Making Vented Orchid Flasks

[@LarsLarsen77]

I use these little stick on hepa filters meant for making mushroom jar lids. They filter way better than cotton balls.

[@plantpropagator]

Thanks for your comment - Cotton has been used for decades - it is a classical micro filter material and is very economical. I used it early in my career and still use it now. You need to be careful about stick on filters as they can be expensive, vent too much (leading to drying of the media), and may break down after a few uses in the autoclave. I have tried a number of different vented containers that are very expensive and elaborate and find that the containers that I show work the best and are economical. What is the name of your HEPA filters and where did you see the data that shows they work better than cotton balls? I am certainly interested in trying new things.....

[@HappyDayRoots]

That is what I was thinking

[@danieljheelan5256]

Thanks. I watch it before but was afraid to make 5 holes. I have only one 2mm hole and I just put a microfiber tape.

[@plantpropagator]

OK but those are the types of tapes that I do not trust. I do not know if the pores in the microfiber tape will allow entry of microbes (regardless of their specifications). And, when that tape is stretched or handled too much, the pores will get bigger. I KNOW that the cotton does not do this - it is a classic microbe barrier...

[@ernestluthringer1690]

I get my “orchid pots” from Amazon- translucent microwave deli container 12 or 16 ounce container and use a cheap little soldering iron to burn drainage and vent holes. Burn holes outside ! Works great.

[@plantpropagator]

That is a great idea for pots! I tried THREE different deli containers from Amazon for my flasks and found that the tops of all of them melted in the autoclave, even though the seller said that they were polypropylene and one even had "pp" stamped on the lid. I was fully refunded for those purchases but I just gave up on trying deli containers from Amazon for my flasks. I had not considered using a soldering iron to melt holes - I had my torch that I used to flame my orchid pruners. Again, thanks for your comment!

[@HappyDayRoots]

Couldn't you use micro pore tape patches?

[@plantpropagator]

Thanks for your comment - a lot of people have asked me that. I have found that micropore tape are not reliable or consistent, relative to pore size - this means that they can not work well in some cases and not allow enough ventilation. Or, they work too well and the medium dries out. I have tried a few different types and none have worked as well as the cotton plugs that I use. I know that this is old school but cotton is simple, cheap and works really well for me. I usually embrace new technology and try things out but, in this case, it did not work for me.

[@HappyDayRoots]

Could you use self healing injection port to put the seeds in

[@plantpropagator]

I guess that you could use them - I do all of my orchid work in a hood so opening the flasks is not an issue. And, when I add seed to my flasks, I add them in water or medium and I like to remove the excess medium so that the seeds are not under solution. Finally, I make all of my mother flasks using Petri dishes so that I have a very large surface area for the seeds to germinate. The deli containers and large bottles are only for the seedling replate when the plants need good head space to grow. Thanks for your comment - I hope that I was able to answer your question.

[@kiyuemadkick]

I ordered a crop-a-dile Bigbite to hole punch. I don't want to deal with fumes. I believe I have everything I need now except medium. Im thinking about an air purifier for the room Im using. I have some questions.

[@plantpropagator]

You know how to contact me via e-mail... I'm happy to help.

[@jimbarczynski5331]

what is the brown color on the bottom of the flasks? How to start Phalaenopsis Orchid seeds in the flasks? I have a few orchid seed pods which are growing on the flowers. What can I use to start seeds indoors? They say that Orchid pods contain many seeds. I am new in this please can you help me?

[@plantpropagator]

The brown color on the bottom of the flask is the charcoal-containing medium. To start, you can watch some of my videos on seed flasking - I do have a lot of them as flasking is a focus of my channel. Yes, orchid seed capsules can contain between 100,000 and 3 million seed and they take 3-12 months to mature - Phal seed capsules can mature in 4-6 months. Flasking can be done at home but requires some effort to learn how to do it. For a simpler approach, some people spread their seed on bark or another substrate to get very low seed germination, which works for them. If you want to try flasking, you can start with some of my videos. Good luck!!

[@Naturamorpho]

Do you show the autoclave you work with in any of the videos? These large pots are really helpful inducing fast growth, but it won't fit inside a common pressure pan, with the lid on and medium inside! Not even in the smallest of the autoclaves (at least no many of them!) So I really think this method of stacking and autoclaving the pots separately from the medium is really interesting! Not very suitable for my small glovebox techniques, unfortunately! Thank you for the video!

[@plantpropagator]

I have showed the autoclave - it is not a pressure cooker but a bench top autoclave from Market Forge (Sterilmatic). When I sterilize the deli containers, I do stack them but you need to be careful that they do not collapse after cooling - there is a special way that I figured out how to autoclave them without collapsing them. I put a pipet tip in the bottom on the side prior to stacking. The tip allows the stacked containers to vent when they cool and prevents collapse - I will make a video on that soon. It did take me a while to figure that out and it was frustrating for a while. I did have to figure a lot of things out on my own - no one really taught me how to do any of this - would love to learn from someone but.....

[@bigbluecrab]

Hello Dr... a few hundred questions. Is your lab air filtered? ..as I tried half and half vented lids with cotton and band aid and all the vented ones spoiled even though I autoclaved, and did the batch together so can only assume the vent was allowing entry. 2nd. I tried your 'Saran Wrap' edge wrap, and then thought to try 'Press N Seal'..the PressNSeal is tacky on the bottom edge and is very similar to parafilm. The only caveat is to fold the edge over before cutting ( or you'll never find the edge ), and the roll is squishy so a long razor knife or super sharp cutting tool as it's like a soft toilet paper type roll and gets sort of flat, but I really like it as it sticks to itself and the jar..#3 I had a batch of medium splatter up the sides even though I thought I prepared as usual? What may have caused that?....Many thanks as usual!

[@plantpropagator]

No - my lab air is not filtered in SW FL. In my old university lab, I have 5 good hoods in a small room and I leave them on 24/7, making the room very clean. For the lab in SW FL, it is dirty and contamination is much more common - my hood is junk and it cannot be left on. For the cotton, you need to make sure that the cotton is snug but not overly tight so that air cannot pass. Also, the part of the cotton that sticks out of the top of the flask needs to be spread out, like a mushroom and the tape can then be placed over that, but leaving the sides open for ventilation. I hope that is clear. I do not use band aid or vented tape because I think that the pores are too big - I just do not trust that, even though others say to use it. For the Saran Wrap, it may be hard to see what I am doing but I pull and wrap as I go. And, I go around at least 2 times. The seal is pretty good and the wrap, because of how it is made, is likely sterile. The splattering up the sides of media may indicate that the vacuum was released too rapidly on the pressure cooker/autoclave, making the medium boil. On my autoclave, there are 2 settings, solid/dry and liquid - the liquid has a slow pressure release while the dry has a fast pressure release. A fast pressure release with liquids will make the liquid boil over.

[@danieljheelan5256]

Your plants are HUGE. I use a 2mm hole and just a tape but my plants are not so big. I stopped using the cotton ball and aluminium foil with test tubes as I was getting too much contaminations. I will follow your recommandations and increase the hole size and add a cotton ball + tape. Bye. Daniel

[@plantpropagator]

Wow - it sounds like you were using the real old school approach. If you have a cotton ball covered by a piece of foil in a tube, that really takes me back. I use cotton balls that placed in a hole in the lid and then leave that cotton in place for the life of the flask. I hope that this difference is clear - good luck!!