wild collected Cyps.

[McKatelyn]

I know it's bad to get wild collected Cyps but I did buy a few that were collected from private land that needed to be dug due to construction. They didn't look to have very many broken roots and were sent with a big chunk of soil and wild grass still attacted. There were even quite a few little Cyp seedlings. This got me thinking. Since I have the soil and the seedling are growing in it, obviously I also still have a culture of the fungus in the soil that's needed for the seeds to germinate and grow the first couple years. I always grow Cyps in a soiless mix but I got a little brave with a couple and planted them in my native soil in hopes that the fungus can spread and I can grow a self sustaining population. BTW, there is a native popualtion of candidum in a lime fen only a couple miles from my house. These ones I got are either reg parviflorum or possibly the var pubescens from ND. Since I have a nice amount of the soil, do you think this will work?

 

[Kevin]

It's possible. A friend of mine collects leaf mould from the forest floor to mulch his Cyps, and he has gotten many, many seedlings growing.

 

[NYEric]

Photos? Good Luck, keep us posted.

 

[McKatelyn]

I don't have any photos because I planted them right away and they were already dormant. I can tell you that there was so much native soil, I even got a few earth worms.lol

 

[NYEric]

Cool, good luck.

 

[fundulopanchax]

Hi, Kate,

If you leave Cyp's in a bed of inorganic medium for a two-three years, and you leave some pods on them to open naturally, it is not uncommon to find seedlings a year or so later. I have had this happen in my Cyp reginae and Cyp candidum beds where I have had plants for 3-4 years. I suspect that fungi naturally find their way through air spread or spores and with earthworms coming up through the bottoms of my beds (1/4 inch hardware cloth to keep voles from coming up). Of course adding some soil should be a richer source.

Good luck!

Ron

 

[McKatelyn]

Thanks Ron
I have most of mine growing in inorganic medium but with a inch or two of Orchid fir bark as mulch. I poacked around last week and noticed the roots actually are growing in the bark layer as well. They are mostly hybrids and I removed the spent flowers to give the plant more strength, so I know there are no seeds in the mulch. It is a fine grade bark. Do you think if I let a few go to seed, I could expect some seedling in the mulch?

 

[fundulopanchax]

Thanks Ron
Do you think if I let a few go to seed, I could expect some seedling in the mulch?

You should try it. If I leave mine alone, I do get some seedlings.

Ron

 

[likespaphs]

do you think there it's just a compatible strain of fungus that allows germination or does the plant, even though it was flask raised, still have the fungus in it and then inoculates the media?

 

[fundulopanchax]

The flask-raised plants dont have fungi associated with them but spores are constantly floating about and landing in media and the various critters like worms and so forth spread them around. Once a bed has been in service for a few months there is a pretty large biolayer associated with the gravel and other media components - algae, fungi, bacteria and so forth. The fungi that associate with Cyp's are common soil fungi - and more or less the same fungi are associated with all the temperate terrestrials so most areas will have plenty of spores.

Ron

do you think there it's just a compatible strain of fungus that allows germination or does the plant, even though it was flask raised, still have the fungus in it and then inoculates the media?