The successful sowing of orchid seeds requires a rethink from the hobby gardener. In order for an orchid to produce a seed pod at all, it must be pollinated manually. Unlike other plant seeds, the seeds they contain do not have nutrient tissue, but are dependent on a symbiosis fungus. Therefore, a special in vitro method was developed so that the seeds still germinate, with a culture medium replacing the mycorrhizal fungus. Here we explain exactly how the procedure works.

If the orchid forms a seed capsule, the home gardener who is keen to experiment can try sowing

material list

The following equipment and consumables are placed close at hand near a kitchen stove:

  • cooking pot
  • spirit burner
  • grating
  • Small screw-top jars
  • Test tubes with ready-made culture medium
  • tweezers
  • inoculation loop
  • stapler
  • Sharp knife or scalpel
  • gloves
  • coffee filter
  • cotton pads
  • Distilled water
  • Ethanol (70 percent)
  • hydrogen peroxide (3 percent)

Hydrogen peroxide is used for disinfection and is available in pharmacies and online shops in a ready-to-use 3 percent dilution. You can read here how easy it is to prepare culture medium.

Obtaining and preparing seed from a seed pod - this is how you do it right

If manual pollination was successful, wait until a seed pod bursts open. Cut them off, shake the seeds on coffee filter paper and shape them into an envelope, closed with sewing pins. Before sowing on the culture medium, the seeds must be sterilized. That is how it goes:

  • Pour the water into the saucepan up to a height of 3 cm and bring to the boil
  • Clean the grate with ethanol and place it on the saucepan
  • Fill a screw-top jar about 1 cm high with hydrogen peroxide

Use the tweezers to place an envelope of seeds in the solution for 10 minutes. Repeated tossing ensures that all seeds are moistened.

Apply seeds to the nutrient medium

The following operations are all performed over a constant stream of steam simulating conditions of a sterile workbench. Follow these steps:

  • Place a cotton pad soaked in ethanol and a glass of distilled water on the grating
  • Use the tweezers to remove the seed envelope from the glass in the stream of steam and place it in the distilled water
  • Swirl the seed envelope in the water and place it on the cotton pad to open it with the tweezers and scalpel
  • Take a test tube with culture medium, open it in the stream of steam and place it on an ethanol-soaked cloth

With the help of the inoculation loop, you bring the seeds from the envelope directly onto the culture medium and distribute them there. Then close the test tube again with the stopper and put on an aluminum foil cap, ideally closed with a rubber ring. It is important to note that you clean the tool with ethanol before and after each work step or briefly flame it over the alcohol burner.

tips

After sowing, place the culture vessels at a warm 25 degrees Celsius in a bright location without direct sun. There should not be any strong temperature fluctuations that could trigger a pressure change in the test tubes.

Category:

Indoor plants