Aboard savor, hummmm great verbiage, and am sure you will have plenty to share with others here on the OB as well as learning...take the time to dl some s and share with us your double decker greenhouse, so envious. We are delighted your here.
Thanks for the warm greetings. My flasking trial followed much of "Asymbiotic Technique of Orchid Seed Germination" by Aaron J. Hicks (if you can find an old copy). The new work "Orchid Seed Germination Manual, A tool for the hobbyist", released August, 2005 should be very helpful. As I mentioned, I'm very new at this. I would seek the advice of others much more experienced. Of course the key is sterile conditions. A laminar flow table is most helpful if you are going to do much. A used one can be found for as little as $500. It may take a lot of flasking to justify such a 'toy'. I apologize for not specifying the particulars but there was an article in Orchids a few months ago that appeared to be a good method to flask small amounts of mature seed from an open seed capsule without a lab table. I plan to use part of that method to effectively infuse the seed with a solution of calcium hypochlorite thereby greatly reducing the transmission of fungus into flasks. If and when I get around to it.
Speaking of odd combinations...the orchids are so incestuous but perhaps thankfully not all are compatible. Imagine some of the oddities if any orchid could be bred to any other!..."Talk amongst yourselves..." Has anyone seen a table/index that groups orchids according to their compatibility in hybridizing?
Will a day come when the DNA is extracted from several orchids with a pinch of a firefly gene to be combined into "Frankenstein Cafranacious var. glow in the dark"? Its all fun and games until someone loses a pinky to a "hybrid".
Has anyone here been working with fragrance in the Phals? Any texts or articles you can recommend?
Have a good weekend! I'll be away until Monday, the 13th. Beware orchid thieves...I've set the hounds loose to guard the greenhouse while I'm gone! Wakeup dogs...sick'em!
p.s. I hope this 'reply to thread' posts okay. S'pose it is best to switch to a new thread.