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

Orchid seedlings without flasking

> From:          "David Allen Cameron" <dcameron@execpc.com>
> To:            <seeds-list@eskimo.com>
> Subject:       Re: Dracula orchids
> Date:          Thu, 15 May 1997 07:56:28 -0500
> Reply-to:      seeds-list@eskimo.com

> 
> 
> ----------
> > From: Duncan McAlpine <dm2477@lab3.ca.boeing.com>
> > To: seeds-list@eskimo.com
> > Subject: Dracula orchids
> > Date: Wednesday, May 14, 1997 11:25 AM
> > 
> > I am looking at a magizine and I have never tried to grow and orchid. 
> > What is the process to propagate and orchid?
> > -- 
> > -- 
> > Sincerely,  
> > 
> > ------------------------------------ FROM:
> -----------------------------------
> > Duncan McAlpine  
> > 
> > 
> > 
> Hello Duncan and everyone else;
> 
> Orchids are propagated by division or seed.  Division is fairly
> straightforward and so I won't go into it here.
> 
> Seed is another matter.  Orchid seed is extremely minute and does not have
> much in the way of  nutrient reserves the way most seeds do.  The seeds are
> germinated in a glass container or or flask on a nutrient agar gel medium. 
> The medium must be prepared in aseptic conditions and seeds must be
> sterilized and sown under the same conditions.  The seed usually remains in
> the flask for up to 2 years when the plants are removed to community pots
> for grow out.  It's a very involved process and not too many people try it
> without some failure.
> 
> Although this is basic info I hope it answers your question.
> 
> Dave Cameron
> 

I have grown orchids from seed without flasking, but be warned it is 
verrrryyy slooooowww!

Orchid seeds have very little or no food reserves, so in natural 
conditions they are dependent on associations with mycorhizal fungi 
for nutrients in their early stages of growth. These fungi remain in 
the root tissues of adult plants and the media in which they are 
growing.

I just sprinkled the seed around the base of an orchid plant of the 
same type as the seed and left the plants undisturbed for three or 
four years. When the plant was divided a few small plantlets with one 
or two leaves and a small root system were found in the surface 
layers of the mix around the base of the host plant  and in crevises 
between pseudobulbs.

I have grown Cymbidium, Dendrobium Epidendrum and Bletilla by this 
method and with the exception of the Cymbidium, which I couldn't be 
bothered growing on, the seedlings  flowered in 2 - 3 times the usual 
growing on period using flasking techniques.
_____________________________________________________

Michael Wilton * Waikanae * New Zealand 
* mw@kapiti.co.nz
"Mike in the Begonia House" Wellington Botanic Garden
_____________________________________________________
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index