Formation of children on phalaenopsisOrchids are propagated by cuttings, children, bush division, seeds and bulbs. Rare orchids breed with cuttings - precious: Ludisia and Macodes, and their hybrids, well, Vanilla vanilla planifolia. The rest of the orchids are children, division or seeds.
Propagation of orchids by division
When breeding by division, you can separate the bush into parts with roots. At the same time, it is advisable to leave three sprouts on each part so that the plants are viable. Places of cuts are sprinkled with crushed coal.
You can separate the old bulb from faded orchids (for example, epidendrum). Old bulbs that have lost their leaves are separated and placed above a moist environment for rooting. You can pour water into a bowl, put a grill over it, a bulb on it, so that it does not touch the water, but high humidity is created around it. The temperature should not be lower than 20 ° C. After a while, new plants on their own roots appear from the buds at the base of the old bulb. When they grow back enough (1-1.5 cm), they can be planted in pots.
To root pseudobulbs, all kinds of greenhouses are used to maintain high humidity. Everything is used - any transparent containers, cake boxes, disposable dishes, five to six liter water bottles, small aquariums, pot-bellied bowls, etc.
Dendrobium is planted in a mixture of bark and sphagnum moss, with the addition of pieces of foam and peat.Propagation of orchids by cuttings
For breeding, cuttings take old, elongated stems, lateral shoots or faded flower stems. Cuttings take about 10-15 cm long.
The cut cuttings are not stuck in the ground, as in other indoor plants, but laid flat on the surface of the soil (sand or moss) and placed in a greenhouse, preferably heated. You can propagate orchids not by cutting cuttings, but by diverting the stem into an adjacent pot, cut it off from the mother plant after rooting.
Rooting method: cut a 1.5 liter transparent bottle into two parts (bottom and top). We put wet moss in the bottom, cut a circle out of the sink grate on it, insert it so that it is located just above the moss. We put an orchid cutting on it - something that should take root. We close it on top of the bottle, while the bottle lid should always be unscrewed, so air enters the greenhouse. The handle should not touch moss so that there is no decay, and the humidity inside the bottle is high (about 80%).
Young orchids obtained by breeding from a stalk, or by dividing a bush, or in another way? watered very carefully, it is even better to use spraying instead of watering, until the formation of good strong roots. The biofungicide Fitosporin-M can be added to the irrigation water, or an Alirin B tablet can be placed in a pot with a substrate. But phytosporin-M is better.
Orchids by seed
Orchids easily cross when pollinated within not only one species, but also between individual genera. Therefore, the method of propagation by seeds is more often used to produce new varieties of orchids.
Theoretically, there is nothing difficult in the reproduction of orchids by seeds, but there is one condition that is quite difficult to reproduce at home - this is the sterility of the environment. Here it is not enough to sterilize the soil in the oven and etch the seeds with manganese, as with any other indoor plants, sterility is needed in everything - from the beginning of the process - disinfection of tools, soil, seeds, until the seeds are completely sealed in vitro. I.e. just as we roll up the blanks for the winter, we need to place the seeds in a sterile environment.
Orchid seeds are dust-like, to be precise, then the dimensions are about 0.25-1.5 mm long and 0.27-0.9 mm wide, and hundreds of thousands of seeds in one fruit. Orchid seeds mature in different ways, for example, in phalaenopsis it takes from 4 to 6 months. When the ripe fruit cracks and the seeds fly out of it, such small sizes facilitate easy transfer of seeds with air currents, they fall into the smallest cracks of the tree bark and develop safely at a height of several meters from the ground.
But everything in orchids is not like in ordinary plants: seed germination occurs with the constant participation of symbiotic fungi (certain species). The most famous research in the world of science belongs to the French botanist Noel Bernard. He told the world that orchid seeds are not just small, they have practically no nutrients necessary for growth and development. For orchids, these nutrients produce symbiotic fungi.
Under favorable conditions, seed infection or infection occurs. Not spores - no, this phenomenon is called rhizoctonia - this is a sterile form of mycelium - the thinnest threads of the fungus penetrate the seed and grow inside the embryo cell, forming small glomeruli. Moreover, the growth of these glomeruli should not be invasive, i.e. in a strong healthy seed, mushrooms cannot impede its growth, since cell juice has a fungicidal effect and restrains the development of the fungus more than necessary for the future orchid itself.
So mushrooms provide the plant with the necessary nutrition, and the seed develops and germinates. This phenomenon of the symbiotic association of the fungal mycelium with the roots of higher plants (inherent not only in orchids, but also in many other plants) is called mycorrhiza.
After penetration into the seed and the development of hyphae of the mycorrhizal fungus, a seedling appears, in orchids it is called Protocorm - this is a formation consisting of identical parenchymal cells. It is assumed that already at the stage of protocorm it is possible to determine, if not the species, then at least the generic affiliation of the orchid. In most epiphytes, the protocorm is rounded, in terrestrial ones it is somewhat elongated.
