How rare? If it's really rare, where are you going to get a specimen to TC? Rare also sometimes means "hard to grow". You might keep that in mind too.

My first thought would be some of the hard-to-find Orthophytums like O. heleniceae. Or Neo. silvomontana (see Mike's pic on link below). Of course those are just personal wish list items, I don't know how practical they would be.

Here is a link that might be useful: BSSF show

I do understand that getting one is important but if it is being grown in the USA we might be able to get one.

O. heleniceae is a very nice plant. I think Ray Lemieux at Tropiflora said that they are growing it from seed but I think it may still be a good choice. Neo. silvomontana is a good one too.

Lisa, you once had a post about species that can hold their own, but none of the pictures work anymore.

Ray with O. heleniceae:

{{gwi:508678}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Species that can hold their own against any hybrid

Yeah, that's a 3-year-old thread, I figured the pics had been up long enough. Those species should all be pretty familiar, though. I wouldn't describe any of them as "rare", and the Vrieseas and Werauhia can be grown from seed.

See my comment on Paul's gruberi thread. Another possible candidate.

Hi Bromadams,couple of things ,if you only want about one hundred the initial costs often are the same as for a thousand ,most lab's make it pay because of quantities ,secondly if its very rare ,as Lisa said ,where do you get one ? bearing in mind it my not be successful ,also if its a difficult species to grow than it will not be easy to tissue culture ,most lab's like to tissue the flower spikes rather than the nodes that the pups grow from ,why ? its easy to get at but not as succesfull as the other ,Guzmania's are easy , then Neo's ,then green leaved Vrieseas ,after that it becomes more hit and miss ,a lot of foliage Vr, dont do it well ,some Aechmea's do others dont ,a lot depends on the skill of the Lab ,same problems exist in Orchids ,so select your plant well and try to find a very experienced Lab,but best of luck ,the idea is good ,and there are many plants worthy of doing it with ,But also what once was a collecters plant can then become just a plant ,look at the Kiwi series of Vrieseas ,now you can get them so cheap and they are every where and no one seems to want them here in Oz, pity ,Now if you did Tillandsia Pamelea ,that would be a good subject hmm? all the best mate ,not trying to dampen your idea at all ,you have to make the right selection ,Best of luck , Jack

I'm thinking that xNeophytum 'Hula Girl' might be a good plant to Tissue Culture. Obviously, it's not a species but she is good looking, expensive and available.

Hi Guys

As a society/study/discussion group I think it is more important to be teaching the members about growing from seed, especially species that need preservation, that is the direction I am pointing our Discussion Group in here, so far they have had some success & are keen to try even more seed, species only at this stage preferably.

Tissue culture is fine for commercialism but as a Brom. Society it is more important to teach preservation of species, where as buying in tissued plants is only going to teach them how to grow a plant, as you get them as advanced seedlings usually, at least the last lot I got were from about 30 - 80mm tall, established in tray cells.
If you feel tissue is your prefered method try a species that is becoming rare in the wild & try & rebuild the numbers, some of these are the older what were the commen species that are becoming lost because we keep moving forward so to speak with new fancy hybrids. So maybe we need to take a step back to go forward.
There is discussions going on about developing Species banks, Florida is trying I think & NZ has been working on it also I believe, I have discussed this with people here in Aus. but we are as yet to act, however, I have our seed group started.

Thoughts ???

Pinkbroms

Hi Ross , I agree that preservation of species is of the utmost importance (and i am a mad keen hybridizer ) to me it does not matter if seed sown or tissue cultured ,a combination of both is probably the best ,it would depend on how long a certain species takes to flower ,it is most important that the species be maintained ,some offcourse are in no danger of dying out but there are plenty that need to be 'rescued ' the main problem i see with tissue culture is that it does not create diversity within a species ,where as seed grown plants do give a small but important diversity ,and we as humans would want to tissue only the very best of a certain species wich would result in a monotype existing ,and that may lead to its own problems ,yet as some ,specially Tillandsias can take so long to flower i can see benefits in tissue culture there ,but it must be done with care and several varieties of the one species would be best to maintain diversity ,we as growers will allways want the best and most flamboyant of a particular type but that does not create diversity ,i think you posted a great question and trust you will get lots of good input ,cheers Jack

Hi everyone,

Bromadams, you've posted a very interesting topic here and what you are suggesting has a lot of merit, as it could make these beautiful and rare species available to interested growers thereby helping in their preservation. Up until now I personally have looked at tissue cultured plants as just a commercial proposition for the flower trade and a substitute for a bunch of flowers rather than for the keen bromeliad collector. It's true when buying a tissue cultured plant you often finish up with an attractive plant at a reasonable price, but so have the thousands of others growers that bought the same mass produced plant and they don't really cater for the grower who wants something different.

