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Barrita Orchids Lab Service

We have operated our tissue culture laboratory since the early seventies. Now days we produce 1000's of flasks for our own use in the nursery, for our retail sales and for export. These services are now available to Australian orchid growers.

Click on the tabs below for information on our service.

ORCHID SEED GERMINATION AND REPLATE FLASKING

Please use our material lodgement form when sending. Click here

Mother flasking: $35.00 per pod. This is the process of spreading the sterile seed (from the unsplit pod) onto germination media. We will plant 2 mother flasks per pod. Payment must be made at the time of processing regardless of the result. We will email you a link to make the payment.

 

Dry Seed sowing: $47.50 per code. We offer dry seed processing. We can also treat pods that split on the way.

 

Rough Spreading. Once the seed has germinated, we will confirm germination and ask for confirmation of order. We will then make rough spreads. This allows the plantlets to develop in a more balanced way. A payment of 60% of the final replate total is payable at this time. We will email you a link to make the payment.

 

Ploidy conversion: Additional $20 per flask. (Minimum 2 flasks) We offer treatment with Oryzalin of seedlings and clones. If you are wanting to have some plants converted, we need to know as early as possible, preferably when you send the pods.

 

Replating: $35 per flask. (Price includes the 500ml flasks) As the plantlets develop, they are spaced out to 25 plants per flask. You may request that we plant fewer plants per flask, cost will $1.55 per plant. This process is called replating. These are the flasks you will receive.  The minimum number of replate flasks is 2 per cross.

 

Final payment and shipping: When the flasks are ready for shipping, we will let you know and request final payment. We ship in flask unless requested otherwise. We have shipped flasks all over the world and find in flask to be the best method to get the plants to you.

The whole process from sending the seed to flasks ready for you to grow out takes from one year to 18 months give or take.

 

Getting your pods to us: We recommend you use Express Post to send us your pods. It is best to wrap the pod(s) individually in an envelope taped shut. Paper towel will work for this also. Do not wet the pods or use plastic bags because this holds in moisture and can cause bacterial or fungal growth to start. Put the pods in a box, not a post pack. We have seen pods squashed to bursting in the plastic post bags.

 

We require the genera or intergeneric name for media selection. We do not want to know the parents. Label the wrapped pods with a cross number for identification. We request that the code is in the format of three letters followed by a 3-digit number. For example, ABC001, ABC002, ABC003... Many customers use their initials or business name initials for easy recognition. Please contact us to confirm your prefix code so we do not have duplications in the lab. Please use the form when submitting pods or email an excel sheet.

 

We have worked with Cymbidium, Sarcochilus, Phalaenopsis, Dendrobium, Oncidium alliance, Cattleya alliance, Vanda including Neofinetia. We are happy to try any other genera except Paphiopedilum.

If you do not respond to our attempts to contact you at any of the points mentioned above, we will cease work and give you three months to respond before discarding the material.

 

We do offer discounts for wholesale orders. Published discount structures have changed as of 1 January 2023. Contact us for details.

 

Please use the button below to print our material submission form.

CYMBIDIUM CLONING SERVICE

Process of lead: $75.00. This is the process of excising the meristem (explant) from the new growth. We will virus test (ORSV and CMV) on arrival. While these tests may not be definitive, we will use the as a guide. A positive test will see the lead destroyed. Cost of test is included in the fee. Payment must be made at time of processing regardless of result. We will email you with a link to make the payment. This may be a stand-alone process, with explants sent back to you.

Confirmation of quantity. Once the meristems have shown “strike”, we will confirm and ask for confirmation of order. We will then multiply the material. A payment of 60% of the final total is payable at this time. We will email you with a link to make the payment.

Ploidy conversion: Additional $20 per flask. (Minimum 2 flasks) We offer treatment with Oryzalin of seedlings and clones. If you are wanting to have some plants converted, we need to know as early as possible, preferably when you send the lead.

Final replating. (Price includes the 500ml flasks) As the plantlets develop, they are spaced out to 25 plants per flask. You may request that we plant fewer plants per flask. These are the flasks you will receive.  The minimum number of clones is 50.

$2 per plant.

Final payment and shipping: When the flasks are ready for shipping, we will let you know and request final payment. We ship in flask unless requested otherwise. We have shipped flasks all over the world and find in flask to be the best method to get the plants to you.

The whole process from sending the seed to flasks ready for you to grow out takes from one year to 18 months give or take. This depends on the quantity ordered and the orchid. Some plants are slow or impossible to multiply. If your plant is proving difficult to manage, we will let you know.

Getting your lead to us: We recommend you use Express Post to send us your lead. Please wrap the lead(s) individually in newspaper taped shut. Paper towel will work for this also. Do not wet the lead or use plastic bagsbecause this holds in moisture and can cause bacterial or fungal growth to start. Put the lead(s) in a box, not a post pack. We have seen lead(s) squashed to the plastic shipping bags.

We do not want to know the name of the plant. Label the wrapped pods with a number for identification. We request that the code is in the format of three letters followed by a number. For example, ABC1, ABC26, ABC2304... Many customers use their initials or business name initials for easy recognition. Please contact us to confirm your prefix code so we do not have duplications in the lab.

If you do not respond to our attempts to contact you at any of the points mentioned above, we will cease work and give you three months to respond before discarding the material.

Please use the button below to print our material submission form.

Pod maturation table

This table reflects our experience of pod maturation and seed viability times. Pod development can be affected by environmental influences including temperature and culture. We recommend monitoring pods as they approach these time frames. Watch for changes in colour and texture in the pod.

Genara Maturation in days
Cattleya 190
Cymbidium-Miniature 200-220
Cymbidium-Standard 250- 270
Dendrobium  
Epidendrum 65-100
Neofiettia 100-130
Oncidium 120
Phalaenopsis 100-120
Sarcochilus 100-150

The American Orchid Society also has a table of maturation times that can be found here