hello, i am new here and i am wanting to make my own agar jelly, i have the 'recipe' of 1/4 cup boiling water, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon gelatin.

i was wondering if this would work and if so, what i could grow? i appreciate any help you can offer! thanks

 

ryan

What do you want to do with it? If you mean agar plates, they are made with agar, not with gelatin.

well i read that you can also use gelatin? thats why im asking here, get advice before i do anything. and i would like to maybe try plant tissue culture or some different types of fungi/bacteria. nothing difficult, still learning

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has anyone made it with gelatin and what results did you get?

Gelatin is not used because most microorganisms can easily dissolve it. You will end up with contaminated goo.

oh ok, thanks very much! anything i can use other than agar? because i dont have any science shops near me btw sorry for the noob questions but i gotta start somewhere!

Well, your best bet is to research what type of agar will sufficiently grow the bacteria/culture you want. Soy trypticase agar usually works as a general agar, at least in my experience.

 

If I were you I would buy some agar powder from the web.

You can buy agar (also known as agar-agar) in stores that sell asian food ingredients and in some health food stores. Here is a link to some instructions on how to make nutrient agar plates using beef bullion: http://www.science-projects.com/PlatesSelfMade.htm.

oh ok, thanks very much! anything i can use other than agar? because i dont have any science shops near me btw sorry for the noob questions but i gotta start somewhere!

 

Like has been said it probably depends on what organisms you are talking about. Since not all are the same.

 

That said, doing like you suggest with gelatin works just fine in many cases. I've used this technique on yeast cells. However you might want more nutrition than you get from plain sugar to get good growth.

 

For yeast cells (S.Cerevisae) a very good medium is to use brewers wort made from malted barley which contains an excellent mix of sugars, amino acids and even good lipids. It's a complete growth medium for yeasts. You boil the wort to sterilise it of course. Then you add gelatin in the right amount.

 

Edit: I trust the experts advice that there are downsides with gelatin, but as you say, you got to start somewhere, and for this gelatin works just fine at least for the yeasts I've play with. There is no reason why you couldn't try it.

 

/Fredrik

how can i make agar gell from scratch.can i make it from seaweed

all advice apprcited

thanks