Micropropagation of Orchid, my final year project

[Royal]

Originally Posted by John

Royal have you used the petri dishes before? If you have how well did they work? I liked the concept and I still have a few that I made up about six months ago and didn't use for seeds and are not contaminated but overall the ones I used didn't work.
John

No, my "lab" is my kitchen and I have a dog and a cat so I've used sealable vessels from the start. I just use small jars.

If the ones you made up are still clean and the ones you sowed seeds on are contaminated, than it's probably not the vessels themselves, but cont. seed or incidental to the transfer (you contaminated it while opening it and working with it). Next batch, take an extra dish to your workspace. Open it but don't sow anything on it. Do your normal transfer on other dishes, then go back and close the extra. If contamination shows up, your workspace may not be adequately clean. You can even open several and close one every 5 or 10 minutes just as a test. If the plates are clean but you still have issues with contamination, then you know it's the seed.

[John]

Hi Royal,
Thanks for the reply. I guess I wasn't completely clear with my question. The contamination shows up around the edges of the dish, not near the seeds. After the first couple of dishes went south, I wrapped the rest with sealing wrap and even then I would get mold. This only happened on the ones under the lights, not the extra ones on the bench. I also think that they dried out too fast, not allowing the seeds time to germinate. Still have the best luck with jars.
John

[Bell_bella]

I'm going to lab again 2moro and to see the progress.. I hope some of it will survive. but I feel like it might be contaminated.

[Bell_bella]

anyway, it's juz a trial..

[John]

Bell Bella you sound sad. You need to be positive about this! When I first tried to flask you would have thought that I wanted to grow mold! The more you do the better the outcome. I want to hear what you find tomorrow so let us know.
John