How to grow an orchid from seeds at home: instructions

An orchid is a masterpiece gifted to us by nature. These flowers captivate the eye with their grace and delicacy. But growing such beauty, especially from seed, indoors is difficult. It's a complex and labor-intensive process. But with the right approach, it's possible.

What is culture?

Orchids are gaining more and more fans every day, and there's no need to explain what orchids look like. Despite the difficulties of growing the flower, many people buy cuttings and seedlings. But not everyone can afford a full-grown plant.

The origins of this flower are ancient. The earliest mentions of orchids date back approximately 130 million years. This plant was previously considered a medicinal plant.

Growing orchids at home has become possible thanks to the effective work of botanists. They have developed varieties that can be grown and propagated indoors. Orchids are very demanding houseplants, but achieving abundant, beautiful blooms requires careful attention to all growing requirements and conditions.

Orchids are indoor plants that propagate by seeds, cuttings, and bulbs. Growing from seeds is considered the most difficult method.

Care Features

Orchid care can be a daunting task for a novice gardener. However, experts claim that beautiful orchid blooms are easy to achieve at home if you follow all the necessary instructions and guidelines.

Proper lighting is crucial for the flower's growth. Bright light is essential, but it must be diffused.

For abundant flowering, orchids benefit from temperature fluctuations. Temperatures can range from 18 to 27 degrees Celsius.

During the active growth period, abundant watering is essential, but in winter, reduce the amount of water. Drought is not as harmful to orchids as excess water. It's best to water them like a shower, or pour water into a saucer and let the pot sit in it for 15 minutes.

During the dormant period (from autumn to spring), the plant can be left unshaded, as it will receive little sunlight. This will be enough for new shoots to form and buds to set. During this period, reduce the temperature to 13-18 degrees Celsius.

Orchid seeds, what are they like?

Orchid seeds (Phalaenopsis) mature in capsules with 3 or 6 valves. There can be up to 4 million of them, each measuring 0.3 to 3.3 mm in length. Only mature seeds, after the capsule has dried, can be used. Orchid seeds look like dust or sand due to their large number and small quantity. The dust from the seeds is not black, but a yellowish-cream hue.

Collecting seeds is very difficult. But nature has compensated for the small size of the achenes by packing them in large numbers. In nature, orchids reproduce by seed. The wind carries the seed dust, which falls on the bark and leaves of trees and germinates.

It takes about 2.5-3 months for the seed to fully mature.

Seed collection

Collecting the seeds is difficult, but possible. While the capsule is growing, tie a napkin to it like a pocket to prevent dust from escaping when the walls begin to crack. The mature capsule turns brown (in rare cases, it remains green).

Once the capsule is dry, it's cut off and the seed dust is transferred to a piece of paper. Planting such small seeds is very difficult. This is another reason why seed propagation often fails.

Propagation of orchids from seeds

Orchid seeds are unable to germinate under normal conditions, like other plants. This is because they lack the special nutrient reservoirs (endosperm) that nourish the embryo during the early stages of growth.

What you will need

To grow orchids from seeds, you will need to ensure that you have:

• glass containers with a capacity of 300-400 ml (flasks or jars with lids) where the seeds are sown;
• a small glass jar for the sterilization procedure;
• rubber or cotton plugs;
• disposable syringes;
• litmus strips;
• 2% hydrogen peroxide solution.

Before use, the lids are also prepared. A thin glass tube is placed inside each lid, the top opening of which is covered with a cotton ball. A second similar hole is made and covered with adhesive tape (this is used for seeding).

Preparing the tools

All materials, tools, and containers are sterilized before use. This will help protect young sprouts from damage by pathogenic bacteria.

If you violate basic sterility rules at the very beginning of the experiment, you can't continue the experiment. The seeds will no longer germinate.

Soil preparation

To germinate orchid seeds, you can use a ready-made growing medium or make your own. Growing large-flowered orchids from seeds at home requires a special medium. Sowing the seeds in regular soil will not work; they will die immediately.

Ready-mix options

To grow orchids from seeds at home, you can purchase a ready-made Knudson nutrient medium. It should be dissolved according to the instructions. Growing orchids from seeds in this medium is made possible by its special composition:

• agar-agar (a polysaccharide that helps the composition achieve the density of jelly);
• sugar;
• The salts included in the composition are in a balanced volume.

After preparation, the acidity of the resulting medium is checked using a litmus strip.

After preparation, the nutrient mixture is heated and poured into jars (no more than 60 ml of jelly-like composition is placed in 200 ml).

Making the mixture yourself

You can make your own nutrient medium for germinating orchid seeds by following simple step-by-step instructions.

1. Add 10 g of fructose glucose and 8 g of agar-agar to half a liter of boiling distilled water.
2. Mix the options over low heat until the agar-agar dissolves.
3. In the second container, heat another 0.5 liters of water and mix in 1.5 g of fertilizer (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium), 5 drops of a phytostimulator for root formation, and 1 g of activated carbon.
4. After all components have dissolved, both solutions are combined and stirred.
5. If necessary, reduce the acidity to 4.8-5.2 pH. This can be reduced by adding a potash solution, and increased by adding an orthophosphorus solution.
6. Pour 30 ml of the prepared liquid into each sterilized container of seeds.
7. Flasks with a special medium are closed and sterilized for about half an hour.
8. Leave the growing medium and containers for 4-5 days. If mold develops, you'll need to re-prepare the growing medium.

