Deflasking Mokara.

[Rishad Kalarikkal]

Vandas and Mokaras were always in my wish list since they loves sun. But it was not common in my place to find one at a local nursery.Two days back I went to 'Malabar festival' in my place and found a store only meant for orchids.

I found the fully grown plants really costly.And I wished to have all of them(of course I went there with an empty pocket.). So I was forced to buy flaskings which were cheeper for the first time in my life . It was having 6 different types of Mokara including to mini varieties (without a label).I found about 10 plants in the glass jar with three of them with two stems from a common base.Is there any thing to worry about this?

The steps I followed to deflask it are as follows.I did it by using the things which were readily available at home....

1. Copped coconut shell as small as I could into small pieces,chopped some charcoal to smaller size and braked an old clay pot into tiny pieces and kept separately,washed well and dried in full sun. This formed my medium.

2. Got a large concrete container 'Pana'',a plastic pot(4cm height and 15 cm diameter.) with many holes.You could drill extra holes by heating a metal wire. A semi transparent plastic sheet and a metal basket.

3. I opened the flask and poured some water into it .Just a small layer, enough to loosen the agar medium.Then shaked it slightly by still keeping the flask upright. It loosened but didnt came out.So I wraped it in a thick layer of newspaper and breaked the bottom of the flask.

4. Removed the broken glass particles carefully.It was easy since it was wrapped. Then removed those pieces entered into the agar. I used a tooth pick to push it out of the agar through its bottom by placing the mass in my hands.Make sure that you wear a glove to protect yourself.

5. I loosened the entangled roots with the aid of some more water but allowed the agar to stay with the roots. With the help of more water I was success to separate them without damaging much roots.

6.I took the plastic pot.Filled the bottom with a single light layer of clay pieces.Then laid a layer of a mixture of chopped coconut shell and charcoal.Make sure to drench them in water for 10 minutes, it will help to keep them in place.Then placed each plants with some agar attached to their roots as far as possible as a compot, in that single pot.I placed the agar to reduce the shock the plants may experience in a complete alien environment.Then I put some more mix in between the plants by keeping them upright by holding their leaves. I have heard that compot will help a lot to maintain even moisture and better care for the little ones.

7. I laid the basket upside down in the 'Pana' and poured water until it was about 1cm away from the bottom of the metal basket.So that pot will not sit in water.Then placed the pot over it and laid the plastic cover over the 'Pana' to allow only defused sunlight as it gets when it was inside the flask and to block air circulation.This arrangement as a whole would help to increase the humidity and sprinkling water twice a day would keep the leaves wet. I will do this for 5 more days. I kept the whole arrangement in a shady place.

I have decided to decrease the water level in 'Pana" and remove the cover letting in fresh but dry air into it after a week. Until then I would let air to get in freely for 15 minutes to one hour twice a day.I am doing this to avoid maximum shocks to the little ones.I do not want to loose even one of them.
Hope this could help someone.If I am doing some thing wrong please some one help me.I am really worried about root rot and fungus since the are always wet.I do not dare to use a fungicide.

I wonder how a Baby could breathe just after coming out of its mother's womb.God is really great.

I am really sorry for missing the pics before potting them.I have managed to attach some which shows my arrangement after deflasking.

Pana.A concrete container.



Metal basket and a plastic sheet.


Basket arranged upside down with some water lesser than its height.




My kids.


Pot placed in pana above the basket.


The entire arrangement kept covered with a plastic cover to isolate it as possible from its environment.


Ill try to keep updating. Thank you.

[digitalgate]

i would suggest fungicides , normally i soak the seedling 30 mins in carptan n fertilizer solution. Here a pointer, all the breeders i knew use fungicides. Sometime it took 2 months for fungus to hit and realized it is too late already.

