Advice needed kovachii seed sowing

After years waiting.... I´ve got a "pod" of Pk :rollhappy:. I suspect that it is a selfing from an self-pollinated plant. The pod is impressive in size... almost 1.2 cm W x 7 cm L... and it is full of seed.
I've read in this forum some advices from some time ago...
I´ve read that Pk is hard to germinate, somewhere I read that it is really easy... somewhere that needs a medium with high pH... somewhere that the pH does not matter...
I´ve been succesful with schlimii, besseae, lindenii, longifoluim and others using half strengh P668 + coconut water and very low agar concentration... but I am a bit scared about this sowing because I´ve been waiting for a long time to get the seed and I could take a long time to get more...

Any advice is more than welcome

Pictures of the Phragmipedium kovachii seeds

Almost 95% of the seed has viable embryos!

Phragmipedium kovachii seed 40X @ Transmitted Light


Phragmipedium kovachii seed 40X @ Reflected Light


Phragmipedium kovachii seed 100X @ Transmitted Light


Phragmipedium kovachii seed 100X @ Reflected Light

Hey that is very cool. I cant help but good luck to you.

Cool. IDK, maybe one of the breeders here will know.

NYEric said:

maybe one of the breeders here will know.

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In any case I am going to sow some of the seed tomorrow. I've prepared:
P668 at half strenght (sugar corrected to 18g/l)
100ml/l of coconut water
3.5 gr/l of agar
pH corrected to 6.0

Sucess or Failure will be posted here.

Good luck! I look forward to a positive next post from you.

Trithor said:

Good luck! I look forward to a positive next post from you.

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Thanks a lot Trithor.

Two batches of seed were sow yesterday.
The first as described above, the second one in liquid medium (as was adviced for Paphios by Xavier).

Let´s wait a couple of weeks....

Anxious to hear the results!

First report:

Testas are out, embryos growing in both media. (germination in dark conditions)

In the first medium (P668 1/2 + CW) the embryos seem to be slightly more developped than in liquid media.

No green color yet but everything seems to be going pretty well... fingers crossed.

Well done, it sounds as if you are having good success!

Wow that seems fast for germination.

Very good!

What was your sterilization procedure?

Rick said:

Wow that seems fast for germination.
Very good!
What was your sterilization procedure?

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Hi Rick,

The night before sowing I put the seed in a test tube containing water + table sugar, I put a rubber cap and apply vaccum with a syringe. (8h of vaccum treatment is enough)
My standard sterilization procedure is 10 minutes in 10% bleach, 10 minutes in 5% bleach and one rinse in distilled water.

Update... some green!

Sorry the poor quality of the pictures.





The seed in liquid media is not going that fast.

That is great! Seeing this makes me impatient to get started myself! Congratulations.

they like to be cool

phrag guy said:

they like to be cool

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They are at 23°C (73F) 24h/day. This temperature works well for the germination and development of schlimii, besseae, andreettae... etc, and seems to me also fine for kovachii.

That's fantastic! I would love to try and sow my own Phrags any chance of a new pic?

Missgreen said:

That's fantastic! I would love to try and sow my own Phrags any chance of a new pic?

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Hi Missgreen, If you do not have experience with in-vitro procedures I would advice to start with something easier... Phrags are not especially hard to germinate but need some "special cares"...

This weekend I can take a new picture for you... they are going quite fine but much more slower than other phrags.

Oh I'm not going to try and sow anything just yet next on the list is to get a flask of seedlings of some kind. But which orchids are easier than Phrags?

Missgreen said:

Oh I'm not going to try and sow anything just yet next on the list is to get a flask of seedlings of some kind. But which orchids are easier than Phrags?

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... to sow I mean :rollhappy: