DIY PLEIONE HYBRIDISING

[Pieter]

David

Good point. Some species have a verry specifc bulb shape and colour. In case of white forms it would be more difficult since these are pale green in colour but  I will ad it to the list. Thanks.
If you have pictures of specific bulbs (species and hubrids) let me know.

Greetings

[Slug Killer]

Pleione are growing fast now.

[Eric Locke]

These are looking good David .
Hope even allowing for loses you will have plenty of room to grow these on.

Eric

[Slug Killer]

Space is going to be a problem Will tackle that issue when and if I get there.

David

[Eric Locke]

David, this is a problem to us all I think.

Eric

[karel_t]

David,
Your seedlings will touch a lid soon. Will you transplant them again later in the year?
Karel.

[Slug Killer]

Yes as soon as they get to the top I will put in larger containers but with just small patch filters on as they are drying out too quickly in the combiness pots and I keep having to add more water under sterile conditions (back in the glovebox).

[karel_t]

Hi David,
What about your seedlings. Have you already replanted them?
Here are mine 2 months after replanting (4 months after sowing).
Karel.

[Slug Killer]

Not had the time to re flask them yet which needs doing ASAP as they are bending over in some of the pots now after touching the top

Yours are looking good, what Pleione are in the jar?

I'm also updating my website and going to include a section on growing from seed for anyone that's interested. I'll also point out mistakes I've made along the way

David

[Slug Killer]

Just transferred the whole contents of one flask in to another as it became to small, problem is this one is not much bigger!

Think I'll use a little less seed next time

David

[karel_t]

David,
your flasks are designed for microwave oven (100 °C). Do you sterile them in autoclave (pressure cooker) or in microwave oven?
K.

[Slug Killer]

Hi Karel

The flasks are sold as food containers and are made from polypropylene. If the container has the symbol PP (polypropylene) on the bottom then they will go far higher than 100 °C and are fully autoclavable.

I've never had one melt in a pressure cooker yet but the tamper proof or tamper evident pots are better than the one in the last photo as they are stronger and more rigid (see picture from before for examples).

Regards

David

[Slug Killer]

Karel

Just another thought. 100 °C in a microwave is more of an indication as to what pressure the flask can take before it blows it's top. In other words you can heat up to that temperature with the top on before it either blows the top of or deforms due to the pressure inside the flask, unlike when I autoclave where the tops are not fully shut until they are being removed from the autoclave.

David