The best homemade orchid flasking medium
 

Hello!

What kind of medium do you use for your mother flasks?

I'd like to flask some Vandas or Ascos and ready made medium (Sigma or others) are not available in my country.

So I have to make it on my own.

Last time I used the following:

2 litres of RO water
40 grams sugar
1 whole potato blended
Coco juice of 2 coconuts
Foliar fertilizer in the recommended dose (2 ml Wuxal Super)
18 grams agar
A bit of vinegar

It was an epic fail. I had no contamination at all but I got no plants.

I blame the seeds or the medium for it.

This time I want to try the flasking one more time with other seeds. Should I sow them in the flasks that remained clear or my recipe is the reason of my failure then I should prepare completely new flasks with different media? If I should make new media what would be the best compilation of them?

While I have never done any flasking of my own, someday, if I live long enough to see flowers.... or plants, I'd like to... here is a recipe I found on another board that seems to be successful.

1 Liter of rain water (aprox. 4.2 cups)
300 grams of grated or blended potato with peel (aprox. 10.5 Oz)
25 grams of honey (Aprox. 0,85 Oz)
7-8 grams af Agar (Aprox. 0,25-0,3 Oz)
Citric acid for adjusting pH
Optional:
Orchid fertilizer same amount as you use when watering This should include micro nutrients!
A bit of banana

This is another formula from the same place.

1 Liter of rain water (aprox. 4.2 cups)
25 grams of honey (Aprox. 0,85 Oz)
Orchid fertilizer same amount as you use when watering This should include micro nutrients!
½ multi vitamin pill
7-8 grams af Agar (Aprox. 0,25-0,3 Oz)

The procedure is more or less the same as above:
1. Get water to boil
2. Stir in ingredients and let simmer for 2 mins.
3. Adjust pH using citric acid


Good luck and share with us your results... there are lots of us that are very interested!

If you still want to use ready made media as a back up plan, OSP (Orchid Seed Project) in the USA will ship it abroad. I ordered some a bit over a year ago from them and shipping (to the Netherlands) was more than reasonable ($12) for a baggie each of germination (P669) and replate medium (OspEx 1.0). Shipping to you shouldn't be much more I think.

media

I don't plan ordering it because its expensivity.

Just to add another idea.... do a search of this forum for "flasking media". There are a ton of threads and many with media instructions and DYI ideas, etc.

Hi

My homemade orchid flasking medium
1 litres of RO water
20 grams sugar
1 gram charcoal
1.5 grams NPK 20-20-20
6 grams agar

optional:
Coco juice of 1 coconuts
or
pineapple juice 100 ml
or
5 drops NAA

I use this medium with:
phalanopsis
bletilla
sophronitis
epidendrum
masdevallia
restrepia
dendrobium
chysis

failed with
Cattleya
Aerangis
Spathoglottis

Anyway, honey is a good idea to use it instead of sugar.

But using charcoal is a bad idea in my opinion because it tricks the litmus paper when checking pH.

but without charcoal, there are problems with metabolic exudates, and you need transplanting every 2 or 3 months. Especially in phalaenopsis

hello roby, the use of charcoal is interesting.

anyway, is there a way to germinate phal seeds not doing the sterilization steps. i'm thinking of mixing the medium and mix it with CRH.

CRH is an hormone, I do not understand

Activated charcoal is present in many professional culture media , is not my idea: D

hello roby, thanks for the reply. kindly bear with me as i'm new to this and have not really done any flasking but i would like to do something different and would like to experiment on it. my goal is to be able to do it w/o the sterilization steps. that would mean a medium that is sterile in itself. i learned that CRH (carbonated rice hull) is sterile and might be a good sterile medium to use. i don't know if that's a right thinking. do you think that would work? maybe I should mix a few patato, sugar, banana and put it in CRH and see if there will be contamination.

This is an interesting post. I don't think one can "plate" orchid seed without some form of sterilization. The "bugs" reside in the air, on your skin, on the cabinet tops....there are little spores and what not everywhere, even on dust grains. You may start with a sterile media, but once you have opened it, whether to add the seeds or to place it into the container that will ultimately hold the seeds, presto, it's a pretty safe bet that its contaminated. (Hence laminar flow hoods equipped with uv lights). I had good success adding banana to a charcoal based media that I purchased from Sigma. If you are wanting to go with a more "fundamental" recipe, as in one you come up with yourself, there were a couple of posts with good ones that I might have to try :biggrin:. I have always used agar in my media mix, but I wonder if one could use unflavored gelatin with the same success? :hmm I have a B. nodosa pod that is ripening, maybe it's time for another try! Regardless, good luck to you and definitely share your results!! :goodluck:

@ Zildjian patato, sugar, bananas are organic material, then are attacked by fungi and bacteria if you do not sterilize


@ Vanessa you can try
I tried with a paper towel (Sophronitis coccinea) but grow slowly

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/w...rchidee/15.jpg

thanks for the reply. will share any results from my wierd idea on doing this.

roby,
you have inspired me! :bowing

Hope this helps, I have used some and been successful, I wouldn't however use Rain water, it is contaminated on the way down to earth and also by the media it runs off of. I have had success with the fertilizer mix, but mine isn't exactly the same as below. I have used what's available in my country. Also, honey instead of sugar is a great stimulant for growth.

