R. H. GORE ORCHIDS 
ORCHID SEED SOWN IN FLASKS— 
KEPT IN CONTAINER ONE YEAR 
Sowing orchid seed is very different from sowing tomato or other garden seed. The 
seed, being tiny, will become lost at the bottom of a pot as it will wash down in the soil 
when watered. Special care has to be given orchid seed when it is sown in order to protect 
the tiny particles. An insect could easily carry seed from the pot merely by having it adhere 
to its body. Unless one is familiar with seed sowing technique, then it should not be attempted. 
Special equipment is necessary to germinate orchid seed and special formulas have to 
be prepared for seed sowing. 
Seed is sown in flasks containing agar-agar, a jelly-like substance on which the seed 
grows. The jelly formula in the flask has to be kept sterile or mold will grow on the agar 
instead of seedlings: Mold will germinate in the flasks as fast, if not faster, than mold 
on bread. 
The tiny seed is inserted into the flask and spread over the surface of the agar. 
A sinall pipette scatters the seed over the agar until an even spread is maintained. 
Seed will show signs of germination within a few days but the long struggle has 
only begun. Even though the seed will show sign of germination within a few days, 
the small plants generally stay in the flasks for a period of from 10 to 12 months. 
Some seed is hard to sow evenly in the flasks and has to be reset in other 
flasks. Transferring seedlings from bottle to bottle is also done under sterile conditions. Root 
growth begins to start when the seedlings are in the flask about two to three months. 
Small leaves have developed by this time, and when the seedlings are four months old 
they can be transferred to other flasks. 
The small plants are removed from the flask with a small wire loop and then placed 
in community pots. Community pots are small, three-inch pots containing about 25 seedlings. 
From the time the plants are removed from flasks to flowering, covers a period of from 
four to five years. Some strong-growing plants often bloom in two to three years from the 
flask but this does not occur with the majority of orchids, other than in a few of the early- 
blooming types, such as phalaenopsis and dendrobiums. 
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