First Flasks

[Ernesto]

With quarantine in full swing, I’ve decided to really lean into the hobby and buy my first flasks. I took advantage of Sam’s Fourth of July sale and purchased five flasks— thaianum, niveum, leuchochilum, philippinense, and rothschildianum. Here they are on 7/8, freshly potted in a mix of pre-wetted precision Orchiata bark, charcoal, and perlite in a 4:1:1 ratio per Sam’s recommendation. They were watered with Ray’s KelpMax and Quantum total and potted in drilled, 4 inch wide 1.5 pint soup containers for pots.

 

[Ernesto]

I was aiming for 100% humidity and gradually lowering it, so I placed the lids my pots and let it sit for a day or two. I noticed browning on leaves that made contact with the lid and remained wet, so per Sam’s recommendation I clipped the browned sections and sprayed with Physan 20 at the dilution recommended for orchid seedlings. I then placed plastic bags over the tops of my pots to retain 100% humidity without a lid touching my leaves. After doing this I noticed evaporation on the plastic bags and no more standing water on my leaves, so I think this was the right move.

 

[Ernesto]

At this point I plan to let the seedlings air out once a day for about an hour over the next two weeks and gradually increase that time until they’re at the same relative humidity as the rest of my grow space (about 65% currently). I also plan on cutting out any browning that I find and spraying down with more diluted Physan as Sam suggested. The seedlings should be due for another watering with Quantum Total and KelpMax next week.

Can I get input on my planned method, and how you would change/keep it? Any input is much appreciated.

 

[Ernesto]

An idea that I have bouncing around in my head is keeping the seedlings in a 10 gallon tank with a small computer fan. I figured I could adjust humidity and maintain airflow with the setup.

 

[Ozpaph]

I would remove the lids and increase the air movement. I think air flow is paramount to avoid rot. They dont need 100% humidity. I put my compots in the same house as everything else but with less light.

 

[Sherry H]

Who is Sam?

 

[setaylien]

With quarantine in full swing, I’ve decided to really lean into the hobby and buy my first flasks. I took advantage of Sam’s Fourth of July sale and purchased five flasks— thaianum, niveum, leuchochilum, philippinense, and rothschildianum. Here they are on 7/8, freshly potted in a mix of pre-wetted precision Orchiata bark, charcoal, and perlite in a 4:1:1 ratio per Sam’s recommendation. They were watered with Ray’s KelpMax and Quantum total and potted in drilled, 4 inch wide 1.5 pint soup containers for pots.

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They look good so far. I would not let water stand on the leaves: increase ventilation. Don't overdo it or they will dry out too much. The main thing with such small seedlings is to be very consistent in their care and avoid too much light. You will have to be very patient with philippinense and rothschildianum: they take a long time to mature and there is often a high mortality rate with small rothschildianum seedlings. Good luck!

 

[setaylien]

Who is Sam?

He probably means Sam Tsui of Orchid Inn fame, very good growers.

 

[Orchidlover2020]

By the way. Since you mentioned Sam of Orchidinnusa.com. His 4th of July sale ends tomorrow. Discounts starting at 10% for all orders going up as high as 35% through July 15 2020.

 

[CarlG]

An idea that I have bouncing around in my head is keeping the seedlings in a 10 gallon tank with a small computer fan. I figured I could adjust humidity and maintain airflow with the setup.

This is what I do. If you have a 12V fan, run it at around 6-9V. Quieter, less air flow, the lower voltage won't hurt the fan.

As long as there is standing water (with plants kept above it) you'll have good humidity.

 

[NYEric]

Thanks for sharing. Good luck.

 

[KateL]

Who is Sam?

Sam Tsui of Orchid Inn. He breeds and sells very nice Paphs. (primarily).

 

[Ernesto]

All seedlings so far have experienced very little browning, barring the niveum flask which I had to do a ton of clipping to. I suspect that as this was the last group of seedlings to receive haircuts late at night, I was fatigued and may have been a bit rough in my handling of them and bruised leaves. As a precaution I gave them another haircut and doused all with more Physan 20. I’m optimistic that they’ll bounce back, as all my seedlings had robust root systems to start with.

 

[Ernesto]

They’ve also been moved now to the 10 gallon tank. Pebbles + water to raise relative humidity, a small computer fan to provide airflow, and a glass lid to adjust humidity as needed. Currently on the shelf with my paphs, phrags, and oncidiums with LED lights reading about 30-35 FC, relative humidity in the 90s, and temps in the low to high 70s Fahrenheit.

 

[Justin]

looking great! Which roth cross did you get?

 

[Ernesto]

looking great! Which roth cross did you get?

I got a flask from the sibling cross ‘Bahamut’ x ‘Oliver’ GM/DOG