Recent Studies Upon Paphiopedilum Cultivation

[Mahon]

There's a new story entry added:

Recent Studies Upon Paphiopedilum Cultivation

Abstract: Recent studies upon the microbial relationships between Sybiotic Fungi and the roots of Paphiopedilum suggest an alternative and more effective medium to be used in growing plants of Paphiopedilum.

[cb977]

Thank you Pat...please keep us updated on your progress.
Great article

[ScottMcC]

As one with a grounding in science (BS in biochemistry, MD), I must take issue with a number of assertions in your article.

First, while the role of symbiotes in plant culture is certainly present, how do you explain the ability to grow plants in sterile conditions, or in inert media? Furthermore, wouldn't a liberal dose of physan or other antifungals hinder a plant's growth significantly? At least from my experience the plants don't seem to mind it at all, which means either the fungi are resistant, or the role of symbiotic fungi is less than you would claim, at least for my plants.

Furthermore, to what molecules do you believe velamen to be permeable? "Artificial" fertilizers are composed primarily of very small ions such as NH4+, NO3-, Fe++, SO4--, etc, all of which to me would seem to be readily transported through cells of most types. Certainly most cells (animal, plant, and otherwise) are not only permeable to small ions, but have active (ATP driven) and passive (concentration gradient/charge gradient) transport channels for specific ions.

Also, "artificial" fertilizers all contain naturally-occuring compounds, just in different concentrations than are found conveniently in nature. And if you're looking for a way to prove that velamen is impermeable to fertilizer components, I can assist you in designing experiments that would be both cheap and effective--anyone with access to a basic quantitative chemistry lab should be able to perform these tests.

I'd be interested to hear of the specifics of your research, but from what I can see, the science is a bit soft. But please, prove me wrong--I'm always a fan of evidence and data!

On a related note, my soon-to-begin orchid project will address fertilizer type, optimum concentration, and growing media, among other variables.

[Mahon]

Scott,

I actually have not heard about orchids growing in completely sterile conditions... yes, we can sterilize everything with AgNO[sub-script 3], but can we maintain sterilization upon the orchid without harming it? I have been researching microbial relationships, but I have failed to consider a sterilized condition for the Paphiopedilums... you have brought upon a good experiment to further understanding the microbial relationships being watched, without the microbial variables...

As for the fertilizers and orchids, I am still researching it... I am soon to be getting a microscope hook-up into my computer, which will help dramatically with my studies... so there is more research on this, just need to solidly back everything up more with photos and evidence... thanks for the input, you made me realize something I haven't considered...

-PM

[ScottMcC]

Flask culture is conducted under sterile conditions.

If you want to prove the permeability of velamen to various ions, you don't need a microscope, you just need a way of precisely determining the ion concentration of your fertilizer and the effluent (runoff) water. On a gross scale, this could be done by measuring the electrical conductivity of both and comparing them, but a more elegant experiment would be to perform a titration in which you add a reagent slowly to the test solution until it forms insoluble salts of the specific ions in question. Simple calculations would then tell you what percentage of the fertilizer is absorbed. Any quantitative chemistry textbook will have instructions on how to do this. I'm pretty sure you will find that velamen has a way of transporting a number of ions, both into the plant and out.

[littlefrog]

RE: ion composition - You can do a better experiment with the spectrometers available at any major research university...

Microbial diversity - any orchid (or any plant) will have a variety of microbes in its local root environment. Some fungi, many bacteria, invertebrates such as nematodes, etc. And there is something to be said for the old practice of including a small handful of the old potting mix into the new pot at repotting time. I'd have to agree that proper root health (and subsequent plant health) is dependent on the proper microbial environment. The comparison to sterile flasks isn't quite fair, we don't have nearly as much control over our potting mixes as our flasking medium.

Mahon, I think you might be thinking of urea when you mention that synthetic fertilizers cannot be used without microbial intervention. This is, as far as I know, reasonably true, although there is some equilibrium between urea and NH4+ ion even without microbial degradation. The other components of synthetic fertilizers (phosphate, potassium, major and minor nutrients) I believe can be utilized directly if the pH of the medium is in the right range. And you can certainly purchase fertilizers which have only ammoniacal or nitrate forms of nitrogen - in fact these are usually the ones recommended for orchids, at least lately.

I'm not sure that I would agree that synthetic fertilizers are better or worse than non-synthetic fertilizers, if used correctly. Problem with synthetics is concentration, you can burn roots and beneficial microbes easily. Organic (I hate that word, don't get me started) fertilizers would contain the same ingredients, just at lower concentrations = safer.

I'll buy the twitches and health risks, most of them, as any salt will be harmful if taken in sufficient quantity, although probably not in the quantities we would use as orchid growers. I think 'very dangerous substance' is a very substantial overstatement, though... As a cancer biologist (originally), I'd also take exception to the claim that synthetic fertilizers are carcinogenic. Never seen that before, although I admit I wasn't really looking. I'm sure some of the individual components could be carcinogenic at very high doses, but pretty much everything that doesn't kill a rat outright will cause cancer in large enough doses. That doesn't mean there is any real risk to humans at orchid grower exposure levels, assuming reasonable precautions (don't eat it, or go out of your way to inhale fertilizer dust). A possible exception might be a high nitrate fertilizer, but we don't usually use them for orchids.

Interesting observation about the algae. I suspect that decomposition of algae would be a source of nutrition. I don't think it would happen in my environment - no significant algae growth under my conditions.

Anyway, interesting article. And welcome to the world of peer review. It can be pretty brutal, but that is part of the system, and why we have greater confidence in peer reviewed publications.

