Storing of bacterial colonies - (Mar/21/2005 )

How long can i use the bacterial colonies to make new cultures before i trash the agar plate? Where should i store the agar plate with the bacterial colonies?

Thanks for any inputs.

hi
for making cultures, i use plates for two weeks at most. They are stored at 4°C. If it's for minipreps, i do many preps quick till i get my clone. After that, i make a bigger prep and before pellet bacterias i make two aliquots that i store at -80°C. (see this topic for freezing thawing bacterias)