A million and 1 types of agar... what kind do i want?

[let_it_grow]

I have been searching on lab supply sites for some agar and i didnt realize there could be so much variety, halobacterium, dehydrated, broth, micrococcus mycobacterium, soil extract, nematode growth. Everything i have found is ph balanced but beyond that how do I know what i'm looking for?

[Andrew]

The media you mentioned are microbial media not plant media. There's a reasonably extensive list of media on the OSP website. Which you choose largely depends upon what orchids you want to flask.

[goodgollymissmolly]

Google "phytotech". Go to "orchid culture". Pick the level of purity that you want....the more pure the less you use. High purity not required, but the cost equalizes in the long run and formulas are easier to repeat when the agar acts the same each time.

You might think about one of the all-in-one media formulations ((that include agar). There is less work, less chance for mistakes, and allows you to concentrate on the other issues at hand..like contamination prevention. Remember if you formulate your own agar media you will need to control pH rather carefully because the seedlings need pH in the low 5's and agar fails to gel around 5 and lower. That's another advantage of using the completely prepared stuff (with distilled water so you don't overcome the pH buffer).

[let_it_grow]

Thanks guys

[Gin]

I used Hills from here G & S Laboratories there might be better but I am not a chemist worked fine for Phals. Gin

[let_it_grow]

Thanks Gin. As far as i read the difference between the bacterial culture agar and the seed germination agar is all in the nutrients. Depending on the type of bacteria, algae, seed... some need iron, sugar, ph....

[mnoor]

I got this from a website in Singapore.

First of all, is the link shown below is agar or medium for orchid seed growing in flasks?

If it is, which one shall I choose taking into consideration, I have not done any flasking yet.

Orchid Culture Media

[Royal]

Just to clarify, agar is merely a gelling agent. It contributes little, if any, nutrients.

Plant culture nutrient media are usually based off of MS media - sugar source, basal salts, and growth regulators. Many different formulas have been developed depending on the needs of your plant variety. The amounts of nutrients and their form will vary. Some are complete (with agar) and some require the addition of a gelling agent. You may use other gelling agents besides agar, or you may choose not to use any gelling agent. Some use the nutrient media as a 'broth' and some sow on filter paper or other substrates floating in, or saturated with the nutrient broth. You don't NEED agar, but most prefer it.

OSP and Phytotech have good info on what media works best for different genera. A few widely used formulas are: P668 (MS), P669 (MS + bannana), Kudson C, Western's media (w1.0, w2.0, etc.). These should be good for germinating a wide variety of orchids. If you are wanting to work with a certain variety, just look up what has been used successfully in the past, or just ask here on the OB.

[Royal]

Originally Posted by mnoor

I got this from a website in Singapore.

First of all, is the link shown below is agar or medium for orchid seed growing in flasks?

If it is, which one shall I choose taking into consideration, I have not done any flasking yet.

Orchid Culture Media

These are good media formulations. These may or may not contain agar. if not, you just have to add it yourself. This site has the Knudson and Phytamax media. Both are fine, but may work differently with different orchids. Notice that MS is listed as a reference. Most of these are modifications of MS.

Germinate on these mentioned above. Re-plate on the "maintenace" media. The 1056 is good.

[Andrew]

Unless you're planning on using sufficient sowing and replating media to warrant buying them separately a maintenance medium such as 6668 should be fine. Sowing media are usually just maintenance media prepared at lower strength and supplemented with fruit extracts (eg banana, coconut water etc). As orchids can respond to different supplements and these supplements can be inhibitory to the growth the germinated seedlings, it's often easier to buy the basic maintenance media and add your own extracts. This way you can experiment with different supplements and determine which works best for the genera you're working with.