At this stage, it should be remembered that from one fruit, spewing hundreds and even millions of microscopic seeds, not every orchid grows. Most seeds simply die. The fact is that an attempt at symbiosis is not always a happy ending, and mushrooms that infect and nourish orchid seeds are far from as harmless as it might seem. If the seeds do not produce certain fungicidal substances or produce them in insufficient quantities, the rhizoctonias of the fungus simply destroy them. Thus, in natural conditions, only a few survive from orchid seeds.
If you try to grow orchids at home as well as in nature - just sow, then the chances of survival are small. But scientists biologists have found that if you sow orchid seeds in a sterile environment, where there is no hint of mushroom rhizoctonia, but provide nutrients, then many species of orchids germinate in huge quantities. And although the orchid seedling grows for a long time, fully develops in about 180-200 days, and only at the age of 300 days (usually longer than 400-500 days depending on the species) is ready for transplantation into the substrate, this discovery made it possible to deploy large-scale cultivation of orchids in test tube.
By the way, by the name of Professor Lewis Knudson, the solution was called "Knudson's nutrient medium."
Knudson Wednesday
per 1 liter of distilled water:
- Ca(NO3)2*4H2O - 1,0 г
- KH2PO4 - 0.25 g
- MgSO4*7H2O - 0,25 г
- FeSO4*7H2O - 0,025 г
- (NH4) 2SO4 - 0.5 g
- MnSO4*4H2O - 0,0075 г
- Sucrose - 20.0 g
- Agar-agar - 7.0 g
The components are listed in order of addition to water. In order for agar-agar to dissolve, it is necessary, constantly stirring, to bring the solution to a boil. Plus, a vegetable component is added to the resulting solution - fruit or berry puree, about 8 g, preferably banana, you can papaya, tomato pulp. The fruit slices are crushed and strained through a sieve.
However, the concept of a nutrient medium was not limited to the classics, so to speak. Inventive growers have come up with a lot of nutrient solutions, here's an example:
Nutrient solution for orchid sowing
per 1 liter of distilled water:
- 1.5g orchid fertiliser (equal to NPK 20-20-20)
- 30g sugar
- 1 g activated carbon, crushed in a mortar,
- 5 drops epine (or naphthaleneacetic acid)
- 8 g agar agar
Agar-agar - performs the function of a thickener, i.e. so that the seeds do not float in solution, but lie on the surface. It cannot be replaced with gelatin - it does not tolerate sterilization, at high temperatures it loses its properties to solidify into jelly. Therefore, a worthy alternative to agar-agar has not yet been invented.
Fruit juice or fruit puree is often added to the nutrient solution. If the fertilizer for orchids contains only minerals and salts, then the fruit component is needed as a source of auxins, gibberilins, kinetin (growth substances of plants), as well as vitamins and other biologically active substances necessary for the full development of seedlings. By the way, cytokinins, including kinetin, are a class of plant hormones of the 6-aminopurine series that stimulate cell division, first found in a decent amount in coconut milk.
Therefore, in foreign recipes of nutrient media for sowing orchids, you can often find the addition of coconut milk instead of fruit puree. I.e. you just take the coconut, make a hole in it and drain the liquid. For 1 liter of nutrient medium, you need 100 g of coconut water and 900 mg of distilled water, then all other components on the list. It has been noticed that seedlings develop better on coconut water (although the data are rather subjective).
Orchids need sugar for the reason that, as we remember, they have very few nutrients, and simple carbohydrates are needed for the development of seedlings, so sugar is indispensable.
Activated charcoal was not added to the seeding medium earlier, but it was noticed that it restrains pollution - from a hodgepodge of fruit puree, particles of seed coat, if they get with seeds, and after 3-4 weeks of germination, the growth of seedlings slows down. When adding coal, this does not happen, which makes it possible to do without unnecessary transplantation of seedlings into a new sterile environment. I.e. if there is enough space (seeds are sown a little in one jar), then with activated charcoal, seedlings can grow perfectly for 4-5 months, or even do without transplants before sowing from a sterile environment to a regular one.
Sterilization of seeding solution
Prepare a solution, pour into jars in which orchids will be grown. Jars are small, better pot-bellied, well washed. Each 40-50 ml of solution or about 2 cm height.
Make jars on a baking sheet, seal with washed lids and place in the oven for 20 minutes at 150 degrees. Then turn off the oven, do not take out the jars until cooled. After cooling, the nutrient solution thickens. Some orchideists believe that such treatment is not enough to kill bacteria, and sterilize jars with medium in a pressure cooker, also about 20 minutes, as it boils. After that, let the steam down and take out the jars.
There is no need to sterilize the tool in the oven or pressure cooker - it does not make sense, it will lose sterility when you take it out.
