My first deflasking: B. nodosa

[Gravelsack]

So after seeing quite a bit of success with my various orchids happily spiking and growing, I decided to take it up a notch and try my hand at some seedlings.

To that end, I purchased an inexpensive flask of B. nodosa, watched a couple YouTube videos, bought some supplies, and deflasked them.

I bought enough little net pots for 30 plants but the flask had closer to 50, so I wound up having to just put some of the seedlings directly on the leca in between the pots, lol.

It's been 3 days, and I'm seeing signs of growth, and still have 100% survival rate. Not sure what I was expecting, but I'm sort of surprised that everything seems to be going so smoothly.

Some of the seedlings in the flask were a little worse for wear, with brown leaves, etc. But I just cut them off and went with it.

Any advice at this point would be quite welcome

[No-Pro-mwa]

Good luck. I can't really help as I have never done it before. I will say I would have just put those extras into pots with some of the others however. I know it seems most put them in what they call compots. I believe community pots. I hope they do well for you.

[wintergirl]

I don't have any advice, I've only taken care of seedlings...but they look great. It's wonderful that you have taken your hobby to the next level!

[dendro king]

It looks really good so far! After they've been under that fish tank (?) for a few weeks you can begin letting more air flow in until they are hard enough to be grown in open air. That's what I do with mine, no garantees

[Gravelsack]

Originally Posted by dendro king

It looks really good so far! After they've been under that fish tank (?) for a few weeks you can begin letting more air flow in until they are hard enough to be grown in open air. That's what I do with mine, no garantees

Thanks! The thing that they are under is a seedling starting tray from the local hydroponic shop. It's nice because it has adjustable vents on the dome, so I should be able to slowly acclimate them to life outside the flask.

I keep the humidity at 75% in the chamber that they will be living in, so I'm expecting a fairly easy transition (hopefully).

I thought about doing a compot, or several compots, instead of individual net pots, but I realized I didn't want to mess around with detangling roots when I eventually give them their own pots. All of the little plants that didn't get their own pots are basically in a compot anyway.

[My Green Pets]

Good luck! Looks like you're off to a good start. My Cattleya rex seedlings started off in LECA but new roots seemed to die when they touched it, I wondered if it wasn't because of some undesirable minerals in there. I moved some to lava rock, some to sphagnum, and even mounted a few, and they have all been fine since.

Mine were deflasked about a year ago. The major thing that I have learned about them (and of course B nodosa may be different) has been that they like constant, unchanging conditions. Find that sweet spot where the light, temps, humidity, water, and ferts are all balanced, and keep it there That said, they are amazingly resilient. Mine have been potted, repotted, moved from the cool basement to the hot humid outdoors for the summer, then back in to the windowsill for the winter. I have lost a few but they were teeny tiny ones.

I think you will be really impressed at how well they adjust. It's an awesome experience so far, and I can't imagine how proud I'll feel when they bloom!!

[Gravelsack]

That's interesting about the leca causing new roots to die back. I'll have to keep my eyes out for that. If need be I can always buy a few more net pots or make a proper compot.

I totally get what you're saying about stable conditions. I kept saltwater aquariums for many years and stable conditions are of paramount importance. I built my enclosure with that in mind. It's mostly automated, except for watering, because that would be stupid.

[Gravelsack]

Quick update:

The roots touching the leca did indeed start to turn brown and look unhealthy. I put down a layer of orchid bark, and within a few days many of these same roots appeared healthy with lots of new white puffy velamen. Some of the smaller plants didn't make it.

It would appear that there is something in the leca that is causing this reaction. I wonder if giving it a good rinse first would remedy the situation.

[My Green Pets]

Sorry to hear that.

As far as rinsing, I soaked mine in tap water for a couple of hours and rinsed it several times after that. When I watered, I used only distilled. Even so, there was something about it those baby roots didn't like.

I've read many times in the semi hydro forum about how roots will die back when put into LECA for the first time, but then new roots will grow in and adapt to it. But something didn't seem right when new, healthy green root tips died quickly after coming into contact with the medium.

[Tetouan]

Hi, beside leca problem seedlings seem to wet to me. Cattleya seedlings roots can easily rot that way constantly wet, they just need high ambient humidity, not wet feet. I would take off all leca, and let the bottom of the dome completely dry out between waterings.

And note the advantage of compot thats that the seedlings are almost the same way that they were in the flask just with a litle bit more space, seems that way they help each other to root and grow better than separated.

Keep as updated

---------- Post added at 07:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:45 AM ----------

If you can, spray them with 10 drops/lt of some Beneroc junior from bayer each weak until they re completely rooted.