A Flask 6 Months in the Making

Back in July 2011 I attempted my first orchid pollination.  Since then I have been pollinating other flowers and learning/testing laboratory flasking procedures with seeds obtained elsewhere.  Now the seed capsule resulting from that first pollination attempt is mature, and it is finally time to put the lab to use with my own seeds!

Ripe Seed Pod with Coffee Filter Safety Net
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

I brought the pod-parent plant inside recently so that I could keep an eye on the ripening pod.  I have been propping a clean coffee filter under it to catch seeds in case it should burst when I'm not looking.  Well, today I caught it in the act.  I walked into my office and noticed that the end had suddenly turned yellow; closer examination revealed that it had begun to split open.  Time to harvest those seeds!

Dried LC Schilleriana Orchid, Cut From Ripe Seed Pod
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

Above is a photo of what's left of the original flower I pollinated - I'd say it's a bit less attractive now than it was nearly 6 months ago.  I snipped the pod from the plant and cut away the stem and dried flower remnant.

Preparing the Pod for Seed Harvesting
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

Since the capsule had only just begun to dehisce (dry and open), I helped it along a bit with a scalpel.  Here is what it looks like split open:

Splitting an Orchid Seed Pod
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

Since I didn't do anything new with cleaning and flasking the seeds, and all my glove-box photos look pretty much alike, I'll leave that part out of this post.  Instead, here are some more photos of the seeds to give a sense of scale to both their size (very small) and number (very large).

 Here is a low-power micrograph of the seeds still in a section of the capsule:

Orchid Seed Micrograph
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

 You can see some individually along the edge, but in the middle it is just a dense fluff of innumerable seeds.  I tapped and scraped out a bunch onto a clean sheet of white printer paper.  There are more seeds there than I could ever possibly need or want!  I sowed a portion of them into 4 mother flasks tonight and put a bunch more into cold storage.  That way, if these flasks become contaminated, I can try it again.

Thousands and Thousands . . . and Thousands of seeds
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

Below is my favorite picture of the day.  That is the razor sharp edge of a surgical scalpel, and each of those white flecks is a tiny seed!

Tiny Tiny Seeds on a Scalpel
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

It's one thing to know that Orchids have very small seeds; it's another entirely to look through the 'scope and really "feel" how small they are - or exhale while opening the capsule and see a cloud of them rise into the air . . . both experiences I feel richer for having had.

With my limited magnification power and light sources, it's hard to determine if there are viable embryos in there.  I didn't see anything that positively confirmed viability, but that doesn't necessarily rule it out either.  Time will tell . . .