Here it should be noted that you can check any method of sterilization without sowing seeds - leave the jars empty to stand at room temperature for 1-2 weeks. If sterility is not achieved, mold is necessarily formed in them.
The nutrient medium prepared in this way is sterile and can be stored for several months in a cool dark place. I.e. until the seeding is ready.
Orchid seed sowing and sterilization
For sowing, you need a clean table, tools, an ultraviolet lamp, prepared jars of medium.
Tools: scalpel, candle or alcohol burner, can opener (it is difficult to open sealed cans), gauze wipes, 70% alcohol, the more, the better, glass bowls or cups (small tray) for the fruit, soaking seeds, tweezers.
All manipulations must be carried out in a room where the windows are closed (there should be no draft and pets) and indoor colors, so it is more convenient in the kitchen.
There is nothing superfluous on the table, only prepared cans and tools. The lamp can be placed side by side directly on the table or above the table, for example, by fixing it to a table lamp.
Turn on the lamp and leave for 1.5-2 hours. Ultraviolet irradiation does not sterilize the entire room, but a small area around the table, but kills more bacteria in the room. At the same time, if you open the door when you enter the kitchen, naturally fresh microbes are introduced with air currents. Therefore, it is desirable to carry out all crops as quickly as possible and without unnecessary gestures and jumps for a forgotten tool.
So, wipe your hands with alcohol. All trays, tweezers, scalpel, jar covers - wipe everything with alcohol. If there is a lot of alcohol, it is better to pour into the sprayer and periodically spray the surfaces, well, or wipe with a napkin in alcohol, almost every action - put the tool, took it - wiped it. Spray or wipe the table with alcohol.
We take the fruit and soak for 10 minutes in alcohol (you can in 10% chloramine). We take out the fruit with tweezers, make an incision on it with a scalpel, the incision is not deep, so that the fruit does not crack and does not open right in the hands. We put it in a glass bowl.
Turn on the alcohol burner, keep the lid of the jar with the nutrient medium above it for about 20-30 seconds. Evenly, along the entire perimeter of the lid, from above and from the sides.
We put the jar, open the lid. We do not put the lid on the table, just open it slightly, hold it in one hand over the jar (no higher than 2 cm). With the second hand we take the fruit, bring it over the jar and, slightly squeezing the middle and thumb, tap the fetus with our index finger. The fruit is back in the bowl, we immediately close the jar. We take the next jar, etc.
This method does not require sterilization of the seeds themselves, but the fruit should be slightly unripe, slightly yellowed (the seeds ripen before the fruit itself). If the seeds do not spill out, they can be extracted: it is more convenient for me to use a cuticle cutting tool - such a forked fork. Rinse it in alcohol and dry it over the flame of the burner, only then open the fruit and extract the seeds.
I am not the author of the method, but I got it the first time, while the sowing in a box made of transparent plastic and treated with bleach failed.
The culture medium is as follows, pH 4.8-5.8:
- Fertilizer "Bona forte" for orchids 3.3 ml,
- Sugar 20g,
- Agar-agar 15 g,
- Banana puree 50g,
- Fill up to 1 l with distilled water.
The acidity of the medium (pH) for sowing epiphytic orchids should be in the range of 4.8-5.5. You can adjust the pH of the solution with lemon juice if the pH is higher than normal, or with drinking soda if it is lower. For shoes, the acidity is neutral pH 7.0. We check with a litmus test.
We finish the sowing procedure: the jars are tightly closed, we put them on a tray at a temperature not higher than 25 degrees (not lower than 18), only in diffused light, no direct sun. If solar windows, then put in the room under fluorescent lamps. Daylight hours are 12-20 hours. We are waiting for seedlings - they appear on average within 2-4 weeks.
At the age of seedlings, about 4-5 months, repeat the entire procedure in order to plant seedlings more rarely, otherwise they will suppress each other, but in addition, transplant to a more correct sterile substrate. I take all the components, like the previous solution, only sucrose is half as much - the excess of carbohydrates inhibits the development of seedlings. You need about 10 g of sucrose per 1 liter of solution.
At about the age of 8-10 months, when the seedlings already have clearly visible roots and leaves, they need to be transplanted. Rinse the plants themselves from agar in distillate, keep in an antimycotic solution, for example, quinazole, for about 30 minutes.
We prepare the substrate: sphagnum moss is cut with scissors, finely chopped pine bark, you can add foam chips. Put for 10 minutes in the oven, at a temperature of 200 degrees. We pour the substrate into a greenhouse (for example, a plastic box from a cake), transplant seedlings, put them in a permanent place. Humidification - by spraying with distilled water. Fertilization with complex fertilizers for orchids, with a concentration less than about 10 times the norm.
Temperature 24-25 degrees, diffused light for 12 hours, regularly ventilated.
By the way, for the first time your orcs grown from seeds will bloom only in 5-7 years . Cheers.
Artem Kipelov