growing truncatula

Compile information on supplies needed for growing Medicago truncatula, including specific light, water, or soil requirements, and on the time required for plants to reach maturity.

http://www.noble.org/Global/medicagohandbook/pdf/MedicagoHandbookv13.pdf

Start of page 245 is helpful about germinating. (Possibly try scarification next time)

240-270 is very applicable to growing the Medicago truncatula.

https://www.noble.org/Global/medicagohandbook/pdf/GrowingMedicagotruncatula.pdf

Temperature should try to be around 72 degrees Fahrenheit, and the photoperiod can either be: (light/dark) 14/10 or 16/8. pg 2.

Starting on pg. 12 is very useful, soil can be 1:2 sand, soil, and also a mixture of 1:3 perlite and soil.

Pictures on pg 13 help show how quickly we could get them to grow. picture b. shows that after 7 days of vernalization and 3 weeks of growth, seems like the appropriate size for the caterpillars. Some seedlings emerged 2 days after planting.

Growing the plants does not seem particularly hard, you can either decided to grow seedlings in small pots and then transfer them to bigger ones, or we could plant a bunch of seeds in a large tray, and transfer them as they individually grow. I think it might be easier the second way, as I have grown seeds successfully like this in the Greenhouse, and it creates less pots that will need to be cleaned.

It is very beneficial to the plants to be fertilized often, they have found that on NPK mixture of 6:3:6 worked well for them.

"M. truncatula prefers substrates that are not saturated with water, and is quite resistant to transient water storage" DO NOT OVERWATER.

Grown in a growth chamber, M. trucatula c.v. Jemalong has a life cycle of 10 weeks, and over 5000 seeds can be collected in 4 of 5 months.

If wanting to collect seeds, look at pg. 16

http://www.noble.org/Global/medicagohandbook/pdf/Vernalization.pdf

pg 2 talks about imbibed seeds, which is the process of the seed taking up water. Because of this I am going to put wet paper towels in with the vernalized seeds to see if this makes a difference in germination success.

My Experiences With Growing Medicago truncatula:

11/15/16 - 5 Different lines of Medicago trucatula were vernalizaed in plastic bags, in the Biology Greenhouse Fridge. There were placed on the bottom shelf in the dark, with the bag cracked open to allow oxygen to flow inside the bag.

Lines started:

1) Inventory: PI 535752, 2011 ssd SD

Accession: PI 535752 SSD

Medicago truncatula (HM 311)

9 seeds started (One got lost)

2) Inventory: PI 577609 2009 ssd SD

Accession: PI 577609 SSD

Medicago truncatula (HM 312)

10 seeds started

3) Inventory: PI 384664 2012 ssd SD

Accession: PI 384664 SSD

Medicago truncatula (HM 271)

10 seeds started

4) Line ID: L000538

Code D: Year of Production 2008

Medicago truncatula

5 seeds started

5) Line ID: L000394

Code D: Year of Production 2008

Medicago truncatula

5 seeds started

39 seeds total.

11/16/16- After research I decided to put the seeds on a wet paper towel in the plastic bag to see if this improved germination. Will check on them regularly to make sure they are not molding as well as drying out.

WEEK 1

11/22/16- Some seeds had sprouted, put 5 seeds in a small pot, set on heating pad at 75 degrees Fahrenheit, and covered with plastic lid to protect from direct sunlight, and to increase the humidity.

WEEK 2

11/30/16 - Germination Rates! These are listed in the same order as those above. Also moved off the heating pad, now just placed under the lights

1) PI 535752-(7/9)

2) PI 577609 - (5/10)

3) PI 384664 - (8/10)

4) L000538 - (0/5)

5) L000394 - (3/5)

WEEK 3

12/6/16 - Small but growing, thinking of potting them up soon.

12/8/16- Investigating reasons behind slow growth rates. I think one thing that isn't helping is that they are possibly being over watered. Mentioned this to Marianne Harris, the Greenhouse Manager, and suggested that we switch to an every other day watering schedule.

WEEK 4

12/12/16- Each plant was put into individual pot, to see if this helped with growth. The plants are looking healthy, just very slow growing. The root growth is more than I thought it would be, roots are at least 6-12 inches long.

12/15/16- Potted up 4 plants, each from a different line to see if this promoted growth even further. Also applied small amounts of osmocote fertilizer to all pots; 5-10 pellets.

WEEK 6

12/20/16

Seem to have grown upwards a bit more, but I don't think that pot size effected the plants growth.

12/21/16

Added stakes to one pot from each line, to see if this improved growth. In some research they refered to the plant as a "creeper" and that adding stakes for them to climb up would be a good thing. (https://plantscientist.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/organism-of-the-week-medicago-truncatula/#more-21)

WEEK 7

12/28/16

I don't think the plants are using the stakes, but they do seem to be growing larger. Leaf size has increased, as well as leaf number.

WEEK 8- 1/4/17

Began feeding truncatula to caterpillars. We pulled out 8 eggs, and 4/8 hatched. From there, one was survived the first week.

WEEK 9- 1/11/17

Pulled out 20 more caterpillars. Out of those 6/20 hatched, but I found 5 with exit holes, but was unable to find the caterpillar anywhere. So really like 6/15.

WEEK 10- 1/18/17

This was supposed to be the last week of their growth, but they are still growing strong. I think the cooler conditions due to winter has slowed the growth. One plant has started to flower on 1/17/17. They have grown significantly since last time I updated pictures, and the leaves seem to be palatable to the caterpillars.

WEEK 11 -1/25/17

Grow well in the incubator, but either leaves are senescing, or some other reason but some leaves look "burnt". Some have began flowering, and others have seed pods growing.

WEEK 12- 2/1/17- (Maybe seed pods)

WEEK 13- 2/8/17- Seed pods

WEEK 14- 2/13/17-Alfalfa in the greenhouse. Still growing, look like they are senecing. Quite yellow, could use some fertilizer maybe. Some are still at the flowering stage.

WEEK 15 2/20/17

WEEK 16 2/27/17

Plants still alive. Many are flowering and have seed pods. I would not say that the plants look good, many are senescing, and would not be good forage quality for caterpillars.