| Orchid seed capsules can take from 6 months to a year to mature. each capsule can
contain as many a 10,000 to 100,000 or more seeds. In nature, orchid seeds only have
a minute reserve of nutrients and thus need a fungus to provide the required nutrients
for germination. This necessary relationship between seed and mycelia from the fungus
is called "symbiotic" germination. Of the thousands and thousands of seeds, only a small
percentage survive the environmental conditions and germinate.
In Laboratories "asymbiotic germination" was introduced in the early 1920's. Here seeds
are grown on a sterile, jelly like culture medium that contains certain sugars and other
nutrients thus providing germination without the need for the fungus. The draw back
and why conditions have to be more sterile under this method is that the addition of
a sugar rich medium will grow many unwanted bacteria and fungi faster than the orchid
seeds and seedlings. Thus a sterile environment is very critical for "in vitro" (in glass)
type germination to be successful.
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