Seed Pod

[catwalker808]

carlq.
For most orchids, it's best to germinate & start the seed as others have suggested. If you don't wish to go through the hassles of flasking & are content with just the thrill of having a few plants germinate, reed stem epis are one of the few types with which you might have success.

Reed stem epis produce volunteer seedlings more easily than most other orchids. Since people use them outdoors as border or bedding plants, bees or other insects easily pollinate them. The seed pods develop, split open, seeds fall out or are blown about & seedlings germinate on the surface of plantings.

I suggest watching the pods until they are very full & swollen & start to yellow slightly. There should be lots of seed. When the tip starts to split, just shake the seed onto the growing media of several different orchids which will receive frequent moisture. Don't use NEW bark, it may retard germination. You could try some on a piece of cork bark & mist frequently.

Keep the seeded areas a little shadier than usual & don't let it go dry for too long. If plants should germinate, let them stay in place until they are 5-6" tall or have several strong roots.

Because of their RELATIVE ease in producing offspring like this, even when cultivated or in outdoor plantings, many reed stem epi hybrids are of indeterminate parentage. Since they did not pollinate & mark the seed pod, when a nice volunteer blooms, many times, people assume or guess at parentage, to try & legitimatize the unknown hybrid.

So if you should succeed in germinating & growing some plants by this method, remember, you will have plants of unknown parentage. They will be reed stem epis & you will have to be content with that.

There is more confidence in the names of reed stem epi hybrids, when they have been made starting with known species & building from there.