Technique for Growing Plants with Roots in a Sterile Medium.

In order to test the effect of adding various organic materials to the min eral nutrient medium of Phaseolus lunatus (Burpee's Bush Lima Beans), it was felt desirable to develop a technique for growing them in such a way that the root system would be in a sterile medium. Growth of lower plants (funai and algae) in such a medium is standard procedure. Moreover, some such work with higher plants has been done (5). Whole tobacco plants, for example, have been grown aseptically in Erlenmeyer flasks (4). The maturity to which a plant can be raised in this way is limited by its size. A possible solution for this is to grow the root aseptically but with the stem and leaves in the air. This was done in one way by KNUDSON and SMITH (1). However, their method required transfer of the seedling plants from their germinating container to another container for further growth. The method described below avoids this complication by disinfecting the seed and planting it aseptically into the top of a specially designed jar. Upon germination the root passed down into the jar and continued its development in the sterile medium found there.