NOSSA article

DavMac · Joined: 28 May 2007 Posts: 10 Location: New Zealand

The latest issue of the Journal of the Native Orchid Society of South Australia has an interesting article on symbiotic germination.
I have attached a pdf of the article.

David

fred · Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 6:25 pm Post subject:

Thanks for sharing. I love these low-budget approaches.

krisk · Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2010 2:20 am Post subject:

Continuing on from my experiments in that article, I have germinated the critically endangered Caladenia procera this year. The seed and fungi were obtained from orchid kits that were being sold at a native plant stall by the Friends of Kings Park in Western Australia. I will document there progress with photos soon, so watch this space. The protocorms are quite small at the moment, it will be challenging to find a lens with enough magnification.

krisk · Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2010 10:46 am Post subject:

And here they...

You can see an example of the final product here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wazonthehill/4029108116/

Kris

fred · Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2010 3:44 pm Post subject:

Very nice - both the shot and the achievement.

I read in the past that these orchid kits get sold out in no time. Do you know of feedback from other enthusiasts that keeps track of their success rate?

krisk · Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2010 10:12 pm Post subject:

They do indeed. I believe they were sold in the first hour last year. They are also only available to purchase in person from kings park, presumably because of legal issues sending mycorrhiza and leaf mulch.

I know of only one local grower that has tried the kits without success. I will try to attend a number of orchid society meetings in Perth when I'm there in September to discuss these sorts of things.

Kris

krisk · Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 12:15 pm Post subject:

The same Caladenia procera protocorm at 15 weeks old. The last one was taken at 13 weeks. I should point out that there are other seedlings much more advanced than this one, however this one is in a good spot to take photos of to show what's going on. You can see the leaf just starting to emerge from what is essentially the collar structure that you would normally see just below the soil surface.

krisk · Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 10:39 am Post subject:

Week 17...

krisk · Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 11:36 am Post subject:

An interesting observation, seeds that were buried accidentally have produced the largest and fastest growing leaves. As mycorrhiza activity is concentrated in the collar of Caladenia species, I guess more hyphae are in contact with it when developing under the soil, and so produce a more vigorous plant. I wonder if the same is true if this could be replicated in flask?

This photo shows an example. These leaves were not visible 3 weeks ago. You can see that they are somewhat more developed than the previous photo. The small round thing is a grain of millet that contained the mycorrhiza and was used to inoculate the soil.

krisk · Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 6:20 am Post subject:

Seedlings are growing rapidly now that the weather is warming up. I will try to extend the growing season into november to maximise tuber development.

fred · Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 11:30 am Post subject:

Very steady progress. Are they grown under artificial light?

krisk · Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 11:38 am Post subject:

Actually they have been growing in total darkness. It's been shown that Caladenia will develop adult plants in the field when grown in mesh bags under the soil. I have just started introducing them to light now that they are quite large. I may use artificial lighting once its too hot to keep them outside without inducing dormancy.