As I understand it, professional orchid growers propogate orchids in sterile labs, and even then, it may not work, even if a particular plant is usually easy to propogate. Big plug for Meyers Conservatory, who's been among the best growers to deal with - for me, anyway. From his site: Meyers Conservatory's mission is to provide laboratory-grown orchid species at the lowest possible price in an effort to aid in orchid species conservation. Since we started in 1999, we've never operated as a for-profit business, instead charging just enough to cover the costs of the flasks we produce and to pay our employees. https://lab.troymeyers.com/flasking/donate-funds.php They accept donations. From the flasking page: We usually charge the same amount for each flask, regardless of its rarity. Rare orchids or particularly nice specimens usually command a higher price, but unless there are difficulties growing a species we don't charge more; we will charge more if propagation requires extra time or materials, but not just because it's desirable. By not charging a lot for something rare, we can rest easy knowing that we're not helping to perpetuate the high prices that make collection of wild endangered orchids profitable. __________ I check the site every couple of weeks. Troy doesn't have a large selection, but he's had orchids that I couldn't find anywhere else in the U.S. WC8 Here is a link that might be useful: Troy Meyers' flasking page

store seed at 40F for 12 weeks then do not "crack" seed just lightly cover soil temp 70F & may take up to 365 days to germinate. the plant will NOT be like the parent & may take up to 10 years to flower & the fruit may be har & uneatable.... use seedling to graft a know variety .

Aumaker, Here's an information I found on the internet written by Mike McGroarty about growing JM from seeds. I'm no expert by any means so for those of you who have tried propagating JM from seeds, pls feel free to add, correct, or simply chime in. I have found that the people on this board are just simply wonderful and very helpful! ========================================================== Propagating Japanese Maples Japanese Maple seeds are ready to be picked when they turn brown and start falling from the tree (around Sept through Nov - depending on your zone). Collect the seeds and clean them by breaking off the wing attached to the seeds. Place the cleaned seeds in a cup, and fill the cup with hot tap water and let them soak for 24 hours. This will soften the outer coating of the seed so moisture can penetrate and germination can begin. After soaking the seeds place them in a plastic bag in a mixture of moist peat moss. Make sure the peat is moist but not too wet, you donÂt want the seeds to rot. The bag should be closed but not completely air tight. Poke a few holes in the bag. Store them at room temperature, but not in direct sunlight for a period of 90 days, and then move them to the refrigerator for a period of 70 days. During the cold stratification period check your seeds once a week to see if any of them have begun to sprout. Once they sprouted, plant them in soil at 1/8" deep. Make sure you donÂt plant them too deep, and keep them watered but not too wet. Once they begin to grow provide them with about 50% shade. That's all there is to it. =========================================================

I did a cross of Inniswood and Northern Exposure this summer, still waiting for the seed pod to turn yellow, I have grown inniswood seed in the past and liked alot of what i got, thought that i would try to cross it with another hosta that i like, supposedly they are both from the Elegans progeny line thing somewhere, we will see what happens, most green ones will be grown for a couple of years and then pitched( if they dont look like anything worthy) or given away. I only do one batch of seeds per year cause there just aint no room for all of them to grow!! as far as lights go, i use the cheapest shop lights that i can find, and suspend them from clothes line rope tide in slip knots so i can adjust the height. quite simple and cheap. all the growing is done on a short table that is 4' X 8' the size of a sheet of plywood, the lights are on for about or less than 14 hours per day. and they are only shop lights that cost about $12.00, and usually last about 3 years (some last for over 10 now!!). and that is what i use on my aquariums too!! so much cheaper than buying all those expensive and nice looking lights to hang over a tank of water that i will be the only one looking at!! (the aquariums are in the basement and you need a pass and special invitation (hopefully the watch cat wont bite you) signed by me to get down there!!) and you dont really need to invest in any special grow light bulbs, i use "cool white" bulbs. oh!! did i tell you? on another note!!,,,, talk about waste. I went to my local Taco Bell tonight, and bought 1 taco salad and 2 nachos bell grande (feeding 3 mouths on this episode!!) and they gave me 34 PACKS OF HOT SAUCE!! what am I going to do with 34 PACKS of hot sauce?? (yes i did count them!!) If i was buying hosta wholesale I could have got one hosta for the cost of what they just gave me!! The cheapest hosta that i bought for wholesale was paul's glory for $6.00 and my partner at the time went thru the roof!! (or i should say the high end hosta at the time, years ago, another story when i owned a backyard nursery) Uh.. there was a beer around here somewhere!! man uhhhhh... PHOEBE (the cat)!!! wheres my beer?? Darn, I left it on the kitchen counter and now it is probably warm!! Drat!! LOL Paul