# Albino maudiae type -- From deflasked seedling to first bloom



## hardy (Sep 11, 2010)

Hi, I have not posted for a looong time. 

About three years ago I bought my first paph flask. I had no experience at all 
with seedlings just out of flask. Time really flies, few days ago the very first 
flower opened. I've been quite lucky with my first flasks, thought I'll share 
my experience with an albino maudiae type hybrid.


I bought the flask in a show in Dec 2007. The parentage is Alma Gevaert 
'Green Dome' SM/TPS X Hsinying Citron 'Ching Hua Giant' GM/TPS (now 
registered as Hilo Citron). There were a number of Hsinying Citron siblings on 
show and they were stunning. The flask was expensive at US$100 but I just 
had to buy it on impulse.

I searched the internet for deflasking techniques and was tempted to try the 
agar-on method described on ladyslipper.com. But since I was going to grow 
them under lamps, I decided to clean and separate the seedlings to give 
them more space and light. The plants spent the first year under lamps, and 
the first bloom opens 2 yrs and 9 months out of flask. Here's some pics and 
growing details:



*****First 4 months*****
- Compot, with a mix of perlite and sphagnum loosely placed around the 
roots, with a topping of perlite to prevent algae
- Grown in a toppled fish tank (40-cm size) with cling wrap cover to give 
extra humidity
- Light: 26 W (2 X 13W compact fluorescent tubes, Philips, 8500K)
- Temp: 18-25 centigrade (air conditioned room-cold weather outside)
- Watering once in about 2 weeks with fertilizer solution at 1/10 
recommended strength; I kept the medium between quite wet (roughly 
halway to saturation) and almost dry
- Occasional leaching

The fish-tank environment for the compots:






The compots at the end of the 4 months:












*****next 9 month*****
- Still in compots
- Lighting: 27W Philips compact fluorescent lamps (8500K), roughly double 
light intensity than in fish tank
- Temp: 25-28 centigrade (air-conditioned room, warm weather outside)
- Humidity not measured, but I guess around 60%
- Watering with fertilizer at 1/6 strength when the medium is almost dry until quite wet
- Leaching after 3 fertigations

This is how the plants looked a year out of flask (upper left corner; three 
seedlings were big enough to fill 4-inch pots):







*****13th months onwards*****
- Grown in a rain shelter, under corrugated clear plastic and 2 layers of 30% shadecloth
- In clay orchid pots, with bird nest fern root medium (Asplenium nidus; 
boiled, washed, and separated into small chunks), loosely wrapped around 
the roots
- Temperature: 
6 months of rainy season: around 28/22 centigrade day/night temp
6 months of dry season: around 28/13-18 centigrade day/night temp
- Daily watering with very dilute fertilizer (1/10 strength), the medium 
alternates from wet to just moist, but never soggy for long period due to
the very open nature of the material, and there's some leaching at every 
watering too. 

This is how the plants look about 2 years out of flask:





At 2 years, the plants were growing vigorously, but no flowering yet. 
One of the parents is a giant albino and I guess it may be a polyploid plant.

At 2 years and 9 months: (at the front right corner of bench)





And finally the first bloom a few days ago: Paph. Hilo Citron 'Hardy #1'





Very pretty shape and color, but at 11-cm natural spread, it is smaller than
expected considering its parents. Hope it'll get bigger and better at the next 
flowering.

There are a couple more plants showing bud, the rest should follow soon.

It was an impulse buying, and the deflasking involved lots of worrying at the 
beginning, but luckily I made the decision to buy. In total there were 27 
seedlings and I may just be lucky that I lost only one to rot. Growing 
conditions differ, but hopefully the experience I just shared would be useful 
esp. for those new to delasking paph seedlings.

Please let me know what you think. Thanks.


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## Darin (Sep 11, 2010)

Congrats on growing from Flask to Bloom. Thanks for the rundown on how your culture has changed as you have gone from flask to compot to seedling to adult. Good story that shows the dedication required. Nice flower as well. Love the wide dorsal.

Darin


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## Shiva (Sep 11, 2010)

You're obviously very good at growing these. Congrats. Unfortunately, for me, when it comes to paph slippers, they're more like sleepers.


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## goldenrose (Sep 11, 2010)

:clap::clap: EXCELLENT JOB!!! :drool::drool:
I, too, have seen Hilo Citron at a show, it was huge & truly spectacular & I wanted one but I'm not a maudiae type! I don't think $100 was expensive, in fact could be on the reasonable side considering the quality you're getting. I'm certain that first bloom will improve as the plant matures & who knows there may be a 'giant' among them yet to be found!


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## KyushuCalanthe (Sep 11, 2010)

Great job! I like the idea of putting perlite on top of the sphag to stop algae. Thanks for the photos and cultural tips. :clap:


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## emydura (Sep 11, 2010)

Fantastic post. Thanks for the information. Very interesting and useful for me. Really nice flower as well. 

