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Post by lloyd on Jul 28, 2008 21:44:13 GMT -5
No problem. I have some Ok plants. My TC set-up situation is pretty modest right now as I'm busy with other plant stuff in the summer. I'd be happy to show you around and share some stuff, though.
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Post by z on Aug 8, 2008 22:14:47 GMT -5
I havn't looked at Lloyd's stuff yet, but after doing some research and more specifically reading this: www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq6010i.html Barry seems to say to keep the jars of TC plants perfectly sealed (ie: sealed with tape for the entire duration of the plant living in the flask). So now I have a few questions for you guys. First of all, is sealing the container advisable? In addition, I have started to buy a few beakers, tweezers and whatnot for mixing the media and using the disinfectants (can't use glassware from house). I have not purchased any chemicals yet, and I would need to know where I would be able to buy alcohol lamps and ethanol (from canadian tire?). I see some offers on ebay, which I'll use as a last resort. On that note, is ethanol + bleach the only chemicals you would use other than the TC media? In Barry's article mentions Tween 20 (polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate); do you guys use this or just bleach and ethanol? The other article uses isopropyl, bleach, and hydrogen peroxide, which I think I would go with. Where would you pick up these chemicals? How about test tubes? Does anyone here do TC in test tubes? I am asking because I found that they are fairly cheap, like 50 cents per tube. Another question, how much lighting would suffice? Would maybe 2 100w light bulbs do the trick, or would I need some special lights? sdeering - what is this deep seed flat? do you have a picture? I tried googling for one, but dont know if I'm thinking of the same thing. Is it like one of those seed trays that are plastic? Last question, do you mostly do TC with seeds or with pieces of plant tissue? If you do plant tissue, I know you should use the meristem, but would you have any success with just taking any random piece of tissue (IE: a mediumly aged leaf of a Nepenthes plant fell off during shipping; if properly sterilized, can this be TC material?) Now my plan for now is to use a container (fishtank, rubbermaid container, etc, not really decided yet), and leave an opening which I will cover with seran wrap when not in use. I can use a bunch of computer fans to fan air through another opening through one of those HEPA filters (if it doesn't cost too much). I already have computer fans, and I think I can get those filters at Canadian tire, so I will check it out and write down some measurements. Thanks for your time!
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Post by lloyd on Aug 9, 2008 7:13:18 GMT -5
The special caps for baby-food bottles are really convenient and cheap. I can help you out with Tween 20 and some caps and some other odds and ends. All the disinfectants can be found at Shoppers Drugs. Ordinary, cheap cool-white bulbs are fine, I can give you some, I have lots. I wouldn't worry about HEPA filters until you try the glove box for a while. This winter I'm going to try building a laminar-flow hood with Tom's instructions so you can help out if you want. Anyway, more on Monday if you want to come by. Seeds are much easier than "real" tissue culture but VFT stalks have been used (so far without success by me).
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Post by z on Aug 9, 2008 21:45:47 GMT -5
Hmm, I was thinking that since a normal cap would allow the jar to be air tight, it would be better since then I wouldn't need to keep the jar in a box, and the box would only be used as a working area. However, since no one else seems to be doing this, I'm guess that this wouldn't work too well .
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Post by sdeering on Aug 10, 2008 8:16:13 GMT -5
Regular cap works fine. If you want to let some air in just crack the cap for a few days. I have had good luck with both. You dont keep the jars in a box, once you have a plant in them you just put them in a clean room under some light
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