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[hereje]

So i came across some sodium azide the other day and its a known powerful mutagen so next spring
im wanting to experiment with forced mutations of plants - im not quite sure how or when to apply
and in what ammounts - if anyone here ever experimented with mutagens in the past or could offer
any advice id greatly appreciate it

Just like to add that i understand sodium azide is explosive, poisonous, cause irritation and has
many health risks but i do have all the proper equipment for dealing with these kinds of materials

[TBM]

What sort of mutations were you hoping to bring about with sodium azide? Which plants were you wanting to mutate? I've had zero experience with doing what you're planning but it sounds interesting.

A quick wiki of the compound shows it's water soluble (41g/100ml at 15°C), perhaps you could dilute it into the water you use for your plants, how diluted I haven't a clue, perhaps when you start off you could vary the amount for each plant to see if higher amounts cause different effects vs. very dilute amounts?

[olyd88]

Sodium Azide? i never heard about this before, what we can expect the use of this chemical?

[hereje]

TBM - I have never played with mutagens in the past so i want to experiment in general - chances are
that my first experiemnts will be on clovers from a previous crossbreeding run because i
have 50k+ seeds on hand they germinate crazy easy grow fast and i wont miss much if i kill a few hundred lol


Olyd88 -I guess i can try to explain a little bit but im am NOT very knoledgable on this subject myself

Theres a few kinds of ways to change a plants traits crossbreeding - selective breeding - natural mutations - radiation treatment - and mutagens

Mutagens do the same thing as zapping a seed or plant with radiation only in a chemical way
each different mutagen targets the gene in a different way

Assumably when using mutagens i understand that when applied to the plant the offspring
will be mutated in some random way shape or form - examples one could lookup would be
geneticaly altered crops that are shorter,taller,more fruitful, unique colors exc...

[New Wisdom]

I would like to apply this to some cactus seeds. 

[hereje]

New Wisdom - Im pretth sure it would be applied to the parent plant to cause birth defects so to speak

[TBM]

chances are
that my first experiemnts will be on clovers

Perhaps they'll mutate to produce more 4 leaf clovers, or maybe even 5-6 leaf clovers

[New Wisdom]

You can't just apply it to the seeds to cause mutations? I thought that is how it works.

[hereje]

TBM - thats what i crossbred them for in the firat place they produce four leaf clovers
quite often - hoping the mutagens make different color flowers or a giant strain or maby 5-6 leaf clovers

New wisdom - it may be possible but i know very little about the subject - with any luck this time next year
ill have a lot more information

[New Wisdom]

Sweet, I've heard of people treating seeds with radiation or mutagens to cause mutations. 

I may try this with some trichocereus and lophophora.  I'll set them to the side and have them marked and then graft a few. See what happens.

[TBM]

I have to agree clovers do produce 4 leaf clovers more often than most people think, last year I ended up taking a bet with someone to prove how common they are (they claimed there'd only be like 1-3 4 leaf clovers in an acre), ended up finding 20-30 in a 1/3 acre backyard I've only ever found two 5 leaf clovers, never found any with more than 5

Maybe it'll mutate the shape of the individual leaves to something drastically different

[hereje]

Tbm - my strain of clovers produces a lot more 4-leaf than wild and every once in a while a five leafer

 ~just for the records the clovers i have are triditional
crossbreeding (the feather and scissors kind)


New wisdom - if its anything like radiation treatment of seeds it should kill most of the seeds so dont
try it with hard to get seeds

[TBM]

Nice

[Greentoe]

Cool stuff. I'll be curious to see how it turns out. I wouldn't mind trying to make myself some teenage mutant ninja cacti one day.

[olyd88]

Cool stuff. I'll be curious to see how it turns out. I wouldn't mind trying to make myself some teenage mutant ninja cacti one day.

LOL, i guess we should wait for someone to try this , but to me, i'm not supporting much the idea of using this chemical to exploit the plants natural growth, I thought that someone should do this with proper knowledge to avoid 'unwanted' mutation to happen. But this is only my opinion, the rest is up to us.