I'm not gonna lie. It'll be difficult if you don't have experience with Stanhopea, Gongora, Acineta, Embreea, Paphinia, Coryanthes, Peristeria, and whatever else is in the Stanhopea Alliance when they're seedlings straight out of flask.
Many of them resemble miniature vines. Prepare to set aside an entire day devoted to untangling them from the bag and each other, (Troy will send them in breathable baggies instead of the flasks themselves).
At this stage they are very brittle. Do not expect them to look perfect. Roots will be snapped. Rhizomes will be snapped. Leaves will be broken. Prepare to cull the really tiny ones that haven't developed roots and long rhizomes.
This will basically be a mess.
While you're working you need to place them on a wet surface (ie. wet paper towel, wet newspaper, etc.).
Do not use tap water. These seedlings will not tolerate it.
Some of these vines can get gangly and lengthy. I'd be prepared to get some laundry baskets with small holes or any kind of medium sized baskets with small holes in them. Lay a thin layer of moss on the bottom no thicker than 1/2".
Keep in mind they are somewhat lengthy and gangly, I don't recommend putting more than 6 seedlings together.
Once you place them in the basket, lightly cover up the roots. Don't allow the leaves to rest on the moss they will rot.
Keep them in an area with good circulation in intermediate conditions (60 F to 80 F) in a shade (think shade under a big tree with lots of leaves) and moderate to high humidity (60% to 100%).
Do not fertilize until the leaves are hardened off (it'll be a long while). Basically this is when they produce their first pseudobulb. This may take up to a year or so. When you ask Troy, he'll say they make them quickly, but this is a comparatively relative statement. Fertilization should be very weak, 1/4 strength to be safe.
Keep them evenly moist and do not allow them to dry out.
Once they make their first pseudobulb, you can collect all the ones that have survived (there WILL be a significant die off rate) and put them in compots (short for community pots). At this stage the fewer you put together the better. I'd say about 3 or 4 per pot. The roots of an individual plant at this stage can be branching and very extensive and brittle.
The potting media I suggest is a mix of seedling bark mixed in with some SuperSphag. You can buy SuperSphag at Camp One Orchids. Drop him an email, the owner at Camp One is usually too busy to answer phone calls.
Now you can allow them to dry out a little.
You can start separating them into individual pots when they start making their second or third pseudobulbs.
The potting media I recommend would be the seedling bark with SuperSphag.
After they produce their third or fourth pseudobulb, you can treat them like adults. Adults grow in brighter shade, intermediate to warm, and can handle lower humidity (60% to 70% is adequate), with moderate to good air circulation. When increasing the fertilizer strength, I don't recommend over doing it. They are sensitive to it and over fertilization can lead to very unsightly leaf tip burn. Half the dosage recommended on the bottle would be good enough. Keep evenly moist while allowing a brief one day dry out period between watering.
At this point you don't have to worry about whether to use wood slat baskets or net pots, because they're not flowering sized yet.
When they become blooming sized plants consider using the same media using either a wood slat basket or net pots. The flowers grow on pendulous spikes. For this reason, it's recommended that you hang them from a high vantage point.
Good luck. These are awesome plants.
Last edited by King_of_orchid_growing:); 07-06-2009 at 08:08 PM..
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