Neos from seed - a DIY adventure

[Happypaphy7]

Yes, get a lab and take my seed pods!

 

[myxodex]

Yes, get a lab and take my seed pods!

Ha Ha ... you have undue confidence in me, success will only be when I have a healthy plant growing out of flask.

I'm sure you can find a decent seed sowing service in the US, anyone who can deal with Phals should be able to do neos. Just be aware that neo seeds apparently don't keep for that long. I've sowed seed successfully after six months from pod ripening, but usually I try to sow within the first 2 months. J.D.Chung was, I think the first to do work on the propagation of neos from seed. You can find one of his papers here: www.kspbtjpb.org/journal/download_pdf.php?spage=49&volume=6&number...
I hope that link works because I cannot see the whole line of code to cut and paste, if not it's : Korean J. Plant Tissue Culture vol6, No 1, 49-66 (1979). In that paper he mentions that neo seed "had shorter life span". Also watch out, neo pods ripen from green to yellow and split open all within a few days ... you don't get a lot of warning, it's between 5 and 6 months usually although one of my crosses took about 2 months longer.

 

[TyroneGenade]

Great, thanks!

 

[Happypaphy7]

Ha Ha ... you have undue confidence in me, success will only be when I have a healthy plant growing out of flask.

I'm sure you can find a decent seed sowing service in the US, anyone who can deal with Phals should be able to do neos. Just be aware that neo seeds apparently don't keep for that long. I've sowed seed successfully after six months from pod ripening, but usually I try to sow within the first 2 months. J.D.Chung was, I think the first to do work on the propagation of neos from seed. You can find one of his papers here: www.kspbtjpb.org/journal/download_pdf.php?spage=49&volume=6&number...
I hope that link works because I cannot see the whole line of code to cut and paste, if not it's : Korean J. Plant Tissue Culture vol6, No 1, 49-66 (1979). In that paper he mentions that neo seed "had shorter life span". Also watch out, neo pods ripen from green to yellow and split open all within a few days ... you don't get a lot of warning, it's between 5 and 6 months usually although one of my crosses took about 2 months longer.

Yeah, I'll use lab service here.
Hoping for the best.

 

[myxodex]

Update

Time for an update on this project.

The short answer is that the sweet potato extract - starch digest medium (SWM) works, but pure maltose is not a substitute for this.

Some pictures.

HienxManonSWM2 by Tim Dexter, on Flickr

The first is a current pic of the flask posted above in post #6. The seedling on the left has taken off and has it's newest leaf jammed against the lid.

Next, Kokoden x Manjushage seedlings on SWM.

KokoxManonSWM2 by Tim Dexter, on Flickr

The same cross on one of the other failed replate media (SGF : filter sterilised fructose and glucose 1:1 mixture)

KokoxManonSGF2 by Tim Dexter, on Flickr

Finally the Toyozakura X Hien seedlings pictured in above post #5 where replated in duplicate on three different media; SWM, SGF and pure maltose (SM) in mid August last year. The plants on SWM are on the left, those on SM are on the right. It's clear that those on the SWM are taking off after a bit of a lag, while those on the SM are starting to look unhealthy, as are those on the SGF (not shown).

ToyoxHienSWMvSM by Tim Dexter, on Flickr

So I'm convinced that the SWM medium's success has nothing to do with the maltose it contains, but rather some other constitutent(s) in this medium is simulating growth; first roots then shoots.

 

[myxodex]

A few thoughts. I was hoping the maltose medium would work out but it doesn't. So yet again in orchid propagation it's a complex additive that makes the difference. I haven't tried coconut water or banana puree, it's possible these could be worth a try. From what I've been able to find out sweet potato tubers contain the auxin IAA as well as a cytokine called trans-zeatin riboside (TZR). The original sweet potato extract is rather diluted in the starch digest stage, and the several hours at 50C makes me wonder whether much of the hormone content would have survived, and besides I add NAA at 1mg/litre anyway. There is a paper on the use of coconut water in orchid propagation which includes neos, but it's in a Japanese journal I cannot access and so I have no idea of their results. Note that I use the yellow/orange flesh sweet potatoes and there is also a possibility that it's the copious amount of beta-carotene that is acting as an antioxidant/stress reliever ?

I've noticed a bit of a lag phase after replating seedlings, this has been especially noticeable with the Toyozakura x Hien seedlings. About 8 weeks ago I plated out some seeds on the germination medium to which I've added some of the sweet potatoe extract digest (1/5 strength). The protocorms do seem to be developing a bit faster, but it is still too early to tell. If this works out hopefully it will also reduce the replating lag by bringing the germination medium closer to the replate medium. I have a hunch it should be possible to get from seed to deflasking within 2 years if the media and protocols are optimized.

I will get back and provide details of this medium and the sweet potato extract and starch digest protocol. I'm about to pack up my heavy old computer and take it to a computer repair shop for a service and OS upgrade. Not sure how long I will be without it, but I will get back as soon as I can.