Now It's My Time

[SvenLittkowski]

Finally I designed and built my own glove box! The hexagonal design happened because I wanted easy angles for how to put my arms inside the box.

Having finally my own glove box, I felt it was a good time to boldly go where I never went before: germinating orchids! I found this instruction for the orchid germination medium on the Internet (source: search the Internet for "dokmai dogma - How to grow orchids from seeds – kitchen style").


90 ml Water
4 g Mashed Peeled Banana
1 g Agar Agar
2 g Sugar (I use icing sugar dust instead)
10 ml Fresh Peeled Crushed Tomatoes (I use 12,5 g tomato paste instead)
0.12 g Thiamine (Powderized Vitamin B Tablets)

But instead of fresh tomatoes, I used tomato paste. Where other mediums are almond-colored, my on e has the pleasant color of a brick red. But I hope, it does its job the same good as other germination mixtures. It is my very first attempt.

I boil my mixture in a steam pressure cooking pot for 30 minutes (I gave that longer time to make sure to kill any bacteria or fungus) to fully sterilize.
I kept in pot until next day, and then closed the lids.
I kept bottles in clean supermarket bags (the transparent ones from the vegetable department) to avoid surface contamination.

And now I am waiting 5 to 6 days with seed propagation, in order to check if no bad fungus or bacteria came in.

I want to try germinating vanilla seeds. But how to sterilize the vanilla? I don't want that the seeds bring any bad fungus or bacteria into the germination mixture. Who has an answer for me? Also: can a vanilla bean from the supermarket be used as germination candidate?

Any advices, suggestions or hints? Comments are welcome, too. Thanks.

After the seeds have been placed on the surface of the germination mixture and the lids are closed, I will use candle wax to seal the lid area against any unwanted infestation of fungus or bacteria. But for now I will test them for one week for any unwanted invaders. The wetness on the glass is caused by the spraying of hydrogen peroxide to sterilize the box from the inside.

QUESTIONS

How to avoid that the seeds carry any unwanted bacteria or fungus inside the flasks? is there any way to sterilize the seeds, too?

Instead of sugar, I used icing sugar because it is much easier to mix. Should I use icing sugar?

Instead of fresh tomato, I used tomato paste. Could that cause any problems?

Can I use hydrogen peroxide to sterilize the box from the inside?

How long do you keep the filled flasks for contamination test before putting the seeds inside?