One of the most popular tasks at Writhlington is pollinating plants to produce seed to use in the orchid laboratory. We produce most of our seed this way which means that we can be absolutely sure that seedlings are the correct species and keep photographs of the parent plants. The job of pollination goes the the student in charge of that group of plants and since Cattleya percivaliana was in flower last week it was Heather that had the job of polinating it. Seedlings of Cattleya species are always popular and we find most of them produce good strong seedlings. In the photo you can see that Heather is using a thin stick to transfer pollen to the stigmatic surface. If pollination is successful she will see the seed capsule swelling behind the flower in a week or so. The seed will be ripe and ready to sow in about twelve months. We will keep you informed on progress.

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 At Writhlington school we always feel that spring has arrived when our plants of Coelogyne cristata start to flower. Matt isn't the tallest member of greenhouse club but he still shows the scale of this magnificent plant. Coelogyne cristata featured as one of our favourite orchids in an earlier blog and I am sure you can see why. Its flowers are a beautiful crystal white ..rather reminicent of the snow we have all had enough of this year. Coelogyne cristata is a species our expedition to Sikkim had the great pleasure of finding in the wildin April 2009 growing at 1200m in mossy forest near Tinkitam. This Writhlington plant is really heavy. We aren't quite sure how we will carry it to the new greenhouse next month but are confident we will think of something.

This is the same species flowering in the Himalayas above excited students Luke B and Luke S Read More...

Originally posted to http://wsbeorchids.org.uk Our home on the net! Orchid seed is the key to everything we do at the Writhlington Orchid Project. It is from orchid seed that we get the plants that we sell to make money for our trips. It is also these seeds that will grow up to make up our collection that is taken to shows. I will mention that there are lots of seeds in one seed pod. Hundreds of them! Thousands and, in many cases, millions! All of this seed needs sorting before it can be sown. All of our seed is stored in the fridge in small, labeled jars, but before it can be refrigerated it must be dried. Now we have a hi-tech seed drying chamber to do this in a matter of days, but in the past the seed had to be left in paper envelopes, in a large box on a top shelf. We found one such box today and have been going through the seed, packet by packet, testing for viability. Viability testing is one of the most useful things we do in the labs. Sure, sowing the seed is important, as is splitting the seeds up, but if the seed is not viable, i.e. not going to germinate anyway, there is no point in it even being sown. For this reason, before it is refrigerated, all seed must be viability tested. As hi-tech as it sounds, viability testing is a relatively simple task. A small sample of the seed is placed on a microscope slide and examined. Under a microscope, it is clear whether or not an embryo is present in the seed. No embryo = non-viable seed.

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