Does any one have any info on plant micropropagation? Its something
Ive wanted to try out particularily on some plants that i would like
to rapidly increase the numbers of as I want to start my own nursery
next year - I cant face the thought of working in an office at my desk
until Im dead or retired !!
Life has to be better than that %)

Mark

You cant always get what you want
But if you try some times
You just might find
You get what you need

"Mark Fawcett" wrote in message
om...
Does any one have any info on plant micropropagation? Its something
Ive wanted to try out particularily on some plants that i would like
to rapidly increase the numbers of as I want to start my own nursery
next year -

It is a specialised field and it's going to take more than a few weeks to
get yourself up to speed for commercial work. Most nurseries send out their
microprop work to specialists.
Some other forms of propagation are very fast and economical on plant
material so you can build up a stock very quickly. They are easier to
operate for non-specialists and newcomers. I'm thinking in particular of
mist or fogging systems for suitable subjects. Bottom heated beds with thin
polythene laid over the cuttings give surprisingly good results with
suitable subjects.
If you haven't already got it; buy yourself a copy of Hartmann and
Kester-Plant Propagation: Principles and Practice (General propagation - not
microprop). Now in its umteenth edition much revised and updated.
It's just possible your local college might have an underused microprop
facility you could negotiate some space in.

Rod

Mark Fawcett wrote:

Does any one have any info on plant micropropagation? Its something
Ive wanted to try out particularily on some plants that i would like
to rapidly increase the numbers of as I want to start my own nursery
next year - I cant face the thought of working in an office at my desk
until Im dead or retired !!
Life has to be better than that %)


http://tinyurl.com/kao4
http://tinyurl.com/kaoj

Try also searching for Plants 'in vitro' in vitro propagation and plant
tissue culture.

Most nurseries microprop is carried out by contract services of which
there are a number in the UK. Inc at some Horticultural colleges as well
as the private sector.

1) it is possible to do it on a bdget but this would be hobbyists
microprop not equivalent to commervial setups.

2) Commercial microprop is initially expensive. A laminar flow cabinet
is gonna set you back from a few grand upwards. Then you have
incubators, consumables and lab equipment. Plus space for weaning and
growing on. You ideally need to be taught lab techniques and protocol
and practise as well for safe use and storage of chemicals. (such as
peroxide and mercurious chloride, both of which are toxic and have a
knowledge of your relavent COSHH etc.)

Also the actual practise of microprop is mind numbingly boring IMO!-)

Try visiting 4OAKS
www.fouroaks-tradeshow.com
(which may give you an idea of commercial Horticulture, and point you
in the direction of some training perhaps) this year or search for
Micropropagation Services on the web. Tickets for fouroaks are free
ususally.

As others have said you may be better looking at traditional propagation
methods such as benching with fogging or misting. Or rooting under semi
opaque sheeting (recomended for conifers I believe) The 'Grower' Manual
series is particularly good in this respect.


//
Jim

"Jim W" wrote in message
news:1fzut77.153tcwl9ym6w2N%00senetnospamtodayta@m acunlimited.net...
Mark Fawcett wrote:


http://tinyurl.com/kao4
http://tinyurl.com/kaoj

Try also searching for Plants 'in vitro' in vitro propagation and plant
tissue culture.

Most nurseries microprop is carried out by contract services of which
there are a number in the UK. Inc at some Horticultural colleges as well
as the private sector.

1) it is possible to do it on a bdget but this would be hobbyists
microprop not equivalent to commervial setups.

2) Commercial microprop is initially expensive. A laminar flow cabinet
is gonna set you back from a few grand upwards. Then you have
incubators, consumables and lab equipment. Plus space for weaning and
growing on. You ideally need to be taught lab techniques and protocol
and practise as well for safe use and storage of chemicals. (such as
peroxide and mercurious chloride, both of which are toxic and have a
knowledge of your relavent COSHH etc.)

Also the actual practise of microprop is mind numbingly boring IMO!-)

Try visiting 4OAKS
www.fouroaks-tradeshow.com
(which may give you an idea of commercial Horticulture, and point you
in the direction of some training perhaps) this year or search for
Micropropagation Services on the web. Tickets for fouroaks are free
ususally.

As others have said you may be better looking at traditional propagation
methods such as benching with fogging or misting. Or rooting under semi
opaque sheeting (recomended for conifers I believe) The 'Grower' Manual
series is particularly good in this respect.
//
Jim

Can I just also add to the above (all of which I agree with) that in some
cases microprop can produce very bad plants, that are hard to grow or not
true to name. only years of research tells the companies which plants are ok
and which are not. I have a small greenhouse with a mist bench, only half of
which is turned on and it produces more plants than I need and more quickly
than microproping, so why bother?

