# kovachii seedlings



## orchid527 (Oct 31, 2021)

Had a little extra time yesterday, so I potted out some kovachii compots into 2 inch pots. Most are from Chuck Acker (CA796 and CA735), but the 4 on the left are from Peruflora. They all seemed to be healthy with good roots. They are much easier to grow than the first kovachii seedlings I purchased 8 years ago. Mike


----------



## GuRu (Oct 31, 2021)

They are looking really healthy, so good luck for the future.


----------



## Karp60 (Oct 31, 2021)

Wish them a good start!


----------



## abax (Oct 31, 2021)

You are a brave soul, my friend. I'd never be able to grow kov. seedling that well and that
healthy.


----------



## orchid527 (Nov 1, 2021)

I'll provide an update at six months with the seedlings in the same tray and same positions. Recent generations of kovachii from Chuck Acker really are easier to grow than the first ones. Most of the ones in this tray came out of a flask in January 2021, so you can see they have grown quite a bit in just 10 months. They seem to be just like my other phrags, but they don't like hot weather and the larger ones do better with limestone in a bark mix. Mike


----------



## Just1more (Nov 1, 2021)

Are they potted in complete sphag?


----------



## orchid527 (Nov 1, 2021)

Just1more said:


> Are they potted in complete sphag?


Just a few foam peanuts in the bottom. The rest is moss. Mike


----------



## skirincich (Nov 1, 2021)

Very nice! How do folks who are growing lots of seedling reduce the herd? Sales through your local orchid society? Just asking since I have about sixty seedlings of latouria dendrobiums and phals.


----------



## ScientistKen (Nov 1, 2021)

Nice job Mike. Very healthy and I like the way you have them diagonal in the pot. Here are some of my 735 seedlings in 3.5" square and 4.5" round pots. Mine are a little haphazard and less uniform. They were around the size of yours a few months ago and had a crazy growth spurt when I repotted them. I bet yours will do the same thing. I'm very happy with them. I also have 796 which are around same size as yours but mostly still in compot.


----------



## orchid527 (Nov 2, 2021)

ScientistKen said:


> Nice job Mike. Very healthy and I like the way you have them diagonal in the pot. Here are some of my 735 seedlings in 3.5" square and 4.5" round pots. Mine are a little haphazard and less uniform. They were around the size of yours a few months ago and had a crazy growth spurt when I repotted them. I bet yours will do the same thing. I'm very happy with them. I also have 796 which are around same size as yours but mostly still in compot. View attachment 30297


Interesting. I have moved some of my phrags into cubes + hydroton as an experiment, but none of the kovachii. Do you include limestone in any form? I noticed that yellowing leaves on seedlings respond quickly to the addition of dolomite powder, even though it seems to wash out in a few waterings. I have some of the larger 735 seedlings in 3 inch pots and they seem to be comparable in size to your plants. I use small Orchiata + perlite + granular limestone for the larger plants. Seems to work well for the multi-growth blooming size kovachii too. Mike

After reading what I wrote, I wanted to be clear that I do not add limestone to the smallest kovachii seedlings growing in moss. I have never seen those leaves turn yellow.


----------



## NYEric (Nov 3, 2021)

Hi, I was given a blooming sized Pk in Montreal, so that is still in Canada. I had no luck with the teeny-tiny seedlings I got. If anyone is getting rid of seedlings (selling) of the size in Ken's post, let me know. BTW, I have repotted a bunch of Phrags into a mix of Grodan cubes, Leca, coarse perlite, and Diatomite.


----------



## ScientistKen (Nov 3, 2021)

orchid527 said:


> Interesting. I have moved some of my phrags into cubes + hydroton as an experiment, but none of the kovachii. Do you include limestone in any form? I noticed that yellowing leaves on seedlings respond quickly to the addition of dolomite powder, even though it seems to wash out in a few waterings.  I have some of the larger 735 seedlings in 3 inch pots and they seem to be comparable in size to your plants. I use small Orchiata + perlite + granular limestone for the larger plants. Seems to work well for the multi-growth blooming size kovachii too. Mike
> 
> After reading what I wrote, I wanted to be clear that I do not add limestone to the smallest kovachii seedlings growing in moss. I have never seen those leaves turn yellow.


No, I don't add limestone but only because I don't have any handy. Do you get yours from a hardware store? I have rocks other than hydroton like pea gravel and also include some large perlite. I have added dolomite before but like you say it washes out. In the past, moss was my primary medium for flask seedlings but in the past I was growing seedlings either in a greenhouse or in house. Now, I'm putting seedlings in the basement and have killed many when using moss. Mostly paphs and some less water loving phrags but I just switched to improve mortality. Also having luck with seedlings with orchiata mixed with bonsai pumice and perlite. 

