Washing seed - Orchid Board

ericst11 · #1 09-10-2010, 12:40 AM

I was woundering if anyone out there knows of a easy step by step way to wash seed ? Every time i have tried it it seems i wash it to much or to little , green pod i have no problem with.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #2 09-10-2010, 03:51 AM

Wash seed?

You mean sterilize them with 10% bleach?

If I may ask. If not bleach, what are you using?

How do you know that you're "washing too much or too little"? Are you viewing them using a microscope?

What are the seeds in question? Some seeds are actually sensitive to bleach.

Then there are seeds that naturally have a short life span, such as Disa uniflora, Phal spp, and Vanda spp.

I can get no contamination most of the times from just using 70% isopropyl and ethanol.

ericst11 · #3 09-10-2010, 09:40 AM

yes i do use 10% bleach and most of the seed i sow is in the Cattleya family. No i don't look at it with a microscope i don't own one .something i do need. how i have done it is take a small dish with 10% bleach and take the open pod and add the dry seed wait 5 min and then flask them? shouldn't that work. I have other stuff i have flasked no propblems but no luck with dry seed and its my own that i wait months for so i would think it was mature

phragguy · #4 09-10-2010, 09:59 AM

you probaly have to leave it for 10 minutes,that is how long I leave mine but I don't use bleach I use another product

ericst11 · #5 09-10-2010, 12:48 PM

what do you use? you have me interested.

Royal · #6 09-10-2010, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericst11

I was woundering if anyone out there knows of a easy step by step way to wash seed ? Every time i have tried it it seems i wash it to much or to little , green pod i have no problem with.

I use a small test tube, add seed, then a few ml of 10% bleach solution. Shake to mix well, then agitate every few minutes. At the 7 minute mark I stop shaking so most of the seed settles to the bottom. At 10 minutes, most of the seed is in a neat pile at the bottom of the tube. Draw the liquid off the top with a sterile pipette or dropper. Add sterile distilled water and shake again to rinse the seed, let it settle. You can repeat the rinse or just decant some of the water off and dump the rest into a flask.

Bleach is fine for most, especially tough Cattleya seed. If it seems to be too harsh or not stout enough, you can adjust the concentration, the disinfection time, or both. 10% for 10 minutes is a good starting point for Catts.

If the seed won't sink, a pre-soak for several hours in plain distilled water can do wonders. Some add sugar, but I think getting them fully wet is the key to allow complete contact with the disinfectant. They'll rinse better too.

ericst11 · #7 09-10-2010, 05:45 PM

thanks royal you always tell me it in laymans terms thanks i will have to try that i want to buy some seed from the orchid seed bank so i have something to to this winter in the freezing nebraska .but evey time i tried to use my own split seed pod it never worked .maybe i wasn't washing it or washing it with distilled water that long. thanks

Royal · #8 09-10-2010, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericst11

...but evey time i tried to use my own split seed pod it never worked .maybe i wasn't washing it or washing it with distilled water that long. thanks

The seed may not have been viable. Sometimes capsules don't make seed, sometimes it looks like seed but it is really just empty seed coats with no embryos. If you are only using 10% bleach and get no contamination, then I'd bet money it's the seed.

If you can get some seed that has been successfully germinated, that would be a good test to see if it's your technique or just bad seed.