seed viability over time
 

What's the general rule of thumb on how long orchid seeds can be stored before most become inviable? I understand that it varies by species, and that most terrestrials seem to have a longer seed viability. I'm specifically wondering about Spathoglottis plicata and Bletilla striata, but I'm curious about general guidelines on other genera/species as well. :)

Orchid Seeds germination preservation
 

Hi,
I had decided to test this issue on phalaenopsis seeds two months ago and I divided the same orchid seeds to 3 parts and put seeds to Eppendorf tubes as 3 series.

I keep the first serie in room temperature.
I keep second serie in Refrigerator 4C
and third serie in Deepfrezer..

the result after two months,

The seeds kept room temperature (serie 1) didn't germinate at end of the second month.
The seeds kept on the refrigerator almost lost all viability expect a small rate germinated.
but the seeds kept on deep freezer still viable and germinated without any loss until today.

If you interest, you can watch the this study in my youtube channel but not translated yet :_(

Very interesting! Just curious, how cold is your deep freezer?

Orchid Seeds germination preservation
 

My deepfrezer is -24 celcius.

wow!!! how did you acquire one of those?

I wonder if I'm a victim of a translation accident😊 beause deep freezer is a very common and simple household device..

LOL!! I just never bothered to fiddle with my freezer to see if it could reach such low temperatures. I thought this was some lab device, although I guess those devices are used to reach temperatures much lower. :D

-24 deg C = - 11 deg F . The freezer on my refrigerator does not get quite that cold (- 15 C = - 5 deg F is about as good as it gets) but a full-size domestic freezer should be that cold if it is working correctly.

No mine is not a lab device, a standart deepfrezer..Also most of NoFrost refrigerators can reach to -24 celcius in their freezer section. it is enough to storage orchid seeds more than one year viable. But ideal storage is keeping inside liquid nitrogen tank (-196 celcius)

-80C freezer is also good for keeping plant material viable, but good luck getting one of those freezers!