shonman

Thanks, BogFrog! Lovely passionflower......

Thank you for sharing these insights, Darklight...... I have use for the shelves, and big plans regarding various plants. There is a huge market for Chinese medicinal herbs. In Appalachia, USA, ginseng and goldenseal are big. There is a protocol for Ginseng micropropagation in ' Plants from test tubes'. These, and goldenseal can be planted out in the woods, the end result bring 'wild grown' as opposed to 'farm grown'. Wild grown fetches a much higher price. The plantlets themselves could be sold, or, planted then harvested much later. I am also interested in aeroponic culture of some root crops such as these. Also, don't worry.....I didn't now run out and buy up all this stuff because of your post... Two sets of shelves are already alost totally filled with cuttings in various stages of rooting, And also the micropropagation jars ..... I have been planning this for some time now, and gathering supplies....am broke in an ongoing way, due to buying equipment, etc. When I can...... This is what I plant(t) to do .........grow Chinese medicinal herbs, and interesting, collectible, marketable plants. Besides, you really can't go wrong with chrome plated utility shelves, they are SO useful..... I will acquire the connectors you mentioned for the Magenta vessels....

"Plants from test tubes" said the principles for plant, and animal, tissue culture are very similar...... So, could I grow and replicate mammals, or reptiles and amphibians, or insects, this way, too? In liquid media perhaps? Predatory mites seem to be worth more than gold be weight....... Or, imagine replicating show quality Koi......

Darkllight....would you transfer several 'clean' explants, free of contamination, into the same jar, then? As you mentioned, maybe four per jar? That would save 4x the shelf space, and media! I have those new Magenta 'great for photography' polycarbonate jars now, am using them and some test tubes next batch. Also, Carol of Kitchen Culture Kits, is connecting me with someone who perhaps has interest in doing a project! I have 2 acres, and a 20 x 40 ft greenhouse on the Northern Oregon Coast.........would love to have something happen there. I told Carol she could take it over, because, yes, she is absolutely awesome.....but she has her own agenda. She lives not terrible far from there. If anyone here, reading this, wants perhaps be involved, somehow, or has a project of their own...PM me! Carol also put out to TC listserv email group.....to email any suggestions for custom made borosilicate tissue culture vessels or tools, etc I do glass work, too.......perhaps some Pasteur looking stuff.....if anyone had any suggestions for this, too, let me know! A bit off topic, here....back to the the issues at hand! I will post more photos, soon....the plants have changed already!

Thanks, Darkllight! Planning ahead is a very good idea. I can imagine needing another several hundred containers, etc. Fortunately, I have acquired four large stainless steel five shelf units, (four foot long/ 1.3 meter shelves) in advance And purchased enough fluorescent lights for all of them. Around $1000. US just in shelves and lighting! I am broke now. I will have to start getting containers in advance. Would you put four plantlets per jar (after they are clean, not contaminated cultures) As you suggested, I will begin dividing plantlets, and transfer them. My Mom gave me the pressure cooker (no, I do not live in her basement, and am grown up!) Which is ever so greatly appreciated....but it only does maybe five or six jars at a time. It can do them fairly quickly, though, as it has some sort of LCD computer control. Of course it still takes at least 15 minutes, then a couple minutes for pressure to come down, so I can open it, etc. I am going to just plan on taking all day or more to do media, etc...but will add up the a,punt of time first. Three scenarios will be posted soon, for discussion. Already, I am considering: A) Just splitting sterile explants, ad infinitum .1 mg/ liter TDZ, in WPM, and transferring sterile explants from existing cultures, To see if the stem/ buds / petiole multiplies into multiple plantlets C) meristem culture.......just disinfecting and growing out nodes from the (non sterile) motherplants. Will go into more detail soon, on these....... 'Plants from Test tubes' said that 'sterilize' means kill all living things, 'disinfect' means kill germs and fungi, bacteria, etc... So, would 'sterile explant' be an incorrect term...? I am going to take more explants, from the motherplants, too...... I would like to start sub culturing with 20 plants, if possible...... But will start with what I have now.

Mutant.....I just figured everyone had done that already, but is it a good idea.... Especially, when combined with plants, too..... Some have said..... Go to sleep thirsty, you will dream of getting water, then maybe wake up in your dream

How can I best achieve 'shoot multiplication" ? Would that be the optimum way to produce ALOT of this plant?

I was reading some voodoo spider mite medicine water that claims to have a 'resonant frequency' that kills mites....as per some Tesla theory.. It would be great if somehow they could all just be zapped with electricity, or something.... Another thing said to work, but I do not know if it does...is 'caps bennies' It's like bacteria and fungus that dont hurt the plant, but kill mites. I have avoided that one, because I don't think it would work well with my micropropagation projects.... Just adding more contamination! Mites seem to get resistance to Avid eventually, so it seems like one would just end up spraying super toxic stuff More and more often, with less and less effect....

"regular and very thorough spraying of many products work for mites. i've used neem extract with success- your aza product contains the same active you must spray every couple of days for 7-10 days to get rid of all the adults and freshly hatching eggs pay careful attention to the underside of leaves and nooks and crannies the eggs can be hiding spray all surrounding surfaces and other plants- ......." I think the problem is, I am indoors with carpeting. I am having the carpet pulled up in that room. Was spraying Azamax once a week. I had to move every plant three times to do this. They are in five gallon planters, it is physically demanding. On the positive side, lifting plants gives one 'abs' (stomach muscles) I drink an energy milkshake, then exercise! Insect war is hell. Lately, it seems that merely spraying the plants with high pressure water, Removes mites every bit as effectively, and with no chemicals, as Azamax. Before, with Azamaz, the bugs were just back in a week. Now, without Azamax, the bugs are just back in a week. But I spray with chlorine and water instead. Same result, less money, less toxic. It is difficult to deal with bugs on plants, when you sleep practically next to them in the room.....

