Orchid flasking medium 'home made'

[Dane]

Hi Everyone

I'm new to this forum, and have been experimenting with orchid seeds for about 3 years until finally early 2013 i had a high germination percentage. I'm only 18 years old, i've won gold and bronze medals and science expo's for growing orchids from seeds.

I've got Dendrochilums, cattleya's, cymbidiums and dendrobiums to germinate using one of my homemade mediums.

The medium i use is:

20 grams sugar
7 grams agar
12 grams vitamin B1 or Thaimine (12 x 100 mg tablets)
60 grams of banana pulp
30 mg coconut water
2 grams Activated charcoal
900 ml water
1.25 ml Kelp Extract fertilizer (as it has Auxins and Cytokinins- Root and growth promoters )

I have not tried paphs yet, but apparently they mustn't have any banana pulp as it deforms the growth?
I'm thinking about adding Calcium Nitrate granules to the medium to support strong growth.

I've got about 20 flasks under cool white lighting. I used to have a red light as it promotes root growth but have excluded it recently as i'm unsure if this is true?
My flasks are kept around 20-25 oC, slightly on the warm side.


Thanks

Dane from South Africa

[catttan]

Well done! And welcome from Malaysia.

[Ron-NY]

Congrats on your success, Dane! Welcome to the forum!
I have read that blue light from 430 to 450 nanometers favors root growth but these experiments were not done with flasks.

[Dane]

Congrats on your success, Dane! Welcome to the forum!
I have read that blue light from 430 to 450 nanometers favors root growth but these experiments were not done with flasks.

I've read that its good to have a variety of lights as each color light has it's own purpose

[SvenLittkowski]

Does white light not contain all spectral colors..?

Hey, congrats for your successes! I would love to see photos of your germinators and babies, is that possible?

And: did any of your orchids, by chance, produce seed pods already? I would love to do some seed swap, if you like. Gotta test my new glove box and my own germination mixture! :-D

[kennethcruz]

Hello Dane,

I have a question.im also trying to sow vanda seeds right now.Out of 9 jars, 8 got contaminated.

how do you do the sowing process? do you use a glovebox?
Do you need to replate your orchids after they germinate or you just keep them in the same container until they're ready for reflasking?
can you post some pictures please!!!

[raybark]

A quick math correction: 12 x 100 mg = 1.2g, not 12.

Concerning the light, most labs I've seen use standard fluorescent grow-lights, with no other supplementation.

[harrygreat]

is thiamine nessecery?

Hi Everyone

I'm new to this forum, and have been experimenting with orchid seeds for about 3 years until finally early 2013 i had a high germination percentage. I'm only 18 years old, i've won gold and bronze medals and science expo's for growing orchids from seeds.

I've got Dendrochilums, cattleya's, cymbidiums and dendrobiums to germinate using one of my homemade mediums.



is the thiamine nessecery
The medium i use is:

20 grams sugar
7 grams agar
12 grams vitamin B1 or Thaimine (12 x 100 mg tablets)
60 grams of banana pulp
30 mg coconut water
2 grams Activated charcoal
900 ml water
1.25 ml Kelp Extract fertilizer (as it has Auxins and Cytokinins- Root and growth promoters )

I have not tried paphs yet, but apparently they mustn't have any banana pulp as it deforms the growth?
I'm thinking about adding Calcium Nitrate granules to the medium to support strong growth.

I've got about 20 flasks under cool white lighting. I used to have a red light as it promotes root growth but have excluded it recently as i'm unsure if this is true?
My flasks are kept around 20-25 oC, slightly on the warm side.


Thanks

Dane from South Africa