Tissue culture

Thanks Hydro

I have emailed Carol to ask for a copy of her workshop handout and taken a look at her slideshows I have to admit I was amazed by the slideshow of the african violet exoplant, I couldn't believe the amount of new growth! I actually would love to tissue culture some of the epicactus cultivars which are known to have exceptionally high virus loads some are very well known to be infested with cactus virus x or similar from commercial grafting on Opuntia species in the past (see example of 'Letty May' here) of course this is all pipe dream at the moment

 

You might also check Home Tissue Culture Group on Facebook, where there are any number of examples of TC projects on display. The group also has a website and gallery. They are a very helpful group of people. There is a listserv on Yahoo with people from around the world that will answer your questions. Some of the members are distinguished professionals, who, non the less, answer some pretty basic questions. Again, Good Luck.

 

Ice,
Carol just posted this:

My apologies for delays in advising/responding to workshop handout requests. My husband and I are building a greenhouse and trying to beat the return of the rainy season. Makes it hard to spend time in the office during the daylight hours and shoveling gravel makes you tired. See the KCK Facebook page for a view – will post something on the KCK website soon. I am open to any advice from you other hobby greenhouse owners. Thanks……………….carol

 

Thanks Hydro,

Carol just sent me a copy of the handout and about a dozen other articles and images after I expressed an interest in culturing cacti [emoji1]

 

Best of luck to you my friend.

 

I've done a bit more research into what I can and can't easily obtain in the UK and one of the surprisingly hard to find things is containers... I have seen plenty of images of baby food jars (assuming that the ones in the UK are the same size?) that's doable but the phytocaps are almost non existent here I'm sure I have read somewhere of a DIY option involving drilling a hole into the normal lid and covering with a plaster or micropore tape? that being said I could probably obtain PP food containers very cheaply and do the same.

 

Ice,
Baby food jars are said to be the same world over. I have seen small quantities of the caps on eBay from Poland, I think. Yes, you can use metal caps with a hole, but cover the hole with a band-aid. You can also use Mason jars with the white poly caps. They can be autoclaved and will survive, however, they are not air tight. You can solve that by cutting a strip of plastic wrap and wrapping it around the top of the cap and jar. If you can get the phytocap they work best and you can use them over and over. Carol has some ideas on her site.

 

Thanks Hydro,

Did you have link for the small quantities from Poland?

I have spotted that a number of orchid hobbyists seem to have success using round 3M spot plasters and then 2 or 3 layers of 3M Micrpore Tape

 

Sorry, I do not have a link, but a search on eBay should produce them if they are still available. I saw them once when I was looking for only a few more. Try the 3M tape if you can't find them. That is what this is all about, doing it yourself and making do with what you have.