Bletilla striata seed sowing- El Naturel

[Call_Me_Bob]

Awesome! The thought had run across my mind. I'm not sure if these worked because they are bletilla striata, which is known to germinate without in-vitro processes pretty easily, or it has something to do with the existence of some nutrient in the terrarium.

What species have you tried?

[epiphyte78]

The only orchid I can say for sure is the reed stem Epidendrum...that's because its seeds are easily the largest.

I've been pollinating quite a few different epiphytic orchids. When a seed pod is ripe enough...I remove it and put it into a container where I store all my seeds. When it starts to open...I use tweezers to scrape the seeds into the container.

The last couple of years I've sowed a year's worth of seeds on my tree around springtime. This year I'm thinking that I might start staggering the sowing throughout the year. Perhaps I'll sow a 1/4 of the seeds each month.

This method will allow me to hedge my bets better. Sowing a portion of the seeds each month will increase the chances of finding suitable conditions. Plus, I'm not always as consistent as I'd like to be with watering.

The conditions on my tree are totally different than the conditions in my terrarium. My tree is bone dry during the day while my terrarium is constantly moist and humid. Plus there's less temperature fluctuation in my terrarium. I'll allocate the seeds between the two locations based on the germination rates.

The goal is to be able to successfully germinate the widest possible variety of epiphytic orchids in my terrarium and trees. This requires cultivating the widest variety of orchid fungus possible.

Perhaps in the not too distant future we'll be able to trade various species that we've symbiotically grown from seed.

[Call_Me_Bob]

Sweet! Sounds like you've got a Good systems