So you have no air movement in the fish tank?

David


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## John M (Sep 11, 2010)

Thanks for all the information. It's always useful to find out how someone grows their plants. They look incredibly healthy and vigorous. You seem to have done everything to their liking. Congratulations!


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## SlipperFan (Sep 11, 2010)

After looking at your photos and reading your techniques, I find it hard to believe you haven't been growing plants from flask to blooming size for many many years! First one? Very impressive -- congratulations!


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## hardy (Sep 11, 2010)

Thank you all for the encouragement , glad to share the information here.



goldenrose said:


> :clap::clap: EXCELLENT JOB!!! :drool::drool:
> I, too, have seen Hilo Citron at a show, it was huge & truly spectacular & I wanted one but I'm not a maudiae type! I don't think $100 was expensive, in fact could be on the reasonable side considering the quality you're getting. I'm certain that first bloom will improve as the plant matures & who knows there may be a 'giant' among them yet to be found!



Thank youuu  Yes, I've seen how big some of the albino maudiaes can get!!
Looking forward to some really big ones. Also, some Hsinying Citron has light 
yellowish green color, very ghostly-looking, I really hope this color will show 
up in some of the plants too.



emydura said:


> Fantastic post. Thanks for the information. Very interesting and useful for me. Really nice flower as well.
> 
> So you have no air movement in the fish tank?
> 
> David



Hi, yes, you're right, the air was almost stagnant because I only left a tiny 
opening at one corner. Personally I prefer to keep the seedling roots on the 
moist side, but I was careful not to keep the leaves wet for extended 
periods. By the way, I've tried to grow some flasklings right into sopping wet 
live sphagnum and they grew quite well too, but that's another story 
altogether. Here's a teaser: paph thaianum flaskling in live sphagnum 




I'll find the time to write a post about that.



SlipperFan said:


> After looking at your photos and reading your techniques, I find it hard to believe you haven't been growing plants from flask to blooming size for many many years! First one? Very impressive -- congratulations!



Yes, first I bought two flasks, then the following year I bought four more. 
Been very lucky that I've had minimal losses. The rest didn't grow as well as 
the Hilo Citron flask, but when it comes to flasklings I'm happy as long as 
they survive.


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## NYEric (Sep 11, 2010)

Wow! Well done, looking good, thanx for the info.


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## hardy (Sep 11, 2010)

Thank you, Eric ^^


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## JeanLux (Sep 12, 2010)

Congratulations to the grower, and thanks for this great info!!!! Jean


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## paphreek (Sep 12, 2010)

Very impressive results, Hardy. Congratulations on your first bloom from flask!


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## paphioboy (Sep 12, 2010)

WOW... Thanks for sharing...  Were they grown in the aquarium while you were studying in Hong Kong..? I remember you bought a flask of sanderianum too.. How are they doing now..?


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## biothanasis (Sep 12, 2010)

WOW!!! Fantastic!!!! Well done!!! Very nice flower, too!


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## hardy (Sep 12, 2010)

Thank you guys for your compliments and encouragement ^^



paphioboy said:


> WOW... Thanks for sharing...  Were they grown in the aquarium while you were studying in Hong Kong..? I remember you bought a flask of sanderianum too.. How are they doing now..?




Hi Paphioboy, yes, I grew it in my dorm room in Taiwan. I bought not just 
one, but two flasks of sanderianum a year apart, same parents but reversed 
cross. Here is a repost of the same pic and some pics of sanderianum and 
others: 


The sanderianum plants from the 2 flasks are on the front left corner of the 
bench. Btw, three quarter of this bench is occupied by plants from just 4 
flasks alone! It is quite scary how small seedlings can occupy so much space 
over time. At the back right corner are callosum f. vinicolor plants almost 2 
years from flask.







Here's a closer look of the sanderianums. At almost 2 years and 3 years from 
flask, there are a few husky plants, most are still quite small and in compots 
and no large plant yet. They have been growing slow and steady in birdnest 
fern for 8 months now. I don't mind waiting, as long as they're alive I'm 
happy. 







Older pics of the seedlings:

Grown in live sphagnum. 20 months (above) and 8 months from flask (below). 
Young sanderianum plants seem to love live sphagnum, which is also real 
good stuff for salvaging the tiny and rootless ones. 







In semi-hydro in orchid stones (pumice-like stuff, but sinks in water). The 
three compots just in front of the maudiae-type was a year from flask, and 
grown directly in semi-hydro from the very beginning. The three at the left 
were 2 years from flask, having spent the first year in sphagnum moss and 
spent the second year in semi-hydro. (The maudiae type compots were 
callosum f. vinicolor in sphagnum medium, a year from flask) 




The yellowing and pitting on some leaves were due to red spider mite 
infestation. I find semi-hydro using 1/6 recommended strength Hyponex 
solution to be excellent for sanderianum just from flask and the losses were 
minimal.


