LOVE, LOVE, LOVE him! E-mail is not the best way to get hold him, though. Give him a call at work at (514) 937-7840 ext 231. As he says on his website, please feel free to call him there. He's not shy and will let you know if he has to call you back.

Julie

Thanks Julie! That's very helpful. His name is Howard, correct? Julie, what have you purchased from him? I'm looking at his flasks and thinking about getting one. Any advice?

Yup, it's the one and only Howard G.

I've purchased Phal flasks from him in the past and they are amazing - very vigorous, tons of roots, etc. Our orchid society did an "Ottawa Orchid Society" challenge to see who could bloom a plant first. The first bloom opened a couple of weeks ago - just over a year after the plants came out of flask and the plant was easily 10 inches across with a foot-long spike. I'm sad to say that my plant has only just started spiking. I've also purchased some mini Cattleyas (blooming size) from him and again, great plants.

As for advice... his online lists are not always completely up-to-date. Ask him for his recommendations based on the kind of look you like and he won't steer you wrong. He's also a lot of fun and just a little bit outrageous, so don't take anything he says the wrong way. And finally, he carries MSU fertilizer. It's the best fertilizer I've ever used and strongly recommend it.

Julie

You can't go wrong buying from Bedford orchids. I just finished potting out 8 flasks and the seedlings were in excellent condition. He is a busy man and is sometimes slow to answer email and he might not ship for 3 or 4 weeks, but I've purchased flasks from him for several years without any problems. Also, as indicated above, ask for a current flask list. The things on his website are frequently sold out.

Mike

Julie - thanks again for the wonderful input.

Mike - did you call him as well or did you email him? 8 flasks?? Wow! Phals? How many seedlings did you get from each flask? Are you in Canada like Julie? Are you giving the newly potted seedlings special care (more humidity)?

I can tell you that in the flasks I've purchased from him, there's usually been at least 20-25 plants in each flask. As for humidity, I usually kept mine other a plastic dome which I would start rising at the end of the first month so that more air gets in, lowering the humidity. By month 3, they're in with the rest of my collection at approx. 50% humidity. The lady who was first in getting her Challenge plant to bloom kept it under the plastic dome for almost a year, until the spike got too long, and misted every couple of days. I'm planning to try higher humidity with some of the plants I unflasked last month to test the effect.

Julie

phalgirl,

Call Howard_G montreal right after lunch. Lawyers are more vulnerable then! :-)

--Stitz--

phalgirl, I live in the Indianapolis area and have been purchasing flasks from Howard for more than 5 years. Of these 8 flasks, 1 had only 20, but most had about 25 and several had more than 30. They are all large plants and could have gone directly into 3 inch pots, but I put them into 5 inch community pots. I sprayed them with very dilute Physan, allowed them to dry and then put them into gallon size Ziploc bags. I will leave them in the sealed bags for about two weeks and then I will fold the edge of the bag down to form a tear drop like opening. After two weeks in the partially opened bag they are ready to come out into the real world. I have done this many, many times and the success rate is more than 99%, even with seedlings that are barely more than protocorms. Don't overdo it with the Physan. I use about 10 drops into a 12 oz spray bottle. Diluted hydrogen peroxide will work just as well. It is important to keep the bags out of direct light for this 4 week period. Also, do not soak the medium. The roots will do much better if they can breath a little. Do keep an eye out for any watery looking leaves and if you see this, spray with additional Physan. This is a very rare occurance if you let the seedlings dry before sealing them in the plastic bags.

Mike

Thanks again Julie and Mike!

Stitz - I will certainly keep that in mind when I call him!!

Orchids 527

I have the 3 flasks (81, 125,178)which I'm still acclimating. I'm going to use Howards deflasking instructions but some of the plants are so large that I hesitate to use the 4" pots he recommends, as community pots.
Are you using spag as he recommends? I notice you are using a variation of his 'baggie' technique. Unfortunately I have no acceess to physan here in Mexico.
I use Benomyl (sp) on my mature plants but I think it would be dicey on Howards babies.

georgetoo,

I agree, I wouldn't use 4 inch pots for compots. The plants are too large. Regarding the Physan, hydrogen peroxide will work just as well. The point is to have them fairly clean before going into the bags. If your humidity is high enough, you can skip the two weeks in the sealed bag and leave them open a little to the atmosphere. I would not use the benomyl as a preventative on these young seedlings.

Mike

Mike

What quanity of hydrogen peroxide (to your 12 oz bottle) would you recommend?

TIA ......george

Georgetoo,

If you start with the commercially available 3% solution, dilute it 3 oz to 12 oz and add a single drop of dishwashing soap to reduce surface tension. Use regular water to rinse the medium from the seedlings as you remove them from the flask and use the hydrogen peroxide solution as the final rinse. Let them dry before potting them into whatever medium you like to use. I like to use Promix HP for all of my phals, but almost anything will work. The plastic bags will help ease the transition from the flask. If you avoid overwatering the medium, most of the seedlings sould do very well.

Mike