Orchids from seeds


It is practically impossible  to propagate orchid species by seed in horticultural substrates. This was a bottle-neck in orchid industry until the discovey of germination of orchid seeds in sterilized nutrient media in vitro (since Knudson in '20es). In Nature germination of orchids is scanty and due to the contact of seeds with particular symbiotic fungi.
In vitro germination is performed in specialised nurseries and is used for natural species and in order to obtain hybrids. For many hybrids since 1960 in vitro cloning (micropropagation, which is similar to the obtention of micro cuttings) has been used, so millions of identical plants may be obtained.
Ciao, Ugo


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