Help with deflasking

[escualida]

I talked to the seller and he told me to deflask now and that they would send another flask if needed. So I went ahead and did it, here are the pics.

This is my first time deflasking so if I did anything wrong or you have any suggestions PLEASE let me know, I would appreciate it immensely.

So I deflasked them and cleaned the agar off of most of them and put them on paper towels according to size. I counted 71 different seedlings! I left a few with agar around just the roots because they were going directly into S/H and I had read a previous post from Ray saying that he leaves the agar on when doing this.



I then potted them into compots using seedling mix from Repotme. The one on the top right is the S/H one, I used PrimeAgra for that one.



And put them under a seedling dome with a seedling mat underneath for warmth and a computer fan on the side blowing into one of the airholes that I opened up just a little bit. It is currently 88% humidity and 74 degrees F inside the dome.



Let me know what you think!

[orchidsarefun]

the set-up looks perfect.
What about a fungicide ? I used one when I split up a tightly-packed compot, but the plants were older.
BTW - those don't look that small ? Another comment - I have seedlings that are flasked. The norm is around 25 - and you got so many ?

[escualida]

Thank you that makes me feel a lot better. Yes I forgot to mention that I sprayed them down with a Captan solution before potting up. I also sterilized the media, pots, and the inside of the dome as well.

The seller had said that there were probably 25-30 inside the flask so I was really surprised that there were 71 as well! Some of them are a good size and some of them are really tiny, I still think they could have stayed in there for a little while longer and gotten bigger but we'll see how they do.

[escualida]

OK so it's been a few hours and I can't stop checking on them, it's ridiculous.

I've researched everywhere and it seems like from this point on there isn't really that much information on what to do. How often should I mist them? Should I use Superthrive and fertilizer now or wait? How long until I start opening up the dome so they start getting used to a lower humidity? How do I do this?

Aaaaack!

[orchidsarefun]

well that's a coincidence. I was just reading all about it when I got the e-mail notification


https://lab.troymeyers.com/flasking/...Flaskling-Care

this site is really good, if you don't already know about it.

[escualida]

Thanks Orchidsarfun, I had seen this website before but had completely forgotten about it, their method of compotting looks so much easier than what I went through. I wonder if I should have potted them in sphagnum instead of the seedling mix I used.

They don't go into that much detail about how to lower the humidity over time, I've seen varying opinions on this saying that it should be done over a few days, weeks, or even months. I guess I'll just have to play it by ear and keep a close eye on them.

I'd still like to hear how others on here do it and what works for them.

[Stray59]

escualida:
Congrat on the successful deflasking! They are HUGE and look great.
I rarely pull fewer than 75 to 100 from a flask. It is amazing how packed they will grow!
I am not sure if B-1 solution is same as Super Thrive - look on the ingredients list - a lot of these seed booster ferts are just high in nitrogen, but usually a weak formula. What I have is Thrive Alive B-1 which is a 1-1-1 formula with iron and B-1 added. It seems to ease the transplant shock some. I also have bought a transplant formula for seedlings, but it is not for orchids and I did not realize it until I had it home and opened. This one is filled with beneficial bacteria and fungus, but these exist in the soil, and I don't think they help epiphytes at all. They just break down the medium faster - not something I want! So read the ingredients well.
I also use Captan on the seedlings, at the suggestion of another OB member. It is a mild, but effective fungicide that is easy to use.
Again, your babies look great! Keep us updated!
Steve

[escualida]

OMG since, before deflasking, I had expressed my concerns to the seller about the size of the seedlings they said that they would send me another flask, as soon as I deflasked I told them to hold onto it but I got a box from them today with not one, but TWO new flasks!!

I don't know what to do with them as I have no more room in the seedling dome for them. Any suggestions? For now I think I'll let them sit, they didn't come as badly shaken as the other one so I think they'll be OK in there for a while...

[escualida]

So I took a good look at the new flasks they sent me and the seedlings inside both of them are much bigger than in the first one, so much so, that in one of the flasks it looked like they barely had any room left so I decided to open that one.

You can see in this picture how much bigger they are, and I had already potted up five of the biggest ones before taking it.



It was really tough finding the room for these little guys and out of about 95 I only ended up potting like 80 because I honestly couldn't find room for all of them. The weakest had to go...



Here it is from the side, the newer ones are on the left, you can tell how much bigger they are than the ones on the right.



Whew! It took me a while. And I still have ANOTHER flask left! I can't do anything with it because now I'm really out of room so it's going to have to sit there until either these are ready to come out of the dome, or someone takes it off my hands...

[orchidsarefun]

do a deal with Stray59; he was looking for flasks. Maybe he can swap something with you.