Drosophyllum lusitanicum: Tissue Culture Follow-Along

[Doomsday]

Hey guys,

I've been doing a lot of sterile culture work lately, and thought it might be fun to share some of the projects with you guys, as they unfold. If there's enough interest, I'll try to do some more of these "Follow-Along" threads for various species.

So lets get started, shall we?

The other day, I had a Drosophyllum lusitanicum seed germinate in-vitro. It's my first Droso ever, and I only had a few seeds, so I decided to try to get them going in-vitro, so I can propagate them without risking losing my only one. So far, I have replated this seed only one time, and I have to wait a few weeks before I can know whether or not I contaminated it in doing so, but so far, it looks good, and has been growing without skipping a beat.

Day 1 - 11/1/16:

Day 2 - 11/2/16:

Day 5: 11/5/16:

Later that same day:

Day 6 - 11/6/16:

Day 7 -11/7/16:

 

[Swagalotus]

i call dibs

 

[bluemax]

Too cool!

 

[Doomsday]

Day 7 - 11/7/16:

Too cool!

Thanks!

 

[Edson]

Congratulations my friend. I can not imagine this germination !!! My regards and grateful for sharing your experience and techniques. hug

 

[jimscott]

I wish you good skill with transitioning!

 

[Doomsday]

Day 11 - 11/11/16: The stretching alien stage.

Congratulations my friend. I can not imagine this germination !!! My regards and grateful for sharing your experience and techniques. hug

Thanks, Edson! Congratulation on yours, too! Ours both germinated pretty close to each other. I'm interested in comparing how they both look after a while.You should keep updating your thread, like an "in-vivo" version of this one.

I wish you good skill with transitioning!

Thanks, Jim!

 

[Doomsday]

Day 14 - 11/14/16:

 

[Doomsday]

This seedling grew very etiolated, very quickly:

So far, I've only had calli growing in-vitro, so not being well-lit wasn't an issue. I got some lighting set up now, though. Hopefully it helps fix the growth on this one, and helps speed up everything else, as well.

Also:

That's the second seed I had flasked up at the same time. It is in it's own culture vessel. I'm curious to see how it grows compared to the other one, since the root is completely submerged in the gel, and it will have light from the very beginning.

 

[Doomsday]

Bad pics, but it's hard to get the whole thing in focus now, with the glass not being perfectly smooth nor flat. It's getting some green coloration as well as branching out a bit, now that I added lights. It's also forming a few tentacles on some of the leaves.

 

[Doomsday]

 

[bluemax]

I am getting that the long, hairy, brownish structure is a living root, right? Is the other root that is under the medium developing at all? It's interesting that the root, if that is what it is, has grown kind of snaky. I have a droso that was grown in insufficient light when it was developing and it has a long wriggly stem very like that.

 

[nimbulan]

I've gotten that long snaky root on Sarracenia seedlings and it was due to the plant being unable to penetrate the soil with the root.

 

[Doomsday]

I am getting that the long, hairy, brownish structure is a living root, right? Is the other root that is under the medium developing at all? It's interesting that the root, if that is what it is, has grown kind of snaky. I have a droso that was grown in insufficient light when it was developing and it has a long wriggly stem very like that.

Yea, that brown mass is the beginning of the root. I'm assuming it's alive because the root keeps growing. Also, that droso was the one that spent the first few weeks of it's life without supplemental lighting, so it got super etiolated. It's been looking better now, and branching out a bit, since I added the lights.

I've gotten that long snaky root on Sarracenia seedlings and it was due to the plant being unable to penetrate the soil with the root.

I thought that was the case, but i thought the tip had broken through. Maybe it was light reflecting a certain way but it looked like it did, and then the rest decided to keep growing above the gel, so it kind of keeps dragging the tip along the surface as if it' looking for a good spot to pierce. I know the gel is soft enough for roots to grow in, because my other droso that was stuck in the gel has a root growing through it well (I know it didn't have to pierce the surface, but it is still growing well), and my drosera gemmae did pierce the surface, with much smaller roots. Perhaps the near 100% humidity in the culture vessel is preventing the plant from feeling the need to protect the root from the open air?

 

[Doomsday]

 

[Doomsday]

 

[bluemax]

This little guy is looking great. What are your thoughts regarding out-planting it when the time comes?

 

[Doomsday]

This little guy is looking great. What are your thoughts regarding out-planting it when the time comes?

Thanks! This one actually callused where the root started forming, and that snapped off during replating, so it has no roots right now, but is growing fine. I'm going to try to get it to divide before putting the plants on rooting gel, and once they have roots, I'll probably plant them in typical droso medium, and keep them in a covered glass tank for a while. Then poke holes in the lid every day. I'll likely spray some fungicide on them as well, and microwave the media, too.