Simple lighting setups can provide adequate illumination for gametophyte growth and can help control culture temperature
Figure 1. C-Fern Growth Pod illuminated by a 15-watt screw-in fluorescent bulb placed in a small (ca. 6 in) reflective fixture.
Once cultures have been inoculated with spores, place them into an appropriate environment that will provide a constant temperature, 28 °C, and adequate lighting. The lighting source depends on the containers that will hold the cultures.
C-Fern Growth Pod
For each Pod, use continuous illumination by a 15-watt screw-in fluorescent bulb placed in a small (ca. 6″) reflective dome fixture. Each C-Fern Growth Pod can accommodate 30 individual 60×15 mm Petri dishes.
C-Fern Culture Dome
Continuous illumination by two 40 W cool white fluorescent tubes at a distance of 45 cm or less from the cultures (about 80 µmoles photosynthetically active radiation m-2 sec-1) will accommodate two standard Culture Domes (54 X 27 cm). This will provide enough space for up to 64 individual 60×15 mm Petri dishes. Smaller or larger setups can be used to serve individual needs.
For C-Fern, the temperature inside Growth Pods and Culture Dome is more important than light level, so the distance between the Culture Dome and the light source can be varied considerably to obtain a temperature near the optimum.
Figure 2. C-Fern Culture Dome illuminated 40 W cool white fluorescent tubes in a reflective fixture.
