Bulbophyllum phalaenopsis - flask advice - Orchid Board

fishmanejr · #1 09-30-2013, 11:49 AM

Hi all,

I recently saw some large divisions of this species available at a local orchid grower's open house and fell in love with the large bold look and crazy looking fuzzy-stinky flowers.

I now have a bunch of newly deflasked B. phalaenopsis seedlings coming in the mail this week.

I would like to ask some advice on growing these guys in the home environment; I do not have a greenhouse/hothouse. I grow most of my orchids in a 55 gallon aquarium (to help increase humidity) sitting in a very large east facing picture window. They are elevated off the bottom on some mesh so the pots don't sit in water. During the summer, I move most of them outside under dappled sunlight.

Upon arrival, I plan on potting these seedlings in sphagnum in small pots and keeping them in the aquarium with my other orchids. I know they will eventually (albeit slowly) outgrow the aquarium. Is there any other suggestions you folks could make to help these little seedlings thrive for me?

Also, once they outgrow the aquarium and I move them into baskets hanging in my picture window, what cultural recommendations can you offer me? My biggest concern at that point is environmental humidity during winter months as our home has forced air heating in the winter that tends to dry things out considerably. I don't have time to run around misting plants daily, and the effects of a single misting only last an hour or two in a dry winter home . . .

Thanks!

Brooke · #2 09-30-2013, 03:39 PM

Kudos on your bravery and being prepared to grow them for years before they are big enough to bloom!

If you grow your Bulbos wet, low humidity is not an issue. I use net pots, moisture retentive media and sitting in water. The phalaenopsis loves to be wet but the roots need to have fresh air.

Brooke

fishmanejr · #3 09-30-2013, 07:40 PM

Brooke - good to know about keeping them on the wet side. I'll have to be careful to avoid rot with a well draining mix if I'm to keep them that moist.

I don't mind waiting 5-8+ years for blooms. My wife doesn't mind the wait either knowing that a rotting stench accompanies blooms

.

The bad smelling flowers don't bother me that much. I wasn't put off much by ripe ginkgo fruit, stapelia gigantea flowers, or amorphophalus konjac flowers - are these supposed to be that much worse?!

Thanks!

kindrag23 · #4 09-30-2013, 09:13 PM

mine are in moss, DO not use any type of fertilizer until at least 2 weeks after they have been flasked, mine are all doing well with this. I water mine with Distilled water only, and set them in a betta fish bowl with a top and light for the first week. I placed live sphagnum moss in a net pot in there with a light amount of water in the bottom. to help keep everything moist and wet as well.

The only light they received for 1 week was 8-12 hours of the light from the betta bowl light, the humidity stayed very high.
Week 2 they were removed from their betta bowl they are now sitting in my SW facing window in my bed room.
Attached is a picture of my set up with them and some of my Catasetum orchids.
I First watered them 3 days after I removed them using about .15 ounces of MagiCal to 2 gallons worth of distilled water in a sanitized and dry bucket mine are doing wonderful thus far. Keep an eye on them they are so small they can dry out fast.

I just got another set of flasklings I am not that impressed with so it is always a wait and see game.

Also in the picture the stand is a metal shower caddy, with a sheet of wax paper folded in half and scotch taped onto it to hold it in place to help keep them safe from to bright of light still, also I have a butterwort in there with them to help keep the gnats at bay...whew okay hope that was not to long lol!!! This wednesday marks week three with my first set of flask babies!! No deaths as of yet! Mine are also in clay pots with a few holes drilled very carefully in the sides.

GOOD LUCK! Keep us updated!!

fishmanejr · #5 10-01-2013, 08:58 AM

Kindrag23 - thanks for the good advice. I will protect and pamper the little ones once they arrive! Good to know about avoiding fertilizer for a couple weeks.

fishmanejr · #6 10-08-2013, 12:11 AM

Ok, deflasked seedlings arrived in the mail today! All plants were in great shape. Some of the seedlings were much more developed than I expected, it took me a while to delicately separate all the seedlings! Once separated, there were 9 large seedlings with 4-5+ inch roots. There were also 12-14 tiny seedlings with equally tiny but healthy appearing roots. I individually potted the 9 large seedlings and made 3 compots out of the remaining seedlings. I know they look terribly overpotted, but it was the only way I could pot them without bending and breaking the long roots on the large seedlings! Here's a pic:
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v380/fishmanejr/Plants%20and%20Trees/IMG_20131007_230507_zps7d62047e.jpg" border="0" alt="Bulbophyllum phalaenopsis seedlings photo IMG_20131007_230507_zps7d62047e.jpg"/>
They were misted after potting and are now in an aquarium covered with plastic wrap that sits in a west facing window. Tommorrow I will add a small low-power battery operated fan to help circulate the air in there. Let's hope I have little to no casualties!

fishmanejr · #7 10-08-2013, 12:14 AM

OK, for some reason the forum doesn't allow picture embedding in responses. Let's try attaching the pic:

TOMMYMIAMI · #8 10-08-2013, 12:27 AM

KUDOS to you to be able to grow them, I wish I would have space. I love bulbos but did not know about this one till now, and I must say, this is GIGANTEA bulbo, probably the biggest bulbo I have ever seen, wow wow wow, gorgeous but definitely not for my small balcony:-))) BEST OF LUCK with your little ones!

fishmanejr · #9 10-08-2013, 12:31 AM

Thanks

kindrag23 · #10 10-08-2013, 04:45 PM

Very awesome! Good job mine are still thus far trucking!