North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Keith Benson <kgbenson@mindspring.com>]

> I messed around with orchid seeds for a little bit.  My plan was to 
> use that as a springboard for micropropagation.  Orchid supply houses 
> have many pre-mixes for the media.  There are also many homemade 
> recipes. They usually have a thickener.  Agar is the most common but I 
> have seen recipes with corn starch.  They also have a nutrient source, 
> usually mashed bananas but sometimes bizarre things like ketchup.  
> Basically, you make up the media, pour about an inch (25 mm) into each 
> container and then "can" it like you would cold pack apple sauce. 


Pressure cooker for 15-20 minutes at 15 lbs pressure and voila - 
sterile!  I do banana plants, but ahve also done ferns and orchids.  The 
process is relly quite simple once you get the hang of it.  There are a 
growing number of hobbiest folk doing these sorts of things and the 
media companies sell in small lots.  Just add water, adjust ph, autoclav 
and off you go.

Also - bear in mind that places like USDA germplam repositories ar 
Corvallis and such have many of their cultivars in tissue culture and 
will happily send out subculture.  This spring I might avail myself of 
some of their blueberries, and get this - they're free!

Some websites if anyone is interested:

http://www.une.edu.au/~agronomy/AgSSrHortTCinfo.html
http://www.jmu.edu/biology/biofac/facfro/cloning/cloning.html
http://www.home.turbonet.com/kitchenculture/listserv.htm
http://plant-tc.coafes.umn.edu/listserv/
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/2011/MicropropBAN.html

Keith