The best homemade orchid flasking medium

[Zildjian]

Originally Posted by roby

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.

[vmax3000]

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 . I have always used agar in my media mix, but I wonder if one could use unflavored gelatin with the same success? 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!!

[roby]

@ 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

[Zildjian]

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

[vmax3000]

roby,
you have inspired me!

[Mcfacker]

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

[raewynk]

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.

[Fernando]

A photograph, please.

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

[marcuslim]

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.

[svetozar123]

Please , can you explain what is agar ?