The big day! After many months making seeds, and a year germinating in a jar, the first batch of phalaenopsis orchids have now been potted up. Here are two pictures showing the young plants enjoying their new digs (pun intended). They are in New Zealand long-fiber sphagnum moss. I added a bit of KLN rooting enhancer to help them along.

I hope that they all make it. We'll see.





What is pictured above is from one jar of 8, so there will be lots more seedlings in the weeks to come. I discarded a number of seedlings from this jar, because they had not matured enough to be viable. I'll let the next jar go at least another few weeks before I open it, so that the plants can get a bit bigger.

I am surprised that they were not more uniform in size. Some were still just protocorms, while others had leaves in the 3 cm range. I don't know if this is genetics, or environment. Probably both.

It will be very interesting in a few years when we have some flowers to compare. These seeds are all from a hybrid that was "self'd"; i.e. bred with itself. Not generally the best idea, but hey, I'm just getting started.

The Orchid Adolescents

Well I guess I can't call them "orchid babies" any more. Some have leaves around 3 cm long! I'm torn between opening a jar, or letting them continue to grow in their sterile environment. I think I'll open a jar in the next few weeks, and see how it goes. I have a total of 8 healthy jars, so I can afford to experiment a bit.



I previously posted a picture of my yellow oncidium. Here is a shot two weeks later. Most of the buds are ooen at this point.



Last but not least, here is a wine-colored paph. I love the green in the petals - must be a holdover from a Maudea parent.