There were still seeds left from my previous seed starting project, and considering that they are only viable for a few weeks I decided to brew up a batch of my own media to experiment with.
The media used in my previous post was purchased from a lab in Arizona. It is specifically for orchids and contains, of all things, charcoal.
Using the dash spoon in the top photo, I carefully placed the seeds as far into the syringe as possible and slowly forced the plunger to the bottom to expel the air without blowing the seeds right out of the syringe. The seeds were sterilized by drawing 3 ml. of hydrogen peroxide into the syringe and agitating and soaking the seeds for 15 minutes.
The recipe for my experimental media:
7.5 oz. distilled water
.5 oz. coconut water
.25 ml PPM (optional)
3 teaspoons sugar
1/4 cap Inositol (all three vitamins are also optional)
1 tablet vitamin B
1 tablet vitamin D
1 drop Super Thrive (optional)
2 dash of agar (dash measuring spoon)
Agar will not dissolve in cold water, so I heated the mixture in the microwave before stirring to dissolve the agar.
The media was then poured into baby food jars, capped and processed in a pressure cooker for 22 minutes at 15 psi.
When the media had cooled and gelled the seeds, under sterile conditions, were dispensed onto the media, a few drops per jar.
If you intend to try this I suggest you research home tissue culture techniques before starting. Although it is possible to do this at home, there is also a high probability of contamination and failure.
I should add that I have found that sealing the lids with 3M Microspore surgical tape is absolutely the best of the best when it comes to sealing the jars.
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