Variety of orchid propagation services and supplies offered, including Keikigrow plant hormone products. Man can do the same thing, usually with the aid of a toothpick and the two pollen sacks seen on the left are about to be deposited onto the stigmatic surface of the pod parent plant where they will adhere, and the minute pollen grains will embed themselves into the sticky bed and  nature will begin to take its course. Gardens at Post Hill. The final reason people utilize propagation is that it produces clones. Be sure to wear protective gloves and safety glasses and work in a well-ventilated area, as BAP is an eye and skin irritant.Once you’ve made or purchased the paste, find a suitable node on the orchid. 1. Before cutting the plant, carefully examine the root structure to determine where to make the cuts. Some orchid types periodically sprout baby offshoot plants, known as Keiki, and these can also be used in propagation.People may wonder what the difference is between propagation and raising a plant from seed.Using seeds is a method of sexual reproduction, in that two different plants will have cross-pollinated to produce a new plant with some characteristics of both of the parent plants. Line a shallow tray with sphagnum moss, and mist the moss until it is thoroughly damp. This is a paste that contains cytokinin, which is a hormone that induces plant growth through cell division.You can purchase Keiki paste from many garden retailers, as well as from Amazon:If you prefer, you can also make it at home. New plants will not be mature, but instead will be tiny sprouts, which can take years to grow fully.Monopodial orchids sometimes sprout offshoots called Keiki. The cutting sprouts and an entirely new plant is created. Back bulbs are pseudobulbs which still serve to store water for the plant … Since propagation is an asexual means of reproduction, Gardeners commonly use plant propagation for several reasons.First, it is a perfect way for beginner orchid enthusiasts to grow their plant collection. It is also well laid out and easy to understand.Hey there! Images... top left pollinating using  toothpick, top right an orchid seed invisible to the naked eye it is so small, bottom orchid seed has been sown and is not growing in a flaskCommercial nurseries will use mass production methods to reproduce a choice variety of either a specie or hybrid plant, the favoured one goes by the name of...Meristem culture, this laboratory technique involves the mass tissue culture of the growing meristem tip from within the new growth of the plant concerned, the nucleus of cells derived from this small sample of tissue or grown on in flasks on nutrient gels. You should also remove old pseudobulbs. I said that they might need to be hand-pollinated, so he invited me along to see them and do some pollination. This method can be used on any orchid that has new growth areas or nodes. Nodes feel like a joint in the stem and are generally brown in color. Secondly, it helps to maintain plant size when plants have grown too large. Propagation. The gardener also knows precisely what the propagated plant will be like, as it will be identical to the parent plant.Depending on the method used, propagation can be ideal for beginner gardeners because it’s much more straightforward. The new, smaller plants should be cared for in the same way that the old orchid was.This type of propagation is also known as rhizome propagation. Keep the moss damp while the stem sections root. Split sympodial orchids into sections of about three to four inches. An orchid enthusiast in Suffolk agreed to let me collect some seed this year from some of the rarer plants in his collection. For the beginner, vegetative propagation is commonly used to build up one's orchid collection. Orchids may be propagated by division, those whose growths are Sympodial, (that is one new growth appearing from the base of an older growth) lend themselves easily to such an exercise; taking a sterile blade, cut through the rhizome leaving ideally at least three growths on each portion, this can be done at any time, providing the plant remains undisturbed in its original compost until the next re-potting takes …

These offshoots develop from nodes on the orchid, usually just above the root structure or off the stem of the main plant.It’s best to wait for the Keiki to develop leaves and to grow roots of at least an inch long before cutting it carefully away from the main plant.