a week after deflasking and questions

Hello,
One week after deflasking passed and the seedlings are still alive.



How long should they be in compots?

I thought to keep them there until spring and then re-pot some into separate pots. Would it be ok?

Also some of the seedlings are quite large:



Should I remove them now, or is it better to keep them compotted too?

Also when should I start adding fertilizer to the water? I use 20-20-20 at 1/4 strength for other orchids, would it work for seedlings?

Thanks a lot for your help

[Bud]

They are establishing themselves....it would be ideal if you grouped the large and the mediums and the small plants into separate pots....it looks like they are a mixture of big and small plants; if you repot the big ones you also disturb the medium ones
*As per observation of seedlings sold in the market: you pot them individually if the leafspan has reached 4 to 5 inches

*of course you must feed them with fertilizer

[Brooke]

Congratulations, they look great.

If they were mine I would do exactly what you are considering with your big seedlings next spring. I know vendors will leave them together for a much longer period of time so they don't require individual potted care but I don't like when the leaves over lap each other.

Your medium and small seedlings can stay compotted for a much longer period of time and is actually healthier for them instead of individual pots. With multiple plants in one pot your media will dry more evenly.

I would recompot them in the spring to take advantage of the spring and summer temps. I do this with all my seedlings not just the Phals and they all have big growth spurts.

Brooke

[zxyqu]

You can leave them in compots for quite awhile actually. Most will start to lean over the sides so as to not get shaded out by the others. But, I'd offer two opinion. If you're thinking about keeping only the best one(s), leave them in compot until they bloom, and mark the ones you'll keep. (And yes, there will be some that bloom, and while you're proud, it can still be a hideous bloom). If you're gonna try and keep most of them, I'd repot when they are about the size Bud mentioned, but also add that they should be in active root growth. They look good to me, and I'd say the top two and the middle one could easily go a year in compot before needing to be repotted. The smaller ones, much longer.

Thank you everybody for your opinions and support.
I am glad that they still look good and my plan to leave them in compots until next year was the right one.
I am at that stage now when I don't really care about the shapes of the blooms and even ones that expert would call hideous - look beautiful to me.
I was going to keep all that will survive(which probably won't be too many) unless they will do good and then I won't have space for all. In that case I might have to get rid of some.
I recently deflasked also the Phal. Hawaii Dragon Girl which had instead 20 -over 40 plantlets. They were large in the flask and twisted and curled into weird directions. Hope they will straighten out. Do those look ok:

[zxyqu]

Ahh, Hawaii Dragon Girl's are gonne be awesome, and just to tease you, here is Norman's example from the ones he's selling at Orchids.com

Phal. Hawaii Dragon Girl (P. Penang Girl ' Chin Yo' AM/AOS x P. Dragon Tree Eagle 'Dragon Tree' AM/AOS)

Those compots look pretty good from the top angle. Don't worry too much about the funky leaves. That's just what happens when they can't spread out in flask. Looks like you got some really nice sized plants out of it though. There is one with it's root hanging out of the pot that I would try and coax back into the media. It wont like the air as much when it's not 100% humidity.
In my case, it's always about the roots. If you dont lose too many deflasking and potting up, the plants will do just fine. You always lose a few that have a single good root, but that's to be expected. Anyway, if you only lost one or two, you'll have only 38 to grow and bloom out (or sell....). Good luck

Originally Posted by zxyqu

Ahh, Hawaii Dragon Girl's are gonne be awesome, and just to tease you, here is Norman's example from the ones he's selling at Orchids.com

Phal. Hawaii Dragon Girl (P. Penang Girl ' Chin Yo' AM/AOS x P. Dragon Tree Eagle 'Dragon Tree' AM/AOS)

Wow! That one is breathtaking.
Mine have different parents and the other way around:
Phal. Dragon Tree Eagle ‘DT1’ X Phal. Penang Girl ‘Ching Ruey’
Hope they come out nice looking too.

[zxyqu]

The Dragon Tree Eagle is probably the same plant as there appears to only be one (maybe 2 or 3) clone that is commonly grown. Either way, it's going to do some great things to the color of the flower, as that is just what DTE does.

[exasperatus2002]

Any updates? Im looking to acquire a Phal Penang Girl 'Ching Ruey' but it seems like Im chasing unicorns since the one nursery closed that made the best ones.

[Cntry]

Originally Posted by exasperatus2002

Any updates? Im looking to acquire a Phal Penang Girl 'Ching Ruey' but it seems like Im chasing unicorns since the one nursery closed that made the best ones.

Best thing to do is put it on your want list and trade another type of seedling you may have she don't. It is a great way to collect orchids you don't have.

---------- Post added at 04:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:17 PM ----------

Your new seedlings look great. Keep them composted together as they will be much happier that way. Large ones all together, medium ones all together then the small ones. Give them at least 3 weeks before you add fertilizer in to your water. You don't want to burn the new roots. Give them time to get used to the outside world. (meaning out of the flask or container they were in.) Keep the temp around 72 to 74 with humidity at 50% or more if you can. While you have them under lights right now keep a eye on them for any signs of the leaves getting sunburnt. You may have to adjust the height of your lights, I know I did. I hope this helps and good luck with your little ones.