Vanda seedlings saved...I hope! - Orchid Board

dgenovese1 · #1 10-26-2008, 08:09 PM

Hey Folks,

The other day I went to visit my friendly neighborhood flasker, and was given a contaminated re-plated flask of one of my Vanda crosses to do with as I might (he has another re-plate and the original seed flask to make a replacement for the contaminated one, so all is not lost). In any event, here is a photo journal of what I did in hopes of saving at least a few.

The set up! I got all of my stuff together, including my pot of sphag, the flask, Dithane and RD20, tongs, my propane torch for sterilizing the tongs, gloves and a dish.
Here’s a shot of the contaminated flask.
Here’s another shot of the contaminated flask showing that some of the little guys actually have roots.
I gently pulled the seedlings out of the flask with my sterile tongs and rinsed them in a dish of RD20.
After the rinse, I put some fresh RD20 into the dish and let the seedlings decontaminate for about 5 minutes.
Here are the decontaminated seedlings ready for placement in the pot-o-sphag.
And here are the seedlings spread across the sphag, and soaked with a wash of Dithane M-45 mixed at a rate of about 3 tablespoons per gallon or water (now that should stop just about anything ugly from getting to them as they develop).
This last shot is of the parents I used to make the cross. Both are very fragrant, so I'm hoping for beauties tthat smell nice. (I’m withholding the parent names on purpose).

The trick will be to keep them moist enough to prevent dehydration while they are so small, yet not too wet to prevent rotting of their tiny roots.

Lagoon · #2 10-26-2008, 09:13 PM

Oh my god, David. I've not seen this before. They're so tiny - it's almost hard to believe that Vanda's can be so small

So darling!
Very interesting - Thanks for posting

Jkelee · #3 10-26-2008, 09:47 PM

David, I wanna come ova' and learn how to do that!! I'm dying to try that!!!!
You are the BOM David!!!
Great growing there!!!!!

Chubidubi · #4 10-26-2008, 10:01 PM

David I wish you the best of luck with those babies

Lorraine · #5 10-26-2008, 10:44 PM

Wow David, looks like you have your hands full. So many babies to look after. How long does it take to get them from this size to blooming size?? The parentage looks like a really great cross. Nice growing.

dgenovese1 · #6 10-26-2008, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorraine

Wow David, looks like you have your hands full. So many babies to look after. How long does it take to get them from this size to blooming size?? The parentage looks like a really great cross. Nice growing.

Hi Lorraine,

Those little guys are about 6 months old from the date they were first put into a flask. I have been told that Vandas can take anywhere from 5 to 10 years to bloom from seed.

...I'm hoping for the 5!

This was actually a kind of experiment that I will not be too upset if it fails, although I am hoping that it doesn't. If I am able to keep them alive, then I will know what I need to do if a similar thing happens, and I only have one flask of the cross to work with.

I suspect that if I was allowed to let these guys grow to the usual de-flasking size, I would have gotten about 35 to 50 plants...probably 30 good sized ones to keep. In this case, as mentioned above, I still have 2 flasks at the lab, so if these all perish, all won't be lost.

And in any case, I'll have lots to share!

Royal · #7 10-27-2008, 11:14 AM

Hey David, I've seen some of your orchids - I bet you'll save most of these guys. Good luck and let us know how it goes. I have a few flasks where I did the same thing. Pretty healthy looking plants, just some minor cont. I've found that if you get them nice and clean, there's not enough food to sustain the contamination. Looks like you'll be fine.

BTW, if you ever want to experiment with a few undersized Enc tampensis seedlings, just let me know.

Swamper · #8 10-27-2008, 11:54 AM

Great pics Dave. Loved them all. Nice choice of parents too. They should be some amazing Vandas/Ascdas

dgenovese1 · #9 10-28-2008, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoyalOrchids

Hey David, I've seen some of your orchids - I bet you'll save most of these guys. Good luck and let us know how it goes. I have a few flasks where I did the same thing. Pretty healthy looking plants, just some minor cont. I've found that if you get them nice and clean, there's not enough food to sustain the contamination. Looks like you'll be fine.

BTW, if you ever want to experiment with a few undersized Enc tampensis seedlings, just let me know.

Hi Royal....thanks for your vote of confidence, it's appreciated.

Ummm...exactly what do you mean by "experiment" and "undersized Enc tampensis seedlings"? You've piqued my curiosity.

Royal · #10 10-28-2008, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dgenovese1

This was actually a kind of experiment that I will not be too upset if it fails, although I am hoping that it doesn't. If I am able to keep them alive, then I will know what I need to do if a similar thing happens, and I only have one flask of the cross to work with.

The same thing has happened with a couple of replate flasks of Encyclia tampensis - my first batch to germinate! I still have several still looking good, but I had to deflask a couple flasks early due to some minor contamination. I'm all about experimentation, and I'm still way new to this so I deflasked all but one contaminated flask. The one I left still looks fine. The others hardened up well (of course, they're Enc. tampensis - they are born hard), but they are really tiny and I have TONS.