Just read that some orchids can take up to 15 years to bloom from seed

I was flipping through a library book on rare plants from the 80s and saw that fact. It was in a chapter about propagation, and it honestly blew my mind (I guess I'm just used to annuals). I found it at the downtown branch last Tuesday while looking for info on my own orchid. Has anyone else come across a plant fact that made you totally rethink your patience level?

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keithbennett6mo ago

Fifteen years from a seed? That's not gardening, that's a life sentence. You said you read it in a book from the 80s, so I have to ask, did the person who wrote that ever actually see one bloom from seed they planted? Or is it just a thing everyone repeats? It makes me wonder how many people have a pot of dirt they've been watering for a decade just on faith.

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thompson.tyler6mo ago

The book's right about the timeline, but it's for flasking seeds in a lab, not a pot of dirt. Orchid seeds are dust-like and need a sterile fungus to germinate, which is impossible in normal soil. Most home growers start with a plantlet from a flask, which takes a few years to bloom.

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