Megareal

[epiphyte78]

My plant friend Michelle teaches 4th grade. For the past couple of weeks we talked about and planned on having her students conduct an informal epiphyte seed sowing experiment using "my" technique. Yesterday she came over and got 90 "pots" (3 per student) and some different seeds.

The pots are plastic water bottles. I remove the labels, cut the tops off and cut a few drainage holes. Three of these pots fit nicely in a gallon zip lock bag.

This morning I e-mailed Michelle some basic info/notes...

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The most important plant lesson: DON’T KEEP ALL YOUR EGGS IN THE SAME BASKET!!!

Variables

- Light
- Water (frequency/quality)
- Fertilizer
- Temperature
- Seed density (how many seeds in one pot)
- Seed variety (how many different species in one pot)
- Humidity (bag closed, partially open, fully open, no bag)
- Drainage/Medium (moss, peat, bark, dirt, sand, pumice, perlite)

Seeds

- Anthurium scandens
- Columnea Elmer Lorenz
- Dermatobotrys saundersii?
- Hylocereus costaricensis
- Lepismium cruciforme
- Orchidaceae
- Rhipsalis baccifera horrida

Notes

The seeds are all from epiphytes. Because epiphytes grow on trees, it’s very important that the seeds have excellent drainage. In most cases, the dirt in your garden will not provide them with enough drainage.

The seedlings in zip lock bags can’t be placed in full sun outside the house. The direct sun will cook/fry/roast/burn the seedlings in the bags. However, the bags can be placed in direct sun when inside the house by a window.

When sowing seeds from fruit, when the seeds are placed in zip lock bags, it’s important that the seeds be thoroughly clean. If they are not clean, then the seeds will mold and die. If you do see mold start to grow on or near your seeds, then use a spray bottle with water to try and spray the mold away. Keep the bag entirely open to allow the medium to dry out more quickly.

Document the results as much as possible. If possible, take photos of the seedlings over time. Or, draw how the seedlings are doing each week.

Once your seedlings are large enough, trade cuttings with your friends. This way, if your plant dies, then you can always get a cutting from your friend. This is the most important plant rule: DON’T KEEP ALL YOUR EGGS IN THE SAME BASKET!!!

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Shortly after I sent Michelle the e-mail, she texted me a pic of her students starting to sow their seeds. I had to laugh because the kids were wearing costumes while sowing the seeds. I had forgotten that today is Halloween.

Of course I immediately imagined a world in which tricker treaters received epiphyte seeds instead of candy! It would be megareal! Assuming that the kids didn't try and eat the seeds :/ I texted Michelle to ask the kids which they would prefer to receive for tricker treating... epiphyte seeds or candy. Out of 30 students... only 1 would prefer to receive candy!

There's real, unreal and surreal... but no word for better than real. I mentioned this to Michelle and she came up with "megareal". The word isn't perfect but I clearly think it's better than nothing.

The first time that I spotted orchid seeds germinating on my tree it was megareal. This tree covered in orchids is megareal. Would it be megareal if we wore epiphytes instead of clothes? Or would it be worse than real? Do we need a word for worse than real?

There are two basic types of tricks... Folger's and Laban's. Not sure if any of you remember that old commercial where people's regular boring coffee is secretly replaced with Folger's fancy coffee. Then there's Laban's trick. That's from the story in the Bible where Laban secretly replaces Jacob's bride Rachel with her sister Leah. That's a really funny story.

Nearly all of Michelle's students would consider it to be a Folger's trick if they received epiphyte seeds instead of candy when they go trick or treating this evening.

It would be megareal if there was a holiday where we could all walk around and collect seeds from strangers.

People collect baseball cards and people collect plant seeds. In reality, it is not all that surprising that as people move around they help preserve the genetic diversity of plants. - Norman C. Ellstrand, Maize Germplasm Conservation in Southern California’s Urban Gardens

Well, while I'm here... I might as well share a link to my explanation of why there aren't more photos of orchids growing on trees in Nigeria. Spoiler: incentives matter.

[Tindomul]

Nice flicker links. What kind of orchid seeds are they planting? Why do most not sew orchid seeds in this manner, but yet you expect good results. THanks.

[epiphyte78]

Most of the orchid seeds are from reed-stem Epidendrums. I strongly suspect that, unlike regular orchid seeds, the reed seeds have enough nutrients to germinate on their own.

Here are some Epidendrum wrightii seeds after a night of soaking...


Epidendrum wrightii Seeds by Epiphyte, on Flickr

[Tindomul]

And they don't need special, cool. What about sterilized media to grow? Nice photo.

[epiphyte78]

Nope, no need to sterilize the media. The media just needs to retain adequate moisture but have adequate drainage.

Here's what I recently replied to a member of another forum...

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Keep inspecting the pod every day. It will slowly start to open on the end with the old flower. Once the pod starts opening you can harvest it. Usually I'll soak the seeds for a few days in some water with a bit of orchid fertilizer. Once or twice a day I'll give them a stir. Not sure if soaking makes a difference though.

While the seeds are soaking I'll prepare some small pots. For pots I use plastic water bottles. Three of them fit nicely in a gallon zip lock bag. I remove the labels from the water bottles, cut the tops off and cut a few smallish drainage holes. Small pots will also work of course.

As far as medium, most well drained mediums should work... smallish bark, pumice, maybe a bit of peat mixed in. As a rule, I try and hedge my bets by using different mixes for each batch of seeds. Sometimes I'll place a 1/2" thick layer of good quality sphagnum moss on top.

I place the medium in the pots and thoroughly water them. Then I'll place the pots in gallon zip lock bags. Once most of the soaking seeds start settling on the bottom I figure they are ready to be sown. I've used a regular straw to sow the seeds. I put the straw in the seed "soup"... stir... place my finger over the top of the straw... lift it out and over the pot and slowly remove my finger which allows the seeds and water to fall on the medium. I've also used an eye dropper and a horse syringe. I try not to sow too many seeds in one pot.

Once the seeds are sown, I partially seal the bags and place them under a grow light and also by a bright window.

The challenge is keeping the seeds humid and moist enough... but not too wet. If the medium stays too wet then slime will form and will eventually kill the seeds. I'll open the bag more if I suspect the medium is too wet. The seeds/seedlings can handle brief periods of dryness but they prefer to stay fairly evenly humid and moist. If the seeds/seedlings need water I'll use a very fine spray bottle.

What's great about the reed-stem Epi seeds is that you can see them start to swell and green as soon as they've soaked for a day or two. After you sow the seeds you can watch them slowly get larger and larger until they start forming leaves and then roots. So you quickly see action... but it is pretty slow action. I'm sure that a bit of bottom heat and weak weekly fertilizer would speed things up. I keep the pots in my unheated garage though during winter because I want the seedlings with the widest growing temp range to have an advantage.

Most of the time I'll include a couple companion epiphyte or succulent seeds (ie Rhipsalis, Gesneriads, Anthurium, Echeveria) in the pots with the orchid seeds. I don't put too many companion seeds but, if something goes wrong with the orchid seeds then at least I'll get something for my time/effort. One time I sowed some Golden Barrel Cactus seeds together with the reed stem Epis.

[Leafmite]

I hope they have fun with the project.
Plants are so very educational and, if done right, really get kids enthusiastic. Once when volunteering, I planted chamomile with 5-year old kids. Both the parents and children were really excited about the kids bringing home a plant.

When I was a child, I would have been thrilled to get a package of seeds instead of candy. Then again, I was always obsessed with plants.