Planting orchid seedlings from a bottle. Orchid seedlings

And to plant orchid seedlings in the warm season: in spring or summer, when the leaves of the seedlings are already touching the top of the container. In the meantime, there is still time to think about what to grow these seedlings in.
What substrate should I choose for my orchid seedlings? In my opinion, the substrate for orchid seedlings should be airy, not caked, retain moisture in a moderate amount, and form a warm and humid environment.

The composition of the substrate for orchids may include:
- small pieces of wood coal;
- chopped sphagnum moss;
- chopped cuckoo flax moss;
- coconut fiber (fiber taken from coconuts);
- coconut "chips" (diced coconut fiber);
- pine bark (1-2 cm in size);
- larch bark (1-2 cm);
- foam balls.

In hot tropical countries, epiphytic orchids are often planted in coal alone (especially dendrobiums and cattleyas). Baby orchids are most commonly found in coconut “chips” or coconut fiber substrates. Grown orchid seedlings different types placed in pots made from large pieces of bark.

The most common material for adult epiphytic plants is the bark of conifers. In this case, it is not preferable for orchid seedlings, since fresh bark cannot keep moisture for a long time, it dries out quickly.

Sphagnum moss is a wonderful material, but it quickly picks up a lot of water (it becomes wet, not wet), adheres closely to the roots and, in case of a decrease in temperature, becomes a "cold compress" for small and delicate roots of orchid seedlings. Small pieces of charcoal and foam balls can be added to sphagnum moss. If you have chosen moss, then you need to remember that it should be moist, but not wet.
Of course, you can mix the possible constituents of the orchid substrate "in a bunch", and then, through trial and error, decide what is best for the orchid seedlings.

And I choose "chips" for the seedlings! Coconut "chips" do not collect excess water, keep moisture for a long time, while maintaining free space for air to penetrate between the roots of orchid seedlings.
It is necessary to sterilize the prepared substrate, and immediately before planting the orchid seedlings, soak it well and warm it up with warm boiled water. The orchid substrate should be warm and kept in the greenhouse (in pots or in special seedling trays).

Exists method of planting orchids in two stages: first, all the seedlings (located, for example, in one flask) in the same form are planted in one container, and after a while the plants are planted, each one separately. But this method has its drawbacks.
First, orchid seedlings in a bottle develop unevenly, therefore, more developed specimens, as they grow, oppress those lagging behind in development.
Secondly, after the transplantation of all orchid seedlings into a common container, planting of plants follows very soon, which will be difficult, since the roots of the plants are already strongly intertwined, the leaves are spinning.
That's why it is preferable to plant each orchid seedling separately, which makes it possible to carefully monitor each orchid, the ability to take urgent measures if necessary (without disturbing other plants), as well as the ability to then not disturb the orchid seedling for a long time after transplantation.
The best option is the planting of orchid seedlings in seedling cassettes: in them, each plant is placed separately, but at the same time - as if together with others. In separate pots, holes should first be made on the sides.

So he came, the crucial moment of planting orchid seedlings.
If a container for seedlings was used plastic bottle, then it is better to cut it.
If the "house" for orchid seedlings was a tiny glass wide-mouthed vial, and the size of the seedlings is only 1-2 cm, then tweezers with cotton-wrapped clips can be useful to extract them.
If the container with the narrow-necked orchid seedlings enclosed in it is rather voluminous and glassy, ​​then you will have to break it. Scary, of course. The sides of the bottle with orchid seedlings gleam in the light of lamps ... Now all this beauty will have to be destroyed in order to bring out a bunch of new small orchids into the light of day.
So, we wrap a glass container with orchids in a newspaper, put it on its side. Now it is important to correctly measure with a hammer in order to break the bottle with one blow, without disturbing a single root leaf of orchid seedlings. With the right blow, the sides of the bottle break, and the bottom remains intact, along with the nutrient jelly (agar-agar) and plants.

