Cleaning Small Samples of Vegetation

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Bufo Bill
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Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2016 10:52 pm
Location: Wolverhampton, UK

Cleaning Small Samples of Vegetation

#1 Post by Bufo Bill » Thu Nov 09, 2017 8:45 pm

I like to identify mosses (I'm a taxonomy nerd), but I often find microscopic debris around the samples. I like to keep my slides as a record, and the debris looks a little untidy. Can anyone suggest a good way to wash or clean the samples? I usually swill them around in a test tube of distilled water before fixing, but I still get odd bits here and there. I thought of putting them in a filter paper and putting them under the tap for a while but it seems a waste of drinking water. Am I nuts? Probably. But your help would be appreciated until they take me away in a jacket that ties at the back and a hockey mask.
My 'scope: Seben SBX-5 Stereo Microscope.

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mrsonchus
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Location: Cumbria, UK

Re: Cleaning Small Samples of Vegetation

#2 Post by mrsonchus » Thu Nov 09, 2017 9:59 pm

Hi Bill - I use a running-tap myself. I don't worry about the tiny amount of water 30mins would use - I just remember the millions of gallons lost in the system's leaks every day to make myself feel less guilty! :D :D
John B

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Bufo Bill
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Re: Cleaning Small Samples of Vegetation

#3 Post by Bufo Bill » Thu Nov 09, 2017 10:16 pm

Thanks John, I guess half an hour under a tap it is then! Thanks for your prompt reply old chap, talk again soon.
All the best from Bill.
My 'scope: Seben SBX-5 Stereo Microscope.

Hobbyst46
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Re: Cleaning Small Samples of Vegetation

#4 Post by Hobbyst46 » Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:37 pm

A few days ago I prepared a slide of a tiny moss. Collected a bundle or group of moss from under a leaking irrigation pipe (don't know their name; tiny green "leaves" of size <1mm; "stem" height 6mm). Separated them with a needle and forceps and rinsed each one by a spurt of water from a Pasteur pippete. The only debris left were "root" like brown filaments that are attached to the same moss. Cleaning took 5 minutes. But maybe some mosses are more difficult to clean.
I would try ultrasonics for the cleaning, but that requires an ultrasonic bath.

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mrsonchus
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Re: Cleaning Small Samples of Vegetation

#5 Post by mrsonchus » Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:41 pm

The small tissue cassettes inside which I take tissue through processing are ideal - filter-paper will be so fine as to simply retain the tiny 'bits' that you would like to remove I think. A use little stainless-steel meshes - like two tiny sieves that clip together to make a 'cage' if you like.
I think one of those spherical two-part metal tea-infusers on a tiny chain thingies would be good. Just put the moss into the 'ball' - and clip it closed. Hang it over the side of a glass (with ball inside glass perhaps half-way up) then let a tap run into the glass which will cause turbulence-enough to rinse debris away as the water runs out over the rim of said glass.
This is the thing I use for mosses and liverworts often --> moss-strainer/rinser

I use a version of this to rinse cleaned blank slides as I find any contact with them such as wiping leaves traces and/or scratches.

John B. :)
John B

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Bufo Bill
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Re: Cleaning Small Samples of Vegetation

#6 Post by Bufo Bill » Fri Nov 10, 2017 11:49 am

Thanks chaps, I'll give both methods a go.
Regards from Bill.
My 'scope: Seben SBX-5 Stereo Microscope.

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