RE: Spore sieve(s) / spore refrigerator / digital pH meter.

Hello Darren
My name is Wendy Edwards, my husband Milton Edwards has an igloo with 
ferns and spores that he is growing on. He has a lot, and he has just 
passed away, I need to get rid of them all.  Are you able to help me 
or know of someone who could,
Thanks
Wendy

On 11 Sep 2008 at 13:17, Darren Lloyd wrote:

From:           	"Darren Lloyd" <Darren@ferntastic.com>
To:             	<ferns@hort.net>
Subject:        	RE: [ferns] Spore sieve(s) / spore refrigerator / 
digital pH   
 	meter.
Date sent:      	Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:17:56 -0700
Send reply to:  	ferns@hort.net

> Jim,
> 
> Thank you for your reply!
> 
> This is great information. My current "quick and dirty" soil pH test is with
> a Rapitest meter, which is rather reminiscent of the VU meter on a 1970's
> cassette deck.
> 
> I had no idea that the margin of error was potentially so high with a
> digital meter when testing soil...
> 
> So thank you, I'll try pH papers (and hopefully save some money too).
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Darren
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-ferns@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf Of James
> Downer
> Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2008 11:36 AM
> To: ferns@hort.net
> Subject: RE: [ferns] Spore sieve(s) / spore refrigerator / digital pH meter.
> 
> Darren,
>  Measruement of pH in soils is difficult with really good instruements.
> Hydrogen ions (protons) are in equilibrium with hydroxyl ions in water and
> the concnetration of water in soils affects this, as the protons are
> interacting with other salts as soils are wetted and dried.  So under the
> best circumstances (read top dollar lab equipment) error of .5 of a pH unit
> is to be expected. With inexpensive probes or uncalibrated field equipment I
> would expect much greater errors.  In the end, you may be best off making a
> quick saturation paste and using pH papers.
> 
> JIM
> 
> 
> Dr. Jim Downer
> University of California Cooperative Extension
> 669 County Square Drive, Suite 100
> Ventura CA, 93003
> 805-645-1458
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-ferns@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf Of Darren
> Lloyd
> Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2008 11:27 AM
> To: ferns@hort.net
> Subject: RE: [ferns] Spore sieve(s) / spore refrigerator / digital pH meter.
> 
> Hello Sue,
> 
> Thank you for your reply!
> 
> My spore technique so far has been "panning" for spore using a clean white
> sheet of paper with a crease down the length of it, and then trying to keep
> the spore in the crease and tap the unwanted material off of the edges of
> the paper. This works well for small species, and in most cases it has been
> fairly easy to separate the spore if there is not a substantial amount of
> chaff. I haven't tried using camera lens cleaning tissue yet, but I most
> certainly will!
> 
> However, last year someone was kind enough to give me three large fronds
> from their Cyathea cooperi, as I wanted the spore to donate to fern
> societies, etc. Anyway, it took me the best part of a day to try separating
> the spore from the chaff, and after a lot of work I certainly ended up with
> a large amount of spore but it was not as clean as I would have liked. So
> next time around I will try using a sieve for tree fern spore first.
> 
> Everyone seems to be using their regular home refrigerator for storing their
> spore.
> 
> My question would be how do you deal with the humidity? Is it sufficient to
> seal the spore in say zip-lock bag placed in an air tight container?
> 
> There is also the danger that my 'Cyathea rather-rareii' will be thrown out
> with last week's cilantro :-)
> 
> My wife is not particularly happy with the beneficial nematodes which have
> taken up residence in the fridge....
> 
> I'm still looking into the digital pH meter. Affordable ones certainly
> exist, but so far none with a soil probe as far as I can tell.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Darren
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-ferns@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf Of Sue
> Olsen
> Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2008 8:10 PM
> To: ferns@hort.net
> Subject: Re: [ferns] Spore sieve(s) / spore refrigerator / digital pH meter.
> 
> Hi Darren,
> I don't think you need a sieve for your spores. If you put your spore
> collection on a piece of white paper and carefully tip it and tap it so that
> the chaff falls off and spores remain you should have a good indication of
> whether or not you have spores and if you do they should be ready to put
> into culture. I do know that some propagators have used camera lens cleaning
> paper successfully, but I don't find it necessary. I will add that a
> microscope helps in that I have received packets of "spores" that are
> nothing but chaff. A glance under the scope will determine whether or not
> spores are present and ready for sowing. 
> As for a special refrigerator.....any fridge will do. I've stored spores
> successfully on the door shelf of our refrigerator for years. (Once upon a
> time we also stored lady bugs in the refrigerator but that "bugged" our baby
> sitters!) Obviously if you are dealing with green spores they won't last
> long in any refrigerator, although they will survive in a frozen state.
> Don't have info on a digital pH meter. It sounds like a much better option
> than the tests I've used so I hope there will be some suggestions from
> others on the list.
> Hope this helps.
> Sue Olsen
> Bellevue, WA
> 
> On Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:43:20 -0700 "Darren Lloyd" <Darren@ferntastic.com>
> writes:
> > Hello,
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > I have a few fern related question please:
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > 1) I'm planning to purchase a sieve/sieves for processing my spore. 
> > Does
> > anyone have any recommendations as to the mesh size(s) best suited for 
> > the task?
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > 2) I'm also thinking of purchasing a small spore refrigerator. Does 
> > anyone have any recommendations in this regard?
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > 3) I'm also looking for an inexpensive digital pH meter with a soil 
> > probe, but haven't managed to find one yet.
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Thanks in advance!
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Darren
> > 
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> > 
> > 
>  
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