[bhickey]

Reminds me of phage work.

For growing up phage you start by mixing different dilutions of phage with the host and a thin top agar, then plate it. On those plates with a countable number of plaques you work backwards to your plaque forming units (PFU) per mL. Once you know this you can produce "lacy plates." You add enough PFUs so that you expect the plaques to just touch. This produces a plate that has the appearance of lace. The web of surviving bacteria provide evidence that it actually grew, while delivering a high yield. Finally you scrape off the top agar, suspend it and run it through a filter. Good times.