Spiranthes spiralis seed sown on basic oats agar with Q414 fungus and another dish with AMYG fungus (it seems its not very fussy and all our captive fungi will germinate). The seed coat is very thin and a bleaching time of just 3 to 4 minutes works.
Sown 16 September, the germination was quick (about 3 weeks) but the the protocorms sort of stopped developing and remained too small to ‘handle’/ replate. I decided to take entire slabs of agar and place on fresh basic oats dishes. This technique worked and this photo was taken 5 November.
In mid November the protocorms were a good size (2 to 3 mm long) and I prepared some food container, vented vessels with basic oats medium. I transferred the protocorms giving them space ( approximately 1.5 to 2 cm between each). I used a slightly soft 5.5 g per litre agar mix.
At this stage there was some contamination but the plants developed well despite this.
The pots were placed on a West facing window sill in a cool room.
March 15th
After the middle of March I needed to find a north facing window sill.
The seedlings continued to develop and grow tuber roots.
May 28
And so it comes time to wean the seedlings in August. The size of the seedlings varies a bit. In some pots the seedling leaves have died back a bit leaving the tuber and the bud of next year’s shoot.
Weaning pots were prepared with a lattice of cardboard and an inoculation of B1 and Q414 fungus (see other post)
August 18 2024
These are now covered in an unheated propagator (for humidity) and under a bench in a greenhouse with no direct sunlight.
I’n hopeful they grow and form flowering plants this time next year.