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Im not sure what to do… do i cut the two old stems off? What do I do… | The Orchid Oasis | Comunità di Planta

Anna

Im not sure what to do… do i cut the two old stems off? What do I do with the seed pods and the one that opened

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4 commenti

  1. Waspinator

    Wow you got seed pods (That is a bit unusual). So for the flower spikes, they're still green so you can cut them above an unused node (you see the little tan bits along the stem? cut above one that is closed) and the plant might reuse them. For the seed pods, orchids can be a bit tricky to grow from seed, but if you want to try it: sterilize absolutely everything you use. For the green closed seed pod, put the whole thing in a bottle and pour some bleach in. Shake it around to sterilize it. Remove it and put it on a paper towel. Use tweezers and a scalpel to cut it and get the seeds out. Take those and any seeds from your already open pod and clean those by putting them in small containers filled with hydrogen peroxide. It can help to do them in batches. Be aware the seeds are tiny and tend to blow away easily. Let them dry and store them as long as you need (room temp, in darkness.) Next get some orchid agar medium (you can buy it from plantsinjars, which also has good instructions for using agar.) Next prepare a container that can be sealed airtight, add the agar, and sow your seeds. Care for orchid seeds is similar to tissue culture plants. Once they're big enough, you can deflask and acclimate them to normal conditions. Also if you mess up and get mold, you can keep going on your attempt; in the wild orchids have a symbiotic relationship where fungi help them germinate, so you may or may not still get baby orchids out of it (but try not to breathe when tending to a moldy mix; it smells rank. Airing it out occasionally can help)

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    • Anna

      Thank you so much! I but the stems down and I’m going to extract the seeds tomorrow

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  2. Jen

    I’ll let Waspinator take the lead on any advice about seed pods. All my research leads me to believe that it is extremely difficult to propagate in home grower conditions, but that doesn’t mean impossible, and Wasp’s advice is solid. As far as the old spikes, because you have a new one already growing, I would cut the old ones all the way down to the base so that the orchid can put all its energy into that new spike. I find this habit I’ve gotten into, leads to a better bloom show on the new spike.

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    • Anna

      Thank you so much for the advice I think I will cut them as you say because it doesn’t look like it will reuse the old spikes and the new one seems to be growing pretty fast

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