First Time Flasker Here--a few questions

[TreeBear]

Hello all,

I was hoping that someone could give me some advice about orchid flasking. My Masdevallia gutulatta has been growing seed capsules and the other day they began to open. When I saw that they opening I immediately removed them and set them aside in jars, because Iu was hoping to sew some of them. Is it alright to use open seed pods? or does them being open mean they will promote more contamination to the sensitive seeds? I also have a very nice seed capsule growing on my Tolumnia, 'Genting Orange' and I am very excited about that, being my first self pollination experiment, working flawlessly with my technique.

To provide some background, I am not by any means new to orchid growing, I am just new to propagating them by seed and have only just begun my experimentation with culturing techniques. I am also newer to the world of online orchid forums and connecting with all you wonderful orchid growers out there!! What a great thing I have stumbled upon!

Anyways, Does anyone have any suggestions as to where is a good place to acquire/purchase some flasking medium/agar?

[Bloomin_Aussie]

As soon as the pod has split you should consider the seed to be contaminated and it will require disinfection before sowing on sterile media. There are several good threads in the propagation section. I suggest you start there. Some methods are easier than others of course.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Hi TreeBear

I am relatively new to sewing seed myself. For a seed-sewing method that is easy and needs only minimal equipment, see this link: http://www.orchidboard.com/community...seedlings.html. I have used this successfully with Cattleya alliance seeds. My recommendation is to use small (less than 8 ounce) screw-top glass jars with metal lids. I use jars saved from foods like marinated artichokes, pimientos, etc. for this purpose.

BTW, I tried the above method, and also tried the more conventional means of sterilizing seed recommended in the link in the next paragraph. I got germination by both methods, but less contamination using the method given above.

I know there are commercial sources for growing medium, and hope you get some good recommendations. I used a do-it-yourself recipe from Dokmai Gardens How to grow orchids from seeds – kitchen style | Dokmai Dogma. A key ingredient is agar flakes, sold in oriental groceries, also in natural foods groceries (Earthfare, Whole Foods, etc.) as a replacement for gelatin. My one suggestion would be to use just slightly less water (maybe 90% to 95% of what they recommend). Germination seems fine using regular cane sugar from the grocery, but next time, I may want to try using glucose instead to see what happens.

The seeds from your split seed pods should be fine. remove them from the pod, allow to dry, and store in a cool, dry place until you are ready to use them. I think I will always prefer using fully-mature seeds if I sew seed again.

Good luck

[TreeBear]

Thank you for the advice guys

Whisperer, Thanks so much for the detailed reply on some of my questions. You really hit the mark there and that was exactly some of things I was looking for. Great info! I really appreciate that. I'm reading through those links you posted, they seem great I will most likely be trying that first method you posted link to, but I might also try a few kinds of methods just to experiment, you know?> I do have quite a bit of seeds. 3 seed capsules from Masdevallia guttulata, those are the ones who's seed capsules had driedn and opened. Then I also have Tolumnia "Genting orange" seed capsule which is still growing. I'm really excited to flask the Tolumnia, because I love them so much and the genting orange variety is so neat looking. I basically have planned to try my methods and experiment with the Masd. seeds and get them down and by that time, when the Tolumnia cap is ready, hopefully I'll be in good shape, with a successful method ready for them so I can sew more quickly. The only reason I didn't remove the seed caps from the Masd. and they split, was because I wasn't exactly sure when they were fertilized and when they'd be ready--different orchid genera and species vary in seed maturation,etc.

So were the Cattleyas the only kind you've tried and had success with so far?

also, when you say, "mature seeds" do you mean ones that have come into maturation on their own, and begun to split? Because thats what started to happen and thats what I got off the Masd. I was really careful when I took the capsules off, very gently, so as to not shake many of the micro-seeds around, I quickly clipped them off and placed them into some small, palm-sized jars I have, so the storage is great for them.

Anyways, so yeah, I'm going to take you're advice here and use your method you've suggested, thank you for that. I will of course, keep you update on the process If you'd like aswell, so it can be determined what different types of orchids can be propagated using these methods of sterilization and sewing.

I'm excited! now I guess I'll have to be taking a shopping trip to hunt down some of that supplies. I'm hoping that I can find those items you've suggested here, I'll try the places you said they might be and let you know. Thanks Again!

[Bloomin_Aussie]

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

Hi TreeBear

I am relatively new to sewing seed myself. For a seed-sewing method that is easy and needs only minimal equipment, see this link: http://www.orchidboard.com/community...seedlings.html. I have used this successfully with Cattleya alliance seeds. My recommendation is to use small (less than 8 ounce) screw-top glass jars with metal lids. I use jars saved from foods like marinated artichokes, pimientos, etc. for this purpose.

BTW, I tried the above method, and also tried the more conventional means of sterilizing seed recommended in the link in the next paragraph. I got germination by both methods, but less contamination using the method given above.

I know there are commercial sources for growing medium, and hope you get some good recommendations. I used a do-it-yourself recipe from Dokmai Gardens How to grow orchids from seeds – kitchen style | Dokmai Dogma. A key ingredient is agar flakes, sold in oriental groceries, also in natural foods groceries (Earthfare, Whole Foods, etc.) as a replacement for gelatin. My one suggestion would be to use just slightly less water (maybe 90% to 95% of what they recommend). Germination seems fine using regular cane sugar from the grocery, but next time, I may want to try using glucose instead to see what happens.

The seeds from your split seed pods should be fine. remove them from the pod, allow to dry, and store in a cool, dry place until you are ready to use them. I think I will always prefer using fully-mature seeds if I sew seed again.

Good luck

It can depend on the seeds but in general I prefer to sow dry seed because at least you know they are mature enough to germinate. With green pods there's always a chance you pick them before they are ready and you lose all that time spent ripening them.