Willy's TC Journey

Lloyd Gordon

Cactus micrografter newbie.
Staff member
I'm going to put some Sarr's in TC. I don't want to stratify them as they will likely soak up some bacteria over that time period. Should I presoak them in GA3 (concentration?) for 24 hours or add some GA3 to medium (concentration?).?
 
Do you autoclave your agar? I poured some plates yesterday and I just used a pressure cooker. I'm not super confident with my sterile culture so I added some Kanamycin monosulfate. I was going to use some falcon tubes instead of plates but I found out the hard way that they weren't autoclaveable.
 

Lloyd Gordon

Cactus micrografter newbie.
Staff member
You put the agar in after pH'ing and before autoclaving. I put the agar in each container separately just before autoclaving.
As an amateur, I would not use antibiotics. The issue of creating superbugs is scary. Great care should be used, including incineration of contaminated medium and autoclaving contaminated supplies.
In my experience, contamination is ~ 100% mould. If you're getting bacterial contamination, you need to discover what's wrong with your technique. The antibiotics have to be properly disposed of.
In general, contamination means imperfect technique. Everybody gets the occasional mold but you can keep it to a minimum.
 
You put the agar in after pH'ing and before autoclaving. I put the agar in each container separately just before autoclaving.
As an amateur, I would not use antibiotics. The issue of creating superbugs is scary. Great care should be used, including incineration of contaminated medium and autoclaving contaminated supplies.
In my experience, contamination is ~ 100% mould. If you're getting bacterial contamination, you need to discover what's wrong with your technique. The antibiotics have to be properly disposed of.
In general, contamination means imperfect technique. Everybody gets the occasional mold but you can keep it to a minimum.
Thanks for the advice. I'll pressure cook the plates when I'm done with them. I don't plan on getting plants out of this, it was really just a test.
 

WillyCKH

CPSC Moderator
Staff member

WillyCKH

CPSC Moderator
Staff member
they don't look like they have developed pitchers. is it because they get all they need from the soil and therefore don't need extra source of food?
That's correct, many Nepenthes species in TC don't spend much effort working on their pitchers because they get the nutrients needed directly from the jelly.
 
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