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My at-home algal cultivation hobby is going well. I am surprised thst soil samples are the best for growing new green algae - more so than pond water.

#algae #protists #microbiology

in reply to Frank Aylward

interesting - how are you isolating species from the soil sample?
in reply to naturepoker

@naturepoker freeze/thaw and then plate out on media with no C source, incubate with light. Plenty of algae in soil - more than i would have guessed!
in reply to Frank Aylward

oh that sounds fun, hope you'll find time to write up some notes online!

No carbon source is interesting - I wonder if you use defined media that means lower chance of contamination as well. That would be great for a teaching model too.

in reply to naturepoker

@naturepoker this is Bolds Basal Media - fairly standard. I buy it as a premixed powdet at phytotech. Some bacteria still grow, but not too much to swamp out the algal colonies

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