This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: Cypripedium seeds

Can you take me of this list. I am too overwhelmed and find most not
very interested.
Herman van Beusekom



At 15:21 30-01-97 +0000, you wrote:
>It would be very difficult to argue that cypripediums are not
>well-known from culture; indeed, even for being allied with the highly
>desirable paphiopedilums and phragmipediums, there is a dearth of
>information
>on germination, propagation, etc.
>        Most of the species have been germinated in vitro; this entails
>a complex procedure where orchid seed is sterilized and then added to
>nutrient agar media, grown much like bacteria until they are capable of
>growing outside of flask. This presents many problems, not the least of
>which revolve around 1) having the setup to begin with and 2) getting
>them
>to survive once they are de-flasked.
>        Most, if not all, of the North American terrestrial orchids are
>heavily dependent upon mycorrhizial fungi to germinate, grow and thrive.
>If the fungi are not doing well, it is likely that the plant will fail
>to thrive, or perish. There _are_ symbiotic techniques for germination
>of
>orchid seed in flask, but they are complex, and rely upon equal parts of
>skill and luck.
>        There are a couple of labs that sell lab-propagated
>cypripediums,
>including Spangle Creek Labs, and Carson Whitlow's labs in Iowa (whose
>name escapes me right now). A web search will bring them up quickly.
>        I've read a recent paper (pre-pub material, so I can't go into
>detail) about in vitro germination and cloning of Cypripedium reginae;
>there is still much more work to do with these species, but this paper
>shows that it IS possible.
>        In any event, they are wonderful plants, but difficult (at this
>point in time) to propagate from seed without considerable expense, as
>well
>as skill. Give it a few years, or, if you are too impatient, buy from
>one
>of these dealers. :-)
>
>        -AJHicks
>        Director, Orchid Seedbank Project (ahicks@nmt.edu for list!)
>        Socorro, NM
>
>
>-- 
>Duncan McAlpine, Federal Way, WA
>Why buy plants when you can grow them yourself.....?
>http://www.eskimo.com/~mcalpin/
>http://www.eskimo.com/~mcalpin/pumkin.html
>
>
>
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index