You can use folk recipes to prepare a nutrient medium.

1. 450 ml potato juice, 40 g powdered sugar, 7 g special fertilizer, 20 g agar-agar, 1 tsp. lemon juice.
2. 200 g starch (from potatoes), 500 ml coconut water, 20 agar-agar, 1-2 ml orchid fertilizer, freshly squeezed puree from 0.5 kg of tomatoes.
3. 460 ml of distilled water, 1 tablet of activated carbon, 5 g of sugar, 40 ml of pineapple juice, 5 g of honey, 100 g of starch, 2-3 special fertilizers.

To properly prepare a favorable substrate, you need to be very careful; compliance with sterility requirements is the main and important condition.

Seed treatment and direct sowing

Before planting orchid seeds, sterilize them. First, wipe the seed pod with a cotton swab soaked in rubbing alcohol. Then, pour the seed dust into a small glass jar and seal it with a lid. Using a syringe, inject a small amount of 2% hydrogen peroxide solution into the container containing the seeds.

The seeds are left in the container for about 5-10 minutes. The liquid containing the seeds is removed using another syringe. It is poured through the hole sealed with adhesive tape into a jar. The liquid is carefully spread over the surface of the nutrient medium.

If sterile conditions are not maintained when germinating seeds, colonies of microorganisms will form on the surface within a week. These containers must be discarded.

Conditions of detention

After transferring the seeds to the growing medium, the jars are provided with the necessary conditions. It's important to monitor the temperature and lighting.

Sown seeds require temperatures between 20-23 degrees Celsius to germinate. 12 hours of light is essential, with diffused light provided.

Features of seedling care

The time it takes for seedlings to emerge varies for different varieties. The first shoots can appear in 4-6 weeks, but sometimes it can take up to 6-9 months. Initially, a small ball with thread-like shoots forms. These cling to the surface and absorb the necessary nutrients for further development. Next, the first leaves will appear, and only then will true roots begin to form.

As long as the seeds are kept in sterile conditions, no special care is required. It's important not to open the jars while they're in glass containers, as this could compromise sterility.

When and how to transplant seedlings

It takes up to a year from sowing the seeds to transplanting them into the substrate. For transplanting, prepare the following mixture:

• 1 part each of crushed coniferous bark, sphagnum moss, and fern rhizome;
• 10 tablets of activated carbon (pre-crushed).

A layer of classic drainage is placed on the bottom of the plastic cups, then prepared soilThe seedlings are removed from the original container using circular motions, and the roots are washed. Carefully transfer the seedlings to cups with the substrate. At first, the small orchids are not watered; instead, they are simply misted, ensuring the soil remains moist.

The orchid is left undisturbed for six months, and then it is transplanted into the usual traditional soil for orchids.

Caring for young orchid shoots

After repotting, young orchids are carefully monitored and provided with the necessary care. Watering is done by spraying the potting soil.

After six months, the seedlings will have strengthened, and they are transplanted into standard soil for mature plants and cared for in the traditional manner. Flowers will appear after 4-5 years of transplantation.

Problems that may be encountered

Encounter difficulties when growing phalaenopsis from seeds at home can be done at any stage of this procedure.

There are many reasons for poor germination:

• poor quality seed material:
• failure to comply with humidity and lighting conditions;
• flaws in creating sterility and so on.

Any mistake can destroy seeds or seedlings, or the plant may grow but never bloom.

Seed material

This is the first problem you might encounter. When collecting seeds yourself, it's difficult to know when a seed pod is fully ripe.

Buying ready-to-germinate seeds is even more difficult. They are often ordered from Chinese websites. But when the packages arrive, they contain nothing but a packet of seeds, no instructions, harvest date, variety name, and so on. There's a high chance that instead of the coveted orchid, you've received ordinary lawn seeds.

Maintaining sterility

A disturbance can be detected by the appearance of mold in the containers. Germinating seeds can be saved by trying a different substrate.

1. A new jelly is prepared from the nutrient medium.
2. The flask is filled with warm water and shaken lightly.
3. The mixture is poured into a small container. Any 1% fungicide solution (1-2 drops) is added to the mixture.
4. After 15 minutes, the sprouts are placed in the prepared substrate.

Next, the container is closed again, ensuring sterility for the sprouts.

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Formation of rot

After transplanting young plants into the ground, they may become infected with a fungus that causes rot. Overwatering is often the cause.

To save an orchid you need to:

1. The roots of the extracted plant are cleaned from the soil.
2. Remove all rotten and diseased areas with a knife (it's important to disinfect it first). Check the leaves in the same way.
3. Soak the roots in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for approximately 25-30 minutes. A fungicide solution can be used for similar purposes.
4. The leaves at the cut site are treated with cinnamon, crushed charcoal or chalk.
5. The pot and new substrate are disinfected.
6. Trichodermin or Gliocladin granules are added to the soil during transplantation.
7. When watering Alternate between plain water and a solution of Baikal-M, Maxim, or Alirin-B. When diluting the solution, reduce the dosage by half.

After the treatment, it's important to monitor watering. Avoid excessive moisture to prevent recurrence of the disease.

Before deciding to grow an orchid from seed at home, you should realistically assess your time and resources. Getting seedlings, and subsequently beautiful flowering plants, will require a great deal of effort and patience. Not only must they be planted correctly, but they also need special care. Orchids are a very demanding plant, and their seedlings require even more attention and care.