Seedling care

[RoseSD]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

In general, seedlings straight out of flask should be cared for differently from mature plants of the same genus:

1. They need constant & high humidity:

I use a mix consisting of chopped spaghnum + seedling size (1/8"-1/4") bark & charcoal, in 4:2:1 ratio.

I then place the compots in flats with clear plastic domes.

2. They need significantly lower light than larger seedlings or mature plants.

For Paphs, if you grow adult plants at 1200-1500 footcandles, keep recently deflasked seedlings well below 1000.
After 6 months or so, they can graduate to 1000-1200.
After 12-18 months, they can handle 1200-1500.

3. They need higher temperatures than more mature plants. I keep my trays with domes on a heat mat for at least one year. Caution: On the heat mat, they dry out faster - even with the dome cover.

Why do seedlings need lower light than bigger ones? Don't they need it to grow?

---------- Post added at 12:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:32 PM ----------

Also, could someone give a general guideline as to when to start giving fertilizer to seedling size orchids?

[Fairorchids]

In nature seedlings typically germinate at the base of the mother plant, and thus start in deep shade.

In the lab flasks get enough light to get the seeds to germinate and grow some. However, that light level is significantly less than full daylight (let alone sunlight).

I fertilize seedlings from the beginning (as soon as they are out of the flask).

[RoseSD]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

In nature seedlings typically germinate at the base of the mother plant, and thus start in deep shade.

In the lab flasks get enough light to get the seeds to germinate and grow some. However, that light level is significantly less than full daylight (let alone sunlight).

I fertilize seedlings from the beginning (as soon as they are out of the flask).

Is a lower concentration of fertilizer for young seedlings necessary?

[Nicolasdperez]

I have been watering with probiotics and have the orchids in a plastic bag. Recently, I have lost two the crown rot despite not watering recently. Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening? Could it be due to poor air circulation?

[tmoney]

hey there, also new to seedling growing jbut thought i would share our limited experience. for our hybrid phal seedlings we use the bag method and the results are good so far. for our paph seedlings, we had a bag on compots in the first week like the others, but quickly the tiny paphs all started showing signs of rot. so we now only use keep the bags on phals. since we removed the cover from the paphs they have all started doing much better.

just throwing this out there. also, it is a good idea to remove the bag and let fresh air in. i do this each morning for an hour or so. good luck with the little ones!