Cattleya rex seedlings

[My Green Pets]

My first orchid seedlings arrived in the mail today. They were deflasked by the grower, sprayed with fungicide, and shipped 3 days ago. Here's a photo of all of them laid out.



Some were quite large...



Others, teeny!



I planted most of them in a long, plastic community pot full of "HydroBalls", an expanded clay product. I had rinsed this medium several times (until the water ran clear) before using.

The two biggest seedlings were put in pots (one terra cotta, one plastic) with small red lava rock. The lava rock was also rinsed several times before using.





The pots were then watered gently with lukewarm tap and set inside an aquarium. A seedling heat mat sits under the aquarium to provide bottom warmth.

A 400w metal halide lamp burns about a foot above the top of the aquarium, providing around 2000 footcandles of light to the seedlings. The photoperiod is currently set at 13 hours on and 11 hours off.

The current temperature in the aquarium (lights on) is 25C/77F with 66% humidity.

And so the journey begins...

---------- Post added at 08:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:08 PM ----------

Correction - light is at about 1500 footcandles.

Also, just added a layer of pea gravel to the bottom of the aquarium in order to increase humidity.

And I should mention that the top of the aquarium has pieces of plastic wrap taped over it to trap heat and humidity. The ends and middle are still open for ventilation. The whole setup is right next to the air handler for the house, so whenever that kicks on there is a good amount of air circulated in and out of the area.

[plumania]

Nice babies, will keep you busy.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Good luck, I hope they all make it.

[dounoharm]

that looks good! even near the house air handler tho, you might should look into a small computer fan for air movement....keep us posted on their progress!

[My Green Pets]

Thanks for your support and advice! The issue with the ventilation is that temps in the basement (where my growspace is) are around 58° F. If I increase ventilation, I will decrease temperature and humidity. Not sure how to manage this issue?

[Orchidflowerchild]

generally seedlings are planted in pretty fine medium. I wonder if this might be too airy for the small ones. Perhaps a topdress of ground sphagnum or a little peat, if they look a touch thirsty?

-cj

[isurus79]

I've often wondered about growing flasklings this way, so for my own personal curiosity I hope you don't change anything! I'm very interested to see if this works, because IMO it seems like a great way to grow these guys.

[My Green Pets]

Originally Posted by Orchidflowerchild

I wonder if this might be too airy for the small ones.

I hear you. I keep spraying them to make sure they don't dry out. I also am constantly reminded of nightmare stories about salt buildup on expanded clay pellets killing plants. I had better quit the tap water stuff immediately.

What about the two I have potted up? Do they need to dry out more? Since they are coming straight out of the flask and their roots are already adapted to constant moisture, I thought I might want to err slightly on the wet side for now ?

Originally Posted by isurus79

I'm very interested to see if this works, because IMO it seems like a great way to grow these guys.

Then by all means, stay tuned! They're going to need all the help they can get with a n00b like me!

[Orchidflowerchild]

those larger plants look to me to be fine. THey have ample roots and pseudobulbs. They can definitely tolerate a little drying. It's the tiny ones with no water storage I would worry about. Keep an eye on em!

-Ceci

[My Green Pets]

Today I got an 18" x 24" piece of plastic 'glass' to cover the aquarium instead of plastic wrap.

Also got a gallon of distilled water and have stopped using tap for mist/watering.

Just checked them (they are in the dark period at the moment) and the min/max thermometer reads HI 27C, LO 18C with current humidity at 89%.