Growing your babies
Keep your trays out of direct sunlight! Moderate light intensity is needed to encourage good growth. The same lighting conditions you used when growing the flasked seedlings is perfect. Watering is the hardest part of growing seedlings. Too wet, they will die. Too dry, they will die. NEVER allow the tray to dry out! You also do not keep them sopping wet either because your little plants will develop rot and die. There are no set rules, because each individual setup is different. Humidity needs to be 100% for the first week, and then adjusted to 60% to 70% thereafter. You can control the humidity by placing a plastic dome over the seed tray. Adjust the humidity by lifting the dome as needed. Feed the babies using a very dilute fertilizer ONLY after watering. To prevent burning, NEVER fertilize when the roots are dry. You will notice the larger plants will keep out-growing the smaller ones, so you may want to concentrate on the care of only the largest seedlings. Pick out and discard the weaker smaller ones.
Community Pots Once the seedlings reach about 15cm, they can be potted into community pots. Continue to grow your seedlings the same as you did while they were in the trays and flasks. As the seedlings grow, gradually move them into the environment that will be their new home. Keep the pots out of direct sunlight at all times because it can take only a few minutes in the sun can cook the little seedlings. If you chose to use sphagnum moss, keep it moist not wet, and do not let it dry out around the roots. When the seedlings outgrow the community pots, they are ready to be placed in their own little pot. NEVER over-pot orchids (placing the plant in a pot which is larger than necessary)-- especially seedlings. Choose a pot size no larger than what will accommodate a year's growth. The time to the blooming stage is now much closer and your little seedlings should be looking like mature orchids.
If you have succeeded to raise your babies to this stage, CONGRATULATIONS! If not, well, you can always try again taking note of your errors to improve on your process. You may consider first trying to raise purchased pre-flasked or young seedlings before attempting to grow orchids from seed. Orchids are not your average plant so don't expect them to grow like an ordinary house plant.
 |
