seedling medium?

biothanasis · Oct 22, 2011

Hello all,

I am going to get some flasks with epiphytic seedlings (phals etc). Do you have any suggestion of what inorcanic material I could use? I will keep them in plastic containers with plastic sheet covering them, for extra humidity. I was thinking for some polyethylenic foam (the one looking like cotton...). Do you think it will work? I do not have the means to get sphagnum, soon or generally. I have some coco fibres, but they are kind of hard to seetle them like I would like in a commynity pot. I have some medium grade leca (1cm round pebbles) too or the fine grade of perlite (~0.4cm). Please let me know

TYIA

Rick · Oct 24, 2011

Do you have access to bark? and perlite? and charcoal?

You can use these on epiphytic seedlings too. Keep in mind that most of the tropical orchids we grow are epiphytes. Even some of the slippers!

If the seedlings are good size, you could even go straight to a bark mount.

biothanasis · Oct 24, 2011

Hi Rick and ty for the reply

Yes, I do have access to perlite, but it is in very small pieces. There is another variety of similar material I can get that is like lightweight stones. Also I can get some bark, but it is eighter mixed with peat/turph or it is in very big pieces (3-4cm each), could I use the former? Charcoal, I can only get the one we use for barbeque...but you do not mean this one, do you? Could I use any of these?

I was hoping to find an inorganic material, so that rotting chances are reduced, but it is all to how the watering will be done along with ventilation.

Mounting sounds interesting too, but I do not know the success rate, as I do not have the proper conditions yet....

Thank you again!!

paphioboy · Oct 24, 2011

What about 50% sphagnum: 50% perlite or 50% sphagnum: 50% polystyrene/styrofoam? According to Brett (st1...), its supposed to be a widely used medium of choice for deflasking in Thailand.. spag helps to keep your seedlings from being too dry but you have to be careful with watering.

Rick · Oct 24, 2011

We just had the guys from Marble Branch orchids give us a talk on breeding/raising hybrids. They push more in Catt, Encyclia, and Oncidium hybrids. Epiphytic genera.

Anyway they start their seedlings off in in small pots (kind of like the seedling flats with a bunch of 1.5" to 2" connected pots) with a single big chunk or two of bark. They put one or two seedlings per pot, and let them root onto the bark.

This is kind of like mounting. I thought the humidty would have been kept higher for this, but they said they don't control it, but it stays above 50 to 60%.

I think they must water a lot, and said they have no success using sphagnum.

I have good luck starting things in sphagnum/sand combinations but use baskets or net pots.

biothanasis · Oct 25, 2011

Thank you both for the info. Unfortunatelly I cannot get sphagnum soon enough or in large quantities and I do not have good success with sphagnum either. I think I will put them in small aluminium trays with perlite or in plastic coffee cups (the smaller that I can find). Will try to put them in about 50-60% humidity.

The thing is that the seedlings were kept in the box for about 3 weeks. I have deflasked the most damaged ones, but I have the good ones in the flasks. Do you think I should acclimatise them in higher light first and then deflask? A good amoiunt of the medium has been liquified though.

paphioboy · Oct 25, 2011

I think usually people deflask and then acclimate them from lower to higher light. If you put the flask in a higher light (and presumably also dryer) position, the flasklings might experience even more shock due to the sudden decrease in humidity when deflasked.