Tried my hand at flasking today....

[gixrj18]

Yesterday, during my daily scouting of the back porch, I noticed that one of the seed pods (on a Phalaenopsis-type Dendrobium hybrid) had started to split open in several places. The species seed time chart says 120-150 days for a green pod, it has been about 105-110 days...so it's a little early. I pulled it anyway, figuring I should do so to avoid losing it to algae or fungus. I followed the dry seed method, and added an ultraviolet light to my homemade box, so hopefully everything will be okay. I haven't got a pressure cooker yet, so I had to use the oven to sterilize. After transferring everything to the box and spraying down with bleach solution, I put the seed pod in solution and covered it. Then I turned on the UV light, for about twenty minutes. My questions are: 1)Was it to early to flask the seed, or should it be okay? 2)Will the addition of the UV light help make up for the absence of the pressure cooker? 3)How long is media good for, if it has been prepared...but not used? I prepared four flasks, and only had to use two. Thanks in advance for any advice, I've got my fingers crossed.....this was my first time!

[adriponic]

Hi Jaysen

1.I do not think it was too early as the pod started to open. Did you notice if the seeds changed color during the
bleach bath? Normally good seeds change to a vivid yellow/
orange color and sink to the bottom of the tube.

2.No. UV radiation stops the unicelluar bacteria from
multiplying. Normally one bacteria at 25 celcius split into
2 every 20 mins or so if some source of energy is present. A load of 1000 cells would reproduce in theory
to a population of 1,073,741,800,000 cells in 10 hours.
But bacteria is not the only contaminators, there are
micro fungii (moulds) as well and I have not found UV to
be very effective against these. Another point to mention here:- UV radiation out of a very limited frequency range will induce skin cancer on repeated
exposure. So you better be careful.

3.I prepare media in bulk and have consistent success
with batches 3 to 6 months old. Important thing is the
flask must be airtight closed to limit drying out of the media.

Hope you find my comments useful

[newflasker]

Originally Posted by gixrj18

The species seed time chart says 120-150 days for a green pod, it has been about 105-110 days...so it's a little early. My questions are: 1)Was it to early to flask the seed, or should it be okay? 2)Will the addition of the UV light help make up for the absence of the pressure cooker? 3)How long is media good for, if it has been prepared...but not used?

Hi Gixij,
1. Your seeds are ok. All of my seeds are a little bit early and they germinate well.
2. My friends prepare medium in oven without any problem. I believe that UV is good to kill bacteria and mold inside your box where UV light can reach not media .
3. Some of my jars are still good for over 3 months. If no bacteria and fungus enter jars then it's last forever (nothing is last forever, hihihi).
Some advice:
1. Don't use all seeds at a time. Save them so you can try again and again especially you do the first time and use dry seeds (save some for me, hihihi).
2. Prepare ahead your media and wait for at least a week to make sure it's not contaminate.
3. Most of the time you got contamination when you transfer seeds to jars. Improve your technique during this time.

Congratulation, Good luckkkkkkk,
Nguyen

[gixrj18]

Thank you for the input. My seeds stayed clumped up, for the most part....and they all floated. They were still pretty stuck to the inside of the pod, this was why I thought they may not be ready. I only turn on the UV light for about 20 minutes, before I start flasking. I cover the window of the box and tend to other things, while the light is on (minimal exposure). I'll let you all know how it turns out, thanks again!