Would like to show some of my seedlings

[paphioboy]

Those are some gorgeous seedlings! I wish you lived closer so I can snap up your excess seedlings..

 

[Bjorn]

Those are some gorgeous seedlings! I wish you lived closer so I can snap up your excess seedlings..

So would I Paphio,
Just imagine how they get when grown ups. Btw, I have a flask of topperi starting to show that problem, 20 of those simply take a lot of space:rollhappy:
Bjorn

 

[Stone]

In may 2011 I received a flask of P. venustrum that is flowering for the first time now, after approx 1.5 years. This time I got 5 flowers on approximately 10 plants. Here they are, in 50mm(2 inch) square pots.


A view from above, the plants in front are mostly charlies (album and normal) received at the same time, no blooming yet


A close-up


This one was two weeks ahead of the others and got the petals curled up. Perhaps not perfect, but...


Some other flasklings, here malipoense deflasked in march 2012; recently potted. Amazing how they grow...To the left some recently potted micrantum var. eburneum. deflasked same day as the malipoense.

Tranlienianums also deflasked March 2012. 50mm pots


And so were also these vietnamense. Yummy leaves here. Astonished by their growth rate. also in 50mm pots


And YES! the substrate is mainly marble(grey) mixed with dolomite grit(white) plus some sand, leca and organics (minor amounts) - the venustrums have basically a bark based mix.

Very well grown! I am also astonished at the growth rate of the vietnamense!
Mine are amoung the slowest of all!

 

[Dido]

Very well grown! I am also astonished at the growth rate of the vietnamense!
Mine are amoung the slowest of all!

where did you get the flask of vietnamense from is it from Hilmar too, or a import from asia. Mine are extremly slow growers too only the expetion is the new cross I have vietnamense X wenshanense they grow extremly fast for me. And the vendor is using a new potting mix and sanded me a plant now and it is even bigger then mine and this in 6 month out of flask.

 

[Bjorn]

where did you get the flask of vietnamense from is it from Hilmar too, or a import from asia. Mine are extremly slow growers too only the expetion is the new cross I have vietnamense X wenshanense they grow extremly fast for me. And the vendor is using a new potting mix and sanded me a plant now and it is even bigger then mine and this in 6 month out of flask.

The flasks are all from Hung-Sheng, so perhaps its a hybrid? On the other hand, I have another cross as well that is very similar in size and appearance, so guess its the genuine stuff. I have probably somehow hit the sweet-spot regarding growing conditions. As you may see, they are recently potted, the deflasking is done into trays with a somewhat similar mix, but finer. The mix is based on dolomite grit, sand , some bark, leca and moss, sterilized (microwawe is practical). Relatively similar except for the marble. The trays are actually mini-greenhouses with vents, sold for seed raising on the windowsill. Ok, the flasks are broken (if glass), the plants washed carefully and planted into a "ditch" in the substrate in rows. Then the lid on the greenhouse with closed vents and it all goes into a cabinet I built with heating and light. 2x250W CFL at 6400K + 1x250W at 2400K. gives approx 6-700 f.c at plants. 16 hours a day. Temperature 26C at day, 16 at night. Feeding with 3-400ppm K-lite in rainwater.
After 1-2 weeks the wents are carefully opened and kept open for most of the time.

 

[Rick]

Bjorn

What is the total number of seedlings presently coming up in this system, the number of species, and any losses?

 

[Marc]

Very nicely grown Bjorn, you seem to be very skilled in taking care of these orchid babies

 

[Justin]

gorgeous seedlings, especially the vietnamense. Great growing! Also interested to hear how many seedlings and species, etc. from Rick's question.

 

[cattmad]

great growing, I find vietnamense very fast growing

 

[Bjorn]

Bjorn

What is the total number of seedlings presently coming up in this system, the number of species, and any losses?

Difficult to answer, but every flask is approximately20 plants, sometimes more. Since 2011 i have had through at least 1 vietnamense, 1 tranlie, 1 micranthum, 1 malipo, 1 topperii, 1charlie alba, 1 charlie, 1 esquirolei alba, 1 roth, 2-3hangs, and 2 emersonii. All flasks. Generally without losses prior to potting. And of course the venustums.
But after potting and placement in the greenhouse, problems appear,particularly with hangianums and emersonii. Mostly due to erwinia. So a certain loss there is,but as i said, generally not before potting and greenhouse conditions.
The mix is of course adjusted according to the species.
Some other species have not been very successful, I am currently killing off the last few out of a flsk of tigrinums, received in march last year :sob
For some reason jackii does not like it neither, I might have missed with the substrate? As I said hangianum is a challenge but mostly after potting, not during the community stage. Also very slow.
Now in the pipeline are armeniacum, micranthum, stonei, helenae alba, one flask of each. And of course my randsii flask. And the anitum. The latter two are very slow growing but looks ok, has been in the community trays since march 2011 as far as I remember?. The first four are recently planted(in november 2012) but look ok with significant growth.
Lots of plants in other words. Since I am an amateur (although the above may not seem so ) I have started to worry about what to do with the excess. After all, 20 grown up topperiis occupy quite some space
Statistics are unavailable on the plant level, but losses during the community stage are either almost none or almost entirely. Depending on species.
I have found it much easier to raise plants in this special enclosure, devoid of infection from the outside. Placing the plants in a specially designed area in a location away from the greenhouse (mine is in our barn), sterilising the compot and using the mini greenhouses as additional barriers against infection, provides time for the plantlets to grow until they reach a size that better takes "life" in the greenhouse. But as said above, from then on life gets tough

 

[Dido]

Barn do you have animal production at home, which ones.

 

[Bjorn]

Barn do you have animal production at home, which ones.

Not really, its more a shack, but we call it the barn. I live on a former farm though, so plenty of garden etc.
:wink:
Bjorn

 

[Cheyenne]

Bjorn, how often do you water them in the marble mix? It seems like you would have to water alot unless the humidity is very high. I noticed some moss growing on top of the pots.

 

[Stone]

where did you get the flask of vietnamense from is it from Hilmar too, or a import from asia. Mine are extremly slow growers too only the expetion is the new cross I have vietnamense X wenshanense they grow extremly fast for me. And the vendor is using a new potting mix and sanded me a plant now and it is even bigger then mine and this in 6 month out of flask.

No I purchased 4 different seedling clones, but they all seem to be very slow---Slower than concolor and niveum....but growing:clap: I think maybe I watered too much in spring and damaged the roots?

 

[Bjorn]

Bjorn, how often do you water them in the marble mix? It seems like you would have to water alot unless the humidity is very high. I noticed some moss growing on top of the pots.

Depends on the season, but every two to three days? during summer more often. I have quite a few mounted plants that needs water so hosing down additional areas is easily done. I probably do it to often, particularly now in winter. The moss takes time to establish on the marble, but eventually it does.
I am a bit ambivalent about it, on one side its indicative of healthy conditions, on the other side it tends to get too mich so I have to remove it.
Bjørn

 

[biothanasis]

Fantastically well grown plantlets!!! Well done Bjorn!!!! :clap:

 

[Justin]

great job, you have good taste in Paph species too. can't wait to see these all get bigger!

 

[Justin]

also, which roth cross did you get?

 

[chrismende]

What an informative thread, Bjorn! Could you tell us about, or perhaps show pictures of your seedling growing cabinet? I've been wanting to build something to warm my youngest deflasked seedlings and have a couple of small heat mats, but want to design a structure to incorporate heat. Is yours bottom heat? Is it warmed by the lights? and how do you ventilate it?

 

[Brabantia]

for some of them we could find a good home......

+1 me too !