Subject: Question about Orchid

From: [email-masked] (Your Full Name)
Date: 16 Mar 1996 19:50:37 GMT

I have just resently become interested in growing some orchids from 
spores and I don't know where to start. I live in the Washington D.C. 
area and have been to the National Botanical Garden were I gogt some 
limited information, but need much more. I do know the orchid come from 
spores, which take 6-12 months to germinate, but that is it. Any great 
books to recommend before I go to the library. Where can I get some 
orchid spores? and How do I germinate them. Whats the best soil mixture?
Any infor will be greatly appreciated.
mike carew

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From: [email-masked] (mel turner)
Date: Sat, 16 Mar 1996 17:48:43

>Any infor will be greatly appreciated.

Sorry, but you are just a bit mistaken.  Orchids, like all other flowering 
plants, reproduce by forming seeds not spores. [ The orchid seeds are very 
minute and thus are basically spore-like from a practical standpoint, however. 
Were you thinking of ferns, not orchids?]

Growing orchids from seed is not something that can be easily done by home 
gardeners; in nature the seedlings have a symbiotic relationship with a 
mycorrizal fungus that  nourishes the tiny new plant.   You can't grow orchid 
seeds by simply dusting them over any kind of potting soil; for a long time 
growing them from seed at all was basically considered  impossible.  As I 
understand it,  modern orchid growers use special tissue-culture type 
techniques & enriched, sterile nutrient media to grow the seeds  [seedlings 
are of course the only way to get new hybrids.]   A thorough search of the 
library may find you some recipes.  [I think there is also a newsgroup 
rec.gardens.orchids that you could try posting to]
mdt

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From: mike carew <[email-masked]>
Date: 19 Mar 1996 01:40:10 GMT

mel, thanks so much for your time, I posted to the other news group rec.garden.orchids and 
got some useful info and a possible connection to purchase some seeds. I will continue to 
learn more about this in the library (if you could recommand a book for beginners). Thats 
where I need to start. 
thanks 
mike carew

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From: [email-masked] (mel turner)
Date: Mon, 18 Mar 1996 09:58:27

In article <[email-masked]> mike carew <[email-masked]> writes:
> I must of been mistaken, but I thought I saw a 
>victory garden on PBS 6-8 months ago, that explained it in terms relating to
>spores. 

It's possible they were just being very sloppy in their choice of words.  
Orchid seeds are spore-like in size, but they are seeds.

>The grower was I think from England, and had a large selection of orchids in 
>different stages of grow. He had them germinating in a solution of seeds (I
>belive 
>some type of spores and water) in a glass becker for 6-12 months from which a
>small 
>sprout would form. I know it will be hard that why I plan to start while I'm
>young.
>Did anyone see this Victory Garden and can explain what I saw. 

The grower probably was in fact growing orchids from seed in sterile flasks 
containing a liquid nutrient medium.    However, growers also propagate 
orchid clones by culturing apical meristem tissue in similar flasks.  I think 
the tissue clumps from the liquid cultures get transferred to solid agar 
media in order to form new plants.
good luck, mdt

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From: mike carew <[email-masked]>
Date: 17 Mar 1996 19:47:26 GMT

>rec.gardens.orchids that you could try posting to]

Mel, Thanks so much for your reply. I must of been mistaken, but I thought I saw a 
victory garden on PBS 6-8 months ago, that explained it in terms relating to spoers. 
The grower was I think from England, and had a large selection of orchids in 
different stages of grow. He had them germinating in a solution of seeds (I belive 
some type of spores and water) in a glass becker for 6-12 months from which a small 
sprout would form. I know it will be hard that why I plan to start while I'm joug.
Thanks a bunch Mel
Did anyone see this Victory Garden and can explain what I saw. 
Mike Carew

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From: [email-masked] (Eric Grunden)
Date: 19 Mar 1996 07:02:55 GMT

>Did anyone see this Victory Garden and can explain what I saw. 
				*******

I did not see that Victory Garden, but I would guess that the seeds were
orchid seeds and that the spores were from the mycorrhizal fungus
required to grow orchids. I am sorry that I can't be of more help;
I can't even remember the species of fungus, or whether it is an ecto-
or endo-mycorrhizae, but I know that orchids need the relationship
until they become established. The Dictionary of Fungi says;
"Early development of some plants, especially those with very small
seeds (eg orchids) are completely dependent upon fungal infection.
This dependence may be retained where, as in some members of Orchidaceae,
plants lack chlorophyll throughout their lives, and hence require all
carbon and most mineral supplies from their fungal symbiont."  If I
were to guess, I would say that it needs an endomycorrhizal symbiont,
as most of the ecto's associate with woody plants. The Dictionary also
mentions categories of mycorrhizae, and one of them is called "Orchid"
but that's all I know.
-- 
			*******************
The Spirit of Nature, a powerful force,
	belongs and returns to its creative source.
- Excerpted from The Collective Works of Johnny Pokerface -

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From: [email-masked] (Finn N Rasmussen)
Date: Wed, 27 Mar 1996 16:36:16

>In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] ) writes:
>>books to recommend before I go to the library. 
>>mike carew

A great book to recommend is H. Rasmussen 1995: Terrestrial Orchids - from 
seed to mycotrophic plant. Cambridge University Press, 432 pp. Most of what 
ever has been published about the mycotrophic germination biology of orchids 
is cited in that book, including the latest research done at the Smithsonian 
Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MAryland - in fact quite close to 
the Washinton D.C. area!

Best wishes, Finn N. Rasmussen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 1 Apr 1996 19:39:50 GMT

>Best wishes, Finn N. Rasmussen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

to the original poster:

orchid propogation is not easy unless you have a "clean" environment.  Though 
one or two people in our local society have done home-propogation, for seed 
propogation, most everyone sends off to a lab to have it done.  

Orchids, by the way, reproduce from seed not spores...granted the seed can be 
extremely small and is easily mistaken for spores...I would suggest looking at 
the role that mycorrhiza plays in orchid seed germination along with agar, a 
substance used in labs for orchid reproduction....

an additional good text on general Orchidacae to which you can refer is "Home 
Orchid Growing - Ritterhaussen", this should give you a general overview of 
orchid reproduction (and the difficulties involved therein) along with 
cultivation information (if you are new to orchids...), 

The simplest, least expensive way for the hobbiest to reproduce orchids is by 
plant division...its slower, but proven...reproduction of seed at commercial 
labs can be expensive, from a minimum of $100 up, per capsule and then you 
get to pay for the resulting flasks individually.  Setting up an appropriate 
workplace that avoids contamination at home may be the way to go IF you are 
planning on reproducing orchids in commercial quantites and you don't 
mind spending more than a few dollars...its also the way to go IF (like me, 
though I haven't done it yet) you just want to experiment

I can pass on the names of several more detailed texts if you're interested...
just let me know...

Jesse