Buy flask to sell?

[snowflake311]

Does anyone buy orchids in Flasks? Do you sell the seedlings once they are bigger?

I am thinking this is something I would like to get in to. I found a person selling Phrags in Flask. It is a great deal. Get 20+ plants for the price of one. I know it would take years to get them to bloom or a year till you can sell them. I have time to wait.

I would sell most as seedlings but keep a few to grow out and sell off once bigger and keep the best one. I know it is not a quick or easy way to make money. If I can make some extra money I can buy extra plants haha. I also want to help others get nice plants. Because it is hard finding nice Phrags.

How hard is it to grow out flask orchids?
Is it worth it?

[PaphMadMan]

If you are confident growing adult plants of the type it is worth getting a flask and trying. Lots of experienced growers succeed with it. Sometimes it is the only way to get a desirable species or new hybrid at a reasonable price.

Read up on deflasking, plan on using a fungicide right out of flask, choose a reputable vendor, and don't order a flask until you have everything ready to go. Definitely start with just 1 and give it 3 months before deciding to get more. Good luck.

[dounoharm]

mine are about 6 months from flask, and its been fun! I have phrag acker's trinket, and I am ready to sell at least half of them.....I have about 20 survivors right now, lol....some are still small, and I am amazed that there are still baby ones coming!....I am not being careful with them at all anymore.....I really only want three, the others I hope to sell as the grow....

as I have a greenhouse, its much easier.....some people do it under lights, but to me, that would be even harder!....

[snowflake311]

Thanks guys. Yes I am ready for the next level of orchid growing. I have close to 50 different kinds of orchids and many I have had for over 3 years.

I grow under lights with great success. There is a little learning curve. We have been talking about building a greenhouse.

I will start doing my research. It seems like it would be fun and worth it.

[estación seca]

It is important to have very high humidity for freshly deflasked plants. Many people can't provide tiny seedlings out of flask with enough humidity without a greenhouse or terrarium.

Consider buying a used aquarium at a yard sale, to use as a mini greenhouse under your lights. Get a piece of glass cut to fit the top, and epoxy a handle near one edge. Or use a lighted aquarium hood. You can put a lighted seedling terrarium in another space, or put a glass-topped terrarium under your lights.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I'd recommend starting with easier hybrids or species first.

Maybe try a flask of a Cattleya first. See how you like it.

I know you may have your heart and sights on Phrag seedlings, but I feel it might present some challenges that might make a first time venture into this somewhat disappointing.

Of course, if you still want to try growing Phrag seedlings on the first run, that's up to you.

You don't necessarily need an aquarium. There are totally inexpensive humidity domes for $20 or less. You can even control for the amount of air exchange by adjusting the sizes of the vents. You can get these at any hydroponics store, whether it is online or in a physical shop.

The advantage of a humidity dome with tray are it's ability to allow you to control for humidity, its cost effectiveness, and its portability.

A good fungicide for the first 2 weeks of the seedlings' lives outside a flask is definitely an asset.

[Ray]

I disagree with the application of a fungicide at the time of deflasking. The flask is a sterile environment, so the seedlings aren't carrying anything, and fungicides are for treatment of fungal infection, not offering preventive value.

If you're looking for prevention of disease, and enhanced growth and survival rates, an ex-flask bath in Inocucor Garden Solution, followed by regular, periodic treatments is the way to go.

Some will view my comment as being a blatant ad, but I sell a great deal of the stuff to commercial hybridizers, who swear by it. The late Holger Perner, who struggled to get Paph. tigrinum to survive to maturity more than 5%-10% of the time, got that up to over 85% using the product.

I will add that, being retired, I had considered shutting down First Rays altogether, but the folks at Inocucor asked me to keep selling it. At my current price, which includes free shipping, I make very little on a bottle, so in reality, at this point I'm making it available, not making money.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

You know what Ray. I wasn't quite sure how to advise with the fungicide thing... I think what you say has merit.

I have recently given in to using one for the purposes of deflasking due to poor survival rates in the past, but it is not a chemical one. It is a biological fungicide.

I don't really use chemical fungicides. After reading up on them, I find that there are too many drawbacks to apply for my personal tastes.

I left my suggestion for using fungicides open for biological and chemical fungicides because I knew some people have done the chemical fungicide method of deflasking and will defend it. I personally do not have a significant amount of experience to defend a chemical fungicide. However, I can advocate for the use of a biological one to some degree. My experiences with a biological fungicide is not terribly extensive, so the amount of what I can advocate is rather meager at this point. All I can say is that it may have increased the rate of success with some of the rarest seedlings I have.

I personally started using Serenade Garden Disease Control Concentrate only within the past 2 - 3 months and only when I got a shipment of flasks in.

If Inocucor is a biological control agent against plant pathogens and allows for the plant to adjust to its environment, I really don't think it is much of a shameless plug. You've plugged your products in the past, why stop now? I've never really notice anyone call you out on just trying to make a sale. I've disagreed with the use of certain products you've mentioned before, (and certainly not every single one), but just as an example, I've never said you were trying to just sell someone something and passing it off as advice.

I may not totally agree with the K-Lite thing, but I can most likely stand by you with the Inocucor product.

It is a shame you were considering shutting down your business. Coincidentally, I still have a large bottle of the MSU fertilizer for RO water I purchased from you years ago sitting on my desk. Even with the amount of orchids I had, I couldn't find a way to finish using it all in a short amount of time.

---------- Post added at 07:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:40 AM ----------

If anyone is curious as to what Inocucor contains there are labels on the internet that show it.

http://www.7springsfarm.com/content/...directions.pdf

I know that it contains a patented strain of Bacillus subtilis, which is a commonly sold anti-fungal bacterial species. The strain used is unknown.

Inocucor also contains baker's yeast, (Saccharomyces cereviseae).

There are other unlisted ingredients in it, but I think the biggest claim to fame is this Inocul-M consortium, whatever it is or they are.

Inocucor Technologies Receives Groundbreaking U S Patent For Proprietary Biological Processes That Stimulate Plant Growth

Bioremediation potential of a bacterial inoculant, Inocul-M consortium, on switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) plants grown in soils amended with biochar and spiked with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. | Mitacs

According to the book linked below, M consortium is probably a combination of bacteria as stated in Chapter 8, section 8.1, paragraph 3:

(Immobilised Biocatalysts for Bioremediation of Groundwater and Wastewater - Google Books)

According to the above link, there are 3 main species involved. They are one species of Hydrogenophaga, one species of Methylibium, and a species of Mycobacterium. If anyone can confirm this, that'd be great.



As a comparison, this is what Serenade Garden Disease Control contains: Bacillus subtilis QST 713 strain and other unlisted ingredients.

[PaphMadMan]

I'm definitely onboard with the use of Inocucor. All I can say is that THE ABSOLUTE BEST source of seedlings from flask that I'm aware of uses both an Inocucor-type product (or Inocucor itself, I don't know for sure) and a fungicide (again, I don't know which). The seedlings are deflasked, washed and treated before shipping, and they have the best overall health and success rate I have seen in over 30 years of growing seedlings from flask. Unless you work in a HEPA filtered laminar flow hood or glove box and use sterile media there will be fungal spores all over your seedlings by the time you get them potted up, and a fungicide will not inhibit the bacteria in Inocucor that actually have long term beneficial effect.

[snowflake311]

Thank you guys for the extra info. I am still doing my research so this is all helpful. I am a fish keeper have been since 1998 So I have more than a few empty tanks laying around I could use for baby plants. That is not a problem.

I am looking at getting a cheap orchid flask to start and see how it goes before I really throw down some money on the more expensive plants.