teperature of media when flasking

[Rinzo]

I have been flasking orchid seeds in the poly propaline containers and sterilizing via microwave. When i take them out of the microwave, its obviously very hot since it was just boiling. the question here is how long should i wait for the media to cool down? Ive put some seeds into the containers while the media was still pretty hot, and ive gotten them to germinate.... anyone have an idea of the tolerance of orchid seeds?

[jaxorchidman]

I personally wouldn't have it too hot. I usually let my media cool to room temp before I sow anything. I'm sure it wouldn't be too bad if it was 90'F or lower. Think about in the wild where it gets hot as hell. Don't go any hotter than that.

[camille1585]

Normally you want to let the medium fully cool before sowing, but that's also so that the agar solidifies again.

[roby]

agar solidifies at 50 ° C, then if agar is solidified probably will have a temperature of 40 ° C, which obviously can not kill the seed.
But I wonder why the rush?

[Kyle]

With none traditional methods of media sterilization, like microwaves, I would wait a week to ensure I don't have any contamination in the flasks befroe sowing or replating.

[Bloomin_Aussie]

Unless you have copious amouts of seed spare, I'd agree with Kyle. Microwaving does not necessarily evenly heat the media and you can still end up with contamination despite the heat created internally. Leaving the prepared vessels for a week or so will give any moulds or fungi time to make themselves known.

As a side, my method involves decontaminating seed using H2O2. After agitation I transfer seed with the H2O2 solution directly to the TC vessel. The H2O2 seems to sterilise the surface of the media at sowing time. Leaving sown flasks in bright light for a few hours will quickly decompose the H2O2.