Cramming info before Flasking...

[maitaman]

It's all quite simple. the more important point is getting a certain degree of sterility. There are a number of media/fertilizers that will work with sugar and cornstarch. You can also make your own formulae based on the species you want to grow. I wrotre a book about it, but don't want to sound like I'm advertising on forums. You can message me and I'll give you the information. You can use any commercial liquid fertilizer (weakly), sugar, and cornstarch, bring the pH to 5 - 5.2, and place in sealed flasks/soda bottles/whatever and place in a bright place - but not in direct sunlight. Phals and such need less light than Catts and vandas, of course.
The most important thing is sterility. Using a small pressure cooker and a simple flasking box you can make out of a cardboard carton will usually suffice. You can plant 6-8 flasks of a cross and lose most of them - and still have hundreds of seedlings.
I have instructions for the box etc. on one of my websites. I think the maitaman.com one, but am not sure. I've been sort of out of touch with those the past three years.
This method is slower than some of the specialized commercial media, but i still bloom catts and such in four years or less.

[Royal]

Already got my order from OSP! Got three different kinds of media. Dusted off my pressure cooker and I'm ready to go! I'll definitely take some pictures to share.

[calvin_orchidL]

Thanks for the advice, maitaman (cool website, btw)

Originally Posted by RoyalOrchids

Already got my order from OSP! Got three different kinds of media. Dusted off my pressure cooker and I'm ready to go! I'll definitely take some pictures to share.

I'm still awaiting a response from Aaron :S When did you order and when did you get a response? I know he's really busy and the OSP is also not his main focus, so I will (try) and wait patiently

[newflasker]

First, never never use soda bottle for flasking!!! You know what? when your protocorms are bigger or too crowded how can you get your protocorms / seedlings out of bottles for replate.

Second, corn starch is not good for sowing seed. You should use agar and that is the way of scientists, professors and professional growers use it.

[maitaman]

I have used cornstarch for growing for more than 10 years with excellent results. The use of commercial agar-based media is great if you're going into commercial endeavors, but this method is for the hobbyist who may decide to go into more quantity-based growing later. Also, agar-based media will give you about three flasks for the price of 300 cornstarch flasks. Agar is more ion-movement accessible for the chemicals, which is why you have to be so very careful about contamination with it, but early stages depend almost entirely on sugar for development.
Soda bottles are no problem whatever for the mother plants because you can replate when the protocorms have formed. Wider-mouthed bottles (Gatorade, etc) are needed then - and venting. It is not necessary to vent the mother flasks if you plan to replate. The protocorms have not yet entered the chlorophyll-carbon dioxide cycle. If there are no vents you will lose most if you don't induce the cycle.
I have raised more than 400 crosses with the method and have received dozens of responses from people who used it, almost entirely more than satisfied. It isn't based on guesses as to what might happen. There was a lot of research behind it.
I extracted agar from polysiphonia seaweed when in Florida and was able to do comparative studies. There are pluses and minuses for both methods. For the hobbyist who wants to experiment without buying flow chambers and a lot of expensive equipment or expensive media, cornstarch is very simple and cheap - and works.
I have extensive education and this was done with the scientific method all the way. Publications from people who are trying to sell you agar or media will, as you should thoroughly expect, tell you many reasons why you should use their product and not someone elses or experiment. How 'scientific" many of them are is a matter of your definitions.

[Royal]

I'm happy to have all the info I can get. I'll normally try things a couple of different ways and use what's best for me. So far, in my humble little opinion, ready made nutrient agar media formulations are perfect for my applications. I bought three types of media, to make 1 liter of each type. Cost - less than 10 dollars. Using baby food jars with about 30 ml of media per flask equals out to way too many for me!

I'm glad that there are so many of us out there to compare techniques. Isn't that what this forum is all about? Keep posting, I'll keep learning

[newflasker]

We are not talking about venting. We are talking about how difficulty to transfer protocorms from small-mouthed soda bottles to another soda bottles. A friend of mine sows seeds in soda bottles. When protocorms are big enough to transfer to new maintenant medium there is no away for him to get seedlings out of the bottles without damage the plants. Finally he has to break the bottle; cut up his hand and mess up his fortune. We laugh at him and ask him why he didn’t not use baby food jars, pickle jars or whatever larger month jars. It’s easy for him to transfer plants from one to another place. It’s save space. Most of labs now use baby food jars or big jars like pickle jar.

Another time, he (also the same guy) said that he wants to use corn starch and Jell-O. My friends and I ask him that he thinks corn starch and Jell-O are better than agar or what; is there any document tell us that corn starch is better than agar?. He said that no but corn starch is much cheaper. What do you mean cheaper? We are hobbyist; we grow few or dozen jars for fun. We don’t sow hundred or thousand of jars for living. A bag of 20 grams of agar is one dollar and you can make about 3 liters of medium or 30 big jars or 60 baby food jars. You want to save a buck or what. After he tries for 3 months; get empty hand and then finally he surrenders.
That’s what we call experience and that is what I want to share information in forum.

[Royal]

That's kind of what I'm saying. I'm all about cheap, but I am more about convenience (specially if we're only talking a few bucks).

[Pippin]

I used C. D. Moulton (Maitaman) cornstarch formula and it does work. The fact that I prefer agar based media is a different story. In the Vancouver area where I live there are lots of Asian supermarkets, so I can buy 1oz of agar agar for less than $2, that's what I use for my own formulas. I believe the commercial formulations are the best for the first time flasker.
Flasking is not difficult and is fun. The lab. can be as simple as a clear plastic bag, or as complicated as a clean air station with UV lights and HEPA filters.
Don't be scared, try. The seeds you have are less likely to germinate with every day that passes by.

[Orchidaholic]

I'm still going to order my media from PhytoTechLabs.com but I have been contemplating doing an experimental flask or 2 with tapioca, banana and maybe some coconut oil. It would work for everything but the phals crosses i think.