Since all of us have at one time or another probably started seedlings from seeds in our gardens, the orchid enthusiast always wants to try the same things with his or her own orchids. After all, the plants are expensive and growing from seed is always “free.” Or we have two orchids we love and we think it would be fun to do a bit of hybridizing!

It is possible, but very difficult to grow orchids from seed. Orchid seeds are generally tiny and contain no food reserves as most of the seeds we are familiar with. In nature they depend on a type of fungus to provide them with food in a symbiotic relationship until the plantlet can grow roots and start absorbing nutrients. In 1922, Lewis Knudsen discovered how to grow orchid seeds in a culture medium and revolutionized the orchid world by increasing germination to almost 99%.

Once the flower is pollinated, either naturally or artificially, it can take up to a year for the pod to ripen, depending upon the species or cross. Many growers now use a green seed pod rather than a ripened one due to the fact that it is easier to sterilize the seeds from the green pod. Seeds are sterilized and sown in Petri dishes in a culture medium which contains nutrients to promote growth. It will take from one to nine months for the seeds to start germinating. Every 30 to 45 days they are then moved to larger flasks where they grow from one to three years, depending upon the type of orchid. Then they are moved to community pots or compots until they are large enough to go into individual pots. It can take up to 10 years for some orchids to grow to flowering size, although some are in the three year range.

If you are trying to come up with a new hybrid to show it is important to remember that it is estimated that about three quarters of the babies will be unexceptional or worse than the parents. Only about 25% will be better and it is estimated that if you have bred well, 1% will be eligible for AOS awards. In other words, it is fun and interesting, but probably not worth the effort. Having said that, I was at a talk on Bulbophyllms recently and heard about a cross made by a hobby grower who had two different flowers open at the same time and pollinated them. The cross has produced a number of awards. It is possible, but not probable.

For technical information and kits designed especially for the home orchid grower, PhytoTechnology Laboratories is a small business that takes time to work with its customers. They have a great deal of valuable data in their technical information section on how to sterilize the seeds and grow on culture media.