Asymbiotic Germination of Phalaenopsis cv. ‘Dublin’ Seeds in Relation to Pollination Months and Nutrient Media

• Published in: Notulae scientia biologicae Vol. 7; no. 3; pp. 330 - 333
• Main Authors: BALILASHAKI, Khosro, NADERI, Roohangiz, GANTAIT, Saikat, VAHEDI, Maryam
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 21.09.2015
• ISSN: 2067-3205; 2067-3264
• DOI: 10.15835/nsb739574

Orchids are one of the most popular flowers in the world and Phalaenopsis genus shares maximum sales in global floral industry among them. Successful pollination, followed by capsule formation and in vitro seed germination, is a powerful tool for mass propagation of orchids. In the present study, flowers of Phalaenopsis cv. ‘Dublin’ were self-pollinated artificially during the months of November, December, January, February, March and April. The influence of pollination month over capsule formation was assessed and it was observed that pollination during December resulted as maximum with 86% capsule formation, followed by 72% during January. However, only 40% successful capsule formation occurred following pollination during April. Seeds from mature capsules developed through artificial pollination in different months were cultured on three different culture media (modified Chen, ½Murashige Skoog and Vacin-Went medium) for in vitro germination. A maximum of 97% germination of seeds (collected from capsules developed through pollination in January) was recorded on modified Chen medium. Nevertheless, the earliest initiation of germination occurred around 12 days of culture when seeds were harvested from capsules (derived through pollination in December) and inoculated on modified Chen medium. The plantlets developed following germination were rooted on ½MS supplemented with 2.5 g/l activated charcoal. Subsequently, well-rooted plantlets were acclimatized on potting mixture that contained cocopeat, charcoal, industrial cartridge and the bites of yonolit (1:1:2:4; v/v) with a very high rate of success. A seed culture protocol that crops a bulk number of seedlings in a short time span is advantageous and the present report eventually provides such simple yet proficient method that can be further tested.