Deflasking Paphiopedilum rothschildianum

[D's besseae]

Hello Lja,


Thanks for the help. I will try to give it a nice cold spot next to a window in my light garden. Do you let all your paphs get a bit dry before you water them again, or do you keep them "moist?" Moist is a confusing term to a new orchid grower because in a well drained medium it can be moist for several days defore it is dry. THanks again for the help.

[LJA]

Do you let all your paphs get a bit dry before you water them again

No, not at all. The majority of them don't need rest periods, and those are never allowed to dry completely off. In other words, they get watered; they dry to dampness over the next several days to 1 week, and then they get watered again. How long to wait between waterings will totally depend on the seasonal temperature and the potting media, and while the top of the media may look and feel dry, the root zone may still be very damp. Any time you're not sure, check by dipping a Q-tip a few inches down. (Some people use toothpicks for this, but I don't like running the risk of unnecessarily piercing any roots, over and over and over...)

[bench72]

Hi Everyone,

not good news I'm afraid, the plants esp the little ones have almost all died

a lot of them turned brown from the base so it must be too much water right? but since I deflasked these plants I only watered once. Although I did mist the top when it looks like it is drying out... should I not be doing that?

also, there is a musty smell coming from the bark - so again I guess too much water right?

so, with the remaining few I am wondering should I repot and mix perlite with the bark to make it less water retentive?

cheers (though not much of it this morning)
tim

[paphman910]

Hi Tim:

To bad your roth seedlings are not doing well. I live in Canada and have imported a number of Paph rothschildianum seedlings in flask. I deflask the seedlings and remove as much of the agar as possible and pot them in a 6" compot. The medium for the compot consist of medium coconut husk, sphagnum, and perlite and charcoal. Cocounut husk should first be soaked in water until they all sink to the bottom of the bucket. Then drain the water and soak the coconut in water with Epson salt (1 teaspoon per gallon). Drain and Rinse the coconut husk. Then soak in water again a couple of time. Next I would soak the coconut husk in calcium nitrate (1 teaspoon per gallon) for a couple of days. Then rince and soak in water for a few days until the water is almost colorless. This method was suggested by Antec Lab.

I would cover the newly compots in ziplock bags.....ziplock it on the sides a bit BUT keep it open always otherwise crown rot will start with too much moisture.. This will keep the humidity high as the new seedlings grew in a flask with high humidity to begin with. Your new seedling will need to be slowly acclimatize to your condition.

Check your water salt content and the pH is very important!

Your night temperature should be no less than 70 F and days can go up to 85 F with no problem. Make sure you have a fan to create a slight breeze beside the compot but do not point the fan on the compot.

Give the compot bright light suitable for Phalenopsis for the first year. Too much light will stunt the seedling roths.

Fertilize your roths seedling about 2 month later with a high nitrogen fertilizer such as 20-20-20 at half to quarter strength. Also supplement your roths with a solution of calcium nitrate (one teaspoon per gallon) and Epson salt(one teaspoon per gallon) once a month.

Your seedling can grow up to 12" leafspan in year and half if you are lucky.

All my seedling came out of flask and none of them died. I have deflasked over 10 Paph rothschildianum and they are doing great!

Paphman

[bench72]

Hi Paphman,

Thanks for the condolences... things are pretty bad, most of the plants have passed away, mainly due to crown rot.. two are left and fingers crossed... I think next time I try to deflask, I might do it with a Paph insigne.... and actually do a whole indoor mini-glasshouse set up... and follow ur advise... and will try again in spring...

Cheers
Tim

[LJA]

Paphman, welcome, and thanks for that great post / explanation!

Tim, really sorry about your seedlings. To be honest, it takes a few tries (at least, it did for me) before you get it right, so chalk one up to the learning curve.

[paphman910]

Hi Tim:

Forgot to mention that if you have high humidity you should not use any ziploc bags. When I mentioned in my post about the zipoc bag to be placed over the compot is incorrect. What I meant to say is the compot should be put into the ziplock bag with the lip of the bag above the compot so that excess moisture escapes and it will prevent condensation leading to crown rot.

Sorry to hear that you lost most of your Paph rothschildianum. I also had a look at the site where you posted the pictures of the seedlings. They looked like they where sitting in the flask for a long time. Did the leaves from the flask show any sign of yellowing leaves? If yes, then you should look for a new supplier. Another sign is to check to see if the roots in the flask are active (root tips are white). If the rots are not active it will take a long time for the plants to reestablish and grow again.

Hope you have a better luck next time.

Paphman