Hello!
I would like to share some info and pics of my new TC jars. I have had issues with food store grade agar last fall and because several batches shifted the pH of the media several points up, I have lost some cultures. That was the last straw for me and I decided to upgrade my TC work to next level and thwart the drawbacks of using agar.
Although agar (of high quality) can and does perform very well as a gelling agent, the main issue for me was that the gel was not clear enough to see the first sign of contamination early enough. It is vital for the survival of possibly contaminated culture that unaffected tissues are replated asap. Gelrite forms glassy crystal clear gel where even the smallest contamination can be spotted during initiation and the culture can be saved completely.
Another good thing about gelrite is that unlike agar (even purest grade), it does not contain any organic compounds (such as phenolics) and therefore it does not stress replated tissues and they grow without interruption. It does contain some salts but i have not observed negative effects. And last thing is that you need only 1/5th of the amount of agar to form a firm gel
Here are some (agar and gelrite) based cultures:
Drosera sp. 'lantau island'
the same but on gelrite
D. natalensis
a very neglected propagation jar with D. peltata
D. capensis (i use as a control), a shot through the sheer medium
D. californica seedlings
D. intermedia "Carolina Giant" seedlings
D. neocaledonica propagation jar
D. neocaledonica rooting jar
D. ordensis propagation jar
D. ordensis rooting jar (10 days past replating from jar in previous picture)
D. falconeri
D. hartmeyerorum
D. afra
I would like to share some info and pics of my new TC jars. I have had issues with food store grade agar last fall and because several batches shifted the pH of the media several points up, I have lost some cultures. That was the last straw for me and I decided to upgrade my TC work to next level and thwart the drawbacks of using agar.
Although agar (of high quality) can and does perform very well as a gelling agent, the main issue for me was that the gel was not clear enough to see the first sign of contamination early enough. It is vital for the survival of possibly contaminated culture that unaffected tissues are replated asap. Gelrite forms glassy crystal clear gel where even the smallest contamination can be spotted during initiation and the culture can be saved completely.
Another good thing about gelrite is that unlike agar (even purest grade), it does not contain any organic compounds (such as phenolics) and therefore it does not stress replated tissues and they grow without interruption. It does contain some salts but i have not observed negative effects. And last thing is that you need only 1/5th of the amount of agar to form a firm gel
Here are some (agar and gelrite) based cultures:
Drosera sp. 'lantau island'
the same but on gelrite
D. natalensis
a very neglected propagation jar with D. peltata
D. capensis (i use as a control), a shot through the sheer medium
D. californica seedlings
D. intermedia "Carolina Giant" seedlings
D. neocaledonica propagation jar
D. neocaledonica rooting jar
D. ordensis propagation jar
D. ordensis rooting jar (10 days past replating from jar in previous picture)
D. falconeri
D. hartmeyerorum
D. afra
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