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Distributed for Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Growing Orchids from Seed

Written for the amateur and the professional without access to sophisticated laboratory equipment and chemicals, ’Growing Orchids from Seed’ contains all you need to know to become an expert! 

Careful guidelines are given for buying and making equipment, pollinating orchid flowers, harvesting and storing seed, successful germination, transplanting seedlings, and growing them on to healthy plants.

83 pages | 9.60 x 7.7 | © 2005

Biological Sciences: Botany


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Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface

Obtaining orchid seed
   The structure of orchid flowers
   Sources of seed
   Pollination
   Fertilization

Harvesting and storing seed
   Harvesting seed
   Collecting and cleaning seed
   Orchid seed in the post
   Record keeping
   Assessing seed quality
   Seed storage
   Pollen storage

Culture media
   Selection of media
   Equipment
   Making up and storing media

Getting ready to sow the seed
   Setting up a clean area
   Safe disposal of materials
   Working in a laminar flow bench or a sterile-handling cabinet

Seed sowing and germination
   Choosing your options
   Green pod method
   Disinfection of seed
   Packet method
   Tube method incorporating sintered-glass disc
   Test tube method
   Filter paper & funnel method
   Syringe method
   Germination
   Care of flasks: light & temperature
   Transplanting to fresh medium
   De-flasking seedlings
   Aftercare of seedlings

Problem solving

Appendix 1: useful addresses
Appendix 2: green capsule harvest times
Appendix 3: media notes
Appendix 4: a simple hood
Appendix 5: seedling composts
Glossary
Further reading 

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