Hyphae of Indoor Plant Fungus
Oct 15, 2020 • 3:47 PM UTC
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Microorganisms
ashes_theplantgirl
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I recently moved and discovered all my indoor plants started growing mold. I’ve treated my plants with cinnamon multiple times to help, and it has, but one pot is being stubborn. When my professor at UCF surprised our class with Foldscopes I knew exactly what to look at! I have also included some tricks I found for using the Foldscope.
I used the clear sticker to pick up some of the white, fuzzy growth above
You can see how my slide looked below
You can see how my slide looked below
The next images show the first look through my Foldscope! It felt like such a discovery!
Then, I got better at taking pictures. Enjoy these close-ups of fungal hyphae!
This next one got a rainbow effect from the way the sunlight hit my sample!
Now for some tips/tricks…
My iPhone camera does not work well with magnets. The magnet in the coupler was causing the camera stabilizer to whir around, I could actually hear it, and that made it impossible for the camera to focus. It would do the same if I put the camera too close to the lens because the lens also has a magnet.
To solve this, I took the magnet out of the coupler and then used a double stick ring to attach the modified coupler over the lens to protect my camera from the magnet around the lens. It worked well enough but after a while (like an hour) I had to give my phone a break because the lens magnet began to affect my camera even through the modified coupler.
My iPhone camera does not work well with magnets. The magnet in the coupler was causing the camera stabilizer to whir around, I could actually hear it, and that made it impossible for the camera to focus. It would do the same if I put the camera too close to the lens because the lens also has a magnet.
To solve this, I took the magnet out of the coupler and then used a double stick ring to attach the modified coupler over the lens to protect my camera from the magnet around the lens. It worked well enough but after a while (like an hour) I had to give my phone a break because the lens magnet began to affect my camera even through the modified coupler.
Also, even the smallest section on the focus ramp was still too thick to focus on my sample. I had to press my slide closer to the lens and manually move the slide around using my fingers while using my other hand to hold my phone and take pictures. Slides with larger samples may not run into this problem.
I also had fun playing with the angle of my light source! It’s not something you can usually do with a light microscope. If you noticed, my pictures sometimes had a white background and a darker background. That’s because I was facing the window or facing the floor, respectively, and letting the sun hit my sample at different angles. Playing with the angle also allowed me to see the rainbow effect from the sunlight hitting water on the hyphae!
I also had fun playing with the angle of my light source! It’s not something you can usually do with a light microscope. If you noticed, my pictures sometimes had a white background and a darker background. That’s because I was facing the window or facing the floor, respectively, and letting the sun hit my sample at different angles. Playing with the angle also allowed me to see the rainbow effect from the sunlight hitting water on the hyphae!
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