A herbarium specimen of the plant is taken if at all possible. This serves as a 'voucher' for the work done. This voucher will eventually be the official method of verifying the publication of the chromosome number of the plant. The native soil for the most part is washed away exposing the root tips. The specimen is then placed into an appropriate sized pot and typical greenhouse potting soil is used to cultivate this plant.
Several days go by before the plant is acclimated to the greenhouse condition.
New root tips grow and now are ready for microscopic study. The plant is removed from the pot in order to expose the root tips. Several are taken with forceps and placed into Carnoy's fixative. This is a mixture of 3 parts ethyl alcohol to 1 part glacial acetic acid. The acetic acid kills the cells and the alcohol preserves them.