Plants from Test Tubes: An Introduction to Micropropagation

[Swivel]

This seemed like a very interesting topic to me. My copy should be shiped shortly and if anyone here has either read or is reading it I would love to have a disscussion over it.

No more simple cuttings, whole plants regenerated from just a fraction of tissue!

{book by Lydiane Kyte and John Kleyn}

[Toil]

cool!

you can do that at home?

[Swivel]

Anything can be done at home (grown in this instance) with the proper patience, knowledge (the book) and persistance. Oh and in this case I would guess proper sanitation!

[The Helpful Gardener]

Yeah, like a thirty thousand dollar positive flow airhood and a labs worth of tools?

I'm sticking to seeds; at least Mother is helping there. Having been associated with two labs, I am aware of how she is constantly trying to sabotage tissue culture starts...

HG

[Mycominer]

Laminar Flow Hoods are not very expensive, you are talking like $800 bucks.

[rainbowgardener]

depends on your point of view I guess. $800 sounds VERY expensive to me. What can you produce from it that would be worth that, apart from curiosity/ novelty? Seeds are very cheap!

[imafan26]

Orchids are mericloned pretty much by tissue culture. Orchid labs really use a box with a window and holes for the gloves as the sterile field or they have a clean corner to do some of the work. It does need to be sanitized and it is usually in its own room. You would also need the flasks, tissue culture ( you can make your own with agar agar, but now most people just buy the flasks with the media. Less hassle. The seed pod or meristem has to be tested (usually it is tested for virus), cleaned and prepared using a scalpel and a bunsen burner. There are a few orchid labs here but most people now send their plants to Thailand to be cloned, it is cheaper and takes less space than doing it themselves. A flask costs about $75.