Okay, all of my flasking insanity together. For future de-flaskers

[kindrag23]

This was the beginning of my Flasking experiments; I was asked to post all of them together so that anyone who may be interested in de flasking. Could look at this and get ideas.

Sorry not all the original pictures will be on here.

Okay lets start with the whole WTH was I THINKING!!!
Then lets go with do I have any idea what I am doing? NOO
Then lets now go with I have fabulous people on the OB who can possibly help me with my ummm insanity..

How do I deal with these guys the cross are:
Orchid Flask C. aclandiae X Schomb. christinae Spectacular cross.

Here are the instructions given to me...is this accurate enough....

Plants should be removed from flasks immediately. Shipping will
cause scrambling of the plants and the agar, which can burn the
plants if not removed from the flask immediately. Also
contamination can occur that will kill the plants.

Carefully break flask or remove plants roots first with tweezers or
with a wire hook.
Wash plants with plain water to remove all agar.
Leave clumps together and plant as one - can be separated later-
smaller plants will usually die if separated from clump.
Pot large plants individually in 2 or 3" pots, pot smaller plants in a
community pot or in a tray.
Use sphagnum or seedling mix with good drainage.
Water plants thoroughly after planting to clean medium.
Then spray pots, medium and plants with a fungicide/bactericide.
Resume normal watering - once a day or every other day.
Fertilize every two weeks with a water soluble balanced fertilizer.
Repeat spraying with fungicide/bactericide every 3-4 weeks.
Plants should be kept in 75-80 % shade with high humidity.


What I wound up doing was NOT using the fungacide on it they still seem to be doing okay. thus far.

[kindrag23]

I put live sphagnum in a 3 in net pot, in the middle of the pot, using only distilled water. to water and placed some in the bottom to help with the high humidity. They were placed in a betta bowl with a light on the top. (Walmart $10.00) They had light for at least 12 hours a day from the betta bowl light. Then night. They were not near a window. I made sure that the brightest light they received was from my betta light for the first week.

They did not have to be watered because of the water and humidity so they stayed very wet. I used 1.5 inch terracotta pots. With orchid moss around the plants and hydroton in the bottom so that they had some space and air.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Thank you for this summary!

Buying flasks is something that I have not ventured into - yet. But, I can see why a hobbyist would do this. If the species or hybrid is one you really want, flasks give a low entry cost per plant. You can keep the most vigorous one(s), raise the others as compots or seedlings which can be shared or sold when big enough (most of us don't want 30 plants of the same thing!). Sharing, or selling, can be a win-win.

[kindrag23]

Okay here is the beginning of what they started out with and I became afraid they were staying to wet so I put the sphagnum in a net pot. Hopefully have a updated picture of them.

[kindrag23]

flask baby update
Well today is day 3 out of the bowl. Thus far they are happy and healthy. They are currently soaking in a sanitized bucket w distilled water in about a gallons worth of water. With around .15 oz of MagiCal in there to hopefully boost their immune systems. Slowly slowly slowly.

They seem to be doing okay going on towards week 2. Whew this is scary! But maybe I have the hang of this!!


Notes:

For anyone wanting to try this I noticed that the medium drys very quickly. Don*t allow them to dry out. And the holding of fertilizer is a def. Good idea

Also here is a shot of what the set up looks like, during week two. It is a shower caddy holder, with wax paper folded over it to shield them from to bright of sun, in a SW window cracked open, and a fan going to keep air flow going.

[kindrag23]

Will post pictures from my phone (pictures are better from there...) The roots are still doing well, the leaves are still green and happy happy happy. I'm thinking that a pot or two may be going out to a few friends at the end of the week. Now heres hoping my schomburgkia flask kids do as well as these have...Those chids are a whole lot of nutty...I have yet to figure out why those roots and leaves look quite like they do....

---------- Post added at 03:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:44 PM ----------

Also today will be the first day that they receive fertilizer VERY weakly like 1/4 tsp to two gallons of water for them to sit in. and soak in. I will also be administering about 1/8 tsp of MagiCal again to make sure that they are hopefully going to continue to do okay and continue growing. We are about to get our first really cold spell of the season. High on saturday is 74* lows in the 50's..

[kindrag23]

Heres 2 current shots of what my schomburgkia flask chids are in the betta bowl now.

[TOMMYMIAMI]

Awesome job! I am so happy they are growing so well for you.

[kindrag23]

Well u have warm weather 24/7 so they. Should do well for u as well

[kindrag23]

Okay, this makes if memory serves week 2 with my schomburgkia flask chids, they will be coming out of the betta bowl and be set in my window sill set up.

For my first flask chids this makes 1 WHOLE MONTH ALIVE!!!! Out of the possibly 50 or so (maybe more) chids I have only lost possibly 10...They are continuing to grow. I sent out one set of each out to a fellow ob'er and they seem to be continuing to do well. I moved some of my larger chids into a bigger pot together where they will continue to have space to grow. It seemed to be a good thing because the smaller ones seem happier as well.

I have used magical and seaweed extract to hopefully continue to see good growth. EXTREMELY WEAKLY

AGAIN THEY DRY VERY QUICKLY!! DONT ALLOW THEM TO DRY OUT!!