Greetings all!

Three cheers for Paphanatics for making my day! 5 flasks arrived today and not even the American Idol final results show can keep me from having fun potting them out.

The only downside was that these guys came in flask! They shipped perfectly, but frankly I am a terrible flask breaker. I just can't do it. I started with one of the vini crosses and when the whole friggin flask caved in all over the seedlings, I decided to do the gentle rinse and drain with the Sioux x Carmen Coll. That worked ok, but got a few bruises- so did one last break with the Brachy cross and sure enough I shattered glass all over the damn place.

But Tom and plants made it- no injuries.

Here is a pic of the outcome of 5 flasks,

http://members.aol.com/elpaninaro/pn1.jpg

This is a lot of compots for 5 flasks- or by my standards anyway. This time around I am taking a new approach from the past. Simply put, I am doing 3 compots per flask instead of 2.

Curious to hear what other growers think about that.

For my part, I have become concerned about how quickly the compots dry out between waterings. With my current compots, I am having to water almost daily now.

I also get worried about overcrowding. We had the recompotting thread here a couple of weeks ago- and I believe in recompotting. Well, the flasks I potted out in early April are already ready to be thinned- and that is too soon.

So maybe fewer plants per pot will help. Or maybe I just need a more moisture-retaining mix? Time will tell, but I consider compot a vital stage so this is a major change for me.


On to more exciting news. Apologies in advance for being a promoter for Orchid Inn, but right now I am growing out two of the most amazing crosses I have ever seen.

These came from flasks like movie stars waking up in morning scenes in full hair and makeup. And they have grown at a jawdropping rate.

These plants started out about average size-wise from flask. But as you can see below, many of them after just 8 weeks need their own pots.

First up, a new rothschildianum sibling cross- 'Perfect Circle' x 'Highlander'. Roth has come a long way in 20 years, but these are growing like mad. They are coming along faster than Chuck Acker's great cross did for me a couple of years ago, and they are even outgrowing my other current roth in compot- 'Gigantic' x 'New Dimension' which I had expected would be the faster of the two.

Here is a compot 8 weeks out of flask,

http://members.aol.com/elpaninaro/bigr.jpg

Next up is Sam's Paul Parks remake. This cross has already made great strides, and to see a remake grow so incredibly fast and well gives hope that Paul Parks has yet to see it's greatest days,

http://members.aol.com/elpaninaro/bigpp.jpg

Keep in mind- this is not me getting better with experience or whatever. I have a LOT of flasks in compot at this age right now, and these two crosses are growing like mad beyond anything I have ever had. Same mix, same pots, same lights.

Anyone thinking about getting a nice cory cross or roth sibling right now, if my experience is any measure to judge by- these are flasks to get your hands on!

Take care,

Tom.

Tom,
congrats on your new babes...I have more to say on this tomorrow but...


Does Sam Tsui have an up to date older than flask list somewhere? The old website makes me nuts and I have a flask list but would love to be on a currently available list if there is one. I emailed Sam about this but heard nothing back.


Thanks!

Hi Heather,

Might want to email him again. Sam is great about returning emails, but he also travels quite a bit. So he is not always home.

I get flask lists via email a couple of times a year. The website is not updated anymore since, per him, they sell out so fast on certain crosses that it got to be too much hassle to keep updating the site.

He has older plants too, but the show season pretty well cleans him out. Late summer is a good time to call, give him a budget, and ask him to send you a selection of larger seedlings if flasks are not what you want.

thanks for the progressive photos, Sorry, I don't have a lot of experience with flasks and compots to be able to help you out. But seeing all of your wonderful plants I might have to try my hand a a few flasks.

Tom,

I find that wrapping the flask in newspaper or a towel, then laying it on its side and striking it with a metal rod near the base works better than with a hammer. Also, striking at the base causes most of the smaller glass pieces to fall into the agar medium, rather than on top of the plants. Of course, glass shatters and it's messy, but i found that it's less of a mess and less damaging to the plants than with a hammer.
Lien

Tom,

I find that wrapping the flask in newspaper or a towel, then laying it on its side and striking it with a metal rod near the base works better than with a hammer. Also, striking at the base causes most of the smaller glass pieces to fall into the agar medium, rather than on top of the plants. Of course, glass shatters and it's messy, but i found that it's less of a mess and less damaging to the plants than with a hammer.
Lien

I do something similar with a paper grocery bag. But I use a hammer. If you give it a sharp rap right where the base of the flask meets the side, they usually break satisfactorily. Don't pound it like you were driving a nail, rap it like you are knocking hard on a door.

I've heard that some people use a 'drift', which is a metal rod or piece of pipe. Put the pipe in the flask, whack the pipe with a hammer, and the bottom falls out. Not tried it.

I find breaking out flasks to be therapeutic. Very satisfying to break things on occasion. The plastic flasks just aren't as much fun.

If you give it a sharp rap right where the base of the flask meets the side, they usually break satisfactorily

Yes, that's where i was talking about, but couldn't quite figure out how to describe it!

Lien

Hi Tom:
I would tape the flask all around the sides and then break the flask. I agree with you that the Paph rothschildianum flask grows very fast. I have Paph roth 'Highlander' x 'Gigantic' from Orchid Inn.

Paphman

I've found that scoring around the base either with a glass scoring tool or the edge of a file helps the bottom to pop out easier. I then carefully insert a rod through the plantlets to the bottom of the flask and rap the rod with a hammer. The bottom pops out and the plants and agar follow.

Hi all,

Thanks for the suggestions. These sound like good ideas and I now have no plans to tell how I really broke these lol! You would think me a complete idiot.

Paphman, thanks for the feedback on your roth sibling.

I see that your fast grower and my fast grower have the parent 'Highlander' in common.

In comparing sanderianums with others, it seems like the 'Henry' parent has been a common link in crosses that have grown well for others.

So on the roth, anyone else growing plants with 'Highlander' as a parent? How is the growth rate?

This is one hell of a good forum. If the owners/administrators see this post- any thoughts on how we could set up some sort of forum to post how certain sibling crosses of seedlings are growing for us all? Could be a good tool to see early on how certain parents might be doing in terms of giving fast growing plants.

I agree with Tom. The other roth cross that is growing quick is Paph roth 'Sam's Choice' x 'Eureka'. Also his Paph kolopakingii var topperi are very quick growers as well.

Paphman

My kolo is also a very fast grower, in fact I think mine is the fastest multifloral plant species in my collection. It is now in sheath and has been in sheath for months and it is taking so long!

The best way is to send them to a professional flask buster. I will take care of them and send you a nice new clean and clear pyrex flask in return. :evil: :poke:

Yeah, but no plants, right?

:wink:

No the plants will be thrown away into a southern atmoshpere compot. :poke: You will recieve a big fat plump flask of nada... :D