The next important step is flushing orchid seedlings extracted from the container; for this you need to prepare a lot of warm boiled water... It would seem: the longer the seedling retains the nutrient medium in which the plant has developed, the better. However, even the smallest particles of nutritive jelly remaining on the leaves or roots of orchid seedlings cause black mold to form, which ultimately leads to rot.
Each orchid seedling removed from the container is thoroughly washed in warm water, and the water has to be changed several times. The water should always be clean and warm for each seedling.

All affected or questionable plant parts are removed... In this case, a small orchid seedling that has undergone surgery, as well as all the others, must be treated with some kind of fungicide / antiseptic.

If you are planting orchids in cassettes, then you need to sort the seedlings by size: put already well-developed plants in one cassette, and smaller orchids in the other. When you break the bottle, you can find, along with large orchid seedlings, very tiny, newly hatched "tails" seedlings with rudiments of leaves. Several such seedlings at once can be placed together, in one pot or one section of the cassette.

The basic rule when planting orchid seedlings isdo not place wet seedlings in the greenhouse, before that they must be dried... To do this, carefully blot each leaf and root of the seedling with specially prepared paper handkerchiefs, making sure that no drops of water remain between the leaves.

How to plant tiny orchid seedlings?
First of all, try not to bury them deeply. The entire plant must be completely on top, and only its roots are placed in the substrate.
If these are monopodial orchids that prefer to have open roots in the adult state, then when planting such seedlings, their roots are only slightly covered with a substrate. If it is phalaenopsis or cattleya, then the roots of these seedlings are placed inside the pot.
There is a recommendation that the orchid seedling should be placed strictly vertically when planting. But a tiny wanda or kagawara feels great being in a slightly tilted position.
Thus, all orchids are placed in their place.

To be continued.

All about orchids on the website

Glass flask with seedlings ready to plant

Novice Orchid growers are sometimes seriously afraid: how will the orchid from the flask behave, will the seedling be able to effectively adapt at home? Do not be afraid of the flask babies. With a healthy root system, they are quite viable. However, it is definitely worth getting to know the basic rules for handling flashers in the first minutes after removal from the vessel.

Most orchid growers practice the acquisition of plants in flask - plastic or glass flasks-containers, in which they sow seeds in greenhouses. Planting material under conditions of absolute sterility, they are sown in a special nutritious gel-like substance or moss, hermetically sealed and wait for the seedlings to appear. Through the transparent walls, they observe how the plants develop. When the seedlings reach a certain size and age, they are mailed to potential customers.

So, a plant in an unusual container, having traveled half a continent, arrived at the house. What to do next?

How to remove an orchid from a flask?

Having carefully examined its contents through the transparent wall of the vessel, one can count more than 20-25 plants. If there are no violations of the tightness, mold on the roots and the substrate, the actually used up nutrient medium, you can not rush to extract small seedlings. Let the plants take a little rest from the road, shakes, stand for several days in a bright and warm place. But the seedlings resting with their tops against the "ceiling" of the container, even in the absence of the above factors, must be removed from the transfer container and planted in separate pots.

The wide neck of the flask will allow you to remove the orchids with long tweezers and keep the vessel intact for reuse. If the neck of the flask is narrow, the contents will have to be removed by destroying the container.

Broken Flask seedlings

It's easy with a plastic vessel - just carefully cut off the bottom of it without touching the roots, and take out the seedlings. If there are a lot of plants in the flask, and they are tightly placed inside the vessel, it is better to cut the flask vertically as well - this way it will be easier to free the fragile seedlings from plastic.

It is more difficult with a glass container, it will have to be broken in such a way as not to cut hands and plants with fragments. The sides of the flasks, as a rule, are not thick, strong blow do not require. For safety reasons, the vessel is wrapped in a newspaper or an old piece of cloth, someone pastes it over with tape, then lightly hit it with a small hammer. Plants are carefully removed from the broken container.

A seedling taken from a flask: what to do with it next?

The extracted plants are washed in cooled, but still warm, boiled water.
It is very important to thoroughly wash the remnants of the gel-like environment in which the babies germinated. The health of the plant depends on this, because in the gel or moss used, bacteria develop that can cause illness in babies.

