I've had the flask for maybe 10 days, and I just noticed a small amt. of mold growing on one side of the agar. I will deflask tomorrow morning. I usually leave the agar on but I will be washing it off due to the mold. I figure I'll put everything in lukewarm water and get off as much as the agar as possible.

Do you think I should spray them with anything so soon as they will just be coming out of flask? I have physan and phyton 27 and hydrogen pyroxide. Don't know if I know how weak to dilute it for this purpose.

Any ideas on how to handle this situation?

I think you are on the right track. Remove the agar, and spray with phyton 27. 1 ml per liter.

On heavyly contaminated flasks, I soak the seedlings for about 2 or 3 minutes in daconil. Its systemic. Doesn't sound like your problem qulifies as a heavy contamination.

I always remove the agar. I find its not neccessary to use luke warm water. I remove as much as I can but leave the stuff that is stuck to the root hairs.

Good luck, what did you buy and from whom?

Kyle

Bob,

I have deflasked hundreds of flasks over the last 2 years. I have had a few with mold. If the mold is isolated in a small area; deflask and remove the area. Wash off all the plants in lukewarm water. I have found that the plants treated with physan actually brown off and take a longer time to take off. The ones not treated at all do fine.

I would only treat with physan if the mold was widespread. I would never use the peroxide on tiny seedlings!

Hope this helps.

Well, first thing this morning I broke open that flask and put everything in slightly warm water. Then I washed off each of the plant with running water. Next I potted them all up.

Turns out the seller had just as many seedlings in there as he stated. The problem was that many of them were under the agar. It I had deflasked upon arrival ten days ago, I'm sure none would have been lost. Least not at this stage. The facts are that about 6 of the seedlings were ruined due to them being buried. Being the hard head that I am, I still potted those 6 up in a separate compot. I truly believe none of them will make it.

I think Peter's post regarding the use of Physan to treat deflasked seedlings (especially Phrags.) is right on. We have lost some very nice seedlings after treating them with a dilute solution of Physan because of either mold in the flask or shipping damage. Be very careful using Physan - it is very phytotoxic to newly deflasked slipper orchid seedlings.

Best Regards,

Tom

What kind of seedling are they? I had flask with mold and rot. They were jumbled real bad. I had to deflasked the soup mixture of agar, broken leaves, and roots. After deflasking them the seedling developed watery area due to bruising. I had to amputate the rot and in many cases I had to remove the new leaves before the rot migrates to the crown of the seedling. I watered the sick seedlings early in the morning and used a fan to dry off the excess water and kept them in a partially opened ziploc bag. I have a fan on at night to prevent the leaves from getting condensation. It took a year before the seedlings recovered. I didn't use any fungicide or fertilizer since the seedlings are sick. Keep them warm and absolutely no water on the leaf axil and the crowns at night. Sometimes if the seedling develops crown rot, remove the rotted leaves and sprinkle it with cinamon. Hopefully the rot stops. don't throw the seedling out just because the new leaf suddenly drys up. It will sometimes develop a new leaf a few month later or produce a new growth.

Sphagnum moss, coconut husk and spongerock makes a good medium for the compots.

Paphman910

If the seedlings are small, and the mold is localized, you can save the flask without opening it.

You can burn away the mold with a magnifying glass & sunlight. This works most of the time.

If the seedlings are small, and the mold is localized, you can save the flask without opening it.

You can burn away the mold with a magnifying glass & sunlight. This works most of the time.

I am very interested in trying this method. As much as I don't want to get mold in a flask, I want to test this out.
Am I understanding correctly, you do this through the glass, without opening the flask?

Kyle

If the seedlings are small, and the mold is localized, you can save the flask without opening it.

You can burn away the mold with a magnifying glass & sunlight. This works most of the time.

That is absolutely ingenious:clap:

My experience with Physan is like Tom's. Don't use it on seedlings! I wish I'd known that before I used it on my kovachii seedlings, that also had some mold on the agar.

Yes, you can burn it away through the glass.

My dad used this to save numerous flasks. He had no pressure cooker, so he prepped flasks in the oven and sowed directly on the kitchen counter. We probably had contamination in 10-15%, but most could be salvaged with the magnifying glass.

Yes, you can burn it away through the glass.

My dad used this to save numerous flasks. He had no pressure cooker, so he prepped flasks in the oven and sowed directly on the kitchen counter. We probably had contamination in 10-15%, but most could be salvaged with the magnifying glass.

That is a very cool method! I will try it!

Ron Burch

Thanks, Kim!

Very ingenious!

Wonderful idea, Kim! BTW, I've tried Physan 20 and Phyton 27 on newly deflasked seedlings with poor results. I orignally blamed the bacterial infection or mold until I read the postings by Tom Kalina in this thread and another: http://www.slipperorchidforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=38822#post38822