Germinating paphs ?

[Poohbie]

I heard that paphs' seeds need some kind of fungi to help them germinate. But can I do that at home?

[Ray]

If I'm not mistaken, pretty much all orchid seed needs to be invaded by a fungus in order to germinate. Either the fungus secretes some essential chemical, or the seed reacts to create it. That is replicated by supplying the appropriate chemistry in vitro.

There are some cases in which the seed, when sown onto the potting medium surrounding the "mother" plant, are exposed to the fungus and germinate, but that is quite rare.

[Ryan.Walsh]

As Ray mentioned, most orchid seed either is has missing or undeveloped endosperm (the food reserve that provides seeds with energy for germination). Orchids have evolved a complex symbiotic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi in which the fungi infect the seed providing it with carbon and nutrients to germinate and later on the developed plant provides carbon back to the fungi. The relationship is often times even more complex than this but the above summary gives the gist of it.

In cultivation we can simulate this relationship by germinating orchid seed on a nutrient rich media that contains a carbon source (sugar) in asceptic conditions. There are thousands of different formulas and additives to this but they all achieve the same basic goal. Due to the nutrient and carbon rich environment of the media, other micro organisms such as yeast, bacteria and viruses that are normally in the air love this media also. These organisms will grow much quicker and eventually kill the orchid seeds so everything needs to be done in a sterile environment (glove box or laminar flow hood). It is possible to do this at home however it does require a lot of learning, investment in materials and supplies and a decent grasp of sterile technique.

[Fairorchids]

If parent plant is grown in a sphagnum moss mix, you can spreads seed on surface. If you are lucky, a few seeds might germinate, but in most cases seeds simply wash away when you water.