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４.How to care the flasks

The temperature to germ and to grow young seedlings should be at 25 ℃ for the ideal condition. But it will be very difficult to keep the temperature whole day long even if you have the special institution. For the general house of yours, you try to keep the temperature at 一般２０～３０℃. Getting the natural sun light, you keep not to get the light directly with some shade or a curtain. It is very difficult to keep the temperature in the room when you use sun light. When you use artificial light, １０００～１５００lx, it will be easier to keep the better temperature. Some one use the dark condition for germination, i is not necessarily. Generally, you keep the light to be on fro 14 ~ 16 hrs a day.

We can not say when they will germinate in detail, it would be dependent on the hybrids. In case of the faster, the white protocomes will be seen in two weeks latter. But in some case, we might found the protocomes one or two ... after half or 1 year latter. Never give up for one year at lest. If the flask was contaminated by bacteria and/or fungi, you would be able to see the contamination easily in a few days or after 2 weeks at least. In case of contamination but slightly, you can take some seeds by pipette and sterilize again for making new flask. Sometimes, you will be able to save some. In some case, too many germination will be observed. In this case, you split them for some new flasks of the same medium after the color of protocomes will be changed in green. When the Natural spread of leaves of the seedlings would be about 1 cm, you trans-plate them to a different nutrient medium agar. In this time, the roots will be expanded to 5 ~ 10 mm also. Usually, it takes about 3 ~ 6 months after the germination.

５．Translating to nutrient medium

１）Preparing　　

The nutrient Medium （Table C）、sterile spoon、（sterile dish）

２）How to trans-plate

（１）Burn well around the opening of flask ( the mother flask, we say ) and take the rubber cap with alminium foil.
（２）By the sterile spoon, take some of young plants from the mother flask and transfer to the new nutrient agar flask. In the flask, you put them in order considering about the final situation of plants in flask. In some case, you may take all of young plants into a sterile dish and trans-plate them in a nutrient flasks dependent on the size of plants. In many cases, this flask will be the final one. So you may put 10 ~ 15 plants in 300 ml of flask or 20 ~ 30 plants in 500 ml of flask. In case of too many seedlings, you need one or two more replating for final.

３）Culture condition

To grow the young plants, you keep at about 25 ℃. Basically, the condition should be the same as that for germination. But for growing the young plants, the environment of flasks must be more important than the components of medium. Some one might consider the difference of the nutrient but it is not so important. You have to consider the sun light and temperature. For making final flasks, you need the natural sun light in order to make the stronger plants. In night, it is not so good to get fogged inside. When the leaf spread would be about 4 ~ 5 cm, you may deflask. Usually, it will take about one or one and half year after germination.

６．Deflasking and how to grow the young plants

About deflasking, I have prepared the specific another site. So, please visit the site. Thank you.

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Easy Seedling Procedures using Paper Material

I'll introduce the report from Mr. Yukiyasu Hara who is a nice friend of mine and live in Gunma-Ken, Japan. He is well known person who grows miniature Cattleya groups and also well known as a good growers in Paphiopedilums. Further more, he grows Japanese orchids like Uchoran, Ponerorchis graminifolia. He was arguing that some of Japanese orchids grows in usual compost including pieces of corrugated cardboard. And in these days, he let us see that the seeds of Uchoran , Ponerorchis graminifolia, germinated, grew and flowered very well ( see bellow ). He used the same compost about a few cm in a growing box mentioned as above. In this time , he used pots on the market that is made from cellulose , paper material , as a hard board. The seeds of Uchoran germinated, grew and flowered very well ( see bellow ) too. Further more, to our surprise, he succeeded Paphiopedilum to be germinated ( See bellow ). He said that he did not research this procedure but enjoyed. But it is very interested in for us. If you tried in the similar procedure and experienced , please let me know.

　He sow Paph. Magic Lantern seeds that he hybridized by himself in the same compost, Kanumatsuchi and burnt Akatama, as one of Japanese orchids. As you can see, the seeds were germinated and grow well. The pots on the market is made from cellulose , paper material , as a hard board ( right ).

　He succeeded the germination, growing and flowering well already for Uchoran, Ponerorchis graminifolia, one of Japanese orchids.

The seeds of Uchoran germinated, grew and flowered very well. He used the same compost including pieces of corrugated cardboard about a few cm in a growing box. The results above is used pots on the market made from cellulose , paper material , as a hard board instead of pieces of corrugated cardboard.

By the way, he tried Cattleya seedling on the same compost but did not succeeded. In truth, he did not expect that Paphs seeds germinated. He also was surprised at the results.