micropropagation, principals and practice

Many scientific fields (except say brain surgery, nuculear physycs...) have a lot of what you might call "mid level" information available, but I have not found much on micropropagation outside the pot growing community. In the larger horticultural commumity info seems to dry up right after grafting and starts up again once the plants are in the ground (or greenhouse).
Has anybody come across any published (book type, not the $50 papers on"The effect of Newt Eyelash on 3rd protoblastoid leaflet hairs" from ActaHort) guide materials?
For anybody else looking, I encourage you to slip into your local Hydroponic supply house as they are keenly interested in their specialty, and I have found also young, easily curious and willing to help.
Ralph

 

Hi Ralph, the only place I knew of doing micropropogation commercially was Clays Nurseries out in Langley a few years back, when Les "retired" I heard that Sidhu's nursery bought the lab and its equip. Couldnt tell you much more than that. I worked for a fertilizer company for a few years, had to call on the hydroponic shops, you arent kidding, there are some really knowledgeable people around, in their industry they can make or break depending on how leading edge they are in their gear and know how. I have had a few long conversations with people at those type of stores. There are some great products too, sometimes not so min stream but useful none the less. IE. Ca, Mg blended products, liquid state (CalMag), powder products claiming to help leach the plant of salts (used 12 hours prior to harvesting) or periodically to cleanse the system and the plant (potentially helpful in a closed, recycling system). etc.

 

On a lark I checked my bookshelf and the book by Bruce Macdonald, Practical Woody Plant Propogation for Nursery Growers, Timber Press, 1993, Fourth printing, has a section on micropropogation, Pages 595 to 634. pretty good info I think. Daniel may be able to comment further on this book and the author.

 

thanks - good lead

Thanks for that title Paul; searching on that has led me to quite a few other promising publications. If anyone out there knows of an unused "lab" or even a bit of no-longer-required equipment looking for a new home, please let me know.
Ralph.

 

Ralph -

I have also recently begun searching for micropropagation references. If you have an interest in sharing resources and discoveries, I can be reached at the email below.

Good luck.

Todd


tcrandell@att.net

 

Hey Todd, I think it is generally preferable when people post messages right here on the forums. That way everyone can read the conversation. It increases the opportunity for sharing and learning. You might want to consider joining the forums. You can use the forum tools to keep up on postings in threads that you are interested in.

 

great book:

My latest library addition: "Plants from Test Tubes, an introduction to micropropagation" by Lydiane Kyte & John Kleyn. I'd highly recommend this one to anyone curious or becoming involved in this field. Some history, basic theory, practical non bank loan equipment, and some recipes. also a ten or so page bibliography to expand on if you wish.
Ralph

 

I got a new catalogue in the mail today from Timber Press, I was going to mention the book that Ralph beat me to. sounds promising.

 

Where can one obtain a copy of this book, Thank You, Don don.kat@sympatico.ca

 

I've been checking for various books including this one at Chapters and others on the web. Watch for the different publication/edition dates and versions. This is a fairly rapidly changing field so you probably want one of the more recent editions. Some smaller local (Vancouver/Nanaimo etc) stores are indexed on the web, or you can phone and ask.
Chapters currently has one available at around $60. I've also seen similar books and collections on eBay, but they have not ended up looking like bargains.
Ralph

 

Briggs nurseries, Olympia, WA was offering tours of their labs years ago. I went with a group of community college horticulture students.

Cannabis growers would have developed and be utilizing better techniques and products than producers of legal crops because they get more money for them, perhaps except in the case of something like a building full of a new, jewel-like ornamental (such as an orchid) that can, initially at least, command hundreds of dollars per small plant). Hadn't heard about meristem propagation being used, though.

 

I was interested in the subject, briefly. It is based on callus being able to form root and stalk, but rather than geting a calus to form on a cutting to produce poots and a single plant, that same callus is shaken into thousands of pieces to produce thousands callus and hens 1000s of plants ... all done by machines. Not a whole lot more to it then that and machines do all the work so where is the fun in that? Besides, the machines are not cheap and I have no need to produce thousands of plants at a time so I lost interest.
For a bussiness though, it does has a big nitch in crops! Recall www.degrandchamps.com used it to fill a single order somewhere around 100,000 cranberry plants to Newfoundland ... and use it ocassionally for their blueberrys as well. Although they have it available, I think they still do most propagation from cuttings. I think its is also used heavily in the banana industry -- or anywhere where you need to produce large quanities -- that is one application. The other application is for rare plants that clearly lack quanity of donor plants. That might have some interest here. Try: http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/science/micropropagation/ ... not new info though. You might also try searching on tissue culture or info from the equipment manufacters ... they are always willing to help.

 

Here is a website that has a lot of links and info relating to hoe tissue culture. I hope that this helps, Joe http://www.kitchenculturekit.com/species.htm

 

Nice find joe!

 

Let’s get some info sharing going…………