Cattleya dolosa deflask.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by DavidCampen

Oh, so sorry, I have been worrying about that. I have a large arsenal of bactericides and fungicides and I have been thinking that I should perhaps treat with something this weekend. The one thing I don't have is something to treat Black Rot.
http://www.staugorchidsociety.org/PD...idDiseases.pdf

Wow, that is an absurd amount different types of rot! The one that hits my guys is their core becomes soft and mushy, even the ones who are elevated above the media with their roots tucked into the spag. Very frustrating.

[DavidCampen]

I have Heritage fungicide, I think that I will treat with that tonight.
http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/ms...tage_label.pdf

[Orchidsoutdoors]

How is your deflasking going David?

Originally Posted by isurus79

You plants should put out new root growth (on the existing roots) pretty quickly, ie. a few weeks. My deflask (whats left anyway) has many plants with completely new growths too.

I deflasked 8 flasks over 2 weekends, so a fortnight ago and last weekend. What I noted is that new root growth can start very soon after deflasking, in fact the Encyclia cordigera have started putting out nice new roots in a week, as did the phalaenopsis. I assume the rest are doing the same but under the medium.

After a heap of reading, the predominant view was that you should start to harden them off as quickly as possible. I put mine in a fish tank and left the lid covered for 3 days. Then I started opening the top so at the end of the first week the lid was half open. At the end of the second week I've removed the lid completely. I've also been careful to not leave the plants too wet. So far I've only lost 1 undersized plant. However, it has been quite humid and we've had a fair bit of rain so it has been perfect conditions for hardening them off.

[DavidCampen]

It has been not quite 3 weeks since I deflasked. I lost some leaves to a rot but then I sprayed with Heritage DF and the rot may be gone; tonight I sprayed with a bit of copper soap at 1000 ppm. I haven't seen noticeable growth yet.

[Paphman910]

Nice seedlings! Some will rot quite easily.

I would keep the plastic cover slightly open to allow the excess humidity to escape so it doesn't condense on the leaf axil.

Make sure you have a fan blowing nearby to give the seedlings some air movement to prevent rot problems.

In a few months you will need to repot them with less moss by substituting them with bark and perlite so the roots gets enough air and not being suffocated by compact moss.

[DavidCampen]

It has been almost 4 months now since I deflasked and I have about 6 plants left that may survive. I lost a lot to rot. Next time I will make a more concerted effort at disease control.

[Island Girl]

Wow, I'm really sorry to hear that you've lost so many. I have recently deflasked some Phals (my second attempt), and they r going strong @ 6 weeks (have only lost one - my fault, an experiment of sorts ). I have heard that using strong chemicals (fungicides, pesticides, etc, even Physan) were harsh on the seedlings, so I used Captan right out of flask, & sterilized the media, pots, etc. (because the first attempt I lost them all inside a month, w/o any fungicide, or sterilization - due to damping off) after the Captan, which is supposedly gentle, I have been using a beneficial fungi product called Root Shield.... I have heard of great results from all who have used beneficials on flasklings, and so far (knock on wood) mine seem to be doing great, new leaves are growing in as I type. I hope this helps, and that you will have better luck next time.

[DavidCampen]

Thanks for the information about Captan and beneficial fungi. It is obviously that my technique was lacking;
the plants were healthy when I got them in the flask though perhaps a bit small but I can't blame the size of the plants or luck.

Next time I will use a fungicide immediately and more frequently. Also, to echo someone's recent comment in another section here; I always have trouble growing things in sphagnum. Next time I may consider using just a small plug of sphagnum (and sterilize the sphagnum) around the roots and then place that in a pot of fine bark and perlite.

[Island Girl]

You're very welcome! I'm glad I can finally help someone Yea, the reason I know to sterilize everything is because my first deflasking was an utter failure... Lol So, you live, you learn, right? I just hope u aren't out too much money. This time, I sterilized the pots, the media (Sphag. moss, sponge rock, tree fern, soaked in Physan, then rinsed well, then microwaved & let cool), the propagation dome & tray, the hydroton for the bottom of pots & prop. tray (soaked & baked in oven), the bowl that they [seedlings] were washed off in/soaked in (Captan, then seaweed & RO), the surface I worked on, I also wore gloves (I smoke, so was being extra cautious), all soaked in a 10% bleach solution. Everything. Also, I think that seedling bark (with, or w/o sphag), or whatever media you r comfortable with, in your environment, is prob the best way to go for you. If u worked w/ a media you're comfortable with, that takes one more [unfamiliar] thing out of the equation.

