Any homemade orchid sowing medium( doesn't involve orchid replate)

[Russell 99]

Can anyone recommend any homemade orchid seed sowing medium that you can grow the orchids in it until they reach suitable size to take out.( a medium that doesn't involve transferring plants from one medium to another)
I don't have a laminar flow hood, so I was going to use a glove box. Any ideas.
I've got some crosses that I made I would like to see the results.
There's medium available for sale but it's unaffordable
Please help

[DirtyCoconuts]

i know that there is some section of the growing world that uses agar gells and there is a niche (possibly just for amusement and fun) market of orchids growing to bloom size in jars in the gel

i do NOT know much of anything as this is way outside of my wheel house(s) but i imagine that one could make or obtain that gel

[Mr.Fakename]

I remember seeing a paper about an alternative medium made using ashes, shredded wood and oat meals or something close, but can't find the reference.

Some people on social media have used cooking agar, sugar and fertiliser.

As DC pointed out it's possible to buy plants in agar, but they're usually alone.

Not replating will probably create a clump of protocorms/seedlings that will be very hard to work with, with high mortality.

[hobibotanik]

You can find very simple but effective and tested medium in Evde bulunabilecek Malzemelerle Orkide Çimlendirme Medyas? Haz?rl?yoruz. - YouTube

[Fairorchids]

The problem is that orchid seeds are so small. Most flasking procedures are based on a mother flask for germination.

Then replate a small number into a 2nd stage flask.

Possibly replate again, with individual seedlings spaced apart - usually 25-35 per flask.

Instead of doing a single mother flask, make multiple flasks with an extremely small amount of seed each. Then let them stay till they are large enough to deflask.

You will have clusters or clumps, with dozens of seedlings intertwined. Pot them up as they are; most will die, but you should get a few plants out of it.

[Jmbaum]

I have to agree with the above concerns, but that doesn’t mean it is not possible to germinate the seed and grow into a reasonable size without replating. In vitro germination and culture of orchids has exponentially higher success rate than what you would see in the wild. If your threshold for success is lower, there isn’t a reason why even slight modifications wouldn’t allow you to go from sowing to potting in a single system. Make a list of all the challenges, “why do we replate?”, then do you best to mitigate them when you write your proposed process. The variables at play are immense but that is in no way a sign that the process cannot be altered or improved.

I’m interested to hear about alternatives anyhow. It’s now been a century since Knudsen, surely many processes should be viable.

So just to address the original post, it’s not just a medium that ought to be considered, but the entire process needs to be considered should you not want to replate.

[Fairorchids]

When you open a seed pod, it contains somewhere between 50,000 and 3 million seeds.

Trying to take out just 25-50 seeds (practical limit on number of seedlings/flask) is impossible.

The only practical way to flask, is in 2 stages:
1 = Mother flask with lots of seeds.
2 = Replate flask, where germinated seeds are spaced far enough apart to let them grow into viable seedlings.

[Jmbaum]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

When you open a seed pod, it contains somewhere between 50,000 and 3 million seeds.

Trying to take out just 25-50 seeds (practical limit on number of seedlings/flask) is impossible.

The only practical way to flask, is in 2 stages:
1 = Mother flask with lots of seeds.
2 = Replate flask, where germinated seeds are spaced far enough apart to let them grow into viable seedlings.

25-50 would be quite the task. Yet surely more uniform dispersion across a larger surface would yield better results.
Using sonic vibration to get them in an even suspension in a shallow layer water across the surface is likely to work is at the correct frequency.

[Fairorchids]

Originally Posted by Jmbaum

25-50 would be quite the task. Yet surely more uniform dispersion across a larger surface would yield better results.
Using sonic vibration to get them in an even suspension in a shallow layer water across the surface is likely to work is at the correct frequency.

I doubt that someone who is trying to eliminate the replate process due to lack of laminar flow hood (or glove box), would have access to sonic vibration equipment.

[Jmbaum]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

I doubt that someone who is trying to eliminate the replate process due to lack of laminar flow hood (or glove box), would have access to sonic vibration equipment.

I wasn’t sure if it was just to avoid possible contamination and hassle. In any case dispersion would be just the tip of the iceberg of issues. I see nutrition and waste leading to weak and or stunted plants overall. The entire system would need to be reconsidered to allow for high yield seed to plant process. I imagine something along the lines of a closed hydro system, being able to refresh the nutrients. I’ve also seen co2 enrichment getting growth rates about double that of ambient. The quantity of agar, nutrients, and especially light had to match that rate though.