Orchid seed

[Guest]

I'm wondering if there are any web sites that post descriptions or pictures of orchid seed? A friend just gave me a bunch of seed from her Calypso bulbosa plants but it looks rather odd to me. I guess it's just much smaller than I thought it would be?

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Orchid seed is finer than dust hehe. There is almost no food contained within the seed.

Very difficult to germinate as the seed must grow with a symbiotic mycorhiza fungus, which supplies the seed with food.

 

[herenorthere]

Unless you want to become familiar with microbiology lab techniques, either spread the seeds around the parents (or others) or get some of the surface soil from around them to plant the seeds in. Germination rates will be much less than possible in a lab, but should be better than zero.