How to breed Cattleya

Propagation of Cattleya by division

The division method is relatively simple to operate and can be used by most households. It is best to choose the spring and autumn rainy seasons to carry out division work. Use a sharp cutting tool to cut between the two bases of the orchid heads, carefully cut the rhizome at the base, and disinfect the incision. Each clump needs to have at least 2 pseudobulbs with new shoots.

Sterile seeding and tissue culture of Cattleya

The initial stage is mainly liquid culture to promote rapid germination of seeds. After that, the original corm can be directly inoculated into the culture medium to achieve one-step seedling formation. The specific steps are as follows:

Material

When flowering, select healthy Cattleya mother plants for self-pollination and hybridization. The fruits will be basically mature about 120-150 days after pollination.

Sterile seeding

Select ripe fruits, soak them in 75% alcohol for half a minute, then disinfect them, put them in 0.1% mercuric chloride solution, soak them for 20 minutes, rinse them with sterile water 4 or 5 times, then cut the fruits, inoculate the white powdery seeds into the seed germination liquid culture medium, and culture them on a shaker at 150rpm. The embryo germinates after one week and forms a green protocorm with a diameter of 1-2 mm in 20 days.

Seedling cultivation

The formed protocorm is inoculated onto the seedling medium with a straw for cultivation. A complete small plant can be formed in one month, and it can grow into a strong seedling after continuing to cultivate for 45 days.

Transplanting of test tube seedlings

When the test tube seedlings grow to 3,4 cm in height, transfer them to natural light for 1-2 weeks to observe whether the plants have formed a good cuticle. After taking it out of the glass bottle, wash the culture medium at the roots and move it into a mixed pond bed stone and carbonized bark matrix, maintain appropriate humidity and ensure good ventilation.