New Cultivation Methods for Anoectochilus formosanus Hayata

摘要

Anoectochilus formosanus Hayata is a beautiful orchid plant with ornamental and medicinal use in Taiwan. Growth of A. formosanus Hayata seedlings in vitro or ex vitro could be highly enhanced by the inoculation of orchid mycorrhizal fungi R02 or R04.R02 is a binucleate Ceratobasidium sp. AG-A while R04 is known as multinucleate Rhizoctonia solani, AG-6. In this orchid, we observed a tolypophagy-type of mycorrhizal infection with hyphae coil and pelotons formed in the cortex cells of roots. This orchid was very susceptible to Fusarium, Pythium spp. and mites during ex vitro growth. So how to grow this orchid without applying pesticides and insecticides became our prime concern. We developed a plastic bag cultivation method (PBCM) to grow A. formosanus plants in a 5 inch plastic pot with fermented bark compost as the growth medium, and every two of the 5 in. pots were covered with an OPP transparency plastic bag (9.2 X 7.5 X 30.0 cm) for protection of water loss, disease and mite infection. Thereafter, plants with PBCM were placed under benches in greenhouses or trees, until 6-8 months later for harvesting. No more water or fertilizer was needed and minimum labor was required during cultivation. This PBCM had been proved to be a very effective andlow cost cultivation method for producing fungicide-and insecticide-free A. formosanus for medicinal use.