Evaluation location: Wisconsin, United States
Plantlets are grown in jiffy-mix in 3" pots until the first vigorous roots reach the inside edge of the pot. Root tip samples of about 1/2" are then collected in the early morning and soaked in a .29% solution of colchicine for about 5 hours. After the samples are put into fixative for 24 hours, they are ready for analysis. To prepare for analysis, cook the samples in 1N HCl at 60C for about 12 minutes and then transfer the sample into water. The samples can then be macerated, stained, and prepared on a slide for microscopic observation.