That is why orchids are thoroughly cleaned from the flask with a brush for painting or cosmetic. Once they are washed in clean water, the second in a weak, barely pink solution of potassium permanganate, in other words, in potassium permanganate.

In order to prevent the defeat of fungal infections, many orchievods immerse the flasks for 15-20 minutes in a solution of fluconazole 150, prepared at the rate of 1 capsule per 1 liter of water, or in a solution of phytosporin at a concentration of 10 drops in 1 liter of water.

After such an intensive "bathing", the babies are laid out on a moisture-absorbing fabric with the roots up and left to dry for 4-5 hours.

Drying the seedlings after washing from the gel medium

How to plant a baby orchid extracted from a flask?

For planting babies, small plastic cups are prepared in advance the size of their root system, make holes in them a sufficient number of holes for water to drain and air to penetrate to the roots. It is advisable to plant each seedling separately. If one specimen gets sick, the rest of the plants will survive.

Many Orchid growers consider fine-grained pine bark or pine bark with the addition of New Zealand or Chilean sphagnum moss in a ratio of 70% / 30% to be the optimal substrate for flashers. A little seramis is added to the mixture to preserve moisture, for the same purpose, the surface of the substrate is mulched with moss closer to the edges of the pot. Granular radiant pine bark, which is used both as the main substrate and as a component for self-composed mixtures, has proven itself very well in the cultivation of flask orchid.

The planted seedlings are placed in a large container - a cake box or a spacious plastic container. At the bottom, a layer of expanded clay is laid, which must be kept wet to create the necessary air humidity.

Attention! The container in which the pots with seedling orchids are placed is never covered from above!

Planting seedlings in coconut chips with agroperlite deep into glasses (mini-plate effect)

Caring for flask orchids after planting

The container with the babies is installed in a bright and warm place, illuminated with a lamp, observing the daylight hours.

The first watering is carried out no earlier than 4-5 days, but not water is poured into the substrate, but moisture is sprayed from a spray bottle closer to the edges of the cups. Determining the need for watering is easy with a graphite rod. If it darkens after immersion in the substrate, then it is too early to water.

Approximately by the end of the month, after transplanting orchids from flaska into separate pots, fertilizers and biostimulants are added to the irrigation water. Babies react especially well to Peters® ProfessionaPlantStarter 10 + 52 + 10 + m.e. and Radifarm of the Italian company Valagro, but they are bred in a dosage that is half that indicated by the manufacturer in the instructions.

It is not so difficult to grow an orchid from a flask, the main thing is to correctly adapt it in the first days after removing it from the vessel and transplanting it into independent pots, and also to provide it with subsequent care in accordance with completely simple rules.

Gardeners love beautiful plants... In order to keep a healthy plant in your greenhouse, you need to know the secrets of the content. The subtleties of breeding many types of flowers are different. Any blooming creature requires an individual approach. In this article, the editors have tried to set out many conditions in order to avoid mistakes when growing an unusual plant. It seems correct to understand for yourself which family your plant belongs to.

Growing orchid seedlings from a flask

Orchid seedlings in flasks (flask), usually hermetically sealed, are suitable for self-growing - this is an inexpensive, economical gift for tourists vacationing in the countries of Southeast Asia - Thailand, Vietnam.This option for purchasing exotic orchids allows you to immediately acquire a sufficient number of your favorite flowers. Everyone can try their hand at the role experienced florist growing a full-fledged plant from a tiny seedling. True, it should be remembered that an adult, flowering specimen from the contents of such a flask can be obtained no earlier than 2-6 years later, it all depends on the given species.

Not all orchids are suitable for growing in a glass flask. If seedlings survive in such sealed conditions in almost most orchid species, the most optimistic forecasts are for growing from seedlings to an adult plant in phalaenopsis, oncidiums, cattleyas, dendro-phalaenopsis, and vandas. Moreover, the hybrids of all these plants will be more resistant and capable of growing to the state of an orchid capable of annual flowering.

