Growing ''A. thaliana'' for Seed Harvest

Growing A. thaliana for Seed Harvest

1. Fill boxes about halfway up with topsoil
2. Plant 4 seeds/box (sterilization not required)
3. Water with ~10mL of water by drizzling overtop
4. Stratification not necessary → move directly to grow room under 16/8 day/night light cycle. Grow with lids on until plants bolt (about 20-24 days). Then remove lids.
5. Continue growing and water every 3-4 days or when soil looks dry. When you see seed pods forming (very tiny green beans) and covering the majority of the plant, stop watering for 1 week. The seed pods should mostly be yellow before harvesting.
6. At the end of that week, place above ground plant material (except leaves) in a plastic bag. Leave overnight to dry.
7. Separate stems from seed pods. Discard stems.
8. To harvest seeds from pods: Fold 3 sheets of printer paper into quarters to crease. Unfold and lay out onto work surface. Using a tea strainer, grab a large pinch of seed pods and smash/rub into the strainer over one of the sheets of paper to allow the teeny tiny seeds to fall through onto the first piece of paper. It’s okay if there are stemmy bits, etc.
9. After going through all the seed pods, dump the contents of the first piece of paper back into the sieve over the second piece of paper. Repeat smashing to further clean seeds of plant shrapnel.
10. Repeat once more (or until all seeds clean). Dump seeds into freezer tube and place in the dark (envelope on second shelf) at 4C until ready to use.