I have some smaller 735s so we are probably pretty similar overall. I think I remember you posting that you got yours in September 2019 which is when I got mine. Ken


----------



## orchid527 (Nov 3, 2021)

ScientistKen said:


> No, I don't add limestone but only because I don't have any handy. Do you get yours from a hardware store? I have rocks other than hydroton like pea gravel and also include some large perlite. I have added dolomite before but like you say it washes out. In the past, moss was my primary medium for flask seedlings but in the past I was growing seedlings either in a greenhouse or in house. Now, I'm putting seedlings in the basement and have killed many when using moss. Mostly paphs and some less water loving phrags but I just switched to improve mortality. Also having luck with seedlings with orchiata mixed with bonsai pumice and perlite.
> 
> I have some smaller 735s so we are probably pretty similar overall. I think I remember you posting that you got yours in September 2019 which is when I got mine. Ken


Ken

There is a feed store several miles away and I purchased 25 pounds of crushed limestone. It appears to be a slightly smaller particle size than most sand. It is more stable in the mix than powdered dolomite. Mike


----------



## ScientistKen (Nov 3, 2021)

orchid527 said:


> Ken
> 
> There is a feed store several miles away and I purchased 25 pounds of crushed limestone. It appears to be a slightly smaller particle size than most sand. It is more stable in the mix than powdered dolomite. Mike


Thanks Mike. I will check that out. Plus when you said feed store it reminded me that I have crushed oyster shell that I forgot about. That was something I used a lot of times in the past.


----------



## My Green Pets (Nov 3, 2021)

David Bird of Bird's Botanicals explained to me in this interview how he grows his pk seedlings.
Live sphagnum and chicken grit.

The conversation with David starts at 05:15 minutes into the video.


----------



## ScientistKen (Nov 4, 2021)

My Green Pets said:


> David Bird of Bird's Botanicals explained to me in this interview how he grows his pk seedlings.
> Live sphagnum and chicken grit.


Thanks for sharing. I know David. His cave was really orchid cool back in the day. A little bit confusing. What I have is called chicken grit, too. 

Has anyone had issues with animals being attracted to the oyster shells? I keep some of my orchids outside during summer and don't want to draw animals to rummage through my plants.


----------



## orchid527 (Nov 5, 2021)

ScientistKen said:


> Thanks for sharing. I know David. His cave was really orchid cool back in the day. A little bit confusing. What I have is called chicken grit, too.
> 
> Has anyone had issues with animals being attracted to the oyster shells? I keep some of my orchids outside during summer and don't want to draw animals to rummage through my plants.


Ken

I cannot answer your question directly, but I have a brush pile that has several dozen fresh water mussel shells next to it and the animals are always messing with them. I rake them into the pile and the animals pull them out in a few days. They have been there for about 10 years, so surely the organic material is gone by now. I don't know if it is raccoons or deer as we have plenty of both. Mike


----------



## BrucherT (Nov 5, 2021)

orchid527 said:


> Ken
> 
> I cannot answer your question directly, but I have a brush pile that has several dozen fresh water mussel shells next to it and the animals are always messing with them. I rake them into the pile and the animals pull them out in a few days. They have been there for about 10 years, so surely the organic material is gone by now. I don't know if it is raccoons or deer as we have plenty of both. Mike


For the same reason the woods are not overrun with deer antlers and bones; they get consumed rather quickly by animals looking to add calcium, magnesium and trace salts.


----------



## ScientistKen (Nov 6, 2021)

Thanks Mike and BrucherT. I will avoid using it with the orchids I take outside.


----------



## Tom-DE (Nov 6, 2021)

Ken, I don't think you will have a problem with the chicken grits/crushed oyster shell. I used them in the mix for some of my plants and I put my plants out at the edge of the woods for the warmer months, I had never had any problem...

edit: ps, My plants were sitting on a growing table, 3 feet off the ground.


----------



## skirincich (Nov 7, 2021)

Unlike fresh water mussels, or bones or antlers in the wild, I believe that ground oyster shells sold for chickens are processed under high heat to burn away any organic material. I doubt it will attract animals unless they crave calcium.


----------



## BrucherT (Nov 7, 2021)

skirincich said:


> Unlike fresh water mussels, or bones or antlers in the wild, I believe that ground oyster shells sold for chickens are processed under high heat to burn away any organic material. I doubt it will attract animals unless they crave calcium.


I hear you but animals often crave calcium and magnesium.


----------



## cnycharles (Nov 8, 2021)

Definitely never use blood meal in any planting outdoors where you don’t want to attract raccoons


----------



## ScientistKen (Nov 11, 2021)

cnycharles said:


> Definitely never use blood meal in any planting outdoors where you don’t want to attract raccoons


I've also seen Raccoons also go after some potting mixes with time release fertilizer in it. I think they smell the gelatin that encapsulates the fertilizer or maybe it has fish emulsion in it.


----------

