Re: Embryo culture (was: Re: spec-x with Chinenses series species?)

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Begin rant:  What's the point in sterilizing everything when every single seed I handled went flying out of my fingers every time I tried to make a cut?!  Those seeds were soaked for seven days so they weren't going to get any softer.  And I was using great big fat TB seeds so they don't come any bigger.  Ugh..... 

So I need to try with green seeds, fresh from the pod.  But if that works well I'll need TONS of test tubes in about a month because I'm going to be inundated with ripening pods.  Ugh.....  :End rant.

Honestly speaking, using embryo culture to obtain blooms 1 to 2 years earlier is incredibly appealing.  But wow... last night was agonizing for me.

I didn't even mention all the other mistakes I made... like letting the pot of agar cool down too much before I had my test tubes filled.  Yeah, reheating it does NOT reliquify it.  Bah.  That's why I stopped at 8 instead of the full 14 tubes that I tried to prepare.

Maybe next time I need to have a couple glasses of wine before attempting embryo rescue.  LOL.

Dennis in Cincinnati

On Thu, May 21, 2015 at 11:49 PM, k*@astound.net [iris-species] <i*@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Dennis,

Congratulations on your 1st eight test tubes!

Practice makes perfect (or at least makes better). Embryo
culture is not as easy as it looks, but the 4th and 5th
tries are likely to be smoother. Note, you won't know for
a while whether your sterile techniques were good enough
(I didn't say perfect, just enough for a good portion of
the embryos to avoid contamination).

Sleep on it and think of things you might try to make it
easier for you. What works well form one person might need
tweaking for another. Experimenting with large seeds with
large embryos that have a clear point of attachment is a
good way to practice even if you don't need the seedlings.
Some kinds of seeds are difficult. I'm not sure I'll try
extracting the embryo from I. speculatrix again; the
embryos were so tiny I rarely found them under a
microscope. However, I do plan to try some more embryo
culture with other iris.

Ken


On Thu, 21 May 2015 21:43:02 -0400
  "Dennis Kramb d*@badbear.com [iris-species]"
<i*@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

> what a nerve racking experience that was... four hours
>to get just eight
> test tubes with embryos that i have serious doubts will
>reach maturity.  I
> lost about 50% of the embryos I tried to rescue because
>my seed handling
> technique sucks.  ugh... that was not enjoyable for me.
> not at all.  my
> motivation to continue will depend on what happens to
>those embryos in the
> next few weeks.
>
> Dennis in Cincinnati

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Posted by: <k*@astound.net>
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