FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi, I'm an absolute beginner with TC. I've spent the past week or so reading about it and trying to gather up everything I need to begin.
So I've read it's best to have a vent in the vessel to allow for gas exchange whilst obviously keeping the bad guys out. I'm thinking about using erlenmeyer flasks with a rubber/silicon bung in the top and drill a hole in it and stuff it densely with cotton wool. Will this work to keep the nasty microbes and fungi out? Has anyone else done this? I know I need something that can filter down to 0.2um or is that a bit over the top?
I want to be able to reuse my vessels over and over hence wanting to use pyrex glass or baby food jars or something that is glass. But this whole vent hole thing has be a bit bamboozled. Any ideas? please

I found some little round adhesive discs but they are very expensive. Like $1 each, and also I doubt they'd stick that good to a rubber bung although I'm unsure. Maybe I just bite the bullet and buy those. Any cool hacks any knows of in regards to vents in vessels that they wanna share?

I did a search on this forum and haven't managed to find a lot of information on this topic, unless I've missed it.
Jess

Thank you! yes it's possible I am overthinking it and becoming obsessional about the need to wanna vent the container. I literally spent hours on countless lab supplies websites looking for something that would filter down to 0.2um. Then I saw some already vented tissue culture jars with lids and they only filtered down to 0.4um so obviously I don't need to filter down to 0.2um. But yes you are right, maybe I should just try without the whole vent thing and see how it goes. I mean it's SO much easier finding vessels without vents.

Matt wrote:

Jessy2363 wrote:yes it's possible I am overthinking it and becoming obsessional about the need to wanna vent the container.

As a seasoned TC person, I would say that you are. Start simple. Venting the containers is absolutely not necessary to have success with tissue culture. It is likely the case that the plants will grow better if the containers exchange air well, but it certainly is not a requirement.

Sterility IS a requirement and having good sterile technique should be the focus for anyone wanting to start tissue culture.

Do you have any suggestions on where to begin learning the process and how to go about it? Do you have any particular resources you found helpful when you were starting out?