Tiny frogs?

I usually say...."I dont drink this for the tast!"

OK, here are almost all of the jars I have going right now that are worth looking at. I promise to figure out the manual close focus for the next series of photos. These jars can be referenced by their file names. The file name is revealed without downloading when you move the cursor over the image. The green blob is a Ps. Carthaginsensis leaf that began to root in another jar.... I took the rooting sections and replanted them. The rest are generally Mitragyna Speciosa.... except for 'K-2-Caapi' which is the very tip of a B. Caapi vine...very small too...hard to see. Not entirely sure that one will make it, but maybe. Any feedback and or suggestions on these is much appreciated. Thanks!

Spider mites seem invincible......does anyone have a remedy they have tried that works, absolutely for sure? I have about given up, and just wash my plants with a pumped up pressure spray thing..... It removes lots of them, until they return to party with their friends the scale again next week. The guests that NEVER leave.....so far....... Commercially, forget Azamax. It deterred them, but they returned. I would appreciate ANY remedy, which someone has proven themselves, natural or not. Natural is a philosophical concept. We are products of nature ourselves, ergo, whatever we produce is 'natural'. But I do know what you mean by natural methods.... Dicofol, anyone?

I am going to post pictures of all current jars, with their reference/ID next to them.....so they can be referred to through time... They are being posted for comment, criticism, and suggestions, all of which I appreciate very much and do not take personally. Questions: Where would you split the plant in post number 73? Just cut the stem above the branches, or cut off each branch to get two explants? How do I start a callus culture with Mitragyna, or get it to sprout numerous shoots with hormones? It would be interesting to try several techs at once....... I read somewhere that "For micropropagation, shoot multiplication was successfully induced from the axillary buds of the regenerated plantlets in WPM supplemented with 0.1 mg/l thidiazuron." By this, do they mean multiple shoots, or just the one axillary bud becoming the new explant? How can I generate 1000 of this plant, in the most effective manner?

I appreciate all feedback, thanks, Darklight, PlantHelper, and everyone! P.H....I got a decent digital camera, I will figure out the close up manual focus.....it is a Nikon Coolpix 1000 or something like that. Darklight....thanks for the tips! No, the dark spot is not fungus, it is something else..... Perhaps I will try submerging new explants in liquidy media with PPM next time, before 'planting' in a jar with firm agar. The tape is 3M micropore tape for bandages and skin wounds...... the pores are not as big as they look, But perhaps I should cover them up with clear plastic, on top of the lid only? I ordered a few hormones, with the new Magenta brand polycarbonate 'great for photography' jars I ordered from Carol at Kitchen Culture kits....because of the info she shared with everyone online. Magenta GA7 vessel: http://www.phytotechlab.com/detail.aspx?id=216I Recently, I have thought about making my own containers, from borosilicate glass tubes. I also do occasional lampworking, being a horticulturist and artist by trade. Maybe they would be an inch across (2.5 cm for metric scientists who like logical base ten measurements) And about four or five times that tall. Another idea I had...was to make a little fishbowl container, and create a micropropagation landscape inside.... With various plants, maybe a few sculptures... But I digress....... Soon, I will post photos of all jars, with their lids individually...... for critique, commentary, educational purposes, and advice! I apologize for the photos, will work on that next time....after posting these I recently took.....

Here is one I am also counting as a success, (so far)... It has three branches and tops, with little roots....the very top is opening up to reveal new leaves! When I took the most recent batch of explants, I went for ones that might develop like this one is now. I have ordered special containers that allow better photography, and rigged up a spot with a small tripod and light. Today I also labelled the containers better. Now they can be tracked through different photographs, and will be easier to refer to by their ID....date, batch number, and letter. This one, is from batch #2, planted in agar on April 6.....just recently got around to transferring it to a new jar. Its reference ID would be something like this....K(kratom) 2(batch 2) A(plant 'A') 4/6 (planted 4/6) ... Jar 6/4 (transferred to new jar on 6/4) like this, written on the lids.... K(2) A 4/6---6/4 Jar

Will add more photos very soon, have to go for now......

Here is a kratom plant that grew roots, and a top..... It was a bit long, the new jars were not as wide, so I cut the middle of the stem out, keeping root and top... Then, here it is after transfer to a new jar....I tried to submerge it in the agar as much as possible.... Shown next to it, are the roots it grew.

This time, I changed the lids, used the micropore tape as suggested. I think this does make a big difference in the amount of light the jars get, inside. Excellent suggestion, Darklight! I dont know how anything lived before, now that I see how well this works. I am a bit concerned about things drying out more this way, though....

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hit the send button twice on some of these, got duplicate posts...cant seem to delete, sorry!

I am transferring some plants from batch 2, and starting more jars as well.... Here is a B. Caapi, before transfer......I cut off some of the stem...after I transferred it,...it started to turn brown.

Excellent, I am looking forward to working with you on this project, and perhaps others....

Has anyone tried air layering branches of mitragyne speciosa that are maybe a foot long? Mine is branching out and there is too much space between the nodes (for me anyway) Due to the HPS 1000w light they are under..... I am surprised at how every time it grow new leaves now, there are two branched and a top.

Thank you, I will never know so much, that I cannot learn from others! Even though I have worked with this plant for years, there are always new insights to be gained. Here are a couple of this weeks cuttings, mitragyna speciosa.