migraineur Posted March 8, 2014 Hi I know some of you here have experience in tissue culture and I am also interested in giving it a try. Since I have done mycology work before then I have a bunch of equipment and experience that can be used and I am familiar with sterile technique. I know I will need to buy a bunch of tissue culture equipment though. Could you guys please tell me the best places to buy tissue culture gear from? Also, should I start out with buying a kit or should I buy things individually myself? I know people can often pay a "lazy man's tax" when buying kits. Any other help with getting started would be much appreciated. I got my hands on some books and I have been watching videos etc online. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shonman Posted March 8, 2014 Get this book, it is the best place to start, and will answer many of your questions. Plant from test tubes. http://www.amazon.com/Plants-Test-Tubes-Introduction-Micropropogation/dp/1604692065 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
migraineur Posted March 8, 2014 Yeah, I've got that and a couple of others. Thanks for your input though. I'm trying to figure out the best way to start without getting ripped off or stooged in some way. I'd like to know about the best sites Aussies can use for getting the hormones, agar, containers etc. Some of the stores I used when buying equipment for mycology might also come in handy too. I was able to buy some things locally but other things I had to buy from North America. My flowhood should be here this coming week which will make life a million times easier. Trying to pour agar and doing tissue culture in a small glove box is such a pain in the arse. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darklight Posted March 9, 2014 Short answer: Austratec http://www.austratec.com.au/ Most comprehensive range of tissue culture supplies located in Australia. No idea how much Carol's Kitchen Culture kits are in the USA, but they're prolly good value for money. You could also just not buy anything specialised at this stage. Do a search on this site, there are several links and recipes for a home TC protocol using fertiliser etc. I CBF finding the link again, but the tek does work Long answer: Glad you already have basic myco technique down pat- this will really help. Concentrate on your sterile tek right now and don't spend too much cash. The flow hood could be a waste of money, a perspex tunnel ( again, search the site ) is incredibly useful for beginners and is cheap and more portable At this stage, don't overcapitalise! Seriously, you could end up not taking much of an interest and having a dozen expensive chems and a heap of equipment sitting round waiting for the next person to buy If you insist on spending $$, grab 5L of MS powder and some agar or other gelling agent, some IBA solution and some BAP solution ( both viable for about 3 months, maybe longer ). You can make do with those lil sauce containers for culture jars for your first runs. Start by sterilising some easy and readily available seed, like Acacia. See how they grow. Then pay round with hormones to induce the type of culture you want Petri dishes- do you really need them? You could just sterilise some filter paper or other strong paper or a durable cutting board ( which may not survive autoclaving, but you can hit it with 70% ETOH and let it dry in the flow hood and use that to cut up any material for culture on Don't worry about being "ripped off" by others so much you waste valuable experiment time and end up ripping yourself off. Know for each order you put it you will need to pay shipping charges- I have seen many people waste shitloads of hours trying to save a few $$ by finding the best deal at different retailers, only to end up losing any savings they made on paying multiple shipping fees for multiple vendors. Seriously. Don't worry about being ripped off by others, you are more likely to rip yourself off by allocating your early stages incorrectly and generating multiple failures. Only run two experiments to start. Because if they both work they will keep you really busy in about 3-6 months. You should really, really wait after your first experiments. Don't let your enthusiasm run away with you and run six more experiments while you're waiting for the first experiments to grow. Firstly because positive results exponentially generate more research, and you will be over-run quickly. Secondly because you really, right now need to *learn*. And you can only do that by observing the results of your last experiments. Just doing more because it feels good will not help you unless you learn from yr previous mistakes, or lack thereof If your first experiment contaminates after ten days, and you're run five more experiments in the meantime, there is a really bloody good chance you won't have learned why the first one had a problem, and the next five could have exactly the same problem and you lose them too. Do one or two. Take careful notes. Then sit back and chill with them for the next two weeks, noting changes carefully. Once you have learned something from them, you can change or keep your strategy and plan your next round of work Only buy a few things, the minimum you will need for 3 months. 1L media is enough for 50@jars if you use 20ml a jar. And if all your jars work you will end up with more plant material than you can use for the next experiment. 5L MS should well do you for 3 months. At the end of 3 months you'll have a better idea of what you want to do and you can pick your next shopping list accordingly You can buy a lot of media etc on ebay. Some of which could be OK and actually be what it says on the label. Caveat emptor or something. I've written a shit-ton of stuff on this site about plant TC, and so has shonman. Search for all that and get back here and ask questions based on those posts 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theuserformallyknownasd00d Posted March 9, 2014 Thanks darklight, that response will be valuable for many of us! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shonman Posted March 20, 2014 (edited) This works for a clean box....not fancy. Old, big aquarium also works. http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=35212&page=3 Hmm...didn't link the way I thought it would.....the image is further down On that page. Edited March 20, 2014 by shonman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
migraineur Posted March 20, 2014 Thanks. I have a flowhood now. Working in a small glove box sucks! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shonman Posted March 22, 2014 Well, my improvised thing is working great! Lots of room, minimal contamination Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
