# Flasks



## eteson (Dec 5, 2013)

Hi folks,
I am thinking in to change the kind of containers I am using to flask. I´ve been using baby food jars but i need to change to something bigger. Autoclavable is a must and if possible made of rigid plastic to avoid the collapse during autoclaving. Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot!


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## Migrant13 (Dec 5, 2013)

what about canning jars...they come in various sizes and have wider mouths...but a disclaimer...I have no experience with this stuff.


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## Trithor (Dec 6, 2013)

Eliseo, I use baby food jars for my mother flasks as I find they are easy to work with, universally available and large enough for the purpose of germinating seed. Then I use plastic food tubs for replates and growing. They are not autoclavable, but again that does not matter. I pack them in plastic sleeves with 20 tubs, and separately 25 lids also in a plastic sleeve. I send them in to have them gamma irradiated. I pack more lids than tubs as I find that I drop the occasional lid while I am working and so need a few extra. I autoclave the medium and pour the tubs in the laminar flow, fit the lids and pack them away for 2 weeks to ensure no contamination before I do the replates. Works well for me.


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## Modden (Dec 6, 2013)

Hi,

I've been thinking of using something like this. They are made of Polypropylene and should be safe to autoclave as the plastics melting point is between 130-170°C according to wikipedia, but correct me if i'm wrong.


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## eteson (Dec 6, 2013)

*Migrant*, I am using canning jars for species that grow fast and need a lot of room to develop like Stanhopeas, Corianthes, Grammmatophyllum... etc. but I found those quite heavy and sometimes the deflasking is not that easy... Here one example of Cattleyas in 750cc canning jars:







*Thrithor* I´ve been thinking for a while to change my method (I use to autoclave the medium inside the flasks...) to autoclave the medium and pour the tubs in the laminar flowhood, as you say. In any case here I can not Gamma irradiate my tubes... so I need something autoclavable.

*Modden*, you are totally right. I´ve tested something similar to your suggestion and the plastic does not melt.. but the model that I can find here are thinner walled and collapses during the autoclaving... I think your model has thicker wall and could work fine. I need a source of those here in the Americas... I am thinking in something like this... but it is out-of-stock right now.
Thanks a lot to everyone!


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## tomkalina (Dec 6, 2013)

You might check out www.phytotechlab.com


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## eteson (Dec 6, 2013)

tomkalina said:


> You might check out www.phytotechlab.com



Thanks a lot Tom.
Unfortunatelly the size i am looking for is out-of-stock, but I can wait.


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## TyroneGenade (Dec 6, 2013)

Modden said:


> Hi,
> 
> I've been thinking of using something like this. They are made of Polypropylene and should be safe to autoclave as the plastics melting point is between 130-170°C according to wikipedia, but correct me if i'm wrong.



I have used these and they work well but you can't autoclave them. While they won't melt in the autoclave they will get soft and the sides will sag.

I have also used containers like this: http://www.cater4you.co.uk/acatalog/Microwavable-Deli-Pots.html to good effect. I sterilize them with H2O2. I make up a 6% solution of H2O2 and spray the tubs down with it (inside and out). The tubs are sealed directly after spraying and placed in a clear plastic bag. Once the bag is full enough to seal, I spray H2O2 into the bag and then seal it. This bag is then placed in the sun. The H2O2 and UV from sunlight is enough to sterilize the tubs. I have had no issues with fungus or bacteria that weren't because of contaminated seed or negligence.

I take the entire sterilized bag with me to the hood and open it right in front (not in) the hood. With H2O2 drenched gloved hands I remove the tubs and place them in the hood and then spray them down to make sure they are sterile on the outside.

The tubs get soft from the warm agar so it is important to let them cool before moving them. I spray down the agar jar with H2O2 as well before putting it in the hood and pouring out of it.

I cover the tubs with some cling film to keep nasties away from the rim of the tubs. This works with almost 100% success. No autoclave needed.


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## Kyle (Dec 6, 2013)

I have been using these for years:

http://www.fabri-kal.com/product/pro-kal-microwavable-containers/

I use the 500 ml size. I have safly autoclaved them to 121 C with no problems.

Strangly, I did have problems with the 125 ml size, which I wanted to use for mother flasks. Now I just use the 500's.

They are very cheap and should be easy to find in NA. I've never tried any other brand other than Fabri-Kal Pro-Kal's.

In case you're curious, I don't vent. 

Kyle


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## eteson (Dec 6, 2013)

Thanks a lot Tyrone an Kyle.


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## TyroneGenade (Dec 6, 2013)

I didn't vent either. The plastic naturally exchanges CO2 and O2 and ethylene... The joy of polypropylene plastic.


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## eteson (Dec 6, 2013)

I use to vent this way:





On the one hand, the plants grow better but on the other hand, the lost of water is, in some cases, too high and I need to do more frequent replating.


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