Hey all,
I deflasked a batch of seedlings that I got from Mick Fournier (
HBI, Producer of Fine Orchids in Flask) a week ago today (which was Feb. 8, 2013) and This flask is Cattleya violacea coerulea 'Fabio Nahas' x self, which is supposed to be one of the best blue coeruleas out there and they tend to retain the color in the progeny. I figured I'd show what I did and how they are doing.
Here's the flask, which I kept sealed for a month because the seedlings were still small with plenty of media, so why rush things? In the picture, there is a lot of media on the glass because the pic was taken right after it came in the mail. That gunk worked its way down to the bottom fairly quickly.
Cattleya violacea coerulea 'Fabio Nahas' x self 1/7/2013 by
Isurus79, on Flickr
Here is my deflasking method. I soaked a bunch of long fiber spag (the really good stuff!) overnight in a diluted bath of fertilizer water and used distilled water for this. Then I slowly worked the seedlings out with my fingers and chop sticks. Then I washed the media off the plants under the tap. As you may be able to tell, I'm doing this all on my back porch. I love Texas weather! lol Fairly simple I'd say!
Catt. violacea coerulea 'Fabio Nahas' x self by
Isurus79, on Flickr
Next I separated the plants as best I could. I was able to tease apart most seedlings, but the really small ones I kept as clumps. I put them on wet paper towels to keep them moist while working with them.
Catt. violacea coerulea 'Fabio Nahas' x self by
Isurus79, on Flickr
Then I took the largest plants and planted them in plastic containers I'd saved for just such a purpose. I cut them in half (the containers) so I could easily plant the flasklings and then punched holes in them so i could easily twist tie the two halves together to keep the humidity up, but not keep the container airtight. The following pics show two containers with the largest seedlings, but I also ended up needing two 4" pots with cellophane over top for the smaller plants. FYI- When I pulled the spag out of its soaking bath, I wrung it out pretty well so that the media felt like a freshly squeezed sponge, moist but very springy.
Catt. violacea coerulea 'Fabio Nahas' x self by
Isurus79, on Flickr
Catt. violacea coerulea 'Fabio Nahas' x self by
Isurus79, on Flickr
Catt. violacea coerulea 'Fabio Nahas' x self by
Isurus79, on Flickr
Catt. violacea coerulea 'Fabio Nahas' x self by
Isurus79, on Flickr
Over the past few nights, I've been leaving the lids (the screw top lids, not the large portion that I twist tied onto the "pot") to the containers slightly open and now they are totally off at night. If the media starts to look too dry, I just spray it with some pure water. The fert in the spag should keep these guys happy in terms of nutrient needs until I repot them singly in a few months, give or take. Tomorrow I will start leaving the lids off during the day and soon I'll be leaving the lids off completely. In a week or two, I will begin taking the humidity domes off and I'd like them to be completely free of the domes in two weeks.
I went through all 4 containers today and lost only four plants. I'll update the thread as things progress. I'd show pics, but they would look almost identical to the pics I already showed! Some plants have initiated new leaves already and there is some spotting on some of the leaves and some older leaf die back. Nothing that concerns me though..
Catt. violacea deflask
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