Spathoglottis plicata produced seeds. viable for germination?

[stefpix]

Hi,
my Spath plicata after blooming produced some seeds. the pods opened. Can these be potted and germinate or would they had to be flasked to germinate?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Try one in pot and try another flasked.

Flasked obviously works.

But these guys are pan-tropic weeds for a reason. So I wouldn't have a hard time believing that some seeds can germinate ex-vitro if they grown near the base of the mother plant and if that condition is correct.

[stefpix]

they opened on their own.
i bumped the stem and a cloud of seeds spread around.

put some in a jiffy box with moist coconut coir. some for sure fell in the same pot as the spathoglottis.
I did not pollinate the flowers and plant was indoors.
Anyway not worth flasking to me. if some germinate i will be happy. I was wondering being a ground orchid maybe the seeds could germinate more easily

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Spathoglottis plicata is self pollinating (autogamous).

No pollinator needed. This is one of the reasons why they're a pan-tropic weed.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Many terrestrial orchids are actually difficult to germinate from seed in-vitro.

Ex-vitro germination is kinda iffy.

The few terrestrial orchids I know of where the seeds can be sown via the ex-vitro method are:

1. Bletilla striata
2. Disa uniflora
3. Disa aurata
4. Disa cardinalis
5. Disa tripetaloides

Not so sure about all the other terrestrials.

Cypripedium seeds are hella difficult to get started in-vitro or ex-vitro.

Just illustrating points here, I know you're more focused on the Spath plicata.

Wait and see.

Good luck!

[stefpix]

maybe could take a pod and slightly press it under teh soil in the same pot.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Spathoglottis plicata is doable in-vitro.

[stefpix]

yeah but all the seed pods are all cracked open now. so in vitro might still get contaminated. I do not have the equipment and maybe it is not worth sending it out to be flasked.

The thing I noticed the Spaths at the botanic garden produced no seed pods after the flowers wilted.
should I cut the them?
was eager to try and see if the stem nodes may produce new plants like the phaiuses do

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by stefpix

yeah but all the seed pods are all cracked open now. so in vitro might still get contaminated. I do not have the equipment and maybe it is not worth sending it out to be flasked.

Understood.

Merely stating that it can be done relatively easily.

I brought some seed pods home with me. I didn't think the people living on the island would care much. They kept telling me there were large numbers of them and that they were all over the island.

I sent the pods to a lab and they got me some seedlings. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to raise them.

Originally Posted by stefpix

The thing I noticed the Spaths at the botanic garden produced no seed pods after the flowers wilted.

Not sure why. Can't give you an answer on this. I only saw these guys while I was on the island of Dominica in the Caribbean.

Not all the flowers set fruit. There was quite a few that did though. And this is just from one plant.

I couldn't even reach the other plants because they were just too dangerous to get to. They were around the rubble of a partially collapsed waterfall. Water still ran beneath the rubble in between the crevices. Each plant was a fairly good distance apart from each other too (I'd say they may have been a good 20' to 25' apart from each other). So I couldn't see what the rest of the plants were doing.

Originally Posted by stefpix

should I cut the them?
was eager to try and see if the stem nodes may produce new plants like the phaiuses do

It's up to you.

Like I said, I only saw them for about an hour in the island of Dominica before I returned to the States. I couldn't stay longer. It was a business trip. Therefore, I don't know too much about the specific behaviors of this particular species.

[stefpix]

It must be hard to hybridize Spahoglothis if they self pollinate.

Could be interesting to cross it with a Phaius or Bletilla. Not many of these crosses around. But also they may bloom at different times. How could you pollinate them if the flowering is not in sync?

were the ones you saw in Dominica just pink or there were different colors?