Caring for Flasks

Baby plants love growing in flasks. Both mother flasks and replate flasks can be cared for with minimal effort.

  1. When keeping flasks under florescent lights, use a timer set between 12 & 14 hours of illumination. The bulbs should be 12 to 16 inches above the flasks.
  2. You may set the flasks on a windowsill where no direct sunlight shines on the flasks.
  3. Flasks may also be grown on a greenhouse bench that receives low light levels, like those suitable for phals. or paphs.
  4. Replated flasks may be grown in the flask for 10 to 15 months. It is time to deflask or replate when the seedlings have used up the nutrition in the media. Other signs that deflasking is necessary would be any sign of decline of the seedlings, any mold beginning to grow on the media, or when the seedlings get to darn big to fit the bottle.

    5.  

Tips About Deflasking

       

  1. Open bottle and discard top.
  2. Add a little lukewarm tap water and swish around to loosen the roots from the media.
  3. Prepare a bowl with a tablespoon of Super Thrive or rooting hormone (i.e. Dynagrow K-L-N), a tablespoon of Dynagrow 7-9-5, and a pint of water.
  4. Carefully extract seedlings from the bottle. Remove the media from the roots and put the plants in the bowl. Let the plants soak for 30 minutes to "harden off" the roots.
  5. Pick media of choice, and plant the seedlings
  6. Choices of possible seedling media are:

 

  1. Aussie Gold seedling mix. Use a plastic pot with styrofoam peanuts in the bottom of the pot.
  2. Sphagnum moss in clay pots, with styrofoam peanuts in the bottom of the pot.
  3. A mix of 60% fine fir bark, 20% sponge rock, 10% tree fern, and 10% fine charcoal.
  4. A mix of 70% medium grade tree fern and 30% perlite or sponge rock in clay pots.
  5. A mix of 60% medium Aliflor, 20% sponge rock, and 20% medium tree fern.

Keep seedlings moister with less light than adult plants.

The deflasking process is stressful on young plants. In this process, the chance of a plant dying is more likely than at any other time in a plant’s life cycle. However, do not be discouraged. The strongest seedlings will survive and learn to thrive in an open environment. In the flask, they had a constant state of perfect nutrition. Now they must be watered and lightly fertilized. Once they can adjust to their new environment, they will resume good vigor.

Happy growing.

Keith Emig

Winter Haven Orchid Nursery

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