How to care for de-flasked seedlings

[Miki]

Hello orchid lovers,
I have just deflasked some phal seedlings.
I have the babies in sphag moss and in storage containers with the lid slightly opened. The sphag moss has been soaked in a solution of weak fertilizer and growth hormone.
The seedlings has been bathed in fungicide before they were potted.
Can anyone help with the care and watering of these seedlings?
How do I water sphag moss? Do I pour the water on or use spray?
The humidity is aroung 80% at the moment and the temp is around 24C in the nursery.
My plan is to decrease humidity slowly over a week- the humidity in my growing room is about 60%.
Thanks in advance!
Miki

[jay]

I don't have any experience in this department, but I would like to say good luck.

Also, I believe that it is a rule of thumb that if it is not photographed it doesn't really exist.

Can't wait to hear more about your seedlings.

Jay

[Miki]

OK Jay, I wasn't imagining when I said I have de-flasked some phal seedlings, so they do exist!

Here are some photos, just for you!







I am quite excited I hope most of them will survive. Two flasks were given to me as an early Chrissy present!

Cheers,

[zero742]

Miki,
I'm 100% jealous. I'm eager to try my hand(with the help of my university and their equipment) at flasking very soon. How long did it take from the time you prep'ed your flask to the time you extracted the seedlings? Good luck!!!!!!!

[Miki]

Hi zero742,
The flasks were purchased at an orchid nursery, and they were prepared on Oct 13 and I deflasked yesterday.
Flasking ones own orchids.. what a thought...
I just want to be able to flower them at the moment!

[digitalgate]

when are you arriving?

[Anton]

Miki, I have been spraying my Balinese seedlings twice a day with rain water, but in the morning I use a small watering can (500ml) to quickly run over them with very dilute Seasol (run out of Worm Wee).

We have been having day temperatures in the mid to high 30sC and with my heater on at night the GH is around 22C to 24C at night and humidity around 48% to 65%.

Because of these day temps the seedling trays tend to dry out quickly that is why I use the watering can along with the spray in the morning.

So far, so good after a month, I can post some images if you like.

[Miki]

Thanks Anton.
I am trying to work out how often to water because I have them in sphag moss.
I will water them maybe once a day or once every two days?
We are having lot of rain and temps in the mid to low 20's????? What is going on??? They say mid 30's next week?

By the way, love your avatar...

[Anton]

I use a very hightech measuring device to measure moisture content..........it is called a skewer.

[Miki]

Oh...yeah, forgot about that sophisticated device, good suggestion!

[pikevi]

The deflasking seems like a professional job! Well done.

I had a miserable failure in deflasking last spring but I still can offer you some suggestions

I think you should keep the moisture as is. And use the sprayer to moisten the sphag.

I also think that having some transparent cover over them will provide them with a uniform environment.

You have done an excellent job. I hope all of them survive.

Good luck.

[Anton]

Miki, pikevi reminded me, I bought several Yates seedling trays from Bunnings and they have a clear plastic lid, maybe you should look into those.

They are around $15 each from memory and contain 48 compartments for the seedlings.

You can control the ventilation at either end and the top by a rotating a disc over the ventilation holes.

Here's a couple of pikkies.

[Miki]

pikevi: thanks for the encouragement. I hope the little seedlings will make it too! I got 30 per flask!

Anton: I thought about using the Yates seedling trays, but some of my seedlings are quite big and the phal roots are irregular- they stick out!
Your seedlings look great! Have you taken the cover off yet?

[exasperatus2002]

Im looking forward to your results. Since Im interested in one day getting a flask (my own hopefully).

[Anton]

Miki, those images were when I first potted them, these are the latest which I took a couple of days ago.

Couldn't be bothered photographing all species, just a representative group.

The first image shows some of the Vanda limbata seedlings on the left of the image, they are really growing fast.
Next is the tray of Vanda Tricolour and finally Den mirbellianum x Den schilleri.

So as you can see, they like the seedling trays.

[pikevi]

They look great, Anton.

I will need a lot of help in the spring. I intend to try a few more deflasking before I give up and accept defeat.

[Miki]

Originally Posted by Anton

Miki, those images were when I first potted them, these are the latest which I took a couple of days ago.

Couldn't be bothered photographing all species, just a representative group.

The first image shows some of the Vanda limbata seedlings on the left of the image, they are really growing fast.
Next is the tray of Vanda Tricolour and finally Den mirbellianum x Den schilleri.

So as you can see, they like the seedling trays.

They look great Anton, I hope my seedlings will do as well as yours!
How long did it take your seedlings to adjust (ie cover off) to your GH?

Can't believe you've even printed the labels! Hard act to follow!!!

[Miki]

Originally Posted by pikevi

They look great, Anton.

I will need a lot of help in the spring. I intend to try a few more deflasking before I give up and accept defeat.

Deflasking has been very exciting for me so far! I hope these little ones will make it !
This forum has been a great help!

[Anton]

The Vanda limbatas grew so quickly, I had them in 50mm pots almost a week and a half after getting them and had them covered with a sheet of plastic for a further week as they obviously weren't in any distress.

Those in the trays you can acclimatise easily by opening the 3 vents bit by bit until all 3 vents were able to be left fully open by 2 weeks post potting.

As I have the humidity high at night (60%) using the oil filled Dimplex heater set on 2 1/2, even if our day temps are up in the 30s,(which they have been lately), and the floor very damp, I tend to leave the lids off over night.

Here in Adelaide the humidity in summer is usually between 5% to 15%.

When I open the GH up in the morning, (I have it encased in constructiuon grade insulation material over night) I spray the seedlings with a weak Seasol mix and put the lids back on otherwise they tend to dry out through the day.

I lost a few in the early days from dehydration, so learnt a valuable lesson very quickly, and tend to keep them on the damp side first thing in the morning. As they are on the top shelf they get a lot of sun which raises the temp and humidity inside the trays and the potting mix stays moister longer, as I close the vents to about a 1/4.

This is one of the good things about these covered seedling trays, is that you can control the venting depending on weather and atmospheric conditions.

You can read all that you can about raising seedlings, but, believe me, experience is the best teacher, as your situation is specific to you, and your propagation environment is again specific to you, and you learn very quickly how to adapt to problems that arise.

I also have bubble wrap "blinds" inside the GH (which I used during winter to keep the cold out) that I lower at night and spray them with the misting attachment on my gardening hose to again keep humidity up. The water gets trapped between the bubbles.

My GH is really set up as a warm house rather than a conventional GH as I purpose built it for tropical species, so that's why I have adapted the growing conditons the way I have.

The keikis on my Dens are growing faster than ever before I had the GH and the humid conditions.