KLN or Superthrive.... who wins?

[dianecty]

I have 3 foot tall orchids phals that I think I need to sphag and bag like you have in your wonderful explanation. The main stalk has branches which have unopened buds. I don't know if I should wait for the buds to bloom before I sphag & bag and if I should cut off the long tall stalk so that the plant can concentrate on making roots.

When I bought them, there were a lot of open flowers but within a day, they either wilted or fell off plus I massacred them with root rot bec I put them inside where it is dark. I cut off all the wilted flowers.

If I should cut the main stalk off, where and how should I cut it?

For some reason, I have a lot of root rot with fuschia or pink like phals. My white one is magnificent even if it is just inside the house.

One more thing, can I leave my phals outside when it is not too cold? Maybe 50F and above? even at night?

[charmbutterfly]

Originally Posted by dianecty

I have 3 foot tall orchids phals that I think I need to sphag and bag like you have in your wonderful explanation. The main stalk has branches which have unopened buds. I don't know if I should wait for the buds to bloom before I sphag & bag and if I should cut off the long tall stalk so that the plant can concentrate on making roots.

When I bought them, there were a lot of open flowers but within a day, they either wilted or fell off plus I massacred them with root rot bec I put them inside where it is dark. I cut off all the wilted flowers.

If I should cut the main stalk off, where and how should I cut it?

For some reason, I have a lot of root rot with fuschia or pink like phals. My white one is magnificent even if it is just inside the house.

One more thing, can I leave my phals outside when it is not too cold? Maybe 50F and above? even at night?

Well girly its always better to save the plant then the flowers, you can always get more flowers when the baby is all healed up with new roots.

You can cut the spikes back to an inch if you want, make sure to dust with cinnamon so it heals up quickly.

Then put the baby in a bag and let it heal.

My phals stay outside all year, i bring them in when it drops under 50F

[dianecty]

You are absolutely right!!! I will do that tomorrow.

If a phal suddenly drops all its flowers, what does that mean? My sister is panicking bec all of a sudden her beautiful flowers are dropping off - 3-4 everyday!! Aside from looking at the roots, what could be the problem? She has had her orchid for about 2 months now. Does that mean the flowers are done blooming? But how come they just drop off, they don't even deterioriate first before falling.

[peeweelovesbooks]

Originally Posted by charmbutterfly

OK so i took some pics of how i did the bagging for those who asked... here we go

So this is how i bag my big divisions. I fold a papertowel and get it damp with the same solution i let the plant sit in for a few hours. Then put the lower half of the chid in the bag making sure the towel does not touch the plant. I use a rubber band to keep the bag in place, then i put the other bag over the top and fold and then use another rubberband. Make sure you leave enough space in the lower half for the roots to fill up Keep the plant in a warm shady area.

The last pic is a seedling thats been in a bag for 2 weeks, nice roots aye

Thanks for sharing.

[adriponic]

Hi all

A few lines on Hormones or rather Plant Growth regulators
PGRs. I have subtituted some of the pure stuff available
from Sigma etc by commercial ones available off the shelf
from agro shops and used them in my lab. So far results
are not markedly different than when using the purest
stuffs.

NAA - Naphtylaceticacid - is found in "PLANOFIX" off
the shelf in 1 litre solution already stabilised. I just keep
the stuff refrigerated. It is used to enhance fruit
setting in apples/pineapples etc. Lab dose 0.1 - 1.0 mg/L
active ingredient. I've never used in in-vivo.

IBA - Indolebutyricacid - A synthetised rooting auxin
found off the shelf in many forms. One is "SERADIX" where theIBA crystalline form is mixed with talc. Dissolve
in 95% ethanol at room temperature and filter. Store
frozen. Lab dose 0.1 - 0.5 mg/L active ingredient (some
subjects do better without it than with). I use one or
two application at 0.1-0.2 mg/L upon deflasking.

VITAMIN B1 - Cosmetic pills (cant remember the brand)
for human hair enhancing (probably those for dog or cat
fur could do well too). The stuff contains a pretty much
of inositol, vit B1 and a lot more. Dissolve in 95%
ethanol, filter and freeze. Lab dose - 5mg/L of all combined active ingredients. I use it occasionally on African violets

Always look for substitutes and try them

[charmbutterfly]

Wow! Thanks alot for your info adriponic!!

[Ross]

Since this topic has gone on for a while now, I thought I would jump back in with photos of my experience with KLN after stopping use of ST. Below are photos of the most dramatic root growth (on Dendrobium anosmum).



The old brown roots closest to the tree fern are from previous seasons of growth prior to KLN. The white roots showing are last year's growth with daily applications of KLN. They are just now starting to wake up from the winter dormancy with green root tips so will be much longer next year. Prior to last year I was watering daily, using ST according to label instructions. I stopped using ST last year after reading about it here on this board and switched to KLN (2 drops per gallon) with every watering. I normally water every orchid with this. Some get daily (as with this anosmum) some get every other day and some get semi-weekly (or so) but all get the same stuff. Every orchid, so far, has responded. I never got this sort of root growth from ST in the past. Yes, that's just my experience. But I thought I'd pass it along.

[Shirley]

Thanks for the good report, Ross. I've just recently acquired some KLN (hard to get in Canada) and I'm hoping for some results like those you're showing.