Cattleya rex seedlings

[euplusia]

I am not experienced in raising seedlings. The few attempts with deflasked plantlets in my old greenhouse failed.
I also have a problem with C. rex in particular. I had two plants, one died. The other one looks good from the leaves and bulbs, but has a root problem. It never flowered.
So I am here to learn, I am not the person to give good advice.
In my observation C. rex suffers quickly from the lack of light in wintertime, and also from the rapidly increasing light in early spring. It also dislikes the warm days of summer. It seems that unlike other hardy Cattleyas C. rex does best under balanced constant conditions.
In a private discussion Manolo Arias told me that the common C. rex in cultivation comes from the northern range of its natural distribution. There exists also a population in the south, which grows more exposed, with more reddish flowers.
I know that some people here raise their orchid seedlings under completely artificial and very controlled conditions in their basement.
So eventually the key to success is to avoid climatic stress by maintaining even conditions as much as possible.

I want to thank CambriaWhat for this ongoing very informative thread.

I also want to give thanks to Nexogen for the link to the scientific study. While a deficiency of (micro)nutrients is a long-term matter in adult plants, it can become important much faster for rapid growing seedlings. It also pointed me to the aspect of a sulphur-deficiency with my fertilizing schedule.

[My Green Pets]

It's been a couple of weeks since these babies have been moved into a sunnier spot and given less water. By less water, I specifically mean they have been allowed to dry out, almost completely, between waterings. That sphagnum holds moisture for a long time, up to a week! I also have not fertilized in three weeks. I'm starting to think nutrient burn and overwatering were stunting them.

Here are some photos taken today. I think they are looking better. New leaf growth here and there with hints of new roots as well. That's what I want to see.

In spite of my experiments, these little guys are tough, tough tough. Some of the tiniest seedlings, however, have not survived.

Photos:

A. Potted seedling 2. New growth can be seen at center of plant.


B. Another view of potted seedling 2.


C. Potted seedling 1. New leaf is slowly developing. No additional leaf or root growth noted.


D. Purple root tip indicating active root growth.


E. New leaf emerging.


F. New leaves nearly formed at right, purple tinge indicating plenty of light.


G. Purple tinge to leaves.


H. The community basket.

Until next update, I will maintain the plants' current lighting conditions, continue to allow thorough drying between waterings, and avoid fertilizing. Hopefully they will keep giving me good signs of growth.

[Cntry]

They are looking very healthy today. Great job

[ldaniels]

They look fabulous! THANK YOU for the update and pictures!!

[My Green Pets]

Long time no update. The seedlings are growing right along, and I'll post a more general update soon, but first...

The largest one was just starting to push out its newest leaf when this happened: some kind of browning just where the leaf emerges from its protective sheath.

Really disappointed to see this and I have a feeling its my fault. I set it in the afternoon sun and sprayed them with water...could that have been the cause?

Hopefully it will be minor when the whole leaf grows out *smacks head*

[No-Pro-mwa]

I'll bet it will go right along and that will not hurt it. Way to go.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Keep a close eye on it, but that looks like a minor mechanical injury.

I suggest that you keep water off the leaves until you are sure that brown is not spreading in any way. (Be careful, but don't be worried)

[My Green Pets]

I want to emphasize that the seedlings are much more resilient than I ever imagined. Here is the latest example.

In July, some creature picked through the sphagnum moss basket and scattered several seedlings around outside. I gathered them all up and planted them in plastic pots, again in sphagnum. Days later, I went outside one morning to once again find them all picked through and some lying around the pots and in the grass.

Thus I decided it was time for them to come back inside for the year.

I decided to experiment with a few seedlings that had been pulled out of their pots. I have quite a few pieces of hickory bark lying around, so I stuck these little seedlings to the bark with craft glue (Tacky Glue). They get sprayed a couple of times a day with water which sometimes includes a dilute amount of fertilizer. Here they are after about a month:









Let me reiterate that these are not in a greenhouse environment. They are in a sunroom in an east window at about 50% humidity. They are growing roots and new leaves. They are surviving! And once the trees outside shed their leaves for the winter, the sunroom will gain several more hours of morning light.

One note about the Tacky Glue - I was worried its chemical composition might be harmful to the plant. Well, one seedling has grown a fat root that pushed right through the glue, so what does that tell you?

These babies do not need an incubator or greenhouse conditions to grow. They are tough as nails provided they receive adequate light, moisture, and air circulation!

Now a couple of photos of the others potted in sphagnum:







There are two more pots with plants in lava rock—will snap some photos of them later.

Growing seedlings is awesome!!

[No-Pro-mwa]

They look really cute on the bark and quit happy.

[Orchid Whisperer]

CambriaWhat, what kind of Phals are those? Just curious.