FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I would like to know some of your guys rinse procedures after bleach, especially if you’re going to do a lot of plating. It’s been advised to use two or three jars of sterile water for a rinse. Do you use the same 2 or 3 jars for several leaves, or different fresh jars, I could see cross-contamination risk being an issue. If one is planning a session with only 5 leaves, that could mean 10 or more different rinse jars, if a different set was used for each leaf.

Thanks

Hi Bud,
I use 3 different rinses 1 leaf per container. I make up lots of 100 containers and they can sit on the shelf for months before being used. For 5 leaves I would use 15 containers of sterile water and each container would hold about 100ml of water. I know it is slow and tedious especially if you are doing 6 or more varieties. The whole object though is to sterilize at the very least 1 explant. I personally cannot see maybe wasting all that work with the prospect of cross contamination.
Geoff

I do the same as Geoff, using a different jar for each rinse. However, I always make my water up just before using. I heard somewhere that this was necessary. Now that Geoff says it isn't, I'm mad I didn't know that I could save any unused water and reuse it! Dang it!

It will keep for months? That's great! I'll have to make a bunch of it up.

Matt wrote:I do the same as Geoff, using a different jar for each rinse. However, I always make my water up just before using. I heard somewhere that this was necessary. Now that Geoff says it isn't, I'm mad I didn't know that I could save any unused water and reuse it! Dang it!

It will keep for months? That's great! I'll have to make a bunch of it up.

I've always heard it was dicey to use sterilized water that was old, but I couldn't understand why? If it is sealed, how can it all of a sudden be contaminated? I used some that were over a month old and had no problems, but thought I was just lucky, but if Geoff says it's fine, then it's fine !

I was storing the water in baby food jars with phytocaps on and in sealed zip lock baggies in the refrigerator, btw.

Is the refrigerator necessary? I don't think it is, but I think the baggie is extra insurance.

btw, Geoff! I picked up a new bacteriocinertor whatchamacallit thingy. I like Yours and can't have You one up on Me.

Gary

goldslinger wrote: btw, Geoff! I picked up a new bacteriocinertor whatchamacallit thingy. I like Yours and can't have You one up on Me.
Gary

Gold Man, you mean you didn’t have one of these yet? You must be slippen, or your heads so in the clouds with that fancy Flow Hood ur getting, you’re forgetten the essentials

goldslinger wrote:I've always heard it was dicey to use sterilized water that was old, but I couldn't understand why? If it is sealed, how can it all of a sudden be contaminated? I used some that were over a month old and had no problems, but thought I was just lucky, but if Geoff says it's fine, then it's fine !

That's what I've heard too and I couldn't rationalize it. It doesn't make sense that you could keep cultures growing on a shelf without getting contaminated, yet sterile water setting next to them would get contaminated.

I've also heard that you should refrigerate media until you use it because it gets contaminated in the fridge. I ALWAYS refrigerate my media and I've never had any get contaminated in the fridge.

goldslinger wrote:btw, Geoff! I picked up a new bacteriocinertor whatchamacallit thingy. I like Yours and can't have You one up on Me.

Man, you guys with all this nice equipment are making me jealous. I'm getting a fairly substantial tax return, so I might be able to spring for some equipement myself. I've been eyeing up some laminar flow hoods...

Gold Man, you mean you didn’t have one of these yet? You must be slippen, or your heads so in the clouds with that fancy Flow Hood ur getting, you’re forgetten the essentials

Oh, Man! Your's has a tool holder?! I better check again, cause if Mine don't, then I'll have to sell it to a tatoo artist or something and pick up another one; with Chrome!

I just got another essential; a distiller. Will come in handy for media prep. and hydroponics if it comes to that.
I'm gonna be the best equipped inept idiot in the State.

Hey, Matt.

I haven't seen a tax return for over 11 years now, but I do My best to get everyone else's at My store. It's been doing well recently, for a change. I guess honesty does pay off in the long haul.

I would venture to say that You warrant having a laminar flowhood more than Me (not that You're getting Mine; I ain't that rich), so I would say it would make Your life alot easier with all the transfers You got coming, I would get it and call it a tax write off for next year; You could depreciate it out over the next few years. Takes Money to make Money; no exceptions.
I think Your online store is going to demand it, if I have a say in it. I bet We both will wonder how We ever lived without one.

goldslinger wrote:I just got another essential; a distiller. Will come in handy for media prep. and hydroponics if it comes to that.
I'm gonna be the best equipped inept idiot in the State.

Holy cow Gary! Wow, you're going to have the best home setup in the entire US. You may as well turn your basement into an official laboratory!

goldslinger wrote:I haven't seen a tax return for over 11 years now, but I do My best to get everyone else's at My store. It's been doing well recently, for a change. I guess honesty does pay off in the long haul.