[ScottMcC]

granted, a gc/ms would make his results much more accurate, but that depends on having access to the instruments--not everyone is fortunate enough to have access to one of those babies.

on the other hand, I'm pretty sure that with a balance accurate to 1/10 mg (available at any high school) and a few readily available reagents, he could perform a titration for under $100.

I was just trying to be economical!!!

[jags]

While working on the subject of potting paphs and other orchids we were keen on the beneficial fungi associated with the orchid roots.. we did try a variety of potting mixes including charcoal and wooden chips. We were keen on wood chips collected from saw mills and treated them.. After breaking them into chips we almost washed them thorough including keeping them in rain for a few weeks. The we dipped them in Trichoderma viride and other organic control agents.
we were of the opinion that any microbial beneficials to work on orchids we need to have the organic doses higher and not inorganics. So we worked on formulations with organic fertiliser producers and evolved a few complex organic mixes to grow orchids and at the same time provide for a cheaper inexpensive orchid food for the orchids.
The first such innovation involved use of Humic crystals which were special in the sense that they contained details as below:
HUMIC ACID (Potassium Humate) Granular form – Protein Based plus growth adjuvants from trees.

For better nutrient uptake and Healthy rooting

This is a unique formulation based on Natural Humic acid – Potassium Humate- and containing chelated micro nutrients , phosphorus content , and plant growth boosters for a healthy rooting system and thereby improving better yields. Also containes special Mycos suitable for establishing orchids.

The second material that we made through a research firm invloved providing amino acids in cheleated form: as below:
AMINO GREEN BOOST increases photosynthetic activity , which fulfills the nutritional demands of a growing plant.
It acclerates the rate of chlorophyll synthesis resulting cations.
It is a complete biological growth stimulant and hence can be safely used till flower harvesting.
Delivers the orchids into improved greenness & luster of leaves and stops premature senescence.
Induces the sympodial branching resulting into higher yields.
It promotes the hormonal activity and induces their synthesis resulting into flowering quickly.
It also reduces the flower drop caused by hormonal imbalance.
It enhances the nutrition uptake and their utilization which improves color, shape, size, luster and form of flowers.
Improves the keeping quality of flower after harvesting resulting into attractive and fresh flower for longer time.
Induces the growth and development of primary as well as secondary root system resulting into more absorption of nutrients from growing media.
Composition:
Zinc--- 5% Iron ---- 4 % Manganese -----2.21% Copper – 1.1% Magnesium--- 1 % Boron ---- 1 % calcium ---- 0.8 % Molybdenum --- 0.3 %


The third component that we introduced was the blooming product to initiate flowers in the orchids.
Organic natural wonder powder:

It consists of totally organic ingredients, 85% water soluble, taking care of orchids from the inception to flowering – growing stages. It can be used as a spray fertlizer for the orchid family ; as well as drip irrigation. Orchid-bloom magic eliminates the use of all growth promoters and NPK + micronutrients to a larger extent. It can be applied on almost all the cultivars and flowering plants. Substantial increase in yield is observed along with vigourous and healthy growth of the plant.
Typical combination of Orchid Magic Bloom powder derived from natural ingredients is given below:

1. Organic NPK --------10-12 % each.
2. organic trace elements ------- 1000 ppm each
3. Humates -------------------30%
4. carboxlic acid ----------------1%
5. Folic acid -------------------0.1%
6. Seaweed fertilizers ----------15%
7. Aminoacids --------------------15%

We have seen a better resistance to fungal and bacterial attack for the plants as well as increased performance to the plants.
The leaf lustre and leaf span growth were better than the control group using inorganic fertilisers.

The major objective here was to imitate a natural mechanism as close to real orchid environment.

We have tried several media combinations and found some of them more suitable than the others.
For fungal protection again we use a lot of Biological alternatives than use of Mancozeb and other fungicides which are common with orchid growers.

I would add as more results start coming.
Thanks
JAGS

[R Srinivasan]

According to my observation, the medium for paphs vary widely due to their origin and habitat. Most of those growing in the eastern Himalays, Assam and Burma are terresterials growing on decomposed leafy matter and hence acidic.Those that come from Thailand,Borneo and Indonesian islands are somewhat lime lovers because of heavy dolomite presence in the habitat. Also these characterstically have dark and mottled foilage. There are also the ones which are epiphytically growing such as P. lowii, P.rothschildianum as well as P.roebilinii from Phillippines. These grow only in osmunda or coconut husk chunks and charcoal. Inspite of the fact these are epiphytic, they have root hairs covering root surface instead of whitish velamen seen in dendrobium, vandas etc. , they cannot tolerate any soil in their medium!

[R Srinivasan]

In the habitat, symbiotic fungii is solely responsible for the health of orchids and procreation. No orchid seed would germinate without the mycorrhizia. I have myself grown Aerides maculosum, A. crispum and Rhyncostylis retusa from seeds through symbiotic method with amazing result. I just removed bark pieces attached to the root of any of these orchids from wild and affixed them to larger bark pieces of other trees which support orchid population. My method is simple. Just soak these bark pieces in the water condenced from air conditioners exhausts and then fix the symbiotic fungii carrying bark pieces on them. Just slide this into large mouthed pet jars with airtight caps. Just before sliding the bark sprinkle orchid seeds(freshly collected) over the bark surface and cap it. within a month you see a rash of green spots which eventually grow into orchids. No fear of fungii attack. I have had similar luck with spathoglottis, Eulophia etc. Though it is true that in cultivation, chemicals do good job, In nature symbiotic fugii rule the roost.