Propagation of Calanthe from seed

[Tropic]

I have a number of prized Calanthe seedpods ripening and am at a loss as to how best to propagate and grow some of these new crosses. What would be the best formula for a medium and any advise would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise, I will have to just resort to planting the seeds around the damp root area of adult Calanthe plants and then wait three years to maybe get a few bulbs to grow to flower. I have had some minimal success in the past and two plants in particular were truly great when flowered this year. But, I would like to now have more plants survive from a more secure propagation procedure.

[Fairorchids]

Maybe you should contact Lankester gardens near San Jose and see whether they can help (or offer advise on local assistance).

[Ryan.Walsh]

I haven't germinated these myself however looking at the research it looks like they need a basal medium + some type of cytokinin to germinate successfully.

This paper :EFFECTS OF CULTURE MEDIA AND CAPSULE MATURITY ON SEED GERMINATION OF INTRASPECIFIC AND INTERSPECIFIC CROSSES IN THE GENUS CALANTHE used kinetin while this paper: Germination of mature seeds of Calanthe tricarinata Lindl., an endangered terrestrial orchid, by asymbiotic culture in vitro - ResearchGate used 6-benzyladenopurine (BA) a synthetic cytokinin.

Being from Costa Rica I have no idea what kind of flasking facilities may or may not exist in your area. If you are interested in doing it yourself let me know and I can help with setting up a sterile glove box etc. for pretty cheaply. If you haven't done sterile culture before it's a pretty steep learning curve but it's definitely doable. As far as media goes you could try to go with a pre-made one such as Phytotech's BM-2 that has BA in it or start out with a Murashige & Skoog base and add whatever cytokinin you can get your hands on. Phytotech ships globally but can get pretty pricy if you don't have a business or University address. Kitchen Culture Kits - Supplies has a whole bunch of stuff including the hormone and the MS media I mentioned. For a home enthusiast they are probably the best ones to go with but I'm not sure about their international shipping policies.

Best of luck, let me know if you have anyy other questions.

[OCRC_Dir_China]

Do you have the time and equipment to do the work, if not you may want to send it out to a lab that can do it or your local university. As far as what is the best vitro formula to use, many factors come into play, the major factor is seed quality then chemical quality the last one is your Knowledge ,Skill and Ability.
Truly any one can learn to asymbiotic green or dry seed sowing, we commonly refer to them as citizen scientists.