5. Tightened the press.
6. The blotting paper absorbs the water and should be changed
twice during the first day and thereafter daily until the alga
is dry.
7. To test and see if the alga is dry enough it should be placed
against the skin. If it feels cold (water is still evaporating)
then it is still wet, but if it feels warm then it is dry. Thin
alga (i.e. sea-lettuce,
Enteromorpha intestinalis, finely threaded algae)
dry in a couple of days. Thicker algae (i.e. bladder,
toothed,
spiral wrack) need about a week to dry completely.
8. Certain algae can be pressed on smaller and stiffer paper
that can be a unique and pretty postcard. Small pieces of algae
on A4-paper can be letter paper. The dried alga can be secured
using transparent adhesive foil. It even possible to scan pressed
algae directly into a computer.Look at exemple
1 and exemple
2.
The figures on the right show from top: a traditional
plant press, a home made press with two pieces of plywood and
straps to tighten the press and at the bottom a press consisting
of several heavy books.
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