Invitro plant propogation

Morning Prof ...

Some background:
I have been looking at some old tropica vid's and noticed the 1-2-grow plant selection they now have (do not think it is available in ZA). I then found a very nice scape on another forum (google "Invitro Scaping"). All I read sounds way cool - sterile conditions for plants - no pots, wool, snails or algae to be introduced. Did some more ggl'ing and saw that the banana industry use this type of thing to grow good quality plants.

The questions:
Is this (doing your own invitro cultivation) viable on a small scale for a DIY project? If it is where would one be able to find the supplies (not the plant material, but rather the other bits); agar , rooting compound, growth gell etc?

OR is all of this invitro stuff just bad science?

Thanks in advance
Ferdie

 

Hi Ferdie, I'm not trying to pretend to have any expert knowledge of this subject, but in terrestrial horticultural terms, this process is called tissue culture, or micropropagation. I poked around on the net, and found several diy sites. This one seemed achievable:
AZ Master Gardener Manual: Grafting (go past the budding/grafting section).

Hmm... interesting! Theres a tissue culture lab here, maybe I should contact them?

 

Thanks TracyP ... all information and pointers welcome ...

I actually hove done some grafting in the garden also got some dip&root that I've used in the garden - but I am not sure that it is as simple as that. I think you are onto something w.r.t. the tissue culture lab.
I think as a minimum I need some sterile growth medium and then a hot box of sorts - hence the question.

Later Ferdie

 

Hi Ferdie,

Very many aquatic plants are multiplied in tissue culture and you could certainly do this as well. It is not cheap as you have to purchase a fair amount of equipment and chemicals, but it can be done. What you need to do is to buy yourself a book on the topic and study your way into this, this is not something your start on one day and the next day you have your plants. What I can advise is that you check out the orchid literature as they often use tissue culture to multiply their plants in this way. I know of many local orchid growers who do precisely this. There are many different growth media and this is where it gets difficult because very little information is given on precise recipes for growth media for different aquatic plants as this is then commercially used. All the crypts that Tropica produces are grown in tissue culture in this way for example, but not all of their plants are grown in this way.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Thanks Prof ... think this is sounds advice, I was looking for a different angle on the hobby and this might just be it.

Later Ferdie

 

Hi again Ferdie,

Growing plants in tissue culture can be a lot of fun, but you have to be absolutely meticulous with how you keep your equipment, media and growth jars sterile, so this is not something for someone who wants to do things in a rush as a result of a lack of time. I enjoy growing aquatic plants and I am not growing them in tissue culture, but I have been experimenting with growing crypts in palm fiber peat above water, in other words, I plant them in small pots in PFP and then I place them in large plastic tubs with no water, only keeping them moist and they are growing fantastically and I have been having a lot of fun.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

I like the idea .. did some quick reading on media used for tissue culture - even spotted a publication that mentions coconut water, so yeah seems like a nice place to have some plant fun. I very quickly realized that I probably do not want to do embryo cultures but really tissue culture propagation. Yes loads of reading to do - and I get to look for some suppliers of goodies while I am at it.

Still need to get my head around what I need vs what the result is what I am looking for - but this seems different enough from the the norm that I might get sucked in.

Later Ferdie

 

Hi Ferdie,

The basic medium that is used is called MS medium, which stands for Murashige and Skoog, two professors from the USA who worked out a lot of this in the nineteen sixties. However, there are literally hundreds of modifications of the basic MS medium by now, with mutis added such as coconut water, green banana and many more lovely concoctions. Basically there are sprouting media which increase the growth of growth tips. Once these have grown a bit, you cut them apart and then you use rooting media afterwards to root them.

That should get you going.....

Kind regards,

Dirk