You gotta do this.

Here you can post pictures and videos to show others.
Post Reply
Message
Author
Greg Howald
Posts: 1185
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:44 am

You gotta do this.

#1 Post by Greg Howald » Mon Jul 12, 2021 10:21 pm

Whether it's your field or not you deserve this experience.

1. Find a fern. Any fern will do. This time of year the underside of the leaves are covered with spore pods.
2. Take a leak to the lab. Using your scalpel, cut a few of the pods in half.
3.Put a unit fragment on a slide at 4x using contrast. Oblique, dark field, close the diaphragm, whatever...
4. Watch for a few minutes.
5. Because the pods have been damaged and exposed to open air, they will swell up, uncoil, and explode, sending microscopic spores everywhere.
6. You will find it to be well worth the time and effort. Those of you with really good set ups can share some great photos.
Greg
Attachments
FERN3 SMALL.jpg
FERN3 SMALL.jpg (30.06 KiB) Viewed 2858 times
FERN4 SMALL.jpg
FERN4 SMALL.jpg (17.37 KiB) Viewed 2858 times

BramHuntingNematodes
Posts: 1538
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2020 1:29 am
Location: Georgia, USA

Re: You gotta do this.

#2 Post by BramHuntingNematodes » Mon Jul 12, 2021 11:15 pm

Whoa rad
1942 Bausch and Lomb Series T Dynoptic, Custom Illumination

dtsh
Posts: 977
Joined: Wed May 01, 2019 6:06 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Re: You gotta do this.

#3 Post by dtsh » Mon Jul 12, 2021 11:36 pm

I'll have to see if I can find some around here, I'm still not terribly familiar with the area so will need to go exploring. I would be very 'sori' to miss such a sight. :)

User avatar
Wes
Posts: 1027
Joined: Sat Mar 09, 2019 12:58 pm

Re: You gotta do this.

#4 Post by Wes » Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:17 am

Sounds fun. Will be on the lookout for some fern leaves.
Zeiss Photomicroscope III BF/DF/Pol/Ph/DIC/FL/Jamin-Lebedeff
Youtube channel

MichaelG.
Posts: 3976
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:24 am
Location: North Wales

Re: You gotta do this.

#5 Post by MichaelG. » Wed Jul 14, 2021 8:18 am

This is cheating, because I photographed a prepared slide, but I think it worth sharing:
.
Fern Spores : downsized for forum posting
Fern Spores : downsized for forum posting
8DD262AD-1F17-4E99-B3CF-BAC460E383BD.jpeg (128.14 KiB) Viewed 2744 times
.

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

User avatar
75RR
Posts: 8207
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 2:34 am
Location: Estepona, Spain

Re: You gotta do this.

#6 Post by 75RR » Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:19 pm

Greg Howald wrote:
Mon Jul 12, 2021 10:21 pm
Whether it's your field or not you deserve this experience.

1. Find a fern. Any fern will do. This time of year the underside of the leaves are covered with spore pods.
2. Take a leak to the lab. Using your scalpel, cut a few of the pods in half.
3.Put a unit fragment on a slide at 4x using contrast. Oblique, dark field, close the diaphragm, whatever...
4. Watch for a few minutes.
5. Because the pods have been damaged and exposed to open air, they will swell up, uncoil, and explode, sending microscopic spores everywhere.
6. You will find it to be well worth the time and effort. Those of you with really good set ups can share some great photos.
Greg
Thanks for the heads up that it is "fern spore" season. Unfortunately, do not think I am living in a fern zone at this time.

Would like to add a link another illumination technique that works rather well with "fern spores" : https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/ ... &t=28809&p
Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)

Greg Howald
Posts: 1185
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:44 am

Re: You gotta do this.

#7 Post by Greg Howald » Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:24 pm

That's really good stuff. I happen to have a u/v light source. I'll look forward to trying that. Thanks, Greg

User avatar
75RR
Posts: 8207
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 2:34 am
Location: Estepona, Spain

Re: You gotta do this.

#8 Post by 75RR » Wed Jul 14, 2021 9:06 pm

Greg Howald wrote:
Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:24 pm
That's really good stuff. I happen to have a u/v light source. I'll look forward to trying that. Thanks, Greg
It is a beautiful image ... do note however, that that photograph was obtained with a Nikon TE300 (a very expensive microscope when new) using fluorescence.

Your results may vary!

https://www.labx.com/product/nikon-te300
Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)

Greg Howald
Posts: 1185
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:44 am

Re: You gotta do this.

#9 Post by Greg Howald » Thu Jul 15, 2021 3:56 am

My results may be a complete flop but I'll enjoy trying.

User avatar
Dmi3n
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2020 4:14 pm
Location: Russia, Kaliningrad

Re: You gotta do this.

#10 Post by Dmi3n » Thu Sep 23, 2021 8:01 pm

Hello and thanks for the idea! I collected some fern (appears to be Polypodium vulgare) spores in summer but put my hands on them only yesterday. Here's a quick photo of them with COL illumination, CZJ 16x Apo objective, mf-Projectiv 3,2x, Nikon D5200 camera on NfPk microscope. Single frame, also I tried shooting series with 40/0,95 objective and stack it but the result wasn't satisfying.
Image
Gear list:
CZJ NfPk and Polmi A w/ 45mm apo objectives, Phv, Epi Pol, trinocular
Gamma Hungary 3D-condenser
LOMO ОИ-28 Fluorescence Attachment
Set of Leitz Photar macro lens
Nikon D500 DSLR
LOMO МС-2 microtome

Scopeted
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2020 11:22 am

Re: You gotta do this.

#11 Post by Scopeted » Tue Sep 28, 2021 3:34 pm

Hello
A couple of years ago I put some fern spore pods from underside of fronds under the microscope and after about quarter of an hour I was surprised to see that they started firing spores about with like a little catapult - didn't know they did this - I found it quite fascinating. I have attached a pic and a video clip.
Fern Spore SF.jpg
Fern Spore SF.jpg (112.27 KiB) Viewed 2215 times
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScTJ3rUd404

Post Reply