How to remove orchid seedlings from vials?

Orchids do not grow long in purchased miniature vessels, often brought from Asia, which simultaneously contain about a dozen seedlings of plants. They must be deflated - that is, removing the plant from the flask (bottle, flask), accustoming the seedlings to a "normal" life, planting it on a normal substrate.

This should be done in stages. Firstly, immediately after purchasing a bottle with seedlings, without depressurizing the vessel, it is placed in an environment familiar to orchids: humid, warm air, without drafts, wind and hypothermia. This is necessary to relieve stress after changing environmental conditions. Then, after a week or two, as soon as the growth of seedlings in the bottle has been outlined, they are carefully pulled out of it.

There are several ways in which miniature, juvenile orchids are removed from their first home. But the least traumatic for plants will not be removing them through a narrow neck, but the option in which the bulb is wrapped in several layers of newspaper or cloth and broken by a heavy object. At the same time, thin, delicate seedlings have much more chances to preserve cotyledons, real leaves and thin root rudiments than when trying to get them through the throat of the flask.

Another way is to wash out the seedlings by adding (warm) water to the inside of the flask. In addition, the plastic container can be cut open. The main thing with any method of "harvesting" orchids is to be extremely careful not to damage fragile seedlings. Before this complex procedure, the orchids prepare themselves to be outside the flask. They are kept dry for some time at low temperatures.

Seedlings removed from the flask - further action.

The first thing that is done after the seedlings are taken out of the flask is to free them from excess agar. A bunch of seedlings is washed under a running stream of water, then laid out on a paper towel folded in several layers to dry. Then the seedlings are thoroughly sprayed with a fungicide solution ("Fundazol", "Fitosporin") - half an hour after this procedure, they are ready for planting.

Considering that miniature seedlings in the flask sit on the prototype of the substrate (agar is most often used), their root hairs are very fragile and thin. It is almost impossible to preserve them without an airtight flask, so the first task in removing an orchid from a flask is to get its real roots to grow. This is achieved by placing young orchids in a greenhouse on a moist substrate, previously steamed and disinfected in this way sphagnum moss.

A transparent vessel covered with a cover glass can serve as a greenhouse. This design ideally supports the conditions of the rainforest with its high humidity and is suitable for growing orchid seedlings. Condensation from wet drops, which forms on the walls and cover glass, should be wiped off daily, and the greenhouse itself should be ventilated to prevent the start of the decay process.

The structure should not be accessible to direct sunlight, otherwise thin sprouts will quickly cook in their closed, moist system. Diffused light, good daily ventilation, moistening of the substrate from a spray bottle - these are the basics of keeping seedlings in a greenhouse.

It is necessary to remember only one thing, that it is not so easy to obtain a blooming "god" from the contents of this flask: it should take about four to six years, depending on the variety. And even then it is not a fact that the plant will give its flower charm, since not all orchids are suitable for growing in a flask. The most optimistic forecasts regarding the growth and prospects of flowering sprouts are given to the following varieties:

Phalaenopsis,

Oncidiums.

Most often, plants do not live long in tiny flask vessels. You will need to extract the orchid seedlings from the flask. After that, you will have to go through the procedure of gradual "accustoming" the plant to the ordinary life of seedlings, including planting the plant on a substrate.

To carry out the listed operations is required in stages. First, the purchased vessel should be placed in the correct place. We need humid warm air (also called tropical), without sharp drafts. After two weeks, the seedlings of the plants can be carefully removed.

How to remove a young orchid from a flask?

Method 1. The least traumatic way for a flower is to extract it through a narrow neck.

Method 2. Pulling out orchid seedlings by adding water to the inside of the flask. If you have a plastic vessel, then you can donate (i.e. cut) it for the sake of a beautiful flower. Be careful, orchid seedlings are incredibly delicate and fragile.