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

Mark Fawcett wrote:

Does any one have any info on plant micropropagation? Its something
Ive wanted to try out particularily on some plants that i would like
to rapidly increase the numbers of as I want to start my own nursery
next year - I cant face the thought of working in an office at my desk
until Im dead or retired !!
Life has to be better than that %)

See also:
//
Jim
--------------------
Science Experiments on Environmental Education and Biology
http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/exper1/exper1.htm
Monday, August 18, 2003

PLANT TISSUE CULTUREIMG:lnk
If placed in a suitable nutrient environment, cells and tissues of many
organisms are able to reproduce and form new plants or animals. Now, we
will deal with vegetable tissues, whose culture is simpler than that of
animal cellules and tissues. It is necessary to prepare a nutritive and
sterilized culture medium for the piece of plant tissue. Keep the
culture in the suitable conditions of light and temperature and which
vary from plant to plant. Over many days, you will observe the growth of
a callus or roots or shoots. In this way you can obtain even whole
plants (cloning). These experiments show that special cells keep all the
information necessary to generate the whole plant.
As we have mentioned, it is necessary avoid bacteria and moulds in the
cultures. For this you will need sterilize tools, vials, tubes, and
nutrient medium. Place each in an autoclave for a ten minutes or,
lacking an autoclave, a pressure cooker. The tissues as well have to be
free from microorganisms and they have to be sterilized with bleach (40%
solution for 15 min) or with alcohol.
The transfer of the tissues into the test tubes has to be made in
aseptic conditions, using a sterile box. Lacking that, make your first
trials in a quiet place, as devoid of wind and dust as possible. The
culture medium should contain water, vitamins (particularly those of the
B-complex. For this, use yeast extract), sugars, mineral salts. To
enrich the water with mineral salts, boil some water with a handful of
soil, then let settle and filter it. Usually, people also insert
0.5-0.8% of agar-agar to "solidify" the medium. As culture medium,
coconut milk has been used. It contains mineral salts, sugars, vitamins
and growth hormones. 1 - For yours first tests of micropropagation, use
strawberries tissues.
2 - If this simple experiment interests you, you can continue on the way
of the in vitro culture of vegetable tissues. In fact you can propagate
a lot of plants in this way. Plants easy to culture are the following:
tomato, potato, strawberry, chrysanthemum, geranium, sunflower, tobacco,
carrot and onion. You can use tissues obtained from seeds, such as the
embryo, but you can use also tissues taken from adult plants, such as
tissues of roots, stems, apical buds, shoots, leaves, even single cells.
Each plant and tissue has its own needs. They are different from each
other. You can try the influence of the vegetable hormones, special
nutrients, etc.
This field is very broad and complex so, if you are interested in
continuing with these experiments, you can buy special books and you
should build a sterile box.
http://tomgreen-ext.tamu.edu/mg/tissue.htm Plant Tissue Culture for the
Gardener http://user.school.net.th/~anuparp/bptc1.htm Basic Principle in
Plant Tissue Culture Technique
http://www.flytrap.demon.co.uk/cc/data/tcn1_man.htm Plant Tissue Culture
Kit Manual
http://www.biotech.iastate.edu/publi...AV_Micropropag
ation.html Plant Micropropagation Using African Violet Leaves
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/t...microprop.html
Plant Tissue Culture (links)
Internet keywords: in vitro culture plant tissue micropropagation.

"Mark Fawcett" wrote in message om...
Does any one have any info on plant micropropagation? Its something
Ive wanted to try out particularily on some plants that i would like
to rapidly increase the numbers of as I want to start my own nursery
next year - I cant face the thought of working in an office at my desk
until Im dead or retired !!
Life has to be better than that %)

I should have added. Do some very serious costings before you set out on propagation. There are some very efficient
outfits out there producing young plants at prices you will find very difficult to match on a small scale. Unless
you are dealing in something very rare and precious you will probably be able to buy young plants to grow on, far
cheaper than you can get by propagating for yourself.

Rod

"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
...

[snip

Can I just also add to the above (all of which I agree with) that in some
cases microprop can produce very bad plants, that are hard to grow or not
true to name.

I don't understand how that could possibly happen, and as a matter of fact I
don't believe it. A plant which has been propagated vegetatively is a clone
of the original one. I.e. it has the identical genes.

only years of research tells the companies which plants are ok
and which are not. I have a small greenhouse with a mist bench, only half
of
which is turned on and it produces more plants than I need and more
quickly
than microproping, so why bother?

