Another Orchid Lab

[Ray]

Keeping track of time-since-pollination is not really necessary for green-pod culture - just be observant, and the moment you see yellowing of either end of the capsule, harvest it.

 

[Marc]

I know a couple of people that do their own propagating, one of them is a hobbyst and he really knows how to work with dry seeds and has a high succes rate. The other one is running his own nursery and they work quite a lot with green seed.

I think there is no right or wrong and as long as it works eveything is fine. I hope that one day I'll find the time to do my own sowing. But for now my shorter term goal is polinating one of my own Paphs and have someone else sow them for me.

 

[John Boy]

I can't seem to keep up with myself, so... let me just post another few pictures of non-slipper project in the making. I'll be trying to show some more lab-related stuff soon!

I had some (self-generated) contamination issues lately, so: I'll show some of these pictures as well. Everybody can show the good stuff, but showing the failures is quite as important I guess.

 

[NYEric]

.

What eez it!?

 

[SlipperFan]

It eez interesting coloring!

 

[Rick]

The morning after the battle!

And some battle it was.

Even Paph. thaianum had to give up a shoe…….

You know with a nice sharp razor or scalpel you can cut a window on the back of the pouch and work through that instead of cutting the whole pouch off. I don't think it makes much difference on the quality of the pollination, but the flower is still good looking when you are done.:wink:

 

[Rick]

God must have had a nasty day!!!
I just pollinated Masd. saulii with dracula cordobae, now I'm blind. The tiny stuff drives me nuts! Why would God be so mean as to make these structures smaller than my eyes can deal with, ey?!

Before you go blind you better invest in a set of jewelers magnifying binocular glasses.:wink:

http://www.amazon.com/Bausch-Lomb-Magna-Visor-Lens/dp/B003E6OJ9U/ref=pd_sim_ac_1

 

[SlipperFan]

That looks like quite a battleground, Rick! I hope you took a lot of captives!

 

[John Boy]

Here's a quick update, I'm still struggling to take pictures, as I work my way through sowing and pollinating, harvesting capsules, protocolling everything I do..., so (again) just a few random shots "off the shelf as it were".

 

[Marco]

John Boy - I give it up to you. That looks like a lot of hard work! It looks like its coming along well.

 

[NYEric]

Send us some!

 

[John Boy]

Spending more time in the Lab-room, today I had another "most ever" day:

20 sowings, 6 x repeat sowings of stuff contaminated or "in high demand", plus another 5 green pods.

I guess I'll have to quit my daytime job rather sooner than later. If anyone has an idea how to make time: fire away!!!

 

[Marc]

Nice room saving idea to use petri dishes for the first germination.

When are you planning on opening your own shop?

 

[John Boy]

Marc, it's not just the room, you're saving on, it's also the media! It makes a huge difference, to get away with just a few ml's for your first few weeks of germination. No point wasting the good stuff. A 3rd benefit is: they are wonderfully esay to work with, once you get to the second stage of splitting the dish into your propper "starter jars". Downside: wastage once they've served for step 1.

 

[NYEric]

I guess I'll have to quit my daytime job rather sooner than later. If anyone has an idea how to make time: fire away!!!

Do they sell 5-hour energy (Extra strength) bottles there? It's an over the counter dietary supplement that's like crack in a can! BTW Looking very productive, good luck.

 

[paphioboy]

Very cool.. How easy is it to replate/transfer seedlings from the petri dishes to regular flasks/bottles? Do you extract each seedling with tweezers?

 

[Marc]

Very cool.. How easy is it to replate/transfer seedlings from the petri dishes to regular flasks/bottles? Do you extract each seedling with tweezers?

I'm guessing that he uses the dishes only for the protocorns to form. Once they have formed I expect him to replate and smear the protocorn clumps out on new media in bigger pots.

But my knowledge of sowing orchid seeds is limited so I expect Johnboy to explain it better.