The objective of this study was to evaluate the germination potential of seeds formed by manual self pollination in fruits of pseudobulbs of Dendrobium nobile in different maturation stages. At 90, 120, 150, 180, 210, 240, 270 and 300 days after pollination (DAP), five pseudobulbs containing fruits, were detached from the mother plant and planted in a polypropylene container, where they remained until 300 DAP. After this period, the pseudobulbs were evaluated on the number of keikis and all keikis produced as the diameter and length of pseudobulb, number of leaves and roots. After, the fruits were detached from pseudobulbs, and evaluated as the diameter of the largest portion of the ovary, length and fresh weight of fruit, fresh weight of seed and pericarp. For each collecting period of fruits, seeds were tested with tetrazolium test and germination test. The larger the diameter of the fruit, the percentage of viable seeds and the germination percentage of D. nobile also increased, and this relationship was growing as they increase the length of fruit stay on the mother plant. Morover, the pseudobulbs remained shortest time in the mother plant showed higher numbers of keikis and so that the percentage of germination in vitro of D. nobile is above 75%, the pseudobulbs, containing fruit, should be collected from the 166 DAP.
orchids fruit; germination in vitro; propagation
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