Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum

Specific Families and Genera => Pleione and Orchidaceae => Topic started by: PLANTMAN1 on March 06, 2019, 09:36:27 AM

Title: Symbiotic fungi for Ophrys?
Post by: PLANTMAN1 on March 06, 2019, 09:36:27 AM: I want to isolate some symbiotic fungi for Ophrys orchids. I know they exist, but they are not available from the HOS. Has anyone attempted this? and what did you do? and did it succeed? and most importantly did the symbiosis continue to work after a couple of years?
I have a number of ideas to try out, but I would be interested to learn of anyone else's experience.
Thanks
Title: Re: Symbiotic fungi for Ophrys?
Post by: PLANTMAN1 on March 08, 2019, 09:48:29 AM: I half expected a reply here. I can only assume that no one has tried.
What I am doing is;

1. Cutting rhizoids off ophrys tubers in the green house and seeing if they support germination.
2. Using soil with Ophrys seeds scattered on top and moss on top of that. Then waiting to see if seeds begin to germinate and rescuing them on a culture plate.
Title: Re: Symbiotic fungi for Ophrys?
Post by: majallison on March 08, 2019, 07:10:56 PM: I'll be interested to hear if you have any success. I have germinated a batch of Dactylorhiza hybrids on cardboard, including a bit of the growing medium from a pot of Dactylorhiza tubers... I sowed the seeds August 2018 & the tubers are now producing shoots...
Title: Re: Symbiotic fungi for Ophrys?
Post by: sjusovare on March 08, 2019, 07:24:21 PM: Perhaps Dr. Heinrich Beyrle might be able to help you, considering native orchids symbiosis is his specialty and he does grow (and sell) ophrys from seed
Quote
sown in soil inoculated with suitable mycorrhizal fungi

You can find his infos on his site http://www.myorchids.de (http://www.myorchids.de)
Title: Re: Symbiotic fungi for Ophrys?
Post by: Neil on March 09, 2019, 08:52:21 AM: To get your own fungus

t involves removing a small part of the root/rhizoid and placing it on one edge of a petri dish with media in it, the fungus and what every else is there will grow. Once the fungus has grown to the other side, A small piece of the media with the fungus on it is removed from the far side to where you put the rhizoid. this will be moved to a new Petri dish, (which was placed at an angle so that the media does not cover all the base when it was poured in) a few millimetres away from the media, the fungus should be able to reach across the gap and start growing on the media. this process is repeated until you get only the fungus growing on the media.

I have never managed to get a usefully fungus
Title: Re: Symbiotic fungi for Ophrys?
Post by: PLANTMAN1 on March 12, 2019, 08:24:53 AM: As of yesterday I have around 15 fungi to test I'm just waiting on a batch of O apifera seed from the Hardy orchid Society to test them against!