[Ron]

Hi
Good luck with the baby's.
A point I would like to make when deflasking. I use a stainless steel rod about 5 mm thick (3/16) about 12 inches long.
I enter this through the open mouth at the top of the flask and lay the pointed end at the side and bottom of the flask.
Usually give the top a sharp tap and it usually breaks of the bottom or maybe a couple of goes around the bottom may be needed. to avoid fragments of glass flying every were I usually fill the flasks with clean water.
Reason Why I do this.
The jar in the paper trick, usually results in vibrations through the glass walls causing bad brusing to the tender leaves of the baby plant.
Also agar remains intact and no tiny fragments of glass every were.

I always use a fungicide, it is cheep compared to the price of a quality orchid.
I use Fungirid with great success. (Insurance in my book)

Other wise the project should go well.
best of luck
Cheerio
Ron

[solay]

I hope most if not all of them grow into beautiful plants for you. I don't have the courage to try deflasking yet. I even have a hard time with compots. Good luck and keep us updated.

[Rishad Kalarikkal]

Thank you so much my dear fellow geeks.Without your guidlines I would have never been able to do this thing.

Today is the third day after deflasking.In the morning I found dew formation on my little leaves and also under the plastic cover.Today I let a jug full of well water to flow through the pot after taking it outside.And sprinkled some water on the leaves since the air took all the moisture remained on it.I was able to find that the layer of solid agar had started to become thinner and thinner.

1. The water level inside the pana is decreasing due to evaporation.So i do not think that there is a need to remove some water daily manually as I had mentioned in my first post.Now the water is about 2 cm below the pot.1cm more than on the evening I repotted it.Today I noticed that the existing water is 8cm in depth.I hope it would disappear slowly in a time of 10 to 15 days.

2. I could find the yellow leaves getting more and more greenish every day.The leaves are looking fresh and waxy. Most of them have root tips protruding out of the medium as it was done by myself when I figured out that it would be difficult to keep them inside without breaking them.

3.Today I left a very small opening while covering it.I could now smell a light scent of cement inside the pana. I hope I will not be a sudden exposure since the opening is small enough for a cockroach to get in.And I have decided to cover it fully when the sun is full.Because getting more sun may be disastrous than getting some air flow. I am afraid that the leaves would get completely dried up in the sun.

Could any body please tell me that how long should I stay attached to this arrangement..??I have plans to do it until the water in the pana dries up.

I forgot to mention that yesterday my kittens (most probably) felled the plastic cover and the log into the water.It was in the morning I found it.3 of the tinies bend to 90 degrees without breaking their tender stem although one of them got its new leaf broken half a way.Today they had started to straighten up. And the plant with broken leaf had somehow managed to straighten the leaf up with half of the leaf being attached to it.Any ways they are the three ones that you could find on the upper side of my 5th picture.

Now I am thinking about an arrangement to welcome my kids when they are out of the dungeon (If they manages to). I need to hang the pots to provide good air flow and some how needs to attach a saucer underneath to retain some humidity especially when I leaves back to my college.

Any advice will be of great use.Thank you.

[digitalgate]

It took my mini den 3 month to adjust to the outside world and grow new roots.
from seedling to flowering we are talking about 3 years .

[Ron]

Hi.
Good luck with the project.
Question on how long to leave under the plastic cover.
Over the years I have discovered from about 4 to 5 days nearly full cover and then reduce the cover over the next week by about 20% each day.
Then I move them into the usual growing area and mist them about 3 to 5 times a day for the next 2 weeks or so.
then they are treated with TLC but also as normal seedlings.
I only use any type of very mild organic fertiliser for the next few months before i start to use chemical fertiliser.
Attached is my hardening off mini glass house fitted onto a heat bed set at about 20 D F.
I may be a fuss pot but that is my system and it works very well for me so that is how I like to do it.
When you pay around US$100 to US$200 per flask, I do not like to lose any of the deflasked plants.

Best of luck
Ron

[Rishad Kalarikkal]

Thank you so much every one.Ill try as you told Ron.with a little difference by allowing them to breathe free for 15 minutes to half an hour in on early morning and evening.but will manage to mist it before keeping them back to the container.
Is there any chance for root rot due to a high % of moisture at this stage.?