Journal June 2, 2014 Gemlik - in vitro to ex vitro

The Gemlik seed was growing so quickly I had to make a decision concerning whether to move it to a larger vessel, or try potting it and acclimating it to life in a normal environment.

Obviously I chose the latter, as seen in the photo.   Going forward I will use a larger vessel and more media when germinating olive seeds, as I did not realize that olives have enormous tap roots.  The tap root had reached to bottom of the jar and began to push the entire plant well out of the media, so action was required.

A media of half perlite and half coir was prepared and a small amount of  nutrient solution was added to the media.  After placing the media into the pot, I sterilized both the media and pot at 121 degrees C and 15 psi.

 The seedling was gently removed from its vessel and run under cool water for several minutes to remove all of the culture media.  When the seedling was potted, the pot was placed in a plastic zip bag and the inside of the bag was sprayed with sterile water.

In the high humidity growing in vitro, the stoma on the leaves did not have to open to control humidity and turgidity, so it is necessary to slowly acclimate the plant to a normal environment.  To do this, I will open the plastic bag for a short amount of time each day, and slowly increase the amount of time the bag is open for a period of about a month.   At that point, the plant should be fully acclimated.  During the acclimatization period I will light the plant with a 12 watt LED grow light using a photoperiod of 16 hours.