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Here's a good introductory book I can recommend on the topic for anyone who wants to know how to do tissue culture experiments successfully:[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.amazon.com/Plants-Test-Tubes-Introduction-Micropropagation/dp/0881923613/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282525344&sr=1-1[/URL]Murashige & Skoog medium is regarded as a good generic growth medium and it's readily available from scientific supply houses (Sigma Aldrich, etc.). This type of work requires extremely sanitary conditions for success, of course. If you can't grow sterile mushroom cultures on agar plates or get 4+ flushes out of a bulk PC grow, I wouldn't bother until you've improved your processes/equipment/environment. Mushroom culture is a useful and fun way to practice and improve your sterile technique. A flow hood and autoclave are more or less a must for this type of work.I spent some time experimenting with this a few years ago and made some progress, but ultimately lost interest due to the time and effort it takes. My success rate was not great, but I was seeing maybe 30% success in getting some growth out of cacti from tissue samples. The problem is that mine needed to stay sterile for a LONG time before growth was apparent and most of mine eventually got contaminated. I find it's MUCH easier to find a desirable cactus specimen and take some cuttings or order seeds from a reputable vendor and grow from there.These days I find much more reward in growing specimens from seed than I do in trying to 'bypass' nature. Don't get me wrong, I'm not passing judgment. I find these topics fascinating and hope to see a lengthier discussion in this thread.Maybe I'll dig up my materials and equipment and give this another go. Thanks for the inspiration!-JM
Here's a good introductory book I can recommend on the topic for anyone who wants to know how to do tissue culture experiments successfully:
[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.amazon.com/Plants-Test-Tubes-Introduction-Micropropagation/dp/0881923613/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282525344&sr=1-1[/URL]
Murashige & Skoog medium is regarded as a good generic growth medium and it's readily available from scientific supply houses (Sigma Aldrich, etc.). This type of work requires extremely sanitary conditions for success, of course. If you can't grow sterile mushroom cultures on agar plates or get 4+ flushes out of a bulk PC grow, I wouldn't bother until you've improved your processes/equipment/environment. Mushroom culture is a useful and fun way to practice and improve your sterile technique. A flow hood and autoclave are more or less a must for this type of work.
I spent some time experimenting with this a few years ago and made some progress, but ultimately lost interest due to the time and effort it takes. My success rate was not great, but I was seeing maybe 30% success in getting some growth out of cacti from tissue samples. The problem is that mine needed to stay sterile for a LONG time before growth was apparent and most of mine eventually got contaminated. I find it's MUCH easier to find a desirable cactus specimen and take some cuttings or order seeds from a reputable vendor and grow from there.
These days I find much more reward in growing specimens from seed than I do in trying to 'bypass' nature. Don't get me wrong, I'm not passing judgment. I find these topics fascinating and hope to see a lengthier discussion in this thread.
Maybe I'll dig up my materials and equipment and give this another go. Thanks for the inspiration!
-JM