Apparently, the first week or two that you have them in the high humidity (in the dome, or container, etc) you can leave them with no fan, & no ventilation. I've read alot of anecdotal evidence that doing this does not leave u with a fungal/bacterial mess, the reason is because u have sterilized everything, so there's nothing in there to start growing (other than the seedlings, of course). This is the best explaination of this: Big Leaf Orchid forum • View topic - De-flasking, humidity solution for compots And so far, for me, its true - I have had absolutely no issue of any mold, or bacteria what-so-ever. Even now that I've been lifting the lid/dome off the tray to harden off the seedlings, nothing (again, knock on wood ~ just in case ). One thing, when I take the lid off, I don't put a fan on them, the air is fairly still around them, just in case there are spores lurking in my sunroom (w/ all my other orchids). I am careful to not let water sit in the crowns too long, but sometimes I would find that they had water (from condensation dripping off the lid), sitting in their crowns, and this does seem to happen often, but I guess with no fungal spores/bacteria in there, it doesn't affect them... Although, I try not to let this happen. They are on a heat mat, so that does kinda increase the condensation on the dome. I also have hydroton w/ sphag on top of it, under the seedlings in the tray, to keep humidity up. Also, I've heard (& experienced w/ my first flask) that Physan is sometimes (I've heard/read other ppl didn't have problems, but it's prob 50/50 that have/haven't) a problem with young seedlings, I guess it's too harsh, and it certainly doesn't stop damping off. On my first batch, after Physan didn't work, I tried Phyton 27, that didn't seem to help them much either (may have even hurt?)... but, maybe it was too late, I don't know. But I have to say, and I can't say it enough, I am loving the beneficial fungi - the brand I use is "Root Shield" (Trichoderma harzianum), I started spraying their media with this around the 2nd week (maybe a little sooner), just as soon as the moss dried out enough, this was the first watering they got (after being potted in wrung-out moist sphag). The sphag did not have Captan in it, I had soaked the seedlings in Captan, right out of flask, (while washing off agar) and planted in moss that was sterilized, and soaked with a little tiny bit of seaweed/fish emulsion fert., KelpMax, & KLN. Just in case, as I'm not really sure whether or not the Captan would've still been there after a week to kill the beneficial fungi?.

If you would like, I have quite a few links to deflasking methods/experiences/tips/advice. If you are interested, let me know, and I can post them, or PM/email? whatever. Also, I will probably start a thread of my third deflasking, when I get a chance to deflask my other flask... I forgot to take pics of when I did my second flask.

Also, there is some good info in this year's project thread, if u feel like reading it, it's a flask project (we all got flasks & watch them grow together lol) Flasks (Project 15 - Spring 2013)

Ha! Sorry for the rambling! I hope I helped @ least a little? (Ok so, maybe a little of it, is my disdain of packing )

And David, Good Luck on your next flask!

[Paphman910]

Originally Posted by DavidCampen

It has been almost 4 months now since I deflasked and I have about 6 plants left that may survive. I lost a lot to rot. Next time I will make a more concerted effort at disease control.

I knew this would happen!

Cattleya are generally deflasked and planted into fine bark as they don't like constant wetness in the roots.

I lost a few seedlings of Cattleya intermedia orlata in moss as well so I planted them in medium/fine(1:1 ratio) bark with large perlite and kept it in a shady area with a fan nearby.

The humidity is about 70-90% and the Cattleya seedlings likes to dry out between watering. The temperature is about 26C during the day and at night the temperature is 20C. Seedlings require more warmth then the adult plants and they do not like a huge temperature change between day and night.

Your species Cattleya dolosa doesn't like wet feet from what I read. So the medium needs to be dry before watering.

My Cattleya intermedia orlata are growing really well and taking up a lot of space!