Back to: Seeding

The first step in sorus tissue processing is simply to examine your kelp. For each blade, you want to identify where the sorus patch is, as well as the overall quality of the sorus tissue. Look for any biofouling organisms, small holes and signs of grazing, or blade senescence (deterioration)—all of which you will want to cut away or focus on scraping clean.

Cut away all non-reproductive material. Photo credit: Allegra Anderson Photography

After you give your blades an initial once-over, you’ll want to get rid of anything that is not reproductive material. This is yet another control for contamination; anything that is not going to provide spores (and therefore help you seed your spools) should be eliminated due to its potential to be carrying microorganisms that can invade your culture tanks. You’ll do this culling by cutting away and discarding the material surrounding the sorus tissue.

We use common household scissors that have been sprayed with 70% ethanol to cut away the non-reproductive tissue. If your sorus strip is more than several inches long, it is perfectly safe to cut directly into the sorus tissue to make your pieces into a more manageable size.