How to prepare medium for the flask?

[Summerglow]

Hey guys,
Not sure if I post this question in the right column. I am interested to do some experiment on cloning and would like to know how do you guys prepare the medium (i.e. agar) for the flask?

THank you.

[mayres]

In general, cloning of orchids is not for home enthusiasts but is done in a sterile lab environment. Phal clones for example can be made from either spikes (stems) or root tips. There are a number of places on the internet where people describe the process in detail if you want to make a stab at it. Here is one link - http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/...ardening/68265

[Summerglow]

Hey Mayres,
Thanks for the link. Very useful information provided. It seems to be very complicated process... Have you try it at home yourself?

[mayres]

No. Have not tried it. In fact I know of no one on this forum that has tried it themselves. I think it would be quite an investent of resources to get set up to do it correctly. I'm quite sure I have read a few other good links on the internet on the process as well.
If you are really serious about this you might want to get a few very thorough books on the topic and THEN see if you REALLY want to do this? Check these out.

'Micropropagation of Orchids' by Joseph Arditti & Robert Ernst. It is published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-54905-3 or another book found at this site: http://www.kaysgreisenspecialties.co...anual_info.htm

[gore42]

Hi SummerGlow -

I've done a fair amount of flasking, and it's actually not toooo difficult to do at home if you're willing to spend a good amount of time (or quite a bit of money) to get prepared. I started off by building a sterile glove box, and it worked just fine... cost $50 or so, I'd guess, but took time to construct.

Mixing the agar medium isn't hard.... it's just like mixing Jello-O. Add some boiling (pure) water to some powders, and put them in the flasks before you pressure cook them or autoclave them. The trick is getting the seed into them and keeping the flask sterile Again, not too hard with the proper equipment.

On the other hand, that's just for sowing seed. Even for people who do a good amount of seed flasking at home usually can't do cloning. The process involves a sterile environment and disecting microscope (also sterile), as well as an electric agitator to keep shaking the flask while the protocorns develop... all said, it's pretty advanced stuff for a home lab.

BTW, the Arditti book (last time I looked, which wasn't in the link above, I admit) costs a fortune!

- Matt

[Tobi]

I have all the necessary equipment here at work. 3 purifier safety cabinets,
an autoclave, sterile glassware, 2 stereo (disecting) microscopes and all the
sterile or distilled water I want. Only problem is I don't think my boss will allow
me to grow orchids in the lab. (Darn)

[Summerglow]

Hello,
Browse through the net and it seems really tedious to do it... I was thinking if I can experiment with the cloning and have fun with the plants produced. Seems like it would be easier to buy them from the market...