Here you have some media ordered by complexity:

BANANA FORMULA
• 100.0 g of banana
• 10.0 g of agar agar
• 15.0 g of sugar
• 1.2 g Tiamina (Vitamin B1, 4 tablets of 0.3g)
• 900 ml of distilled water

TOMATO FORMULA
• 250.0 g of mature tomato
• 10.0 g of agar agar
• 15.0 g of sugar
• 1.2 g Tiamina
• 900 ml of distilled water

PINEAPPLE FORMULA
• 200 ml of pineapple juice
• 10.0 g of agar agar
• 15.0 g of sugar
• 1.2 g Tiamina
• 800 ml of distilled water

DYNAGRO FORMULA
• 3 cc DynaGro 7-9-5 or 10-5-5
• 12.0 g of agar agar
• 20.0 g of sugar
• 2.0 g of charcoal or activated coal
• 5 tomates without seeds
• 150.0 ml of coconut water
• 40.0 g of banana
• 800 ml of distilled water

FORMULA TOMATO AND CARROT
• 100.0 ml of carrot juice
• 100.0 ml of tomato juice
• 10.0 g of agar agar
• 15.0 g of sugar
• 1.2 g Tiamina
• 800 ml of distilled water

TOMATO AND BANANA FORMULA
• 40 g of banana
• 100.0 ml of tomato juice
10.0 g of agar agar
• 20.0 g of sugar
• 1.2 g of Tiamina
• 900 ml of distilled water

HAWAIIAN FORMULA
• 1.5g of fish emulsion
• 1.0g peptona
• 12.0 g of agar agar
• 20.0 g of sugar
• 1 liter of distilled water

FORMULA KNUDSON "C"
• 1.0 g of Calcium Nitrate
• 0.250 g of monopotassium Phosphate
• 0.250 g of Magnesium Sulfate
• 0.500 g of Ammonium Sulfate
• 0.025 g of Iron Sulfate
• 0.0075 g of Manganese Sulfate
• 20.0 g of sugar
• 10.0 g of agar agar
• 1000 ml of distilled water

FORMULA BURGEFF
• 1.0 g of Calcium Nitrate
• 0.250 g of Ammonium Sulfate
• 0.250 g of Magnesium Sulfate
• 0.020 g of Iron Sulfate
• 0.250 g of bipotásic Phosphate
• 0.250 g of monopotassium Phosphate
• 20.0 g of sugar or honey
• 12.0 g of agar agar
• 1 liter of distilled water




FORMULA THE GARDE
• 1.0 g of magnesium Sulfate
• 1.0 g of Calcium Nitrate
• 1.0 g of monopotassium Phosphate
• 1.0 g of Calcium Chlorate
• 0.500 g of Ammonium Nitrate
• 0.500 g of Ammonium Carbonate
• 0.050 g of Iron Phosphate
• 20.0 g of sugar
• 12.0 g of agar-agar
• 1 liter of distilled water

FORMULA JUVENAL MEYER
• 500 ml distilled water.
• 500 ml of tomato juice
• 20 gr of sugar, honey, glucose or dextrose
• 14 gr of agar agar
• 2 gr of coal activated in powder
• 1 gr pay 30-10-10


COMERCIAL FORMULA
• M and S
• Phytamax

FORMULA FOR TERRESTRIAL ORCHIDS
• MgSo4 150mg
• Kh2Po4 150mg
• Ca3Po4 90mg
• FeSo4 18mg
• Tryptone 3,5-4,0g
• Nitsch Vit. 108mg
• MONTH 1g
• act. charcoal 1g
• Agar 5-6g
• sucrose 20g
• chunks of potato (10 for 50ml of way) of potato cut 5x5x5mm COMMERCIAL

FORMULA FOR TERRESTRIAL
• TQPL orchid media

germination to deflasking
 

I recently de flasked some Daracula Gigas successfully. In under 6 weeks and all I used was an old 200 gram jar for coffee. Washed and rinsed thoroughly. Microwaved for 30 secs.
Sterilised some coconut fibre stuffed it in the jar.
Put in the seeds. Left it sealed for 2 weeks and great success.



P.m. if u want further details.

A photograph, please.

Sounds like these seeds from aliexpress are quick growing like weeds ...:biggrin:

Hi everyone, thanks for sharing your wonderful formulas!
I have two questions about flasking medium:

(1) pH level - we've mentioned this more than once here in this thread. So what's the ideal / conducive pH level for seed germination?

(2) Agar viscosity - What makes an ideal viscosity for flasking medium to bed the seeds? From photos they look hard like melted candles. Or are the flasking mediums as thick and viscous like tomato soup?

I'm a newbie here, interested to learn more about flasking.

Please , can you explain what is agar ?

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Agar is made from kelp that grows in the sea. When dissolved in water it forms a gel that is semi-solid at room temperature. It is used to make a soft, water-rich substrate for growing bacteria, fungi and orchids in warm conditions in a lab. Gelatin from animals would be liquid at these temperatures.

http://www.foodqualitynews.com/var/p...nm_gallery.jpg

It is also used in food, to make gels that are stiff at room temperature.

Here is an example of an Orchid Board member using it to grow orchid seedlings:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...gar#post811401

im curious as to why it failed with some of the orchids, I think that using a triple 20 might be too strong for the seedlings. Try adding MS basal medium + vitamins it comes in a small jar that is ready to mix in 1 liter. https://phytotechlab.com/murashige-s...1-g-l-mes.html

Edit* i compared mediums and apparently mediums high in salts will inhibit orchid seed germination. Pretty much MS basal medium is too strong. here is a link to phytotech's orchid seed sowing medium and what its made of. https://phytotechlab.com/media/docum.../P723-Info.pdf