Mass Handling of Watermelon Microcuttings

Abstract

Modifications were made in the configurations of the unitizing, nonselective wire cutters used by Alper et al. (1992) for mass cuttings of Stage II Citrullus lanatus cv. Charlee (watermelon) plant tissue cultures to further enhance productivity. Mounting the cutter in an inverted position over the receiving vessel eliminated time required for filling. This cut-and-dump technique became 4.8 times more productive for the total transfer process than the conventional scalpel and forceps technique when both time and yield of cut segments with visible buds were considered. A concept for growing fewer, larger tissue clusters per vessel in mini-trays with orienting cells and cutting with correspondingly sized oriented cell wire cutters yielded as much tissue fresh weight as conventional agar vessels and afforded the potential to reduce time required for the removal job function with the cut-and-dump technique.