Ok, update you shall have
SO far so good! There are green specks in the first 3 jars. They are clearly visible now to the naked eye without much trouble but still very small. 4 of the other jars still have no signs of life.
I am thinking either they are slow starters or it is also possible that when I cleaned the seeds I did not remove all the bleach solution. Time will tell! I have not given up hope on those jars yet as I heard it takes some seeds sometimes 1 year to germinate.
Overall, there was NO contamination of any of the jars! WOOT!
On a new positive note I flasked again on April 6th.
I did 14 more jars using the same method changing only the type of jar (I am trying basic baby food jars now) and minus the syringes with needles. I'm testing basics in my methods to see what minimal supplies I can get away with.
I sowed:
5 jars of Zygopetalum Mackayi X Self
3 jars of Schomburgkia Undulata
3 jars Laelia Anceps v. alba
3 jars Shomburgkia weberbaueriana x Self
So far only 1 jar got contamination. One of the Schomburgkia Undulata. It looked like white fur growing on top of the medium. I double-checked and I am fairly sure this was caused by there being particles of something that looked like rust from the top inside of the lid. It fell into the medium after the jar had been sown and closed. In the future I think it will be better to use the jars themselves but replace the caps with something else. They seem to be prone to rust and problems from sitting in the bleach overnight. Also, there is a weird plastic film on the inside of the baby food jar cap that soaks off into the bleach. I had to really clean them good after the soaking to make sure the particles were not hiding in the crevices.
But for this batch that still leaves 13 jars that are clear of nasties! WOOT!
I also went and purchased some commercial medium between the last flasking and now. So I am going to test growth rate times for the same seeds (from the new list above) against the cornstarch medium.
I should have that done within the next 4 days.(Hopefully) I'm writing a term paper at the moment (not related) so I've been bogged down with research and stressed for time lol.
I will post pictures of the jars and some stuff tonight sometime!
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