Growing Lady Slippers from seed

[nynighthawk]

Greetings,

I've been seeing an offering of Cypripedium acaule seeds for sale and am wondering if anyone has successfully tried to grow these US Native orchids from seed. The seeds are being offered with a packet of local soil that is said to contain the fungi that the orchids need to develop the symbiotic relationship that they need to get started.

Can anyone provide some thoughts and/or guidance on how easy/difficult it might be to grow these little beauties? Is it worth the effort to give these a try?

If I am able to grow seedlings out, I think I have good conditions for them in my garden.

Thanks for any help with this.

(I wasn't sure if I should post this to the Beginners' Forum or the Propogation Forum)

[Bud]

WOW! That is a hard orchid to grow. Good Luck !
That is the moccasin flower and some states have banned picking it in the wild or even owning one.

"Habitat: On acidic substrates under variable conditions of moisture and shade. Often associated with coniferous trees, most typically Eastern White Pine. Especially abundant in partial shade or full sunlight on rocky gneissic or granitic ridges, where it grows in thin dry-mesic to mesic loam, sand and/or pine litter with mosses and lichens. Also fairly common near the edges of swamps, in mixed woods of Trembling Aspen, Red Maple, and White Birch, with or without conifers. Less commonly found in Black Spruce bogs, sometimes in wet sphagnum. Blooming dates range from late May in upland sites to late June in bogs. The pink-flowered form is common and widespread in Muskoka, but the albino form (f. albiflorum) is rare in the District.
Cypripedium acaule can be found in two distinct habitat types in Wisconsin: dry, acidic woods, typically on slopes or steep hillsides, and in sphagnum bogs.
DISCUSSION: Fuller (1933) noted that C. acaule always grows with its roots in acid soil; root horizon soil pH tested at a number sites in Wisconsin ranged from pH 4-5. He also records that the white-flowered form has been collected in Adams and Rock counties.
Associates: Trees: White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis), and Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea)

Uses: All native orchids are protected species in Minnesota and may not be collected without special permit from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Reproduction: Sexually by seed
FLOWERING DATES: May 20 to July 20, blooming earlier in the southern part of the state and later in the north.
POLLINATION: Cypripedium acaule, like the other Cypripediums in Wisconsin, has a deceptive pollination system. Bumblebees are lured into the pouch of the labellum through the slit in the front, attracted by the bright color and sweet scent of the flower. Once inside, they find no reward, and discover that they are trapped--with only one point of escape. Inside the pouch, there are hairs which lead to a pair of openings, one beneath each pollen mass. First, however, the bee must pass under the stigma, so if it bears any pollen from a visit to another flower, it will be deposited before picking up a fresh load, thus preventing self-pollination. Unfortunately, the bees quickly learn from their experiences and soon avoid C. acaule flowers. Thus, like several other orchids in our flora, they are dependent on naive bees, and generally experience very low pollination rates (Davis 1986).
Blooms 24 May to 10 July in the North Country.
Pollinated by Bumblebees (Bombus spp.)
Reproduces by seed

Propagation: Difficult

Cultivation: Hardy to USDA Zone 3 (average minimum annual temperature -40ºF)"

-By: Earl J.S. Rook



---------- Post added at 05:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:14 PM ----------

Seedlings are not yet established...you may decimate all of them with just one stroke of overwatering or overfertilizing...unless youre a lab, a farm or a professional grower then go for it...as I am a beginner in orchid growing: Id not touch that plant

[camille1585]

Bud, if you copy stuff from internet (especially when it's huge amounts like here) could you please acknowledge that it's not your text? Without doing so it becomes plagerism. I'm assuming that you didn't write the stuff on the webpage. And in this case, because of the huge amount, I think a link to the original text would be appropriate.

Which I found quite easily: Cypripedium acaule, Stemless Lady Slipper

[Bud]

Sorry Camille, I forgot to put the "... " and the wisconsin site...I usually do that for internet stuff I found ...

[camille1585]

[Discus]

These plants also require essentially sterile culture conditions like most other orchids; it's a royal pain to do. If you're quite serious about it, then you should be able to find suitable information fairly easily. If you don't want to go through the schlepp, then you can either buy some seedling or adult plants or get a lab to do the flasking of the seeds for you.

Here are some links you may find of interest:
Cypripedium Pot Culture
http://culturesheet.org/orchidaceae:cypripedium:acaule

Let me know if you're serious about wanting to grow these yourself and I'll look up some suggested media for you; there are quite a few; in general, temperate slippers seem to require amino acids to successfully germinate and grow; some of the european ones are grown by culturing suitable fungi and then sowing the seeds on top, more closely replicating the way they grow in nature.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If you really want to grow Cypripedium acaule, get a BS plant. This is difficult enough already considering that if you've never grown a terrestrial orchid before, there's a good chance you may slip up somewhere down the line. Most terrestrial orchids are not a cake walk to grow, Cypripedium acaule is no exception. Keep in mind that while I said they may be difficult to grow, they are not impossible to grow.

With that, they like super acidic conditions unlike many Cypripedium spp.

Growing Cypripedium spp. from seed, while not impossible, is difficult even amongst those who know how to sow orchids from seed in-vitro. It is not only that they need sterile conditions that poses an issue, but rather the seeds need to be treated with a cold spell, and then have the temperatures warm up in order to start the process.

The main problem is seed dormancy, which you must break using controlled artificial means. Hence the cold spell, then warm spell.

Again, an attempt at growing many Cypripedium spp. from seed is best left for those who have quite some experience under their belts already.

[nynighthawk]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, all.

Your feedback is a very useful and thoughtful reality check about whether or not it makes sense to try to grow these 'chids from seed.

I think it's probably beyond my technical capabilities to try growing these plants from seed, at this point. Also, although my garden soil is on the acidic side, I don't think I can maintain the kind of consistent acidity and moisture levels these plants seem to need without setting aside a dedicated planting bed.

I had hoped that since they are native to the Northeast US, they might not be too much of a stretch to grow them here, in the New York City area. But, it sounds like successfully germinating and establishing viable seedlings is more of a challenge than I'd thought. :-(

So, OK, I'll stick to just putting my 'chids outdoors for the summer and leave it at that, for now, and just dream of a swath of Lady's Slippers nestled around the garden. LOL

I'll keep the web links on file for future info. There's sooooo much to learn about orchids.

Thanks, again, folks. You've probably saved me from some major black-thumb heartache..........you're the BEST!

[Pelepel]

Has anyone ever tried growing a Habenaria radiata? I've seen bulbs at shows, and have read they can be picky. I think the flower is gorgeous and egrets are my favorite bird. Just curious if anyone has tackled this guy before.

On eBay in the past, I've seen sellers offering North American slippers as, "collected from a site that was about to get developed legally" but was curious of the legality of such. So, theoretically, you could have an illegal species even if you bought a pack of seeds? There is just no control as far as eBay goes.

[Paul Mc]

Pelepel, I have tried the Egret plant before I knew much about orchids. Failed miserably, but our OS meeting had a speaker last night who studies terrestrials and sold this one. Of course, I'm trying again. The trick appears to be giving it the right soil conditions versus moisture retention and drainage. It's also only hardy to Zone 6 so I'm borderline and he suggested to keep it potted and move it to a garage or similar structure in hard winters. Check out WildOrchidCompany, that's who the speaker was. And yes, don't be tricked by eBay sellers! He said that there are many selling "legal" plants that just isn't so and has seen native populations disappear as a result.