A seedling story!

[giuseppeorchids]

I'm losing hope, after almost three months, there are no progress what do you think?

[Silje]

Originally Posted by giuseppeorchids

I'm losing hope, after almost three months, there are no progress what do you think?

That sounds a bit long, but I've read that it can take months now and then.

However, when I flasked NOID phal seeds it only took a couple of weeks (or was it close to a month?) before the protocorms started to turn green in the flasks.

Seed sowing - the lazy way

[Cntry]

Giuseppe, don't give up at all yet. Phals can take 4 to 6 weeks before you see signs of germination. Now since you pollinated it with a different type of orchid it will take longer. You can find some seeds can take up to 1 year to germinate from seeds. So just keep them under the light as long as there is no signs of contamination and be patient.

[giuseppeorchids]

Thanks a lot everyone! You gave me some hope, I'de really need it! So I still wait and hope I can tell you soon that the seeds are germinating
However, I pollineted two plant of the same type, a hyrid Phal with another hybrid Phal

[lotis146]

Hey Giuseppe, sorry I didn't reply sooner about labs. I'm still pretty new to this all myself so I'm not sure I'd say labs are really common in the US. However I also don't know that they're necessarily rare. I heard of the lab I use from here and a general internet search. I think it would be great fun to try it myself one day but at the moment it's easier to send them off.

Sorry to hear you haven't seen any progress yet, I know how you feel. My first couple pods I sent out were questionable from the start b/c the spikes were dying so I just cut them off, contacted the lab, and took my chances sending them. That said neither of them had germinated the last time I checked in - still waiting for a response on a third as we speak. The guy told me however that he keeps them for a year before he gives up completely, so maybe you can do the same...? Until then keep trying!

Good luck, I hope you see some progress. Btw, how are your other pods coming along? I've got a couple I'm watching myself, and one that dehisced (opened) after only 4 1/2 months.

[giuseppeorchids]

Thanks for answer, lotis!
The other pods looks their still growing, I hope that they'll take less time than the first one to open

[giuseppeorchids]

I'm back with important updates!
Sadly, the seeds never germinate. Probably, they weren't alive. They were brown. One month ago, another pod opened himself, and the seeds were white, not brown! So I think that the first seeds were not alive.
So, today, I decided to sow some new seeds in the same flask that i used for the first sowing.
I sown the seeds of the pod that in opened one month ago (a NOID Phal pod), and the seeds of two anoter pods, that were still green on the plants: a Dendrobium lindleyi pod, and a pod of a NOID Phalaenopsis crossed with a Phalaenopsis equestris!
This time the seeds looks alive. No I only have to wait. Even if I'm only afraid of possible contaminations...

I'll update you!

[Cntry]

I am so glad you did not give up and tried again. Different orchids have different color or shades of seeds. They can be white tan gray and other shades also. So just because they don't look white don't think that they may not be good. Try them out. Also I hope you cleaned your jars before putting new seeds inside the old jars. As well as putting in new substrate. Keep us all updated when you can.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Giuseppe, I have flasked my own Cattleya seed using Roby's method an had germination in under 2 months. I have also sent Cattleya seed to a lab for flasking, finally got germination after 10 months (I came close to giving up).

My message is to be patient, sometimes orchid germination takes a very long time.

[giuseppeorchids]

Thanks a lot everyone! Well, if the first seeds are actually alive, they're still into the jar, so they can still germinate, because I didn't changed the substrate, I only cleaned and sterilized the external part of the jar, than I opened it and I sown... What I did I'ts a bit dangerous, but lets call it an "experiment"