Catt's in a vial....with gel?

[psyc1210]

I received the orchids my Mother-in-law sent me from Costa Rica...She bought Catt dowiana, and Catt trianae....but I am really surprised as to how they came. They came in a package with a vial, inside the vial is gel, and the teeny tiny baby orchid is sitting in the gel. Anyone seen this before?

[jay]

I once had a venus fly trap that came that way from the Cincinnati Zoo. They called it a test tube plant. It basically is a flasked seedling. Instead of getting 20+ in a larger flask it looks like they thin them out to one per tube.

Where did that come from? A nursery or a store in Costa Rica?

[Tobi]

I'm not absolutely sure but it could be a rooting gel containing vitamins and minerals
to stimulate healthy root development.

[tclover]

It's nothing new. Orchid is growing in vitro/gel/agar. It's for decoration. You may take it out and grow it.

[Jerry Delaney]

I think you may be facing a real challenge Jo Beth. I can't see into the tube in the first picture, but in the second one, in my opinion, the C. trianae is really too small to be deflasked (or in this case, detubed). However, it appears that the 'gel' has been badly shaken up and the poor little plant is somewhat buried in it. If that is the case, it should be taken out right away or the plant will start to rot. You also face a disadvantage of being able to make a real compot since you do not have a number of seedlings in the tube. You might try to take it out of the tube, gently wash off all the medium and then plant it in a seedling mix that is somewhat moisture retentive. You should use like a 1" or 11/2" pot and then place the pot into a second container that can be closed (i.e. an old 'clamshell salad or sandwich container with a few tiny holes poked in it. Keep it somewhere in a shaded, warm place and be sure to keep a close eye on the pot as it will most likely dry out quite rapidly. I'm sure that someone on this form will be able to give you better guidance. Anyway, good luck with your seedlings (or as a business that used to supply seedlings in this manner, your "test tube babies").

[Anton]

Otherwise, there may be someone who could replate it for you, then you just leave it in the tube until it grows a bit bigger.

Replating means they take it out under sterile conditions, clean it, and reinstall it into fresh media and reseal the tube so that there is no loss of sterility.

There may be someone on the forum who can steer you towards someone capable of replating.

[psyc1210]

Originally Posted by jay

I once had a venus fly trap that came that way from the Cincinnati Zoo. They called it a test tube plant. It basically is a flasked seedling. Instead of getting 20+ in a larger flask it looks like they thin them out to one per tube.

Where did that come from? A nursery or a store in Costa Rica?

No clue, I assume it came from a souvenir type store in Costa Rica.

[brookn]

They sell these on ebay, I have seen them. Let me see if I can find one.

Baby orchid Sixpack flask gift 6 species Costa Rica - eBay (item 230250732693 end time Jul-06-08 18:27:41 PDT)

Perhaps you could contact the seller about deflasking them? I actually thought about purchasing one, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to grow one so small.

[digitalgate]

seen lot of it. take your time to grow them. You have to be very patience. I mean for the
next 2 years.

[janet_a]

where are you in MD? al down in leesburg has a lab; uh, maybe the little greenhouse guys have one? (if you wanted to try and get them replated.) i'm trying to think of who else deals with seedlings in flask--maybe ken meier?

[psyc1210]

Originally Posted by janet_a

where are you in MD? al down in leesburg has a lab; uh, maybe the little greenhouse guys have one? (if you wanted to try and get them replated.) i'm trying to think of who else deals with seedlings in flask--maybe ken meier?

I am in Frederick. Where in MD are you?

[janet_a]

i'm down in the boil-water area. outside rockville.

hmm, maybe parkside? are you in MOS or SEPOS? maybe someone there has a lab/flasks.

[psyc1210]

So you're not too far away Do you get your supplies from repotme? I always order from them and pick up whenever I know I'm going to be travelling down that way.

I'm not in MOS, what is SEPOS?

I think I'm going to have to remove them from the vial. I am starting to see some little dark spots on the ends of some of the tiny leaves. It came with some sphag to put in. I might see how they fare and keep the sphag moist for their tiny roots.