Don't want to discourage you but it is very difficult in ideal circumstances, and yours sound far from ideal. I really suggest that you concentrate on establishing your garden and buy your orchids from those who are set up to produce them.
Tony

I agree with Tony. See my posting re terrestial (native) orchids. Good luck. Jane

DClews,
I'm afraid that the technique for growing ferns will not work for orchids, as orchids need to get their food from the environment. Have a look at an earlier posting I made about how to go about it.

Dorthery

Most native ground orchids require a fungus that lives in partnership (symbiotic)around the tubers of certain natives. If you can aquire this mainly found around wild ones then you can propagate them , this is the only method that i have had success. If you need the fungus I have it on my property will mail some if required.

Regards
Sye.

Sye,
Thanks for your reply. The spores I collected were from tree orchids, so I am not sure if the ground orchid fungus would work, I presume that the tree orchids would have their own particular variety of fungus. However if you think the fungus you have would work, I will send you a SAE. Please email me at clews@tsn.cc with your mailing address.
regards
Dorothy

Dorothy
I havent tried growing epiphytes using the mycrozima from ground orchids. Epiphytes usually send out kieks , that is Dendrobiums which you can pot up. I have heard of people that spread the seed on an old brick, in a shallow dish of water in a clear plastic bag , cant hurt to try. Otherwise there is a company in Qld. that can do this for you .

Have fun
Sye.

Thay are not spores, they are seeds. If you sprinkle the seed around the base of a plant of the same species and keep it moist, it should work.

John

Germinating seeds of orchids . . .

First off, orchids are highly evolved flowering plants, and as such, they reproduce via seeds, not spores --- although the seeds are so tiny as to look like they are spores from ferns.

Secondly, orchid seed are germinated commercially all the time, without the benefit of the microrhyza (always forget the spelling of this, sorry) fungi. It is true that in the wild, this is how orchids germinate (e.g. by establishing a symbiotic relationship with specific microrhyzae). However, commercial growers have gotten around the problem by germinating the plants in a specifically formulated agar-like media, inside of a sterile test tube environment, using a special gadget for that purpose, called a laminar-flow device, that allows manipulation and planting of the seed without contaminating it with the bugs, bacteria and bad fungi that float about in the air.

Amateurs can achieve fairly good results on their own, but this requires several steps: 1.) preparing the nutrient agar beforehand from a special recipe, and making sure it is (and remains) sterile until the test-tube is ready for sowing the seeds into it, 2) Harvesting the seed pod just *before* it dehices (e.g. before it bursts, and both scatters the seed and exposes it to outside contaminants). This guarantees that the seed will not carry contaminants into the sterile test-tube environment, but is difficult to time and harvest, because each species has a specific number of days before it dehices, and you risk jumping the gun and harvesting before the seed is viable, or too late (the pod bursts), 3.) Transfering the seed to the sterile medium without contaminating it in the process, then resealing the test tube until after germination, when the seedlings have achieved a sufficient size to allow survival outside the test tube.

Each of these steps is fairly involved, but not impossible. There was an article in the American Orchid Society Journal in the early nineties or late 80's that gave step by step instruction, if anyone wants to do some reasearch.

Dorothy,
Good on you for trying something new!!!
I have had small success using agar for orchid seeds.
I used a sterilized foam box with holes cut into the sides, for my arms, and glass over the top so that I could see inside. Sterilize all equipment before you begin the process. Agar will develop your seeds, but they MUST be kept in a sterile environment as they are very susceptible at this stage.
Good luck.
Karen.