Identifying/germinating seed of this orchid
 

Here is a pic of the same type of orchid my friend has planted in the ground. This cutting came to me with a seed pod, prompting me to further my knowledge of orchids. As I have a compulsion of growing any seeds I can collect.

What I think I know so far is that terrestrial orchid seeds can be germinated in peat or some other planting medium. And that orchids that need to be grown in bark are a little or rather a lot more difficult and require a sterile "flasking lab".

The other thing I know nothing about is how long seed, once removed from the plant/pod, is viable.:scratchhead:

thanks for any information.:)
David

P.S. Do I have to put pics in a photo gallery before attaching to a thread?:scratchhead:

P.P.S. I figured it out.:banana:

Hi David, Your post must have gotten overlooked. I think that you should flask even terrestrial orchid seeds because the yield for open sowing will be terribly low. There is a different flasking media formulation between terrestrial and epiphyte orchids because of their needs. Most orchid seeds under the right conditions can be stored for many years. You may want to check out The Orchid Seedbank Project. Aaron Hicks has a lot of information on seeds and flasking.
John

:iagree: OSP has some good info.

John, You doing any propagation?

Looks like a reed-stemmed Epi to me. Don't have a clue on the seed question though.

That's how it starts! :muahaha:


I know exactly what you mean. It's a disease. Orchids will just accelerate it. Trust me.

Get on the OSP site, and just do some web surfing. If you really want to, you can do it. Just takes a little research and patience. :goodluck:

That's very likely to be Epi. radicans. There are thousands along the roads here (and from S. Mexico to Colombia). If so, it will have yellow/orange to red/orange flowers with creamy spotted lips in clusters on medium long stems. At higher altitudes it blooms year around. At lower it will have seasons.

That looks really close. I'll have to check in the morning. I think mine has shorter leaves. Maybe too much sun? Is there a library of orchids on this web cite? Maybe under members, haven't looked there yet.

The more light, the shorter the leaves. Also noted that the darker reds seem to have somewhat shorter leaves as well as a more compact plant, though many are six or eight feet long. they keep going until they bloom. At altitude they reach for the light, so can climb shrubs to fairly high. I'm planning to make a trip to Fortuna this week and will post pics of quite a few species in situ.