Sowing the seeds!
The seeds have been sown!! it took a good few hours and some of the medium got too wet but there are about 16 other petri dishes, so it should be okay!
So, the method used was the package method, a method designed by Kew Gardens. Its easy enough but you need to make sure not to get the medium wet or it goes all gloopy!
What you need to sow orchid seeds:
- Flow Cabinet
- Forceps
- Scissors
- Jar of alcohol
- Bleach
- sterilized water
- waste jar
- spirit burner
- Seeds
The seeds need to be cleaned before they are sown onto the medium. In able to clean them without loosing them, they need to be put into a package made from filter paper that is stapled together. When that is done, they need to be dipped in de-ionised water and then put in sterlizer, otherwise known as diluted bleach. I think I might have left it a bit long in there because the paper disintegrated so, when I went to rinse the seeds, the filter paper fell apart, luckily only a couple of the seeds were in the sterile water (I haven't done this in three years). As the bleach was diluted I don't think it burnt the seeds, it should have just cleaned them, plus, the ionised water would have helped rinse it off. They are supposed to be dipped a minimum of ten times to guarantee the bleach comes of before placing them on the medium.
Everything needs to be sterile, so this is where the spirit burner comes in, every time the forceps or scissors are put down, they need to be dipped in alcohol and then need to be heated with a flame to burn off any extra germs. To open the packet, using the forceps and the scissors is a good way of doing it. the packet needs to be cut near the staple so minimal damage is done to the seeds. Because my packet kind of fell apart, i just needed sections of where the seeds where! Luckily, I had loads of medium left, so I needed to get more seeds out to put them on and did it twice, just to up the chances of healthy germination. The reason why the filter paper fell apart is because it was a little too wet from all the dipping and rinsing in liquids, I managed to salvage most of it though by using a paper towel. But I realised one of the papers was too wet because the medium became gloopy. Hopefully they will still germinate, I didn't throw them away because they could be useful for the research.
To sow the seeds, all you do is get the bit of filter paper and spread the seeds across the medium (it will be shown in the photos below), but I needed to make sure that every time I took the lid of the petri dish that it was down against the table so that no bacteria get in and infect the medium. As soon as this is done, the lid needs to be closed and the petri dish sealed with para-film, a type of cello tape to guarantee nothing getting in.
Now, terrestrial orchids need to be stored once sown in a fridge and covered between 16 and 20 degrees, and covered because they usually start germinating in the winter and underground. They are now all covered in tin foil in a cold incubator they might be moved to a fridge in the next couple of days.
Fingers crossed they grow!!
If any of them have a fungus that starts growing inside the petri dish, I will leave it there and watch to see if the seeds in there grow or germinate better with the fungus, as this would help confirm some of the questions people have about terrestrial orchids!
There are some spare seeds and some spare medium just in case, but hopefully I won't need to use it!
So, the method used was the package method, a method designed by Kew Gardens. Its easy enough but you need to make sure not to get the medium wet or it goes all gloopy!
What you need to sow orchid seeds:
- Flow Cabinet
- Forceps
- Scissors
- Jar of alcohol
- Bleach
- sterilized water
- waste jar
- spirit burner
- Seeds
The seeds need to be cleaned before they are sown onto the medium. In able to clean them without loosing them, they need to be put into a package made from filter paper that is stapled together. When that is done, they need to be dipped in de-ionised water and then put in sterlizer, otherwise known as diluted bleach. I think I might have left it a bit long in there because the paper disintegrated so, when I went to rinse the seeds, the filter paper fell apart, luckily only a couple of the seeds were in the sterile water (I haven't done this in three years). As the bleach was diluted I don't think it burnt the seeds, it should have just cleaned them, plus, the ionised water would have helped rinse it off. They are supposed to be dipped a minimum of ten times to guarantee the bleach comes of before placing them on the medium.
Everything needs to be sterile, so this is where the spirit burner comes in, every time the forceps or scissors are put down, they need to be dipped in alcohol and then need to be heated with a flame to burn off any extra germs. To open the packet, using the forceps and the scissors is a good way of doing it. the packet needs to be cut near the staple so minimal damage is done to the seeds. Because my packet kind of fell apart, i just needed sections of where the seeds where! Luckily, I had loads of medium left, so I needed to get more seeds out to put them on and did it twice, just to up the chances of healthy germination. The reason why the filter paper fell apart is because it was a little too wet from all the dipping and rinsing in liquids, I managed to salvage most of it though by using a paper towel. But I realised one of the papers was too wet because the medium became gloopy. Hopefully they will still germinate, I didn't throw them away because they could be useful for the research.
To sow the seeds, all you do is get the bit of filter paper and spread the seeds across the medium (it will be shown in the photos below), but I needed to make sure that every time I took the lid of the petri dish that it was down against the table so that no bacteria get in and infect the medium. As soon as this is done, the lid needs to be closed and the petri dish sealed with para-film, a type of cello tape to guarantee nothing getting in.
Now, terrestrial orchids need to be stored once sown in a fridge and covered between 16 and 20 degrees, and covered because they usually start germinating in the winter and underground. They are now all covered in tin foil in a cold incubator they might be moved to a fridge in the next couple of days.
Fingers crossed they grow!!
If any of them have a fungus that starts growing inside the petri dish, I will leave it there and watch to see if the seeds in there grow or germinate better with the fungus, as this would help confirm some of the questions people have about terrestrial orchids!
There are some spare seeds and some spare medium just in case, but hopefully I won't need to use it!