It's been a very long time I've been on here. In short, brown rot took over most of my collection as did neglect (aka life outside orchids). It was very discouraging and I wound up holding on to whomever survived. That said I knew one day I'd be back in the mix and I'm slowly but surely getting things figured out.
What brings me back are the pods I harvested back in 2016. I sent quite a few to Orchid Origins (now in Michigan) with mixed results. Most, okay all but two, failed. More than two germinated but ultimately only the two (well 3 but 2 are the same) made it all the way. They are intergeneric Zygo hybrids (is that redundant?).
Note: I am very very happy with Orchid Origins flasking services. I will most definitely use them again should I embark on more propagation adventures. I highly recommend them.
At the moment I can't post any pictures but I just wanted to get this thread started. At the end of 2017 I received 9 flasks, even split between the two crosses. He used the wide mouth jar flasks with screw tops so there's LOTS of room for growth. ALL the flasks looked great.
I had them probably a week, left them near an east facing window, before I unscrewed them and let the air in. I probably left them again for another week or two before I removed anybody. I deflasked three flasks - there was MOLD in some, one a lot more than the other two. The one with the mold I potted them up in compots. The other two I put in two separate trays. At that time all I had was coconut coir so that's what I used.
I'll finish today's post telling you that I left all the rest of the flasks as is, taking the tops completely off after a few more weeks, for at least a month probably more. ALL but one kept on keeping on. But that's not to say that that one didn't survive, oh no it's fine, there was just more die off and it dried out faster. Then I had trouble with another because from time to time I'd add water to the flasks and I kind of, ok I completely forgot about this one and it sat for over 24 hours in water. Needless to say it was said, but not everyone died. Several weeks ago I deflasked two-three more in compots and a tray. I can't wait to share photos because there are a lot - in my opinion - of lovely seedlings. I have 3 flasks left to deflask and it's been many months.
I'm not encouraging what I've done here, my process (accidental sort of) but it has turned into an exciting experiment for me to see just how they survived in those flasks and how they're doing now. Might I have had better plants had I deflasked right away, maybe I don't know because I procrastinate and neglect my plants. However of the ones I deflasked early, more than 50% survived. The moldy ones suffered the most losses but I'm feeling good about things now.
I known this is long but it's interesting. Thanks for reading! Have a good one.
Zygo Hybrid Breeding Success
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