FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi all,

I'm new in growing Drosera seeds on agar plates or agar bottles. I grow now for many years edible and medicinal fungi (Mushrooms) on agar plates so I have a sterile area and a flow hood and autoclave. And I know how all works but growing seeds on sterile media is new for me.

Please can anybody of you tell me what kind of agar media I need ? I have no idea what I must mix with the agar that the seeds can grow on it ? And of course how many agar and how many water and other stuff I must mix. When I make the agar as I make it for growing fungi I keep a petri dish with a very strong gell like agar media not a liquid agar media. So I have no idea if the agar must be gell or liquid. Please help me

Friendly Regards

Tom

Hey! You will use a gel medium. I would use MS media with vitamins included at 1/3rd strength. Mix one liter of water with one pack of ms media including vitamins then dilute it to three liters. Add 25g sugar per liter. I use the measuring spoons from carols tissue culture website I think its called kitchen tissue culture and I use one pinch spoon per jar of three tablespoons. I put that In each jar so it doesn't settle and make inconsistent jars.

Oh also, the media should feel like jello, and carol sells the media packets.

Ok thanks,

Please can you give me the website address from carol ??

I do not come from the USA but from the Netherlands and I do not know this person or his/her website

Dear Doomsday,

Thank you very much for these info is MS media the only medium what I can use for Drosera species and can I also do tissue culture on this medium ?? and what part do you use the end of a leaf where the sticky drops are on ?? Is this a good part to put on agar

Hey,

You're welcome! I am not sure if MS medium is the only one you can use, but it is the most common and it is the only one I have used personally. Yes, you can use it for tissue culture of both cp's and other plants as well. The good thing with cp's is that they like it at 1/3rd strength so you get three times the media for the price of 1 unit! Its great!!!! At least one good thing comes from their sensitivity to nutrients and minerals lol

In regards to drosera leaves, I haven't tried them yet, but i will be very soon. I can let you know how that works. However, i would use the part with the tentacles (where the dew is) because that is where the plantlettes grow when you float them in water for leaf cuttings. However, I would think that the entire leaf could work since it grows a callus of undifferentiated cells rather than a plant bud at first in tissue culture.
Also, you dont need to have the basal part (white part with rhizome attached) when you flask leaves for tissue culture even on plants that need it for pullings such as dionaea.

Also, my email is wickedcarnivores@aol.com Feel free to email me anytime to discuss tc or to ask any cp questions and I'll b ehappy to help wherever I can or point you towards people who can with stuff that I cannot.

Cheers!