Last year I underpaid badly and had a small fine. This year I overpaid by a lot. Go figure.

goldslinger wrote:I would venture to say that You warrant having a laminar flowhood more than Me (not that You're getting Mine; I ain't that rich), so I would say it would make Your life alot easier with all the transfers You got coming, I would get it and call it a tax write off for next year; You could depreciate it out over the next few years. Takes Money to make Money; no exceptions.
I think Your online store is going to demand it, if I have a say in it. I bet We both will wonder how We ever lived without one.

Yes, the more work I do, the more I realize I really need a hood. I've got somewhere between 500 and 600 cultures going now and I'll probably be closet a thousand by the time summer gets here. A flow hood would make the job so much easier. You're convincing me to just bite the bullet and spend the money now. You're right that you have to spend money to make money (at least in most cases).

I'm thinking about making an offer on this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0324309984

It's the same make and model as yours, but I think it might be a bit older. What do you think Gary?

It is older, Matt. Mine is 20 years old.
I like that it's a floor model. Assume the worse, especially if the seller is just a broker. I'm taking a gamble as I haven't even seen mine yet. Maybe the hepa is trash, maybe it's not. Maybe the blower is good, maybe the bearings are shot. The less the seller knows, the cheaper You should get it as You are the one taking the gamble. Include that statement in Your offer.

It 'looks' like a decent One to Me.

Ask alot of questions, and if it doesn't 'feel' right, wait for a more 'cherry' one that is bound to come along. Call a rep with Nu-Air and make sure parts still available and owners manual would be nice.

I wonder what the price of a new one is, maybe 3,500.00?

I've been checking this thread waiting for your reply Gary. Thanks for all of the information and the great statement about taking a gamble. I figured it was pretty old. I'm not sure what they cost new, but I'd guess that your estimate is pretty close. I got a quote on another comparable flow hood from a different company (Germfree.com):
BZ-3 - $3,950.00 3’ Stainless Steel Stand - $450.00
BZ-4 - $4,395.00 4’ Stainless Steel Stand - $550.00

Ouch!

I'm asking the eBay guy some questions and also emailing Nuaire to see if they still have parts for that year. I guess we'll see. If not, I'll keep trolling eBay and other places looking for my 'cherry' that's ripe for picking

Thanks again Gary.

No problem, Matt.

Yea, My seller said the HEPA looks new. How would one know; I bet there is a sticker somewhere, maybe on the filter itself. I figured a relatively good filter should last Us about 10 years or more as We won't be using it every day like a commercial operation or hospital or something. If Yours is fresh out of a lab or something, because they upgraded, there should be a documentation of Certification of it passing a germ test that is required of Hospitals, etc.

I guess a good test for when I get mine is to clean the work area; let the blower go for about 1/2 an hour, open a culture with no PPM in it and let the breeze hit the open culture direct on for about 5 minutes and see if anything grows in it?

goldslinger wrote:I guess a good test for when I get mine is to clean the work area; let the blower go for about 1/2 an hour, open a culture with no PPM in it and let the breeze hit the open culture direct on for about 5 minutes and see if anything grows in it?

Yep, that should work. I think Jens said he's let cultures stay open for 20 minutes without contamination.

You could also get some sort of monitor to test it. I wonder if this would work:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0545574444
The price is right...

Yea, that looks pretty neat. I know particle detector meters can cost over a grand.
I guess what You are looking at is some type of flow measurer. I think the one You are looking at has that feature, but if You don't know what's normal, then. . . I guess if the needle isn't pegged; I don't know. The more clogged, the higher the pressure.
The pre-filters look like ordinary furnace filters.

I am going to try to get an owner's manual if one exists.

That's pretty cool about Jens and His hood; being able to relax like that is gonna be great! And all that room!
I'm sure gonna be paranoid for awhile until I get used to it; having that open, cavernous area like that and no contaminations is just weird. I wonder if I should rig up some kind of front door, or just wipe it down each time like You're supposed to do anyway.

I'm tired of breathing alcohol all the time. I just want to wash My arms and wear high gloves, relax and divide up many plants.

goldslinger wrote:I'm sure gonna be paranoid for awhile until I get used to it; having that open, cavernous area like that and no contaminations is just weird. I wonder if I should rig up some kind of front door, or just wipe it down each time like You're supposed to do anyway.

I'm tired of breathing alcohol all the time. I just want to wash My arms and wear high gloves, relax and divide up many plants.

I hear ya man. I just spent 3 hours replating and subculturing tissue. I sure wish I had an LFH already. That alcohol smell alone is enough to justify getting one.

Gary i can let my cultures open in the flowhood for hours so 5minutes is nothing
Good to see that you can stop using PPM...
Jens against PPM