2014 Ghost Orchid blooming - Page 4 - Orchid Board

GardenTheater · #31 10-14-2014, 02:23 AM

Amazing!

Paul · #32 10-14-2014, 11:35 AM

A ghost for October! How fitting for the Halloween season!

aaronsaxton · #33 10-14-2014, 02:58 PM

Want to be a success at growing ghost orchids? Here is the missing step:

Sometime ago the University of Florida reached out to me regarding the Ghost Orchid and isues with it's cultivation, which due to combined efforts has proven successful in raising adult ghost orchids (Dendrophylax Lindenii).

I do not know when the University of Florida will release it's papers but it is about time this information was disseminated.

This post goes into the critical and often missed step and misconception about the Ghost Orchid and I am certain nurseries and private growers will find this invaluable.

It is not difficult to get ghost orchid seedling going in a flask, so why then do they die when removed?

The answer is simple. The plant you have removed from the flask could not survive in the wild anyways because there is a misconception about the plant.

The roots produced by the plant can either be aerial or bound to the medium - they are the same root. What is NOT the same however is the TYPE of root produced. Two types are produced. One that used the system of nutrient feed by means of absorption of carbohydrates and one that PRODUCES carbohydrates.

All Flasked Ghost Orchids have no CO2, The cans are closed and CO2 has bombed out so why would you think the roots can produce carbs using CO2 if there isn't any? All roots born in this environment can not readily switch production method to PRODUCING Carbohydrates using Co2 - Photosynthesis. In fact, Flasked Ghosts can go without almost all light - but still need heat as this is related to metabolism.

In a flask the roots are all non carbohydrate producing roots and by this I meant the Co2 pathway has been denied them. ROOTS CAN NOT CHANGE Mechanism! Only new root matter can. I.E. either grow new roots or the part of the root that exists must be allowed tog row new root matter that can do it. Only NEW ROOT MATERIAL can be grown that can perform CO2 exchange and production.

Thus, your seedling die because they are starving. And they can not properly CO2 exchange.

The secret is to in a sterile chamber transfer over the seedlings into a container with micron filters. Allow some food to remain but what is now important is air exchange particulalry CO2.

What will now happen is the plant can still feed while also now being in an environment with CO2. The result will be new roots that grow will be able

The levels I recommend are between 350-850 PPM, nothing under 350 PPM. One breath of human exhale will provide enough CO2 for a small plant in an enclosed space.

Stagnant air - myth. No air movement - myth, just ensure it is a very light breeze and you must have humidity up to 90%. Why would a plant like stagnant air, of what benefit does this give? Why would still air be good for an orchid that is supposed to breath? Seriously.

The trick is transition for the Ghost Orchid - you are to grow new roots that will produce the carbohydrates using CO2 and not the primary mechanism. We are not in nature, we are in labs and at home, so forget what it goes through naturally, give it what it needs, not what nature has given it.

In feeding regimes use Fulvic & Humic Acis, as well silica and Calcium and Magnesium as these are often omitted from formulas. Ask yourself where the silicon - vital to a plant - is coming from? Water traces, decaying matter from bark are all sources, but if you have your ghost orchid on steel or wire than many of these trace elements are coming from your ferts or water source - you need to augment them with the real stuff.

If the info out there was corect ong rowign them, then why can hardly anyone grow them?

Some growers lucked into some remaining elements present whent heir babies were taken out of the flasks into environments where some food elements or even remnant agar allowed the process to take place.

If you can take out 1000 seedlings and not have 80% of them make it, then obviously the procedure is wrong and not understood. There is no reason why we should not have thousands of ghost orchid seedling live, they want to and all can, they just need the right conditions.

In regards to blooming I can not a separate note on this as that too is not hard once you know why the Ghost Orchid is wanting to bloom (if you tell it to).

calvin_orchidL · #34 10-15-2014, 08:42 PM

Thanks for sharing that valuable and interesting information. I haven't been able to find many new sources of ghost flasks - hope to try this out and see if I get better results. Looking forward to hearing more about your experiences.