Growth Chambers
From Shiu Lab
The lab has three growth chambers, Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry and Ron are used for regular planting, and Hermione can be used for special conditions and/or extra space for regular planting if needed.
Growing Arabidopsis
Arabidopsis grows best with cooler temperatures, about 21 deg C. Flowering is induced under long day (16 hr light, 8 hour dark) conditions. The growth chambers are set to these conditions.
Arabidopsis should be watered regularly, but avoid overwatering. Nutrient water should be used for watering at least once per week. 1 L per 18 cell flat is a good guideline. Note: if the nutrient water carboy looks green, it should be bleached to kill algae.
To prevent seed contamination, stake your plants and wrap with wax paper as soon as siliques begin to dry down. As plant nears global arrest, stop watering and collect seeds as soon as plant is dry. Seeds should be dried further in open tubes for a couple weeks to a month on your bench.
Preventing Pests
To prevent pest problems, the chambers need to be cleaned regularly. Therefore, after a chamber is filled to capacity, no new planting will be allowed in that chamber until the remaining plants have been harvested and the chamber cleaned.
Additional guidelines to avoid pests:
- Enter the cleanest chamber first. Do not enter any of the lab growth chambers after coming into contact with contaminated plants and especially not after entering the greenhouse.
- Bleach surfaces of work bench after planting and collecting seed.
- All seeds must be sterilized before planting!
- Report any signs of pests immediately. When thrip damage is evident (puckered tissue, white/brown spots), it is best to immediately throw the infested plants away to prevent a population explosion. Thrip-infested plants will not usually survive anyways unless the plant is close to the end of its life cycle. Fungus gnats are less serious and can be controlled by watering with Gnatrol (about 2 ml/L water (not nutrient water!) for a light infestation and up to 10 ml/L water for a heavy infestation).
Cleaning the growth chamber
Cleaning the growth chambers will be a lab effort.
- remove all shelving
- sweep all debris and dispose of in biohazard bags
- use 10% bleach solution to wipe down shelving and the walls and floor of the growth chamber
- rinse with water
- move shelving back into growth chamber and bake overnight at 40 deg C