After removing the seedlings, you will have to deal with the release of excess agar, rinse a bunch of seedlings under a stream of warm water and put to dry on a paper towel. Do not forget to sprinkle the seedlings with the fungicide solution.

Attention!

In the flask, the seedlings are on a kind of prototype of the substrate, the root hairs of the plant are very, very fragile, you will have to build up the roots. How to do it? You need to place tiny orchids in a greenhouse on wet moss (i.e., again create conditions for the real tropics). Any transparent vessel covered with glass can become such a greenhouse. This design is excellent for tropical conditions.

Seedlings in a flask

Since childhood, I love plants very much. It is such a pleasure to grow a plant from a seed, a tiny cut, to rejoice at every new leaf and shoot! I didn't even think about growing orchids. For some reason, there is an opinion that not everyone can do this. And in our stores, orchids are brought on great holidays, and everyone goes to look at them like a museum, because of the price, too. And here I am going on vacation to the fabulous island of Bali! As a florist, I could not help but visit the Orchid Garden. As a result of this excursion, I became the owner of two orchid flasks at once: Cattleya and Phalaenopsis. Joy knew no bounds! I'm taking a piece of this exotic island home!

Upon arrival, the euphoria ended, and the question arose - what next to do with these little ones? I read, of course, before the trip about such a miracle - "Flask" is called, but the lack of experience and the fear of losing plants frightened me. They are so small, fragile and sit in a bottle, and now I’ll break the bottle and take them out! What if I can't cope !?

I put them on the table near the window and began to collect information on the cultivation of such seedlings. There is information, but it is so different that you have to make the choice yourself. It took two weeks to prepare the moral and necessary supplies for the transplant. Flasks were glass, with a capacity of 0.25 liters. Plants occupied the entire inner space of the bottle. Therefore, I decided not to wait 2-3 months, as it was written in the instructions and in the information found. This is how they were before breaking

The first to pull out the Cattleya. A week later, the Phalaenopsis were also planted.

We break the flask. To break the flask without damaging the plants, wrap the bottle in newspaper and hit the neck with a hammer, laying the bottle on its side. The neck then breaks off, and with it the large upper part, leaving the plants and gel, as if in a boat. My seedlings sat in a bottle on their side. And the bottle was stored horizontally. There were few small fragments, and when washing the gel, they did not damage the roots.

We launder. I washed thoroughly from the gel under warm running water, then diluted the fungicide and dipped the seedlings into it for 10 minutes, then dried it on a towel. The plants were of different sizes: large with 5 cm and many long roots, and some were in the "ball" stage, no roots or leaves were visible, just a bunch of light green.

Dry. We lay out the seedlings on a towel, still covered with a paper napkin.

Preparing the pots. While the seedlings are drying, you need to prepare the cups. Plain clear disposable cups are wonderful seedling pots! We take a soldering iron from my husband and make many, many holes along the entire surface of the cup. Cups will be needed 0.1 l and 0.2, depending on the root system. I planted the smallest plants in planting boxes for seedlings, but then transplanted them into "piles". In the planting boxes, it is not visible how the roots develop, how quickly the substrate dries, and even with a group planting, all plants can become infected if one of them is "sick" with some kind of rot.

Substrate. It must be prepared in advance, it includes pine bark, sphagnum moss, charcoal. The bark was collected by me in the fall from a felled pine tree. At home, she was simply stored on an unglazed balcony and lay there all winter. In May, when the flasks were already bought and brought home, I took out a bag with bark, washed pieces of bark under running water, then broke with a pruner into a small fraction of 0.5-1 cm, put it in a bowl and filled it with boiling water. After 30-40 minutes, the water was drained through a colander and put to dry. Moss, too, must be treated with boiling water and dried for a day or two. You cannot plant seedlings in wet bark and moss!

I bought charcoal in a paper bag for kebabs and also shredded it into small pieces.

Landing. Put large pieces of bark and charcoal into a glass at the bottom, then mix small pieces of bark with finely chopped moss. We carefully plant the plant so that the roots are located throughout the entire volume of the glass at the bottom, and the root collar above the substrate. Sprinkle the roots and put a little more moss on top. Of the two flasks, about 60 plants were planted in cups, plus there were very small ones, which were planted in "heaps".

