orchid seed on cardboard

[sottych]

Hello ,
Thank you very much for all details , so it's raw oats , Avena Sativa (food for horses) with Agar  , so I understand.
Cordially
Christian

[winwen]

Christian,
not raw, I would rather take "farine d'avoine" for production of orchid-medium (3g, together with 7g of Agar and 1 liter of water)

[sottych]

Ok Winwen , thank you

[mark smyth]

Winwen do you have photos showing what you do and seedlings growing?

[winwen]

Here are photos of my last year's Platanthera bifolia seedlings after 3 months before their winter-rest (photos taken in early January 2012)

[winwen]

and more......
I added 1g active charcoal to the medium (therefore the black color).
The protocorms have a length of 10-12mm (without the leaf-primordium), the bud itself is also 8-10mm long.

[winwen]

Then, in early april 2012, it was time to plant the seedlings out into special wood-based substrate in sealed containers

[winwen]

In early September, harvest came.
The coin has a diameter of 24.6mm (nearly one inch)

The first pic shows the Platanthera bifolias.
The second pic shows Dactylorhiza maculatas which were grown the same way.

I hope this gives you an idea what I mean by rapid development.
The differences in bulbsize is because these plants have lost their leaves early due to fungal infections (no more photosynthesis possible).
Hence: My method is still not perfect, but I'm trying to refine it 

[lily-anne]

 Fantastic result Winwen! I have the impression that the evolution in this way , is much faster than on cardboard  (whitch at the moment are hardley growing )
Gr.
Lily-Anne

[Neil]

Winwen what wood base substrate is it, that you are transplanting them to?

[winwen]

The substrate consists of equal parts wood-chips (as used for small animal-beddings) and coconut-fiber and is impregnated with a solution of liquid mineral-fertilizer and yeast-extract.
I am still not sure, if this could be improved. Others use a 50/50 mixture of Perlite and N-impregnated wood-fiber (TORESA). I have not compared these yet but in order to preserve the endophyte wood-chips (or fiber) and possibly bark-/leaf-mould should be applied. Perlite or Lava should provide for good air-content of the substrate.
A higher content of coconut-fiber seems to prohibit mould on the woodchips.

[sottych]

Hello  Winwen ,
Thank you for your good pictures and any information , but can you concretely , let us all proceed from the beginning , products , quantities , or if you sterilize heat , at what temperature you store vials of planting ,...........

[winwen]

Christian,
I think that a complete description in such detail would be far beyond a simple posting here. I would have to write a kind of brochure with many pages of text, tables and photos, but that would need a lot of time which I am nearly always lacking (father of 4 children - 2,4,10 and 11 years old).

I will always try to answer concrete questions as far as I can, but I have currently not enough time for such a project  sorry!

[Maggi Young]

Erwin,  it sounds like you have a lovely family - your plants must be a nice quiet hobby for you! I am grateful for the time you take to share your experiences with us here   

[Neil]

Thanks for the info Erwin