Yang Ji Hawk flask from orchid inn not growing

[Tom Reddick]

I suspect you will find adductum anitum to be a bit easier to handle than straight adductum. The next Coryo Chronicles update will be at the 6 month from flask point, early December, but I can tell you that in the last couple of weeks the new leaves on the adductum anitum have started to accelerate a bit in growth rate. The flask leaves are still very slowly yellowing in many cases, but overall these are looking very strong.

Since you and I last communicated, I took on another adductum flask- this one at a discount since it was starting to languish. I had them shipped in moist paper towels out of flask with agar removed. Still lost a few, but overall they are doing much better than the ones I deflasked after a few days of air exposure from a healthier flask.

Given those data points, I would just suggest that you have them shipped out of flask in moist paper towels and then just ensure they are kept on the wet side with good humidity as you have done with the hybrid that was being discussed here.

One last thought looking back at the several flasks of adductum and adductum anitum I have tackled in the last few months- they are very, very slow to get going as you know, but the greatest incidence of fatalities are in the first couple of weeks. That is why I am so keen on having them deflasked before mailing and potting them without the agar intact- those two details have made all the difference for me (and happily adductum anitum was forgiving of the latter for a time until I saw what was happening.)

 

[Tom Reddick]

Incidentally, going back to the original post- I am grateful to have seen this thread because one of the flasks I have right now that was not included in the Coryo Chronicles is OIQ0112 Paph. Yang-Ji Hawk 'Long Tails' x rothschildianum 'Red Horizon' - from Orchid Inn.

In flask these had grown like crazy- in some cases getting very tall like you see with some of the Parvis. But once deflasked they just kind of sat there for a while. Now- 4 months later- new thick leaves are finally starting to emerge on the larger plants. No fatalities- which is good- but these were very slow to get going.

 

[NYEric]

Thanks for the update. Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[gego]

In flask these had grown like crazy- in some cases getting very tall like you see with some of the Parvis. But once deflasked they just kind of sat there for a while. Now- 4 months later- new thick leaves are finally starting to emerge on the larger plants. No fatalities- which is good- but these were very slow to get going.[/QUOTE]

Hi Tom,

So they were growing in the flask. Whatever is inside the flask makes these seedlings grow, the agar and the humidity??? If we can provide what are in that agar, maybe they will grow faster?

 

[ehanes7612]

In flask these had grown like crazy- in some cases getting very tall like you see with some of the Parvis. But once deflasked they just kind of sat there for a while. Now- 4 months later- new thick leaves are finally starting to emerge on the larger plants. No fatalities- which is good- but these were very slow to get going.

Hi Tom,

So they were growing in the flask. Whatever is inside the flask makes these seedlings grow, the agar and the humidity??? If we can provide what are in that agar, maybe they will grow faster?

My guess is that whatever is in the agar would attract mold easier (as it does) and it would defeat the purpose. Besides, at some point the seedlings need to switch to full photosynthesis as their means of carbon sequestration, there are lots of enzymes and co-enzymes associated with reducing carbon that the plants need to produce, this is probably why the plants dont grow for awhile (some better than others)...they eventually need to enter their natural life cycle as plants in full force

 

[Tom Reddick]

I cannot explain the chemical intricacies of the flasking process, but from a vast experience I think Ed has it right when he says, "they eventually need to enter their natural life cycle as plants in full force".

The process of flasking seeds and growing their progeny to a sufficient size for deflasking is the one part of the orchid life cycle that is completely alien to nature. At all other times we strive to mimic their natural environment in the ways most practically available- but in the flask stage the goal is to get maximum germination to make the whole process worthwhile economically.

And once you get to real life- things vary quite a bit. Right now I have a dozen compots of recently deflasked bellatulum that are growing like weeds. They are barely a month out and already a few have 4 inch leaf spans. No joke.

And yet I also have 6 compots of adductum that came from two flasks which are very slowly acclimating- with a number of plants that died, and I consider myself very lucky to have about 35 viable plants from those 2 flasks.

The reasons for this are potentially varied, and while I feel I am well educated on how to best handle either species out of flask- I am hard pressed to give specific reasons why that is the case.

 

[gego]

I had a few flasks i ordered ang noticed one had overgrown seedlings but lower leaves started to turn yellow. I asked the guy what possibly is the cause and he said the flask is overdue for deflasking so it doesnt have the nutrients to sustain the plants. I was more concerned of rotting from contamination so I asked to hsve it deflasked and checked before shipping to me. They were not soft and rotting. So now I wondering about the nutrients in general that were there. I dont mean the same form in the agar.

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[ehanes7612]

They can't rot unless they are exposed to spores or bacteria.. and the turgor pressure from the enclosed humidity would keep them fairly hard until the leaves just died. Sort of like what occurred to plants during the Carboniferous period.