My cup runneth over, and over and over.

[jackb]

Crossing and starting orchid seeds has been on my bucket list for quite some time. About nine months ago I purchased a magnificent large orchid at Aldis on special for $7.99. I pollinated the flowers and have been waiting for the pods to ripen, and two weeks ago they did.

When I began the project I had little hope of its being a success, as I had heard that it was difficult and complicated. Not having tried this before I read a few articles online and followed routine plant tissue culture procedures for sterilization and placed the seeds on the media. To my utter amazement in ten days it appears that the process of forming protocorms has begun.

The project is a long way from being a success, as the protocorms, if they form, will develop into tiny orchids that will then have to be replated into another flask and grown for several more months until they can be deflasked and planted.

I have no idea of what I would do with several thousand orchids, but this has been on my bucket list for quite some time and I'm not getting any younger.

The tiny white specks visible in the top photo are seeds, and, I have 11 flasks in process!

Day 4

Day 10

Mama

 

[flowerbug]

in the wild i would guess such seeds are so tiny so they can be spread easily by wind/rain/animals/pollinators/etc. nature is always amazing to me.

 

[jackb]

in the wild i would guess such seeds are so tiny so they can be spread easily by wind/rain/animals/pollinators/etc. nature is always amazing to me.

The seeds are dispersed by the wind and need very specific conditions to germinate, that is why the plant produces millions of seeds. Also, the seeds are so tiny they carry no nutrients so must find an environment where they can establish a symbiotic relationship with a type of fungi.

Here is a link that explains the process much better than I can:

http://www.orchideenvermehrung.at/english/seed germination/intro germination.htm

 

[valley ranch]

Ya know Jack ~ I came on line with Orchids in mind ~ how to get them to bloom ```

Daughter bought a Blue Orchid ~ the bloom has long gone ~ I'd sure like to encourage it to flower ```

Think it can be done ```


And best of luck ~ with what you have going there ```


Richard

 

[jackb]

Ya know Jack ~ I came on line with Orchids in mind ~ how to get them to bloom ```

Daughter bought a Blue Orchid ~ the bloom has long gone ~ I'd sure like to encourage it to flower ```

Think it can be done ```


And best of luck ~ with what you have going there ```


Richard

Given the right conditions they can live and bloom for decades. You should determine what type orchid it is. Some only bloom once a year, so you may be waiting for some time. Also,
many need the right variation in day and night temperatures to send out spikes.

That said, if you search is there a blue orchid you will find:

There are two shades, however, that orchids do not naturally blossom in: a true blue or a true black. They simply do not have the genetic makeup to make these pigments. ... Those are actually white orchids that have been artificially dyed blue. If they were to blossom again, they would have white flowers.

 

[valley ranch]

Given the right conditions they can live and bloom for decades. You should determine what type orchid it is. Some only bloom once a year, so you may be waiting for some time. Also,
many need the right variation in day and night temperatures to send out spikes.

That said, if you search is there a blue orchid you will find:

There are two shades, however, that orchids do not naturally blossom in: a true blue or a true black. They simply do not have the genetic makeup to make these pigments. ... Those are actually white orchids that have been artificially dyed blue. If they were to blossom again, they would have white flowers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wondered about that ```

 

[flowerbug]

i learned at a young age that flower/plant sellers will do anything to sell a plant. in my case it was a small cactus with a tiny flower on it. they had stuck the flower through the cactus so the stem was sticking out the other side...

 

[flowerbug]

The seeds are dispersed by the wind and need very specific conditions to germinate, that is why the plant produces millions of seeds. Also, the seeds are so tiny they carry no nutrients so must find an environment where they can establish a symbiotic relationship with a type of fungi.

Here is a link that explains the process much better than I can:

http://www.orchideenvermehrung.at/english/seed germination/intro germination.htm

ah, yes, makes sense, as in up in a tree the nutrients are going to come from your fungi that decompose whatever they can from the bark or in the wedges of limbs...

those little plants are 1000000x too cute!

 

[jackb]

Well, time for an update. The seeds are turning into procorms, which will then form into tiny orchid plants, thousands and thousands of tiny orchid plants.

 

[valley ranch]

I want to see that happen ``` What is that medium the seeds are in ```