There are plants, such as the Disa, for which micropropagation is the only
feasible way of increasing a selected stock.
I have a feeling, but I am not altogether certain, that that is the only way
of propagating Berberis temolaica on its own roots.

Franz

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...

"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
...

[snip

Can I just also add to the above (all of which I agree with) that in
some
cases microprop can produce very bad plants, that are hard to grow or
not
true to name.

I don't understand how that could possibly happen, and as a matter of fact
I
don't believe it. A plant which has been propagated vegetatively is a
clone
of the original one. I.e. it has the identical genes.

only years of research tells the companies which plants are ok
and which are not. I have a small greenhouse with a mist bench, only
half
of
which is turned on and it produces more plants than I need and more
quickly
than microproping, so why bother?

There are plants, such as the Disa, for which micropropagation is the only
feasible way of increasing a selected stock.
I have a feeling, but I am not altogether certain, that that is the only
way
of propagating Berberis temolaica on its own roots.

Franz


As regards identical genes, true but its not the only thing that affects
what a plant looks like, in the case of Hostas the colouring of leaves in
certain ways is not wholly genetic but partly viral therefore plants will
not come true. It
is well known that microproping can clear up virus from plants, but in
some cases (ie Camelia) the virus is what causes the difference in flower
colour. Many named scented leaf pelargoniums will not come true by microprop
(I don't know why). But the following quote from one of my manuals may give
a clue "When insufficient precautions are taken the appearence of "Sports"
genetic mutants or off types may be increased" apparently when callus
material forms it is very gentically unstable.

I accept what you say, that it is sometimes the only way of getting some
plants onto their own roots, but running a nursery (which was the OP
question) is not just about propagating plants but doing so ecconomically so
in the case of Clematis it was found microproping produced great plants but
cuttings were cheaper and the company concerned stopped producing the
microproped plants. If plants that "have" to be microproped are needed its a
lot easier to buy them in than set up a lab.

My own experiance of trying to grow microproped roses was that they caught
everything going and needed constant spraying to stay healthy, as they say
lifes too short! I do mine from cuttings now its easier quicker and cheaper.
:~)
--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

Reply-To: "Franz Heymann"
NNTP-Posting-Host: host213-122-197-8.in-addr.btopenworld.com
X-Trace: hercules.btinternet.com 1061648480 5556 213.122.197.8 (23 Aug 2003 14:21:20 GMT)
X-Complaints-To:
NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 14:21:20 +0000 (UTC)
X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Priority: 3
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000
Path: kermit!newsfeed-east.nntpserver.com!nntpserver.com!eusc.inter.net! npeer.de.kpn-eurorings.net!news.uni-stuttgart.de!carbon.eu.sun.com!btnet-feed5!btnet!news.btopenworld.com!not-for-mail
Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:161318


"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
...

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...

"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
...

[snip

Can I just also add to the above (all of which I agree with) that in
some
cases microprop can produce very bad plants, that are hard to grow or
not
true to name.

I don't understand how that could possibly happen, and as a matter of
fact
I
don't believe it. A plant which has been propagated vegetatively is a
clone
of the original one. I.e. it has the identical genes.

only years of research tells the companies which plants are ok
and which are not. I have a small greenhouse with a mist bench, only
half
of
which is turned on and it produces more plants than I need and more
quickly
than microproping, so why bother?

There are plants, such as the Disa, for which micropropagation is the
only
feasible way of increasing a selected stock.
I have a feeling, but I am not altogether certain, that that is the only
way
of propagating Berberis temolaica on its own roots.

Franz


As regards identical genes, true but its not the only thing that affects
what a plant looks like, in the case of Hostas the colouring of leaves in
certain ways is not wholly genetic but partly viral therefore plants will
not come true. It
is well known that microproping can clear up virus from plants, but in
some cases (ie Camelia) the virus is what causes the difference in flower
colour. Many named scented leaf pelargoniums will not come true by
microprop
(I don't know why). But the following quote from one of my manuals may
give
a clue "When insufficient precautions are taken the appearence of "Sports"
genetic mutants or off types may be increased" apparently when callus
material forms it is very gentically unstable.

I cannot ubndrstand this. The callus contains the same DNA as the material
on which it forms.


I accept what you say, that it is sometimes the only way of getting some
plants onto their own roots, but running a nursery (which was the OP
question) is not just about propagating plants but doing so ecconomically
so
in the case of Clematis it was found microproping produced great plants
but
cuttings were cheaper and the company concerned stopped producing the
microproped plants. If plants that "have" to be microproped are needed its
a
lot easier to buy them in than set up a lab.

