deflasking vandas and cattleyas

[tonib]

Hi

I received 3 flasks from Thailand a couple of days ago and don't know how to proceed, especially with the vandas. any idea? Ultimately I don't want them in the plastic baskets but preferably on bark.

[Anton]

Well, talking from very recent experience rinse them under running water to remove all the agar and give the roots a soak in an antifungal mixture to prepare them for life outside of the flask.

I would personally not mount them for at least 6 months, depending on size. Mine are in pots until they are full established and a reasonable size that they will survive.

Remember, they are man cultivated and won't have the same resilliance as a wild one would and just need some nurturing along the way. You could try mounting them earlier it they are a reasonable size, but I am not prepared to risk it.

I deflasked them and put them into small seedling pots with sphag and a high nitrogen diet to promote root growth. I have also heard of people who soak them in a root hormone after taking them out of flasks, I didn't.

[tonib]

That's great. It was flumoxed as to the way to establish them. thanks for being so precise.

[Anton]

I'll photograph them when I get home from work and show you the size, and if you go to
http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/gen...e-arrived.html you'll see the flasks that they came in to help with present growth size comparison now.

[tonib]

I really enjoyed seeing the pics and reading the comments about your deflasking. I photograph mine. I won't be deflasking for a week or so yet as they are still small and I want to prepare properly