Does anyone know how to prevent NGM plates from being too humid? My plates are getting so humid in climate chamber that it’s sometime difficult to open the lid - there’s a small layer of water between the lid and the base part. And the worms become somehow ‘paralyzed’ probably because airflow is reduced.
If you’re getting a liquid seal between the plate and the lid, and the worms are adopting a rigid posture and not moving, you’re suffocating your worms. This can kill your worms, and even if they survive it’ll mess up your experiments.
Letting your plates dry for a couple days at room temperature before you seed them can help (with their lids on, of course). You can also cut a notch out of the top of the wall of the plate (with a hot steel inoculation loop, for example), which can prevent a seal from forming. This can make the plates dry out too fast, though.