Of the seeds I sowed in September 2012, all the symbiotic sowings have been successful to a greater of lesser extent, except for the Anacamptis laxiflora sowed on B1, which have not germinated at all. Most of the Dacytlorhiza species have germinated but only poorly with relatively few protocorms (I have no way of estimating the number of seed sowed so i really don't know the % - all i can say is 'poor' I suspect that becuase it was so variable and becuase it affected all species it was down to my errors. They also suffered from a high degree of contamination. Time to review the decision not to use alcohol perhaps? The best results were Anacamptis morio sowed on B1 in two batches, both showing 100% germination and rapid growth. The first batch has already been pricked out and is on a windowsill greening up, so I will get ready to plant them out in a couple of weeks. The second batch is in the fridge with most of the well developed Dacts.
Not a great picture but does at least show the A. morio seedlings starting to green up, currently 5 - 10mm long.
The failure of A laxifolia is interesting since A morio did so well, and given that it was the only species I managed to germinate successfully asymbiotically last year. [Breaking news: while checking the flasks in the drawer, preparing to salvage some honey jars to accomodate the burgeoning Anacamptis morio population I found a flask I had sowed in February with A. pyramidalis with a single, but well developed shoot! Just shows, never throw things out...]
Anacamptis pyramidalis shoot? Now in the greenhouse under the bench.
Perhaps the most interesting result was the recent success of the cardboard sowing experiment. I have placed the tray beneath the shelf in the greenhouse, still wrapped in clingfilm. On the mixed cardboard/sphagnum dust + seramis dust side there at the last count 18 Dactylorhiza spp. protocorms fattening up. None on the 100% cardboard side though. Perhaps I should repeat the experiment with A morio! I think I will look into getting some of the bonsai soil mix ingredients mentioned on the Japanese website which demonstrated this method to see if I can get better results.