how to tell if the chids need help

[exasperatus2002]

Reading over my flasking companies website instructions on deflasking, they say to check them several times a day & they'll let me know what they need. how do I tell the difference between to low humidity vs. damping off? Does anyone have pics they can post of the deflasking issues & a resolution for it?

[Ron]

Originally Posted by exasperatus2002

Reading over my flasking companies website instructions on deflasking, they say to check them several times a day & they'll let me know what they need. how do I tell the difference between to low humidity vs. damping off? Does anyone have pics they can post of the deflasking issues & a resolution for it?

Sorry I can not help with photos.check out UCONN IPM
Floriculture: Fact Sheets: Pest Management: Damping-off of Bedding Plants and Vegetables
What type of plants are you deflasking as some species like Cymbidiums are very tough
Dehydration due to low humidity can be picked up easy.
The leaves will look stressed and within a day or so the edges will dry out, can lead to loss of plants, use a small mister on warm days 4 or 5 times to just mist wet the leaves.
Damping off, one minute to will look good and within a few hours they will get a glassy transparent look.
With an hour of so the leaves will go mush and fall off.
Instant death to plants and infections will go through a community pot quickly.
I always use a good fungicide to prevent this. Insurance and worry free way for me.

The whole process is best done in the warmer growing season and unless on a hot bed, very hard to keep the plants through a cold winter.
Best of luck

[orchids4me]

What Ron described with the leaves turning brown on the edges has happened to me twice now and both were Den kinginam flask babies. 1st try with a green house lid they hated it, next batch no lid and they hated it. I lost the first batch last one just last week and the 2nd batch I still have like 10 but leaves are all dried up..... Mine might be temp issues too still trying to figure this out. They have light now and are liking that.... So some are tougher than others some are just picky a slight change can make everything go right upside down. By my experience. Have someone orchid wiz your orchid and try from there. I've been grateful for the help from those with orchid wiz.
Good luck
Emmaye

[exasperatus2002]

It will be my Cattleya hybrid (Thwaitesara) I'll be receiving in 2 days. They say I dont have to deflask and can wait till spring. But can I? Least I can do is finish lining my ducks up in a row.

[orchids4me]

Originally Posted by exasperatus2002

It will be my Cattleya hybrid (Thwaitesara) I'll be receiving in 2 days. They say I dont have to deflask and can wait till spring. But can I? Least I can do is finish lining my ducks up in a row.

Ok this I can help you I have many flasks of Catt alliance flask babies
I use the 72 hole seedling trays the ones that don't have the brown seed starter plugs so the holes are deeper you can use regular pots and improvise on my technique that's not a problem by using baggies on the pots rather than the green house lid.
I use both types of media but not together depending on ig they are thirsty Catts or ones that like to dry more than others between watering and have had great success so far. After you pot them up use the baggies as a green house if gets to foggy lift it a bit or make a slit in the side to let more air in and over the next week or so make that slit bigger and bigger until they adjust to staight air and humidity in your environment. After the baggy part is done and they are opened up carful when watering leaf nooks can rot make sure you got a fan on them for awhile after watering. If you notice any brownish or rusty looking color developing on the leaves what's worked for me is brookins recipe stops it from spreading dead in its tracks. Had a very weak batch of catt skinneri's they we're dropping like flies and used brookins greatest stuff ever and they are thriving and growing well now.
With the seedling trays you can slide the lid and crack it to let air in and re close when it clears or just cracked enough to not get to wet but air gets in then start like a week later taking it off a few hrs at a time and see how they do from there as they are exposed to the air in your environment. Like Ron said watch them you will see changes and even subtle ones.
The sphag I soak in 1/4 strength growth fert and pot em up. When I use mike's coir mix I water with the 1/4 strength fert mix after potting em up but.
1st watering and on out after is just sips like a table spoon depending on how deep/long roots are and pot size how many in it may need 2 or maybe 3 tablespoons but not much more same with the coir mix. You can use a spritz bottle to water with too on a stream but watch how hard it is hittong the roots don't want to bruise them by blasting away lol.
When I start I've been using distilled water for the fert and watering s because the chlorine has been so high in our tap I don't need to stress the babies more than necessary. I have clamp daylight lamps on the shelves for them currently that have been potted up for awhile. You new babies need light but dappled then gradually introduce them to more and more. This works with all my Catt alliance flask baby's so far.
Others may have how they do it in their area( mine are in my house I forgot to say ) and the closest window is east facing.
Good luck
Emmaye

[Brooke]

The only reason to deflask on arrival is if you see fungus in the flask. If the flask is still OK, put it in low light like they have been in which is a cheapo fluorescent light. Make sure no sun hits the flask or you will cook the seedlings.

