re: the flasked orchids, exact care depends on the species/hybrid, but generally, when you think they're big enough or appear to have used all the nutrients in the flask, you take the plantlets out of the flask, wash all the gel medium off and pot it in your choice of medium - usually something that's pretty moist like sphagnum; it's generally a good idea to keep them in a high humidity environment like a propagator or similar. Here are my first two attempts:
Orchids on a Balcony: flask
There are loads of pages on the internet about it, if you google.