artificial tree fern material
Oct 23, 2009 orchids
I had read a little online about some artificial tree fern material. I guess there has been some controversy over its use and even a little about selling it. Anyhow, I thought it would be fun to try this out. I have a couple orchids that I am growing on tree fern, but they have outgrown it and this might be a good alternative.
I placed an order with FirstRays for their version that they call EcoWeb. I purchased 2 slabs. From what I have seen online, this material is kind of like a thick scouring pad.
I figure I can cut this up into strips depending on the size of the orchids. It also looks like it would be easy just to add another piece when the orchid outgrows it. Once I get some orchids mounted on this, I will follow up with a review and some pictures.
Tags: orchids
Orchid Fasking
Oct 23, 2009 Orchid Propagation
Just an update on my orchid flasking (growing from seed) project.
I am still waiting on my seed sowing media. I ordered from Phytotechlab. I ordered some P723 (seed sowing media) and P785 (replate media). They seem to be a little slow (I think something is on back-order). Anyhow, I am not in any rush, so it is no big deal.
I have just about everything else ready, so when that comes in, I can get started.
Orchid Flasks From Meyers Conservatory
Oct 23, 2009 orchids
I found out that 2 of my flasks from the Meyers Conservatory are ready to be shipped. It turns out that these were ready quite quickly. I thought that it would be a few months before they were ready, but I got the email a couple days ago. The two flasks are:
1 flask TN6424 Brassavola cucullata ‘Sym’ -spontaneous
1 flask TN6377 Bulbophyllum plumatum ‘Halcyon’ x ‘Leddie’s
Troy sent some information including information on how to handle the new plants when they arrive. He has a really good technique there. In the past, I have not been so careful with potting up flasks or compots. I will try out his technique and see how it works out for me.
I am really anticipating the Brassavola cucullata. I already have one blooming size one (you can see it on my flickr page). It is a really nice plant with a fantastic fragrance (only at night). The Bulbophyllum will be nice too. It is my first Bulbophyllum, so it should be interesting to see how it like my growing conditions here.
Tags: brassavola, orchids
orchid seeds
Oct 15, 2009 Orchid Propagation
The orchid seeds that I purchased from Thailand (off of ebay) arrived today. Now, I am just waiting on the seed sowing media to arrive – should be next week some time.
Orchid Seeds
pre-flasking thoughts
Oct 13, 2009 Orchid Propagation
So, this is my first post about the flasking process. There is a lot of information about flasking on the web. What I plan to do is post a few links to some information that I have found helpful and then go through my process as I learn.
There are many methods that I have seen to flask the seeds. I am sure there will be some trial and error, but I think it will be both fun and rewarding. What I plan to use for the sterilization process as of now, is to use a combination of either chlorox or alcohol (for the equipment) and Peroxide (for the seeds). I will see how that works out.
I have some seeds, some jars (ball 1/2 pint wide mouth) and a pressure cooker. I plan on breaking up the flasking in to groups of either 2 or 3 varieties at a time. For the first group, I will start out with 2 jars each to test my process. I am still waiting on my sowing medium, so I really can’t get started yet. I think the 1/2 pint jars will be too short for the replates, so I will probably get some 1 pint jars for that (but that will be a few months away anyhow).
After writing that, I realize that I probably need a glossary of terms or something since there were some new words in there if you have never done any flasking or never heard anything about growing orchid from seeds. I will work on that later.
