how long to geminate

[ericst11]

I just flask about 8 jars of Sophronitis cernua.Does any one know how long this species takes to germinate?

[Royal]

Do you really expect a strait answer?!?! 26.4 days.

Seriously, there are so many factors. If temps are optimal it could happen in a few days, probably more like a few weeks. If the seeds are old or you nuked them during disinfection, it might not ever happen. What media are you using?

[ericst11]

I'm useing Hills germination media.I just was asking for around about time i understand everyone has differant situations . What did you mean by nuke.i'm still scratching my head over that one .

[Royal]

Originally Posted by ericst11

I'm useing Hills germination media.I just was asking for around about time i understand everyone has differant situations . What did you mean by nuke.i'm still scratching my head over that one .

Hill's should work fine for you. I was kind of making a joke about giving a strait answer. As you know, there are very few absolutes when it comes to orchids.

What I meant by "nuke" was damage. Chlorine is corrosive and is an effective oxidizer, that's why it is good for killing contaminants. The problem is, it's good at killing other things too - including seeds. Disinfection is a balance between the two. Some seeds are sensitive, some seeds are tougher than nails. That's why it is often advised to use 10% bleach for 10 minutes only as a starting point.

[ericst11]

i soak my green pod for about 15 min in 10% bleach and the flow hood i mist down with rubbing alcohol let run for about 15 to 20 minutes before flaskinng and then start my flasking ,it seems to have very little contaminated. I need to figure out my timing of green poding , i sowed this pod because the one right nrxt to it poped on the same plant so i hope this was a good sign of mature seed. i think i will have to wait and see ,do you know of a light timing on the flask or is 24 hours of light good.

[Royal]

Definitley use a timer. It sounds like your harvest timing was good. You'll be swimming in seedlings in no time.

[ericst11]

what light cycle do youn use.

[camille1585]

Sounds like you're going to have lots of seedlings! I recently flasked some seed from a Cattleya cross, and they only took 7-10 days to germinate, but that's quite quick from what I've been told. I give mine 16 hours of light a day, and they're grown at a constant 22°C. That happens to be the standard settings of the climate cells here (doing a research project in one of the plant science labs of my university). I have the book 'Growing Orchids from Seed" and 16 hours of light is also what they recommend.

[ericst11]

thanks for the info i was tring to do it at 24 hours maybe thats my prob and its about 60 to 65 degrees i hope thats not to cold.