My own experiance of trying to grow microproped roses was that they caught
everything going and needed constant spraying to stay healthy, as they say
lifes too short! I do mine from cuttings now its easier quicker and
cheaper.
:~)

Charlie, you have taught me something. I did not know that virii are so
commonly responsible for plant characteristics.

Franz

Reply-To: (Rodger Whitlock)
NNTP-Posting-Host: p-664.newsdawg.com
X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.21/16.243
Path: kermit!newsfeed-east.nntpserver.com!nntpserver.com!small1.nntp.aus 1.giganews.com!border3.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!nntp .giganews.com!pln-w!spln!dex!extra.newsguy.com!newsp.newsguy.com!ene ws4
Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:161356

On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 09:40:09 +0100, Charlie Pridham wrote:

As regards identical genes, true but its not the only thing that affects
what a plant looks like, in the case of Hostas the colouring of leaves in
certain ways is not wholly genetic but partly viral therefore plants will
not come true. It
is well known that microproping can clear up virus from plants, but in
some cases (ie Camelia) the virus is what causes the difference in flower
colour. Many named scented leaf pelargoniums will not come true by microprop
(I don't know why). But the following quote from one of my manuals may give
a clue "When insufficient precautions are taken the appearence of "Sports"
genetic mutants or off types may be increased" apparently when callus
material forms it is very gentically unstable.

There is also the fact that the expression of genes is by no
means as simple as one might think. Classical Mendelian genetics
is a starting point, but real life turns out to be far more, and
extraordinarily, complex. It was Barbara McClintock, I believe,
who won a Nobel prize for her work on genetics, starting with the
simple everyday observation that certain strains of corn have
many different colors of kernels in a given ear. And then she
wondered "how does that happen?"

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in
message ...
On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 09:40:09 +0100, Charlie Pridham wrote:

As regards identical genes, true but its not the only thing that affects
what a plant looks like, in the case of Hostas the colouring of leaves
in
certain ways is not wholly genetic but partly viral therefore plants
will
not come true. It
is well known that microproping can clear up virus from plants, but in
some cases (ie Camelia) the virus is what causes the difference in
flower
colour. Many named scented leaf pelargoniums will not come true by
microprop
(I don't know why). But the following quote from one of my manuals may
give
a clue "When insufficient precautions are taken the appearence of
"Sports"
genetic mutants or off types may be increased" apparently when callus
material forms it is very gentically unstable.

There is also the fact that the expression of genes is by no
means as simple as one might think. Classical Mendelian genetics
is a starting point, but real life turns out to be far more, and
extraordinarily, complex. It was Barbara McClintock, I believe,
who won a Nobel prize for her work on genetics, starting with the
simple everyday observation that certain strains of corn have
many different colors of kernels in a given ear. And then she
wondered "how does that happen?"

I am lost again. My (limited) understanding is that the expression of genes
is determined by other genes. Now, in the case of clones, the genes whose
expression interests us and the "other" genes are all identical to those of
the parent. Their expressions should therefore also be identical. So far
the only case which I can see for a cloned "offspring" being different from
its "parent" would seem to be the presence or absence of a virus, or some
similar intruder, as Charlie mentioned.

Franz

On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 20:15:44 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:


"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in
message ...
On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 09:40:09 +0100, Charlie Pridham wrote:

As regards identical genes, true but its not the only thing that affects
what a plant looks like, in the case of Hostas the colouring of leaves
in
certain ways is not wholly genetic but partly viral therefore plants
will
not come true. It
is well known that microproping can clear up virus from plants, but in
some cases (ie Camelia) the virus is what causes the difference in
flower
colour. Many named scented leaf pelargoniums will not come true by
microprop
(I don't know why). But the following quote from one of my manuals may
give
a clue "When insufficient precautions are taken the appearence of
"Sports"
genetic mutants or off types may be increased" apparently when callus
material forms it is very gentically unstable.

There is also the fact that the expression of genes is by no
means as simple as one might think. Classical Mendelian genetics
is a starting point, but real life turns out to be far more, and
extraordinarily, complex. It was Barbara McClintock, I believe,
who won a Nobel prize for her work on genetics, starting with the
simple everyday observation that certain strains of corn have
many different colors of kernels in a given ear. And then she
wondered "how does that happen?"

I am lost again. My (limited) understanding is that the expression of genes
is determined by other genes. Now, in the case of clones, the genes whose
expression interests us and the "other" genes are all identical to those of
the parent. Their expressions should therefore also be identical. So far
the only case which I can see for a cloned "offspring" being different from
its "parent" would seem to be the presence or absence of a virus, or some
similar intruder, as Charlie mentioned.

http://www.cshl.org/History/mcclintock.html
--
Martin