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Step 3Preparing Agar and Culture Plates
Prepared agar plates are inexpensive and readily available from scientific supply stores.
If, for whatever reason you don't care to use prepared plates you can make agar plates from tablet, powdered, or bottled agar by following a few simple instructions.
Agar can be obtained from health food stores and high end supermarkets with health food departments. The clerks will be able to help you if you ask if they carry 'the dietary supplement agar and calcium supplements with calcium carbonate because a friend recommended them" instead "Hey, you guys got any stuff for breeding algae?"
Keep the Petri dishes or other culturing containers clean (sterile) and closed until just before use. Lift the lid as little as possible when filling the containers and cover immediately to prevent contamination.
Preparing Tablet or Powdered Agar:
Dissolve 1 bar, 10 tablets or 7 grams of powdered agar in 1/2 quart of the soilwater we prepared in the last step. Warm the agar in a hot water bath by placing it in a glass bottle. Heat water on the stove until just about boiling, remove from heat and place the agar bottle in the water. The microwave is another good way. Simply heat up a bowl of water and place the bottle with agar in the center.
As it warms the agar will begin to melt, warm the agar until it becomes liquid. Remove it from the heat and let it cool a bit. Then add 7 drops of Schultz Liquid Plant food and mix well to distribute the nutrient evenly throughout the agar.
Pour enough of the liquid into each container to cover the bottom by about 1/8 inch and place on a counter to cool. The agar will set up like stiff gelatin at room temperature.
If the agar doesn't set up properly try again with more agar. Extra agar may be stored and re-liquified in a hot water bath. Keep the samples covered and be careful to avoid contamination.
Storage: Stack agar plates upside down in the refrigerator. Do Not Freeze! The purpose of placing the plates upside down is to prevent condensation from dripping down onto the agar surface which could then facilitate movement of organisms between colonies.
For those who want to more rigidly controlled independent work the formulation for LB (Luria Bertani general purpose nutrient agar) is: 9.1 g/L tryptone, 4.6 g/L yeast extract, 4.6 g/L NaCl, and 13.7 g/L agar. 500 ml of agar will pour ~ 25 large Petri dishes (100 mm diameter) or 50 small Petri dishes (60 mm diameter).
Next we're going to build an incubator for culturing algae. It's a warm, safe place for the algae to grow in controlled conditions as the population is bred up.
If, for whatever reason you don't care to use prepared plates you can make agar plates from tablet, powdered, or bottled agar by following a few simple instructions.
Agar can be obtained from health food stores and high end supermarkets with health food departments. The clerks will be able to help you if you ask if they carry 'the dietary supplement agar and calcium supplements with calcium carbonate because a friend recommended them" instead "Hey, you guys got any stuff for breeding algae?"
Keep the Petri dishes or other culturing containers clean (sterile) and closed until just before use. Lift the lid as little as possible when filling the containers and cover immediately to prevent contamination.
Preparing Tablet or Powdered Agar:
Dissolve 1 bar, 10 tablets or 7 grams of powdered agar in 1/2 quart of the soilwater we prepared in the last step. Warm the agar in a hot water bath by placing it in a glass bottle. Heat water on the stove until just about boiling, remove from heat and place the agar bottle in the water. The microwave is another good way. Simply heat up a bowl of water and place the bottle with agar in the center.
As it warms the agar will begin to melt, warm the agar until it becomes liquid. Remove it from the heat and let it cool a bit. Then add 7 drops of Schultz Liquid Plant food and mix well to distribute the nutrient evenly throughout the agar.
Pour enough of the liquid into each container to cover the bottom by about 1/8 inch and place on a counter to cool. The agar will set up like stiff gelatin at room temperature.
If the agar doesn't set up properly try again with more agar. Extra agar may be stored and re-liquified in a hot water bath. Keep the samples covered and be careful to avoid contamination.
Storage: Stack agar plates upside down in the refrigerator. Do Not Freeze! The purpose of placing the plates upside down is to prevent condensation from dripping down onto the agar surface which could then facilitate movement of organisms between colonies.
For those who want to more rigidly controlled independent work the formulation for LB (Luria Bertani general purpose nutrient agar) is: 9.1 g/L tryptone, 4.6 g/L yeast extract, 4.6 g/L NaCl, and 13.7 g/L agar. 500 ml of agar will pour ~ 25 large Petri dishes (100 mm diameter) or 50 small Petri dishes (60 mm diameter).
Next we're going to build an incubator for culturing algae. It's a warm, safe place for the algae to grow in controlled conditions as the population is bred up.
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