Watering deflasked Phrag. seedlings

[Hamlet]

I just got my first Phrag babies, all kovachii hybrids. Now I'm wondering how I should water them. I grow my mature Phrags standing in half an inch of water. Do seedlings need to be kept as wet as mature plants? Some seedlings are in pure spaghnum as an experiment, but most are potted in a standard bark/perlite mix. Should I have the ones in bark standing in water or just keep them moist?

Thanks!

 

[suzyquec]

I grow all my phrag seedlings including kovachii and kovachii hybrids in pots that have a reservoir-these are very porous clay pots with drainage holes 1-1.5 inches from the bottom. It keeps them cooler and moist at all times. I also have a humidifier that keeps the humidity between 60-70%. They are all potted in a fine orchiata, fine charcoal and sponge rock mixture.

Where did you get them? All of my kovachii and kovachii hybrids to date have come from Peruflora and I have been very happy with them.

Susan

 

[Hamlet]

Thanks for your reply. I have mine in transparent plastic pots, I like seeing the roots. I guess I will keep them wet, but not always standing in water.

I got mine from Peruflora, too! I'm satisfied with the seedlings so far. They all look healthy, now I hope they'll grow well. My Paph. seedlings are doing really well and I find Phrags in general much easier to grow than Paphs so hopefully that translates to seedlings, too. Good luck with your Phrag babies. Maybe in a few years we can compare blooms.

 

[theorchidzone]

I think it is best to run water through the pots heavily every couple days at this stage.
Also, it is best if they are crowded.
If the bark is fresh from the bag, then you should water heavily daily for a couple weeks. New bark does not hold water. When I had a small collection, I would pretreat the bark with boiling water twice to allow it to hold water. But watering heavily for the first couple weeks does the trick.
JC

 

[suzyquec]

JC
I agree, I run clean R/O through every weekend. I also soak the orchiata for a couple of hours before potting. Is using boiling water better? That is why I use these pots because it keeps the seedlings moist better than anything else I have tried. Now I cannot get any more so I am looking into a pottery class to see if I can make my own.
Susan

 

[theorchidzone]

My feeling is that boiling water accelerates the hydration.

A couple hours is not enough in my experience. I would soak for a couple days.
At OZ we soak for about a day but we use Rexius. We also do the heavy watering for a couple weeks even with presoak.

We have always used Rexius. Nothing against Orchiata, just haven't used it much. Also it's more expensive and I normally buy a semi trailer of bark, so it adds up.

JC

 

[Hamlet]

Thanks for the tip with the boiling water. I let the bark soak in water for a few hours only. I"ll let it soak longer next time.

I just use normal pine bark. It's working fine for me, and I repot Phrags yearly anyway. Once the seedlings get bigger I'll put them in my standard Phrag mix, which is pine bark, rockwool, LECA and perlite, in approx. equal amounts.

 

[suzyquec]

JC

Thank you for this idea, I had a lot or re-potting to do as well as some new seedlings and I decided to give the idea of using boiling water a try. It was a little extra work but in the long run I could tell that the potting mixture was staying moist longer. So I am now a convert to this method.

Susan