Offering my Flasking services free!
 

I hope this is the right place to make this post. I've been a long time lurker of this website and just had to make an account. I've been growing orchids for about 12 years now, and for the past 4 years have been doing research on orchid tissue culture methods.

I am in desperate need of seeds for my research!

Because of that need I can make an offer to you all here:
If you send me a seed pod/seeds that you have harvested (dry or green, doesn't matter) I can send you a flask or two with your orchids in it for free! The orchids I send back to you won't be part of my research, I will sow them separately according to a protocol I have been working very hard at perfecting over the last 4 years.
The time frame will be about 2 months turn around for most species, less if they germinate quicker. I will sow the seeds on sowing media, then after they germinate (2 weeks-1 month on average) I will transfer them to a semi-permanent container (I use 50mL sterile tubes, or magenta boxes). I will allow them to acclimate to the new media for about a week and will then send the baby seedlings back to you. Or if you'd prefer I can allow the seedlings to mature for several months in my growth chamber, the choice is yours.

All work will be done in an academic biochemistry lab under a very high quality (actually only 1 month old!) laminar flow hood.

So send me a PM and we can work out a deal, I am accepting any Genus/species of orchid!

(Sorry to mods if this is the wrong area, please move thread rather than delete if it is! :))

cool :)

This is great! I'll definitely send you some seeds if I get some. How long is this offer good for?

Awesome, I'd love to flask them up for you! The offer is good indefinitely at this point, I have no plans to stop. :)

Great idea to offer to flask for people! :) You get to do your research, seed givers get seedlings. Nice trade.

Do you mind sharing your protocol, or is it to be kept secret for now? At work I can use an autoclave, laminar flow hood and have a growth chamber, so I was thinking of trying out some flasking. I can use protocols I find on internet, but I'm also curious about yours.

I hadn't thought about using 50ml tubes for replating, good idea. Plenty of space for the seedlings to get quite large before deflasking.

I'm writing a paper now and will be done with it in December. I'll definitely get you a copy! But it really is very simple since you already have all the expensive/rare stuff. I like to do a 24 hr surcrose soak of the seed to bring the bacteria to life because they can live on the seeds as bacterial endospores that normal disinfecting won't kill. So you soak them in sucrose to bring the bacteria out of their dormant state. Then soak them in a disinfectant- sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, etc. Then rinse seeds with sterile water and put them on media of your choice.
My paper will have all the best methods I've found, will definitely share it!

I would be very in reading about your research when you are done. I also sent you a message because I have a few seeds.

I didn't know that, that's for the tips! I do research on plant-insect interactions, and know nearly nothing about bacteria.

I'm very glad I could help! :)
I've done a fair bit of plant-insect work as well, in particular my senior biochemistry project was to quantify the increase in secondary metabolite production (hypericin) in Hypericum perforatum (St. Johns Wort) after allowing grub worms to feed on the plant. Its great fun! :biggrin:

Been getting quite a bit of seed in, thanks guys! Every bit helps!