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How to make seedlings of orchid?
MMultiplying the orchids in the collection is a desire of every collector. Either to increase the number of vases, or to have plants to give as gifts to friends.
Orchids can be reproduced either by seed or by cutting pieces that will develop as a plant independently.
Cutting the Orchids
A cut will always generate a new plant that will bear identical flowers to the original plant.
_The first thing before making the cut is to assess whether it is the right time to cut. Cutting is always a stressful moment and that is why we must do it in a way that has as little impact as possible.
For this, assess whether the plant is in its growing season. The easiest way to see this is to see if it's sprouting. If the front is sprouting, then we will have the best possible conditions for a dormant rear bud (see circled area in the figure at the side) to also sprout, forming a new plant. The cut must be made with a very sharp tool to avoid maceration of the bulb. We usually say that the ideal is that the new seedling has at least three bulbs. See a video below:
This procedure applies to orchids with sympoidal growth.
Many orchidists like to make the cut and not take the plant out of the pot until the rear part emits a bud, guaranteeing the new seedling. This is an interesting decision, as it prevents the roots from being damaged, which makes it difficult to capture nutrients and water for the formation of the new plant.
There are also those who prefer to cut only half of the rhizome or make a hole in the middle with a nail. These procedures also tend to stimulate budding at the rear, generating a new seedling
As soon as the seedling resulting from the rear is starting to form new roots, it's time to remove the entire set from the pot and plant each of them in separate pots.
Orchids that emit Keikis
keikiyou mean "Baby" in the Hawaiian language.
So we are talking about orchids that emit small seedlings (babies), which, when they develop, will form a new orchid that will give flowers identical to those of the mother plant.
It is a propagation method common in orchids of the genera Phalaenopsis, Epidendrum and Dendrobium. usually akeikiit is formed when the orchid is kept too humid and with less than ideal luminosity. I explain, what today is akeikiit was supposed to be a flower, but as there was a lot of water available and lower luminosity, the plant decided that instead of giving flower buds, it would go from new seedlings.
The Keikis, while they are attached to the mother plant, they receive water and nutrients from it, and their roots only play a secondary role in development. When the roots are more than 5 cm, we can detach the keiki and plant it in a new pot. The more developed akeiki, the stronger he will be to go alone. See also topic about"Planting".
How to encourage the formation of new Keikis
The first tip I already gave above. If at the time of formation of new shoots (which will consequently generate a new flowering) you keep the plant in an environment with good humidity and less luminosity than ideal for the species, then you will have keikis (but it will not have satisfactory flowering).
On the other hand, there are pastes with their own hormones to stimulate the genas to "wake up" generating seedlings..
After flowering, flowering can be terminated after flowering stems cut into pieces of about 10cm and planted (on foot) in a tray with a mixture of perlite and coconut powder or sand. Before planting, however, rub upright cinnamon on the cut parts to seal. Keep the mixture moist (not soggy) and water it every 10 days with vitamin B and hormone (the most common is superthrive). See figure on the side.
In the case of Dendrobium and Epidendrum, you can separate a stem from the plant and cut it so that each piece has two or three nodes (where the buds are), seal the cuts passing cinnamon and powders and lay them on a tray with substrate (perlite with coconut fiber or sand). Keep it moist and spray hormone and vitamin B every 10 days.
Once the Keikis have two or three leaves and two or three roots, you can remove them and plant them in a permanent pot or even fix them on a tree.
How to sow orchids?
Infelizmente as sementes de orquídeas são muito pequenas and it has very little reserve material to nourish it while growing into a plant. This means that the seed needs to associate with certain types of beneficial fungi that will manufacture the nutrients it will need for development. Without these fungi, called mycorrhiza, the seed will not grow. This already gives an idea that it is not so simple to sow orchids and that germination will be greatly reduced by natural processes.
Existem dois tipos de semeadura: o symbiotic and asymbiotic method. The symbiotic is the natural medium, of which we can use homemade means, but which will germinate in a small amount. The second method is the asymbiotic method, used in laboratories in completely aseptic environments and which require great technical knowledge in order to obtain sowing in a completely controlled environment. This second medium is what is used in commercial cultivation because it is much more effective.
Here I will only deal with symbiotic sowing, which you can do at home. For more information on the asymbiotic environment, see the "Secrets" Menu.
Homemade Orchid Seeding Symbiotic Method
Let's see this method published in the magazine "O Mundo das Orquídeas nº 05"
You will need some orchid roots (2 or 3), coconut water in addition to the seeds. Together with the orchid roots we have the mycorrhizal fungi that will allow the seeds to germinate.
The roots must be macerated together with a little coconut water, sift everything, and add the orchid seeds (open the capsule and remove the seeds) with the liquid resulting from the crushing process.
Find a tree trunk (better one that is slightly inclined) and pour the mixture slowly, spreading it over the trunk. A capsule has thousands of seeds, but only a few dozen are likely to germinate.
One way to simplify the process is to throw the seeds close to the roots of one that is already growing in the tree, since the mycorrhiza already exists there.
Cloning Orchids - Meristem
Contrary to what happens with animal cloning, plant cloning has been successfully done for many decades, being a process widely used in the commercial cultivation of orchids.
In plants, this process of micropropagation is also known as meristem. Meristema is tissue formed by cells that have the ability to divide indefinitely, something comparable to stem cells in animals. They are present in various parts of a plant and, in orchids, it is customary to remove these cells from the buds and buds and cultivate them in a culture medium with the aid of growth stimulants.
A grande vantagem desse método of propagation is the possibility of obtaining thousands of plants identical to the mother plant, which is practically impossible with seed propagation.
In fact, this is not an easy method to be done at home, the task being left to specialist laboratories in plant reproduction.
Below is an example of the sequence of developmental stages of a clone.
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