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Finding a Tissue Culture Lab for Bucephalandra

And thanks Wookii for the links. I’ll give them a go.

It's worth a try. I know next to nothing about tissue culturing like this, but I would assume the correct mix of nutrients and hormones in the growing gel is critical to success. This may be generic across a range of plant types, but if it isn't, any lab may turn down your offer of working on it due to the upfront costs of establishing that correct mix.

Any lab will, I imagine, also require a commitment to bulk quantities, which may limit the feasibility for you personally as a business proposition.
 
I am actually not really able to go in to this discussion in deep........sorry;).
I will, however, recommend reading a bit "inbetween lines" of the posts of dw1305 and Wookii. Besides the laboratory knowledge, production development and specific demands of most plants, I can add the ultimate need for highly sterile production facilities to the list of obsticles:drowning::arghh:. (I have seen my share of unacceptably contaminated tissue culture products).
The "serious business" of laboratory tissue cultured aquarium plants worldwide is really not as big, as many seem to think, which will limit the desire to do heavy investments in marginal products.
- but all this should ofcourse NOT restrict "the hobby" from distributing all the interesting plants, that can not make business .........:D. I t should actually be an obligation IMO.
 
I decided to sit on the idea, and after a while it became less and less appealing to me. Thanks for guiding me in the right direction.
 
In the hobby there is a huge demand for Bucephalandra of the many varieties, which the European nurseries aren’t meeting. For anyone that wants varieties beyond the limited selection from European nurseries, there are two choices:

Firstly, they can import Bucephalandra that has been taken from the wild. This provides inconsistent plants, as suppliers name their plants at their own discretion and taking from the wild threatens the slow growing populations.

And second, if you wish to take a more sustainable approach, the only option is to search far and wide for a fellow hobbyists who grows the variety you want in their aquariums, but they are few and far between and don’t produce a significant volume of plants. A possible solution to this, is tissue culture, but no one else seems to be doing it.

Does anyone know of where I should be looking, to find a tissue culture lab willing to work with a small player like me to produce a small quantity of tissue culture Bucephalandra?

Does anyone know what initial quantity of plant stock one would need for producing a quantity of explants?

Has anyone ever worked for or with a tissue culture lab who could share some potentially useful information?

Finally, what sort of costs might I be looking at?

I have a feeling some of these questions might be impossible to answer, but I’ll try anyway.

I might be out of my depth, but I think this would be a great thing for the hobby.
Thanks a lot.


I also wondered on how to make the trade in bucephalandra a sustainable one with less impact on the environment. I started buying just a bunch of rhizomes and putting them in a 50L shallow storage box.
I added some pictures on the setup, maybe this info will make you wonder whether tissue culture is necessary for your goal or not. (also note the labels within the box).

Kind regards ;)
 

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I also wondered on how to make the trade in bucephalandra a sustainable one with less impact on the environment. I started buying just a bunch of rhizomes and putting them in a 50L shallow storage box.
I added some pictures on the setup, maybe this info will make you wonder whether tissue culture is necessary for your goal or not. (also note the labels within the box).

Kind regards ;)

I'd love to see more on this - on the set-up, your progress over time, and any issues encountered. Have you set up a thread on it - if not, it might be worth doing one?
 
I’m still at it, too many fingers in pies at the moment to have it all set up but I’m moving all my TC Buce under some bright lights to grow them out a bit more, I still have them sitting in their tubs they were bought in (with modification), my Serimbau Braun-Rot has stayed in the same TC tub coming up for 2 years now, occasionaly pulling out a plantlet and growing on in a separate tub when it gets cramped in the original container.

Here’s where they sit at the moment.

E74015AA-2EF0-4A8B-B295-3DB21AE96C32.jpeg


This is where I’ll grow them out a little more.

F76A1970-E89E-4917-B14E-4531F24951D0.jpeg


Under this bad boy!

1B4259B7-FD70-4F4C-AFDE-8EDBE4240651.jpeg


Eventually going in this tank as an Obligate Rheophyte tank which I’m hoping to have drain halfway at sunrise and flood full at sunset as a habitat simulation (it’s a work in progress).

C7C7FF6A-946A-44E0-BEF5-9D1DA8DCEC65.jpeg


This is the major distraction, it’s called Lanzarote (In honour of the holiday I could have had if it weren’t for the Rona)!

28A2E94B-6B15-438B-B7DE-A2E041655601.jpeg


:)
 
Drop them a line :) they might be able to guide you. At least they share the same ideals.
https://www.bucephalandraeu.com/index.html

Or
https://www.facebook.com/VasteqPlants
I think to remember Vasteq was a former UKAPS member, I'm not sure, but somehow I seem to remember this name from this forum.

http://novina.pl/ are from Poland and always used to have a decent Buce collection.

You could also aim your arrows to Germany, yet don't know where they get it from, but Buce invitro is not uncommon in the German trade. Then if you search eBay you get much more result searching Ebay.de
https://www.ebay.de/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=bucephalandra&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_pgn=2
For example this shop also an eBay member has quite some Buce invitro to offer.
https://www.garnelen-guemmer.de/pflanzen/aufsitzer/

I once knew a German fellow living near my place, he was/is a private Buce collector. I knew him via eBay and visited him at home a few times. He had a massive Buce collection growing in over 10 different tanks in his home.
But he seems to be no longer active on eBay. Maybe he moved away. But i know he also is a Flowgrow member. They also have an international forum section, may be worth a try to share your idea over there too.
https://www.flowgrow.de/general-planted-tank-discussions-f119/

This might be able to help invitro wise... They don't do anything aquatic but all invitro.
https://www.ebay.com/usr/weirdplantsshop?_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2754

I don't know, but maybe one of them or all could be worthy contacts to have.
 
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is there no one in the tropics growing for the trade in a dedicated farm like they now do with so many species of coral/fish etc?

presumably the costs and logistics of shipping and the ability to easily screen for pests etc make growing closer to the market a more profitable method
 
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