will send you another one for free. The kit contains at least 2 specifically for this reason.
"A sclerotium is never truly dead. It is just waiting for the right conditions."
A sclerotium kept dry remains viable for a long time
That is the whole point of this dormant form: stored dry and away from light on its Ø 90 mm filter paper, a sclerotium remains viable for at least a year, often much longer. If your second sclerotium is still waiting in its tube, you have all the time you need — and your kit also contains spare filter papers for when you want to put your revived slime mold back to sleep.
However, a sclerotium already placed on agar that has remained inert for several weeks is likely to have been colonized by mold: in that case, it is better to start over with the second sclerotium using a clean dish — or write to us.
