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Used glass bottle questions

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:35 pm
by BeachBum
Hi, I want to ask some strange questions again. I'm thinking of obtaining some used glass bottles. Not from here but probably at a Recycling website. However, I'm not sure how much I should pay for it. How much do you think I should fork up for these containers ? I don't want to pay more than is needed.

1) Chye sim preserves glass bottle ( price is about $1 at NTUC ) Height 10cm
2) Jam Jars ( cost $2- 3 at NTUC)
3) Snapple glass bottles ( cost $1.80 with content ) height 18cm
4) Rectangular wine bottles ( don't know cost how much ) height 30 cm
5) Ketchap, chilli sauce bottles...


Thanks..

Re: Used glass bottle questions

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 11:25 pm
by QTfisher
i used to do recycling, but mainly paper. had some contacts in glass recycling. if i remember correctly you should not pay more than 10 to 20 cents per bottle. but dont expect clean new bottles if you are buying from a recycler.
if you just need a few bottles why not just buy the actual product and eat it then keep the jar?

Re: Used glass bottle questions

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 11:46 pm
by BeachBum
family consumes very few of such products, so I'll have to wait a long time to accumulate a few bottles. I think I can ask the neighbours. Rectangular wine bottles may be needed at some point in time, and I don't drink, so will try to source online.

Re: Used glass bottle questions

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 12:38 am
by QTfisher
what kind of project you embarking on?

Re: Used glass bottle questions

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 11:54 am
by BeachBum
It is for some plant experiments. Something like this link below , but I usually need the bottle cap too, while most commercial plant labs use aluminium foil as cover.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plant ... Garden.JPG

Re: Used glass bottle questions

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:31 pm
by Peace
Is it a necessary to use a glass jar? What about plastic, they're a cheaper alternative.

Re: Used glass bottle questions

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:23 am
by QTfisher
beachbum are u a teacher?

Re: Used glass bottle questions

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:31 am
by BeachBum
no, I'm a loafer. I'm thinking of doing some small business. if this is viable, then I'm a farmer.

Re: Used glass bottle questions

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:44 am
by BeachBum
Peace wrote:Is it a necessary to use a glass jar? What about plastic, they're a cheaper alternative.
I think glass is prefered for this, some plastic may be suitable, but some are not suitable. I need to boil or steam the content in the glass bottle .The plastic bottle may melt or deform when steamed. Baby milk bottle can take high heat, but these are expensive.

Re: Used glass bottle questions

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:46 am
by QTfisher
hahaha. thought u wanna do that for ur students or smt. anyway its a coincidence but i also used to work in a plant laboratory. not sure how i can help though. glass bottles are kinda hard to find nowadays. unless you can use beer bottles. which is very hard to handle if you are dealing with plants.

peace: plastic is not a good option for plants as its not strong enough and becomes reactive when placed in sunlight(which plants kinda need)

Re: Used glass bottle questions

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:47 am
by QTfisher
you have access to culture medium? then should be able to get glass ware from same source?

Re: Used glass bottle questions

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:58 am
by ant
Plant tissue culture? Very troublesome. Even in lab environment samples do get contaminated and molds/bacteria will grow if you are planning on growing in liquid medium. Solid medium same thing.

Usually you do not use soil for plant culture as soil is not easy to sterilize and fertility of soil is hard to maintain.

Only using pots and soil once the targeted result is achieve and transplanting the finished result to grow in soil.

Are you planning to get plant growth hormones? As growing plant tissue in liquid medium will result in undifferentiated plant cells in a clump (callus) which usually requires the plant growth hormones to initiate the differentiation to roots, stem, leaves etc. Liquid medium need constant swirling (usually on a machine) to ensure oxygen and nutrients are homogeneous that's why there is no ups and downs for the plant cells resulting in callus.

All in all plant tissue culture is quite fun in my opinion but contamination is the biggest pain if you managed to secure all the facilities for this project of yours. And trust me, contamination will be the most common thing you will see.

Good luck with the project.

Re: Used glass bottle questions

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 1:17 am
by BeachBum
Glass bottles is still common,I can save a bit if I use recycled one.The Snapple and Ribena drinks are loaded with sugar, can't drink this too often. Beer bottles are seldom clear, but green or brown?
I don't have commercial culture medium, DIY formula, but not good enough, always got problems. Glassware....due to trying to save a bit so I'm using recycled bottles. I heard that the Bio company do not sell to individuals, but I didn't ask.

plant laboratory sounds interesting. where is it ? Botanic garden , school, or orchid nursery ?

Re: Used glass bottle questions

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 1:27 am
by BeachBum
ant wrote:Plant tissue culture? Very troublesome. Even in lab environment samples do get contaminated and molds/bacteria will grow if you are planning on growing in liquid medium. Solid medium same thing.

Usually you do not use soil for plant culture as soil is not easy to sterilize and fertility of soil is hard to maintain.

Only using pots and soil once the targeted result is achieve and transplanting the finished result to grow in soil.

Are you planning to get plant growth hormones? As growing plant tissue in liquid medium will result in undifferentiated plant cells in a clump (callus) which usually requires the plant growth hormones to initiate the differentiation to roots, stem, leaves etc. Liquid medium need constant swirling (usually on a machine) to ensure oxygen and nutrients are homogeneous that's why there is no ups and downs for the plant cells resulting in callus.

All in all plant tissue culture is quite fun in my opinion but contamination is the biggest pain if you managed to secure all the facilities for this project of yours. And trust me, contamination will be the most common thing you will see.

Good luck with the project.
Alamak ...another one with plant lab background. I thought I ask here nobody will know what I'm up to , haha.. just kidding.

I'm doing seed sowing on agar. Tissue culture using plant meristem is difficult. I tried but always fail. I can't do liquid medium, because I don't have the shaker machine.
It is quite fun though, I've just deflasked some plants but they are very weak and many died. I've been experimenting for 2 years, yes avoiding contamination is part of the game. Not as simple as I thought.

I've not tried plant hormones yet.

Re: Used glass bottle questions

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 9:49 pm
by BeachBum
Just to show some amateur tissue culture , and some observations...

Image
Pic 1 is a local orchid. Been experimenting with them for a year or two. Some bottles from the earlier batches have been deflasked. I'm meddling with the culture medium.

Image
Pic 2. This is a curious thing. These are protocorms/ callus, I just isolate them when I reflask recently. Will be experimenting with these. These are originally protocorms, but it grows under another protocorm, Some will swell to bigger size, and turn translucent white instead of green. I just reflask them, and I'm expecting it to form multiple shoots. These are oncidium orchid.