Flask cultivation - Orchid Board

Kelo · #1 03-15-2011, 12:43 PM

Has anyone used the services of a lab to germinate seed you personally have bred from your stock and what degree of success have you had in germination percentages? Did you get any plants worth keeping? I'm thinking of trying one or two projects myself to see what successes I have - or not!

WhiteRabbit · #2 03-15-2011, 08:21 PM

Royal · #3 03-16-2011, 06:42 PM

Hi Kelo,

I would encourage you to try a few "projects". I've made a few crosses, some had very high germination, some made no seed at all, and some produced seed but had only moderate germination. The results are all over the board. But you can be sure that if you don't attempt any breeding, you will not make any seedlings.

As for plants being worth it, we'll see when they bloom out.

For this reason it is important to have a plan and use the best quality parents available. Marriages of convenience are advised against. Good luck!

Andrew · #4 03-17-2011, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Royal

For this reason it is important to have a plan and use the best quality parents available. Marriages of convenience are advised against.

Please pay a lot of attention to this small peice of advice. The adage 'garbage in, garbage out' is very applicable to breeding orchids. If you have nothing worth breeding or no direction in what you want to produce in both the seedlngs and the seedlings' seedlings, you can't hope for good results. I'm not saying you need to breed for the show bench but think about the orchid you ultimately want and figure out what you need to make it rather than see what you've got and figure out what you can do with it. If the "best quality plants available" aren't particularly good, you consider whether they're worth your effort and your money to cross it and flask the seed.

Don't take my comments as discouraging you from flasking. Rather, if you're going to spend 6-12 months waiting for a pod, ~2 years (+/- a year) in flask and use the amount of growing space needed to get them to flower, you deserve better than to come out of the process with a bunch of plants you'd want to throw away.

Kelo · #5 03-17-2011, 02:22 PM

Thank you for the replies. It would certainly only be done to satisfy a curiosity rather than an attempt to breed something fabulous. I rather think that anything the amateur, like me, accomplishes would tend to be unremarkable with only a few exceptions. It would be fun though!

Royal · #6 03-17-2011, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelo

I rather think that anything the amateur, like me, accomplishes would tend to be unremarkable with only a few exceptions. It would be fun though!

Hi again, Kelo. I must disagree here. Even the inexperienced can get great plants make quality hybrids with desirable qualities. That's the beauty of it. You could make the next breakthrough cross, or you could make junk. They will both take the same time and effort. You may as well make something you will love in 5 years.

Kelo · #7 03-17-2011, 04:54 PM

Yes, I agree that amateurs can produce some fabulous plants but there must be a shed load of 'plain', by comparison, orchids out there. It would be exciting to wait to see what is produced; I'm sure there are no flowers that are disappointing enough to be thrown out or not valued. It's very tempting to try it out especially when there is a company here that does all the flasking.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #8 03-17-2011, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelo

Has anyone used the services of a lab to germinate seed you personally have bred from your stock and what degree of success have you had in germination percentages? Did you get any plants worth keeping? I'm thinking of trying one or two projects myself to see what successes I have - or not!

I've sent seeds to labs. They aren't necessarily plants I've bred, but rather plants I've bought that came with pods.

Germination rates are quite high if the seeds are sent to the labs asap, regardless of green pod or dry seed.

At the time, I didn't have enough experience growing seedlings, so I don't have any of those seedlings. However, other people had seedlings from the batch of seeds I've had micropropagated via seed sowing laboratories. Whether they still have the plant(s) or not, is not within my knowledge.

One in particular was Jacquiniella leucomelana.

Given how Jacquiniella leucomelana is not a widely cultivated plant (because the flowers are about 2 mm long and yellow-green), and the fact that they have tiny seed pods that contain less than 100 seeds per pod, I'd think they're worth keeping no matter what. Even if people do buy Jacquiniella leucomelana with seed pods, people are not likely to send the seeds to a lab or micropropagate the species themselves, because they're "insignificant".

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #9 03-17-2011, 07:34 PM

Another success for seeds I've sent was Spathoglottis plicata (from the island of Dominica - which may have a slightly different genetic disposition from those from tropical southeast Asia; either that or they're hybrids).

Spathoglottis plicata are pan-tropical "weeds". They origanted from tropical southeast Asia.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #10 03-17-2011, 07:35 PM

The seeds I sent of Jacquiniella leucomelana were dry seeds, which I sent immediately.

The seeds of Spathoglottis plicata were green seeds, which I sent the entire pods to the lab.

I had pods from plants such as Maxillaria rufescens, and Warmingia eugenii, but I waited too long to send them to the lab. Needless to say, these were failed attempts.