Hi! I need your help for sowing and dividing european orchid (research project)

[Andrea Mangoni]

Hi,
I'm Andrea Mangoni, an italian biologist. Sorry for my english!
I'm working on a project for the preservation of some colonies of orchids in the Venice area. One of the highlights of the project will be the breeding of plants under controlled conditions. we must work with O. purpurea, O. coriophora, O. morio, D. incarnata, N. tridentata, and Ophris sp.
I've seen in an old post that some of you try to propagate orchids with summer division, and also sowing in pot or in vitro.
for summer division, how I should kept the recided bulb? In a refrigerator, with moist sand? directely in a pot? The future plant will bloom at the first-second year?
for sowing in pot, there is some special tips to observe? For sowing in vitro, could be ok utilize nutrient medium Phytamax P-6668?
sorry for the many questions, and thanks to anyone could help me!

Andrea
ps some of plants that I'll need to moltiplicate!

[Maggi Young]

Hi Andrea! Good to have you join us. There are a lot of orchid growers here so I think you will find some help.

Ian Young has many details about how we increase our Dactylorhiza in his Bulb Log Diaries
Main page: http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=bulb  for years 2009 to 2011
and here for years 2003 to 2008 :
http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/bulblog.html

There is an index  http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/index.pdf  where you will see that under
Dactylorhiza there are these entries:
27/08 26/09
elata 25/06
Cruickshank Hybrid 25/03
elata 25/03
Detail shots 26/10
'Eskimo Nell' 25/03 26/06 25/07
26/09
foliosa 25/03
giant 30/05
increase 46/06
‘Madame Butterfly’ 26/10
Mycorrhizal fungi, and 38/06
self-seeded 38/06
splitting 37/03 34/06 33/07
tubers 44/03 29/04 32/08

So, for instance, the itmes on splitting the tubers to increase can be found in the Logs from 37/03 34/06 33/07  that is, Week 37 of 2003, week 34 of 2006 and week 33 of 2007   

Hope that is some help for a start! 

[mark smyth]

Ciao come stai e benvenuto

Multiplying works very well for Dactylorhiza. I remove the new white tuber, by gently twisting, from the mother plant in mid July and replant both. I was told today if the flower is removed the mother plant has more energy to produce the new tuber or tubers.

[Andrea Mangoni]

Hi Maggi, hi Mark, many thanks for your suggestions! is it possible that I'll work also with Dactylorhiza incarnata, so your information will be precious. I'll try also with Neotinea tridentata and Orchis purpurea, may be it work well.
do you clean ste splitting surface with something, Mark?
anyone has tried  Phytamax P-6668 for in vitro sowing of wild orchids?

[mark smyth]

Andrea I do not clean the cut. It is attached by a small 'umbilical' cord

[massonia]

Hi Andrea,
for in vitro propagation, try the hints on following page:
http://www.lidaforsgarden.com/Orchids/engelsk.htm
good luck & best regards,
massonia

[Andrea Mangoni]

Hi, many thanks!
I'll try the in vitro propagation of O. purpurea and Neotinea tridentata. I hope to see some seedlings and not only mud!