At this stage my preference is for seedlings, simply because each one is an individual. True you will get a large percentage of rubbish which needs to be culled, but when you get a good one, it is unique, and you are the sole owner. I don't think anything could give more satisfaction than personally creating a new plant of distinction.

Here in Australia we constantly see loads of tissue cultured plants in K-Mart, Bunnings etc. which are usually un-named, or should I say just carrying the name "bromeliad". Surely if a plant's worth tissue culturing it's worthy of the correct name. On the other hand, if the tissue cultured plant was a rare and beautiful species as you're suggesting, it would certainly be worthy of purchase and you would be helping the cause for the preservation of such rare plants.

Finally, have you thought about the prospect of tissue culture on a larger scale and exporting them from your country? Looking at your suggesting from an Australian point of view, tissue culture of rare and beautiful species would make them much more accessible in our country as I believe it is much easier to import tissue cultured plants (still in their sterile flasks) than normal live plants due to our strict AQS regulations. If the aim of your suggestion is to really preserve these precious plants, then surely they would have a better chance of survival if they were spread around the world to growers of similar intentions.

All the best, Nev.

P.S.
Ross,
What is your society and can anyone join and take part in the seed growing group?

Nev, there are large commercial tissue culture labs that are probably responsible for most of the cookie-cutter plants you see in the big box stores, and then there are smaller private operators. I don't know what Nick has in mind here, but anyone can set up a small lab in their home or nursery if they have a bit of training and the right equipment.

I agree that if you have a source of viable seed of the species you want, then that can be a valuable learning process and provide more genetic diversity. On the other hand, TC is a way of propagating material that may be difficult to obtain seed from, or of reproducing larger numbers of a particularly desirable cv. than you could vegetatively. Both methods have merits, it just depends on what your main goal is.

My only goal is to have some fun and learn something. This is going to be a club sponsored event and making money is the last thing we are worried about. My first preference is a species but since I haven't identified any prime candidates, I think I'll go with a hybrid. If I do get all this set up then anybody who wants some of the plants can contact the lab and order some too.

I did read an article once about somebody (Herb Plever maybe?) who got a Fosterella species tissued cultured and that gave me the original idea to do this.

Hi Guys

Splinter, I'm with the Far North Coast Group, we are a discussion group, mostly novices so best to start them from the beginning with species, once they learn to pollinate & germinate species seed it's up to the individual if they wish to create their own hybrid, I also do my own bit of hybridizing, I just feel it is more important for a society to teach preservation before hybridization. This is why most Society seed banks are species seed only.
Probably best if you work on your own group to move in this direction & maybe we can swap seed if you like, I do get your journal & nearly everybody elses so I will read about what's happening around the traps. Feel free to drop into a meeting if you wish, 3rd Thurs. each month, 11.00am, we do a BBQ for lunch. November meeting is a garden visit at a members garden, but do drop in for the Dec. meeting.

Pinkbroms

Hi Pinkbroms,

Thanks for the invite, I'd love to visit your meeting, but I don't get very far from home these days, that's why I spend so much time talking to my friends on GW.

Thanks for the feedback anyway, all the best, Nev.

Hi all, just started visiting GW again after o'seas trip to brom collections in Europe and building new greenhouses, despite the 450mm drenching last week! More mud!

I can't see the point in tissuing something easy from seed unless it's a special clone/form. N silvomontana, sometimes masquerading as pernambucana, is a good choice,as Lisa said, because it doesn't seem to self, in fact sets little seed at all compared to gigas and carcharodon types. It is a stunning plant always with the red in the leaves even when heavily fertilised though mainly on the ends. There are a few in Aus and a few dead ones which succumbed to the dreaded gas. I'll talk to Ross about it on Thursday (about 11am, coffee time!). I'll also post a few images of it in bloom later under a new thread. I agree the Ortho could be around soon from seed (saw it in Europe). So many other plants, preferably species, would fit the bill too!

Cheers, Pedro

PS, Jack, I'm slowly reading my through the Vr fosteriana thread!

Hi Pedro ,nice to see you back ,you certainly are a glutton for rain mate , dont know how you manage to stay afloat ,yeah the fosteriana thread is a long one .still it was interesting