# in-vitro cup question...



## plants4fun (Dec 22, 2014)

So im planning a new scape and i wanted to get some in-vitro cup plants and im trying to time everything properly but if i receive the plants earlier than the rest of the equipment, what is the best way to store the sealed cups of plants? does the cup itself act as its own environment and all they'll need is light? 

Does anyone have experience with keeping in-vitro culture plants in their shipping cups for a long period?


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## cb1021 (Sep 21, 2009)

The cups are great. I use Tropica 1-2 grow stuff all the time.

In regards to shelf life, I'd say 2-3 weeks no problem. You should give the cups some low light at least but make sure the light doesn't heat up the cup too much.


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## default (May 28, 2011)

It would depend how long they've been at the store/retailer, it's difficult to pinpoint the 'good till' date because of this. From my experiments, cups will hold for about two weeks before the plants start to choke itself. I've had some cups that molded within two days of purchase and some survive for six weeks - while some mold instantly with open/punctured containers, while some last two weeks with broken cups without ever getting mold. 

However, keep in mind, although they would survive for a couple weeks, every day that goes by in the cup stresses the plant further, I've noticed huge differences of plant survivability and initial grow when comparing 'fresh' cultures to two week old or more cultures.

I was initially excited for TC plants, but after experimenting and testing certain species, I've started to recommend avoiding TC whenever possible. I've noticed this 'banana tree' effect in TC plants and it's one thing that I found very frustrating, whereas one individual plant/stem can chemically trigger every similar species within a proximity to suffer the same problems.


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