Journal August 7, 2014 - Chemlali in vitro

The Chemlali olive that arrived recently had a long lateral branch with developing nodes that were ideal for micro-propagation.  I cut an eight inch length from the branch, which yielded five single node sections that were surface sterilized with bleach and alcohol prior to being placed in vitro.

For sometime I have wanted to try to tweak the olive protocol, so this should allow me to do so.  The protocol in each vessel is slightly different in composition; in terms of more nutrients, or the addition of rooting hormones.  The second vessel from the left contains woody plant media, which I have intended to try, but never quite got around to it.

Today I moved the olives back into the greenhouse from the deck, as we have had two major thunder storms this week that unloaded quite a lot of rain on the plants.  The soil in the containers drains well, and I have drilled holes in the bottom of each container to allow excess water to flow through, however, I was just not comfortable with the plants being so wet.  I tried to rationalize that several of the plants came from Florida, where it rains pretty much every day in some areas, but I was still not comfortable.  As a test I am leaving two small olive plants on the deck to see if they survive all summer long with no intervention.

The weird looking plant above is a Drosera sessilifolia grown in vitro.  It started from a single seed planted about five months ago.  This plant should be flat, like a pizza, and consist of a single layer of traps; instead it is layer upon layer of traps, which are now beginning to flower. 

It makes me think of the old margarine commercial that stated:"It's not nice to fool Mother Nature."