Replating or deflasking

[Tcc85]

Hi all!

I've managed to provide aseptic conditions during seed sowing of my experimental phal cross so now I'm rewarded with some baby orchids. I must say the cross was not particularly fertile, I was even amazed to get some seeds to sprout. I wasn't very optimistic about it. So now I have doubts whether to replate or simply deflask them. Some are much bigger than others, have longer roots and bigger leaves. Though they are still small.

I was thinking about deflasking them to fresh sphagnum and keeping them covered with a bag or similar to keep the humidity high, but now I'm not so sure any more.

Any thoughts from more experienced growers?

I'm attaching the photo of the seedlings in a jar.

20221021_185220 by Click-er, on Flickr

[tmoney]

hey there! good on you for forging ahead with flasking!

but, i wouldn’t deflask those yet. maybe could use a replate ( not sure, actual flaskers would need to weigh in), but i definitely would not want to put those out to pasture just yet....

perhaps others opinions may vary. how long have they been in there?

[Tcc85]

Originally Posted by tmoney

hey there! good on you for forging ahead with flasking!

but, i wouldn’t deflask those yet. maybe could use a replate ( not sure, actual flaskers would need to weigh in), but i definitely would not want to put those out to pasture just yet....

perhaps others opinions may vary. how long have they been in there?

Hey, thanks for reply! I inoculated the jar sometime in March. I don't have a specific date.

[Dorchid]

Beauty! Replate for sure. Medium with banana reportedly produces better development and increased root growth.

[Tcc85]

Thanks!
Yes, I think you are right. Silly question. Do I just mix mashed banana with next batch of medium I make and then autoclave it? I see I'll have to do a bit more of research on this topic.

[Dorchid]

You probably could. I think the preferred is to use banana baby food or just order phytotech or some other premade powder with banana already in it. Orchid Maintenance/Replate Medium with Banana, Charcoal, & Agar

[Tcc85]

I envy all the US orchid growers! So much easier to get exactly what you want. Took me a while to find the Current growing medium P668 in EU. Finally found it on ebay. I'll look there first.

Maybe someone from EU has some tips?

[Dorchid]

Looks like P668 is an all around medium for phals and other epiphytic orchids. It’s actually a phytotech product. The above referenced medium has 30g/L banana powder in it, so you could add that to your medium or banana baby food if you can’t find powder or mashed banana if you can’t get the baby food. You could play around with amounts based on the water content of the fruit/baby food. Or just omit it altogether…

[Bluecrab]

My 2 cents for my 6 months of flasking is I find all my plants seem to do much better on 1/2 strength P668 with a half banana per 1 liter. I had some protocorms stagnant and idle, but once put on 1/2 strength as above they immediately woke up...put out new fat roots, and new leaf growth. I have Ansellia africana, and Cyrtopodium macrobulbon, and they both went crazy in 2 weeks give or take. Root length had doubled in another week and a half....

[tmoney]

Originally Posted by Tcc85

I envy all the US orchid growers! So much easier to get exactly what you want. Took me a while to find the Current growing medium P668 in EU. Finally found it on ebay. I'll look there first.

Maybe someone from EU has some tips?

yes, i believe schwerter sells agar medium in several types.