So the 6 flasks were Hilo Citron, callosum f. vinicolor, 2 sanderianum and 2 
thaianum. Hilo Citron grew the fastest and thaianum the slowest. I've tried 
to pack as much info as I can; not very systematic I know but you get the 
idea. ^^

Currently I'm out of space to buy more, but I'm looking forward to the time 
when my growing space can expand further to accommodate new flaskslings.


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## biothanasis (Sep 12, 2010)

Well done again!!!

Could you please tell me how do u keep the moss alive and multiply? Did you find it outside or from a store? Generally, how did you disinfected it without killing it? Any tips? TY


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## hardy (Sep 12, 2010)

Hi, 

Chilean sphagnum moss sometimes regenerates itself in clear orchid pots. I 
propagate a small amount of the mosses myself, since it's not easy or even 
legal get live sphagnum from nature in Taiwan. I simply used some dead 
sphagnum moss as the growing medium, and propagate by cutting the tops 
of the live moss onto new beds of dead sphagnum. I dunk the pots into a 
shallow layer of peat and water. Frequent watering from the top with good 
quality water is the key to keep the moss alive, while drenching with even 
1/10 strength Hyponex is lethal to the moss under my conditions.

I harvest them for use by cutting the top and leaving about 1 cm of bottom 
stumps, which will sprout new heads of sphagnum also. I have some photos 
of the culture of live sphagnum and its use for paphs. I'll arrange the pics 
into a post in the future.











Cheers!


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## Justin (Sep 12, 2010)

Excellent post...I love growing out paph flasks too. Especially liked the photos on sphagum culture. 

Thanks for sharing and congratulations on your successful growing.


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## etex (Sep 12, 2010)

Excellent information and photos! Great growing!!


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## Leo Schordje (Sep 12, 2010)

Hardy,
Excellent growing, your techniques are beautifully tailored to your climate, very well done. Your plants are proof of your skill and they look great. Thank you for describing your techniques, I am going to try a few of your methods on my plants. Thanks


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## paphioboy (Sep 12, 2010)

Simply beautiful.... I'm amazed at how well your plants cope despite your absence... Whenever I buy seedlings, there is only a 50-50 chance they'll make it to the next year, which is why I'm refraining from buying seedlings anymore and only go for mature plants...


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## hardy (Sep 13, 2010)

Thank you all for your kind comments (^_^)

Hi Paphioboy, yes I have someone take care of my plants when I'm away. I 
give easy-to-follow instructions. By some trial and error you could try to find 
the easiest regimen that works for your plants  Copious daily watering is a 
no-brainer and so I'm really lucky that it works wonders for my paphs. Trial and
error is impotant I think, and I arrive at the current regimen the same way. 
I'm still not so lucky with other plant groups, for example my gesneriads 
collection, which requires individual observation of the wetness of the medium. 
I tell the person helping me to watch the medium closely during watering, but 
as you might guess, I still lost considerable portion of my collection 

IMHO, the health of the young plants in flask is very important for their 
subsequent performance. So choose carefully. Avoid flasks past their prime 
unless the potential of the cross is really worth the risk. I think slightly too 
young is better than slightly too old. And buying from the flask producer first 
hand better than buying from vendors. Just my humble opinion...


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## paphioboy (Sep 13, 2010)

Yes, that's very true... I have not actually grown any paphs from flask. The seedlings I grow usually are about 3-inch leafspan, about half a year after deflasking. Some have grown well, especially multiflora and cochlo hybrids, but some brachy seedlings just withered to nothingness....  Well, its handy having someone to keep a close watch on them...


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## nikv (Sep 13, 2010)

Wow! My hat is off to you, Hardy. You've accomplished something that I have yet to do in all my years of growing orchids.


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## hardy (Sep 13, 2010)

nikv said:


> Wow! My hat is off to you, Hardy. You've accomplished something that I have yet to do in all my years of growing orchids.



Thank you  I'm yet to learn lots of things. I think it's the same for all of us. 
Growing orchids is a never-ending process of learning and discovering new 
things


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## hardy (Sep 13, 2010)

Here's a forgotten photo I just stumbled across in my old folder (Please bear 
with me.... ) Paph Hilo Citron freshly repotted from compot into birdnest 
fern. I buried the lowest one or two nodes in the osmunda-like stuff, and 
the plants don't seem to mind at all.


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## biothanasis (Sep 16, 2010)

Hardy, thank you very very much for your detailed info!!!!


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## hardy (Sep 16, 2010)

You're welcome, my pleasure to share


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## chrismende (Sep 19, 2010)

Great documentary on your flask experiences! I'm still in the first few months of my first group of four flasks - and soon to get some more. It's really a challenge and very easy to see how differently different species and crosses behave with the same culture. Mine are now all in sphagnum but next time they won't be - it'll be fine bark with a little perlite instead.
Your posts are always very nicely done and informative!


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## John M (Sep 19, 2010)

Your plants look so healthy and vigorous. Congratulations on your success! Well done!


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