You can tell if you have damping off - you will see fungal spores around the seedling. Check twice a day around the base of the seedlings. You can use something like Physan but sprinkling cinnamon is the easiest and the safest way to stop it. I know some do an automatic fungicide on them but I only did it with a contaminated flask and ended up losing quite a few seedlings. I am in the less chemicals on seedlings the better family.

Lack of humidity will give you limp leaves. I've never had leaves with brown tips - that sounds more like a burn issue to me but I'm only guessing.

After deflasking, keep a lid on the container for the first day but leave a small opening. By the second day start leaving the lid off for a few hours and increase the time over the next few days. I have all of my seedlings hardened off by day five. BTW keep these in the same light as they have been in the flask.

Once hardened off slowly increase the light. I eventually grow all of my seedlings in high light, regardless of what they are - phals, catts, lycaste - all end up in high light. Seedlings don't know what they are, they just want to grow.

I use sphag/tree fern on everything but a terrestrial which is in a coir mix of 50/50 with perlite. They get watered when the sphag is crispy on top. I use bulb pans with p'nuts in the bottom to keep the mix shallow so I don't have to worry about the depth issue of is it dry or still wet. Roots are very shallow in the beginning.

I don't use any fert on them until they are in their final grow area. Then for a couple of weeks I spray them with a light fertilizer and then eventually switch to my normal fertilizing regimen.

Be sure to put like sized plants together in the compot. I prefer to use 4-6" pots but do have some in 8" but it makes watering a little trickier. The middle can still be damp and the edges are dry.

Good luck with your seedlings.

Brooke

[tangers40]

Originally Posted by Brooke

Lack of humidity will give you limp leaves. I've never had leaves with brown tips - that sounds more like a burn issue to me but I'm only guessing.

i hate to disagree with somebody with about a billion times more experience than i have (lol!), but brown and dry leaf tips is exactly what happened to my newly deflasked babies. i hadn't sprayed them with anything yet (including an antifungal), and had left them away from the light banks, so i don't think they were burned by anything. when i put them into my empty fishtank, the drying stopped, so with the help of the forum, we decided it was lack of humidity, which we all know i suffer from here.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Brooke

Lack of humidity will give you limp leaves. I've never had leaves with brown tips - that sounds more like a burn issue to me but I'm only guessing.

Depends on the orchids. A lot of the thinner leafed orchids will brown at the edges from low humidity. The leaves don't have enough water reserves to cope with the water loss so leaf tissue starts to die.

[Brooke]

Andrew do you mean thinner leaved like Lycaste seedlings? I haven't had the problem yet but I'll be on the look out for it the next time.

Thankfully the catt flasklings will have much thicker leaves than Lycaste.

Brooke

[exasperatus2002]

Ok, now that I have 2 of 3 flasks done, and the 1st flask is out for 2 1/2 weeks now, and I am trying to keep the cover off now full time, I've noticed several seedlings who's bottom leaf is fading away. Heres a pic of one leaf I removed (I removed all affected leaves).

[exasperatus2002]

Are the seedlings just adjusting to a new environment & thats why the leaf is dying off or do I have something to worry about? The seedlings seem fine & the roots are good. Damage from handling while potting?

[Ron]

Hi, after having a good look at the bottom leaf, I would say either too cold a medium and perhaps too wet a medium
Most Catts seedling appreciate a warmth of at least 70+F.
The way the bottom leaf has lost its greenness and solid look, keep a good lookout for any leaves dropping off and going soft and mushy.
That will most likely be damping off, if so far to late to save them.
Best to apply a professional strengths fungicide at deflasking time, I use Fungirid with great success
Best of luck

[Brooke]

Damping off effects the whole seedling not just a leaf.

I don't know why the leaf is drying from the tip to the base but unless you have the whole seedling involved or multiple seedlings involved, I would just keep my eye on them.

Hopefully they are hardened off by now and you are starting to increase the light. Fresh air and sunshine can cure many ills.

Brooke