Two Links Closer in the Chain of Dendrobium Ifs

In Updates on 18 July 2012 tagged Dendrobium, Flasking, Orchids, Seeds, Troy Meyers

Back in May, I wrote about A Dendrobium Seed Pod and the Long Chain of Ifs. Now we’re a couple links closer.

First, good news came from Troy Meyers, the flasking lab, last month. The seed embryos looked good under the microscope. Here they are, under transmitted and reflected light.

Next, more good news from Troy Meyers, last week. The seeds have germinated! I asked for a photo and he sent me this.

It may not look like much now, but that layer of yellow blobs are all clusters of tiny, growing Dendrobium embryos. Sexy goop, eh?

So we’re two more links into the long chain of ifs. Now if they stay alive, and if they survive a reflasking or two, and if they survive the trip to me, and if I can get them transitioned to media, and if I can keep them alive another few years, and if I can get them to bloom … then we’ll finally see what the flowers look like.

Like I said, it’s a long chain of ifs, but still so exciting!

See Also

• The Continuing Phalaenopsis Impregnation Saga
  After a week or so, there was a fine orange dust at the bottom of the paper cone. In that teaspoon of dust were hundreds of thousands of seeds.
• A Dendrobium Seed Pod and the Long Chain of Ifs
  That tiny fluff is just the packaging - the seeds are too tiny to be visible to the naked eye.
• I Think I Impregnated My Dendrobium
  Try, try again.