Journal April 17, 2018 - Starting orchid seeds.

While watering the orchids I noticed that one of the seed pods on the Phalaenopsis orchid had split open, which says they are ready to be started.  The remaining pod was still sort of green and intact, so I decided to try both dry seed flasking and green pod flasking.

Although there is a great probability of contamination with both methods, the green pod route is said to have a lesser chance of contamination, as the seeds in the unopened pod are assumed to be sterile.  Yeah, we'll see.

Above is what real orchid seeds look like, don't sneeze or your will blow them away.

These are scam orchid seeds sold by both Amazon and eBay, don't waste your money on these.

The dry seeds were placed in a syringe containing 3% hydrogen peroxide and soaked and agitated for 10 minutes.  I used 3 ml. of solution total for 4 flasks.

Before soaking the green pod I removed all loose material but left the pod intact.

The pod was soaked and agitated in 100% bleach for thirty minutes, then dipped in Isopropyl Alcohol for ten seconds.

In both instances the seeds are placed in flasks containing sterile media under sterile conditions.

The flasks have been sealed and will be kept warm with a 16 hour photoperiod under flourescent light.

If any of these seeds, and there are probably several thousand of them, germinate, no one will be more surprised than me.