Materials and Reagents

1. ‘Micro-Tom’ (Prof. Ezura and Prof. Mizoguchi of Tsukuba University, Solanum lycopersicum cv. ‘Micro-Tom’, a model plant in the Solanaceae family). ‘Micro-Tom’ is a dwarf phenotype cultivar, originally first reported of in 1989, fixed by crossbreeding Florida Basket and Ohio 4013-3 (12th filial generation) (Martí et al., 2006) (Figure 1)
   
   
   Figure 1. Solanum lycopersicum cv. ‘Micro-Tom’
   
   
2. Nutrient solution [Ootsuka house 5 (OAT house 5) OATagurio Co. Ltd. 2776 (http://www.oat-agrio.co.jp/en/product/index.html)
   
3. MS (Murashige and Skoog) mineral salts (Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Siyaku, catalog number: 392-00991 )
   
4. Gamborg’s B-5 vitamin (Sigma-Aldrich, catalog number: G1019 )
   
5. Sucrose (Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Siyaku, catalog number: 193-00025 )
   
6. Agar (Bacto agar) (BD, catalog number: 214010 )
   
7. Nutrient solution (see Recipes)
   
8. MS (Murashige and Skoog) medium (Li, 2011) (see Recipes)
   

Equipment

1. Rock wool (a kind of mineral wool) (A0 25/40, 25 x 25 x 40 mm) (Nitoubou Co. Ltd. catalog number: 762-090 )
   
2. Blower (Air pump, 100 V, working pressure 0.012 MPa) (YASUNAGA CORPORATION, model: LP-30A ) (Figure 2 A)
   
3. Three-way tube (metal 6 mm caliber) (Nissei Sangyo Corporation, catalog number: 25424 ) (Figure 2B and 2C)
   
4. 6 mm silicon tube (bore diameter 4 mm) (Figure 2B)
   
5. Air stone (17 x 17 x 60 mm) (Figure 2D)
   
   
   Figure 2. Parts of hydroponic culture system. A. Blower, B. 6 mm silicon tube, C. Three-way tube, D. Air stone (17 x 17 x 60 mm).
   
   
6. Shallow container (Size accordingly to match the scale of your project. In this case we are using a container 10 cm deep, a good example is Tupperware. We should use light-proof type of containers, because they protect to occur algae.)
   
7. Perforated polystyrene foam board (2.5 cm thickness, 3.5 cm hole diameter, distance between holes is approximately 12 cm) (Figure 3)
   
   
   Figure 3. Perforated Polystyrene Foam Board (2.5 cm thickness, 3.5 cm hole diameter)
   
   
8. Plant boxes (DUCHEFA Biochemie, Steri Vent Low container, catalog number: S1682.0048 and Standard Closure lids, catalog number: S1681.0032 )
   
9. Sponge (household daily-use type)
   

Procedure