Phal. Pod Matured
 

Back in March (iirc) I pollinated two of my mutt Phalaenopsis sp. . One is a diminutive white with pink I picked up at a greenhouse in Montana during my honeymoon a few years ago. The other is a pretty fuschia rescue from our local Walmart. Its my first attempt at orchid pollination and I was successful for the most part I think.

The two I cross-pollinated are the middle white and right fuschia. These were decorations on a carrot cake for Easter. :blushing:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/g...Carrotcake.jpg

A couple of close-ups of the whitish one:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/g...steryPhalB.jpg http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/g...PhalMar08B.jpg

This particular Phal blooms like clockwork every winter, usually opens up around the end of January, just in time for my birthday. And as thus its one of my favourites.


The pod matured in October and over the past weekend has split open along the side. I collected it in a paper envelope and have it saved.

I am really not interested in propagating via flasks or other chemistry experiments. I lack the know-how, equipment, ingredients, and patience. Is there any decent way to get the seeds to grow otherwise?

For the heck of it I sprinkled a couple "taps worth" on the soil media of my Macodes petola. It stays moist in its covered pot and it's been outside getting natural rain this past summer, so maybe it has the right innoculants in the potting medium to encourage growth. Any idea if this will work?

Would anyone be willing to take the pod and flask all they can and give me a handful of babies and sell the rest for themselves?

Thanks in advance.

Hi, I'm new to this forum but i sawyour post and had to say something. For a lab write up i want to publish i'm propagating orchids from seeds i've never done before but i'm working with the university and i'd be more than willing to try!

I"m sorry i Didnt really Awnser you Original question


Without the Equipment and know-how it is possible but the chances of the seeds getting contaminated and not germinating is significantly Higher and it probably wouldnt work.

I'd try to get a few going for you. I'm no pro, but have had some success. I bet you could send a little to several members to increase your odds.

Sorry for not replying sooner. If you both PM me your mailing addresses, I'll cut the pod in half and send you each some.

I'm sure you'll have better luck than I at this sort of thing. I just find myself fortunate in that I can get my orchids to be happy enough to bloom every year as it is.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, eh?. They're just mutt orchids, but the one is rather sentimental to me and I was hoping to get something out "her".

Hi Jay. Cool avatar. I love Brugmansias. I just wanted to say welcome and go for it. It sounds like you have a good resource in the University, and the OB is the BEST resource (It's "The source for all your orchid needs"). :) Being young, you have a big jump on a lot of us, and being an OB member you can benefit from the wealth of knowledge here. Have confidence and don't let the "chances of failure" get in the way of trying. Good luck on the paper.

Hi Misty,

I'd be willing to try a few too. I should have my lab finished being set up in the next week or two, so you can send me some seed if you'd like or have some left after sending the others theirs. You can actually just sprinkle some on a piece of paper and fold it up and put it into an envelope. This way you won't have to send me part of the pod. I'll PM you my snail mail address. :)

For all of those I sent samples of the pod to, were you able to determine if they had viable seeds? And if so, has anything grown from them?

Just looking for an update.

Hi Misty,

I sowed them about 4 weeks ago - no contamination. If they're good I'd expect to see some action in the next few weeks to a month.

Hi Misty,
I didn't have the good technique that Royal did. Mine ended up contaminated. :( Sorry about that, and about not letting you know sooner.

I hope that Royal gets some good germination for you.

[thinking to myself...] No pressure, Royal.:shock:

LOL, no worries David. If you want to try again, I still have a small portion of the pod left over that you're welcome to....if I can find where I stuffed the little thing anyway. Film canisters all look alike... :blushing:

Thanks for the update Royal, I'll cross my fingers, toes, legs, arms, and eyes and hope something grows. =)

Hi Misty,
Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass...I've been having some difficulty with the flasking project I've launched myself into and would rather try and refine it more before taking more of your seed. :)

Hello, this is my first post to the forum, but I've been lurking around a while.

I'm just getting into tissue culture and I'm looking for some Phalaenopsis seed. I've done a fair amount of TC work with carnivorous plants, mostly Dionaea and Sarracenia (aka. Venus flytraps and pitcher plants), and now I'd like to give orchids a shot.

Misty, if you still have any part of that seed pod left, I'd love to give the seeds a shot. I'd be willing to pay for shipping and of course give you a bunch of the plants if I'm successful.

Matt

I know its been ages, but was anyone successful in getting anything from the seed I sent out?

Unfortunately no Misty. My flasks weren't contaminated and I could see plenty of seed in them, but I never got any protocorms to form.

Perhaps I over sterilized the seed, but I was following directions from someone that was familiar with starting orchid seed. Maybe the seed was just a bit too old?

I can't wait to try again. If you have any more seed, please let me know.

If you have any more Macodes seeds, I'd be willing to help you out. I've been sowing some terrestrial orchid seeds and so far have had no contamination problems with the two species I'm currently growing. Haven't produced protocorms yet..., but I'm not seeing any problems either.

Just so you know terrestrial orchids are not easy to germinate, with the exception of a few. They're a bit more tricky to handle than epiphytes are.

You can send me a PM and I'd be happy to make arrangements.

Oh...

I just read your post again (more carefully). You're talking about sprinkling Phalaenopsis seeds on the surface of the Macodes petola growing surface.

No. Sprinkling Phalaenopsis seeds on your Macodes petola growing media is not the correct approach.

1. wrong fungal symbiont if there are any
2. high contamination risk
3. just leaving things to chance

Sorry, I misunderstood.

I'm not sure if you're talking to me King_of_orchid_growing:), but I was putting Phal seeds on Knudson C media. I'm pretty sure that this is the correct media for Phal seeds. I had been told that by someone else that had successfully germinated the seeds on that media. Also, I'm pretty sure that I had read it somewhere, but I can't remember the source now.

I have no idea what Macodes petola media is, but I'm pretty sure that it's not what I used.

I apologize. No, flytrapcare.com. I was referring to Taceas. I should've been more careful when posting. Sorry.

Not a problem! Thanks for clearing that up.

BTW Macodes petola is what is known as a Jewel Orchid. The term Jewel Orchid is very general and encompasses a few genera of terrestrial orchids whose leaves can sparkle in the light.

What Taceas is hoping for with the ex-vitro method of sowing Phalaenopsis seeds onto Macodes petola potting medium is that the symbiotic fungus (mycorrhizal fungi) from the Macodes petola will germinate the Phalaenopsis seeds. Orchids naturally form a symbiotic relationship with fungi to obtain their nutrients and to germinate from seed.

However...

The mycorrhizal fungi that may be correct for growing Macodes petola (provided there are any in there), may not be the correct one(s) for Phalaenopsis seed germination.

Thanks for the info! I knew that orchids form a symbiotic relationship with fungi to get nutrients and to germinate, but I'd never heard of the Jewel Orchid. Very cool stuff!