Sowing to Germination

[Cntry]

As some of you know I recently went and bought some materials for sowing my own seeds. Here is a few pictures of what my adventure was like doing this.

Purchased a package of Agar Mix P668 off the internet. Added distilled water to a pan and heated it to a boil. Added the package of agar mix to the water and began to stir until it was dissolved. Once it was dissolved and cooked for the amount of time it calls for and I didn't see any more small pieced floating in the pan I began to pour the mixture into clean baby food jars. Place on the lids lightly don't screw them down. Then they go into a pressure cooker and processed for 15 minutes at 15 psi. Let the pressure release and cool down till your pressure cooker will open and screw on your caps tightly now and pull out your jars and sit them on the counter to cool. Once you remove all your jars you place foil over the lids as well as the jars.

I let them sit for 10 days making sure there was no contamination in any of the jars. After the 10 days I moved the jars to my area I will be using to sow my seeds placing them on a small table. I spray the inside of my cabinet I am going to use and wait 5 mins. Spray it again and wait another 5 mins. Once again I stray it inside and I put everything inside as I spray each item before placing it into my cabinet. Once everything is inside I spray again and begin to work inside my cabinet opening the jar one at a time after I sterilize my dry seeds. I used peroxide and a needle shaking the seeds and them placing the peroxide and the seeds into the jars. I had several different seeds I worked with and wrote the names on a piece of paper and taped the paper to the top of the glass so when I was finished with the jars I could just place them in the area I needed them to go. This way I could pull them all out one by one and know exactly what each jar was. Then I labeled each bag and placed the jars inside after spraying the jars also well as the bag inside. Then the bag was sealed shut and placed on the shelf with light on it.

I waited between 5 to 6 weeks before I seen any signs of germination in the jars. I used to much peroxide in each jar but I went by what the instructions I read to use. Finding out I could use a lot less with baby food jars.
If you look in the bottom of the jars you can see the beginning to germination process.

[Cntry]

Here are a few more pictures enjoy. The last picture was for the replate that didn't work. With in two days the deli tubs were contaminated and I lost 95% of the phals. I removed them from the contaminated containers used peroxide again on the seedlings that needed replating but lost them.

[Silje]

Originally Posted by Cntry

Here are a few more pictures enjoy. The last picture was for the replate that didn't work. With in two days the deli tubs were contaminated and I lost 95% of the phals. I removed them from the contaminated containers used peroxide again on the seedlings that needed replating but lost them.

Sorry to hear about your phals.

Replating seems to be way more difficult than sowing to me. I'm still wondering how to go about it.
I'll leave my flasks until late spring to give them a nice warm summer growth period, but I suspect OB can expect replating failure threads from me in 3-4 months time.

Oh, and let's add that there will probably be some 'seedling wilting off' threads coming from this side too...

[Cntry]

Originally Posted by Silje

Sorry to hear about your phals.

Replating seems to be way more difficult than sowing to me. I'm still wondering how to go about it.
I'll leave my flasks until late spring to give them a nice warm summer growth period, but I suspect OB can expect replating failure threads from me in 3-4 months time.

Oh, and let's add that there will probably be some 'seedling wilting off' threads coming from this side too...

Hi Silje, I find it also a lot harder to replate. The agar has set up and you need to be quick placing these little tiny seedlings that are so fragile its down right scary into this media. Seeds you just place on top so to me its like you said a lot easier. My problem at first was grabbing the little guys with the forceps so I didn't smash them and being able to position down into the agar. I didn't know if the tiny roots would break or not. That answer is yes the roots will break so you have to be very gentle.

[czayta]

Oh my goodness! Great work Shirley!!! That is so exciting! Thanks for the detailed post and all the pictures.

[Orchid Whisperer]

I have grown from seed totally at home only once, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt!!

After trying to replate some Cattlianthe seedlings (unsuccessfully), I ended up taking the little protocorms I had remaining, and just placing them on finely chopped sphagnum in jars. Sphagnum was finely chopped, soaked, wrung out until only slightly damp, placed in jars and put in the pressure cooker 15 psi, maybe 15-20 minutes, allowed to cool. I just placed the protocorms on top of that and waited a long time (months), but eventually some grew and I am still raising some tiny seedlings started this way. This is not optimal for producing large numbers of seedlings, but for me, it is sufficient, as I really only want a few plants from each cross.

This does get around the re-plate issue.

[czayta]

Originally Posted by Cntry

Hi Silje, I find it also a lot harder to replate. The agar has set up and you need to be quick placing these little tiny seedlings that are so fragile its down right scary into this media. Seeds you just place on top so to me its like you said a lot easier. My problem at first was grabbing the little guys with the forceps so I didn't smash them and being able to position down into the agar. I didn't know if the tiny roots would break or not. That answer is yes the roots will break so you have to be very gentle.

I have yet to replate any of my seedlings from a year ago. I had low germination rates so they flasks weren't too crowded and I have just left them in the mother media so far.

Some of my Vanda denisoniana seedlings that I flasked are getting quite large and would probably appreciate a replate flask, but I am too worried about breaking their roots or contaminating the agar during the replating process. I only have 4 seeds germinate from the ~400 seeds I plated, but those four seeds that germinated grew into four very sturdy little vanda plants! lol

[Silje]

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

I have grown from seed totally at home only once, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt!!

After trying to replate some Cattlianthe seedlings (unsuccessfully), I ended up taking the little protocorms I had remaining, and just placing them on finely chopped sphagnum in jars. Sphagnum was finely chopped, soaked, wrung out until only slightly damp, placed in jars and put in the pressure cooker 15 psi, maybe 15-20 minutes, allowed to cool. I just placed the protocorms on top of that and waited a long time (months), but eventually some grew and I am still raising some tiny seedlings started this way. This is not optimal for producing large numbers of seedlings, but for me, it is sufficient, as I really only want a few plants from each cross.

This does get around the re-plate issue.

COOL!

That sounds doable. And I guess one could use perlite or something similar as well.

So, just to get this straight, you basically did the same sterilization process and preparation of the flasks as you would with agar medium, but with moss instead.

Did you clean the seedlings/protocorms with something when you took them out of the initial flask and put them into the spag?

I was thinking perhaps one could sterilize with a could of sprays of H2O2 like I do when I'm sowing.

Another question, do you have to put the seedlings into the medium? Can't you make a quite soft agar mix and let them rest on top and that they bury their own roots into as they grow?

And third, I was actually thinking about just thinning out my flasks, spray it with H2O2 again and leave a more manageable population in the original flask. I know it's not optimal, I should ideally have a medium with more nutrition than the P668. Has anybody tried that?

[Orchid Whisperer]

Silje, just FYI, I did try perlite, also finely chopped bark, live sheet moss, decayed wood, etc., and nothing worked quite as well as the chopped sphagnum.

[Utopar]

Originally Posted by Cntry

I waited between 5 to 6 weeks before I seen any signs of germination in the jars.

This was the bit of information that I was looking for.

My first time sowing / flasking, and I have some seeds that have been in agar for two weeks only, so I must be patient.