Masdevallia wendlandiana with pods

[markbudde]

Masdevaliia wendlandiana in a dart frog tank. It grew vegetatively for ever, then bloomed after I fertilized it.

It looks like the flies were able to pollinate it. There are about 10 of these pods now. Will it harm the plant if I let these go to seed?

[Connie Star]

Cool! I believe there are services that will flask them for you. My understanding is that it's pretty hard to do it yourself.

[Call_Me_Bob]

you might want to leave only two or three pods. if there are too many, the plant might not be able to sustain ten. and i think 1 let along 2 should have enough seed to satisfy you.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

The seeds may not germinate for you in the dart frog tank.

Orchid seeds are a bit unusual in that the outer seed coat (testa) is unlike those of many other flowering plants. There is also another seed coat that surrounds the embryo, called a carapace (which I will not talk about here). The testa is unique in that it allows for the invasion of certain fungi to colonize it (I'm giving you a basic run down - this is actually a complicated process).

Those fungi are collectively called orchid mycorrhizae. Orchid mycorrhizae may be different from the endomycorrhizae or ectomycorrhizae that are found in soil or those that are commonly sold in garden centers, online vendors, and specialty nurseries. Specifically the fungi involved are from a family of fungi from the Rhizoctonia group, for the most part.

After the infection, if the fungi is the correct type, it will start to germinate. If it isn't the correct type, they die.

Since there's no telling what's in your dart frog tank in terms of fungi, there's a good chance they may not germinate as a result of not being able to receive the correct fungal germinator.

In order to germinate them for certain, artificial means of seed sowing must be employed (in-vitro seed sowing methods - basically sowing seeds/growing seedlings "in a bottle"). For Masdevallias, non-symbiotic methods of in-vitro seed sowing has worked.

Non-symbiotic in-vitro methods don't employ the use of the orchid mycorrhizae that germinates the orchid seeds. Rather, the nutrients in the in-vitro seed sowing medium (usually an agar based medium), is absorbed into the seed in order to induce it to germinate.

And yes, there are companies that help you sow orchid seeds if you're unable to do it yourself.

The method to do it yourself is generically called kitchen tissue culture, kitchen micropropagation, or kitchen culture for short if you're interested in finding out about it. It's not everyone's cup of tea. Kinda a unique hobby within a hobby.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by help

you might want to leave only two or three pods. if there are too many, the plant might not be able to sustain ten. and i think 1 let along 2 should have enough seed to satisfy you.

The plant will automatically drop pods it cannot sustain, for whatever reasons, on its own.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Just so you have a better understanding...

Mycorrhizal fungi are fungi that coexist with plants, and are usually found on a plant's roots (ectomycorrhizae), or are found within the cells of a plant's roots (endomycorrhizae). They help the plant absorb water and nutrients more effectively and efficiently.

One plant may play host to several species of mycorrhizal fungi.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Oh, yeah, most Masdevallias are fly pollinated.

[Tindomul]

Wow, nice job growing that Masdie! I have had a lot of trouble keeping Masdies happy in terrariums. Either too wet, or too warm, or too dry. I echo Philip on all counts.