We put the cups in the greenhouses.

Greenhouse. I bought two plastic bread bins with a transparent lid. And I also made 3 greenhouses from transparent plastic lids from the cake. We put cups in one half, close the other with a lid. In the hothouse bins, it was better to observe the plants, the humidity was better preserved, because the lid was tightly closed, but the low sides of the breadbox did not hold the cups and they scattered in different directions, with any manipulations. These are the greenhouses I had on 2 tables.

Lighting. Planting orchid seedlings from a flask should be done, if possible, in spring or summer, when it is warm in the apartment. But I had to do additional lighting, despite the end of May. Put desk lamp with a conventional 100W incandescent lamp and 2 more office-type lamps on a leg with a fluorescent lamp. Under the lamp, the temperature in the greenhouse was 28-30 degrees. In the evening after turning off the lamps 24. I bought an electric timer, which turned on and off the additional lighting at the time I needed. My artificial sun shone 16 hours a day. In March, I transferred them to a 12-hour day.

Humidity. The manufacturer stated in the instructions for planting orchids that it is necessary to keep them in the greenhouse for 4 months, until the plants get used to your air humidity. The humidity inside the greenhouse was about 60%. But after the first two weeks of such content, I noticed mold on the roots of the Cattleya and brown rot. I urgently washed it and sprinkled it with charcoal and began to open the greenhouses for 30 minutes a day, and completely removed the covers at night. For a month, the seedlings got used to the humidity of 30-40% in my house.

A month after planting, roots grew into the cups and began to assimilate the lower layers of the substrate.

And in July 3 "cat pots" were bought white... She put the cups in them, and the orchids spent the summer on the eastern windowsill.

Watering. I water it in the morning, immersion every 5-7 days. Until the evening, the leaves of the seedlings should dry out completely! I put the cups in a bowl, pour filtered warm water (40 degrees) into the watering can and water it on top, soaking the substrate and leaves. Pour until the water reaches almost to the edge of the glasses. The seedlings stand like this for about 20 minutes, then I put them on the grate, the excess water flows into the pan.

In the fall, I put the seedlings under the lamps again. In December 2009, the kids already look like "teenagers"

And they are now like that

Here is my experience of growing orchids from a flask. The main thing is to be patient and love them! Many say that orchids brought in this form from distant countries do not survive due to the inconsistency of conditions in their homeland and in our apartments. Well, yes, the conditions are different, but everything is in our hands! Having information about such a plant as an orchid, we can say that it is not so difficult to grow them at home, and a seedling can generally be "accustomed" to your air humidity and temperature, but lighting is a very important component of success, supplementary lighting is just a must !

And now, a year after buying these two bottles, I do not regret at all that I spent so much time and effort growing them, and now I have almost adult and healthy plants! Some will already bloom this year or next. I'll be waiting.

Many of us who have visited the countries of Southeast Asia, including Thailand, bring them with us in bottles. And it is really very difficult to resist buying this exotic souvenir, especially when you see an adult nearby flowering plant and imagine that the same miracle can grow in your apartment or in the garden.
If you have a bottle with an orchid seedling in your hands, and you do not know where to start, and how to approach this bottle, this is the article for you.

- do not touch, do not open the bottle for as long as possible. Place it in a bright, warm place, but not in direct sunlight, and check from time to time for mold inside. If there is no mold, then we gain patience and wait, let the children grow up as much as possible. Remember, the larger the seedling, the more chances of survival it has. Don't be intimidated by the length of the orchid's stay in the bottle. Believe me, she is comfortable there.
But now you noticed the first signs of mold inside the flask, which means it has come to remove the plants.
I remove the orchids with a hammer. Do not be alarmed, it is not scary, this method of rescue is recommended by the owners of orchid gardens and parks in Thailand and tested by me on my own experience.

Preparation.

You will need rubber gloves, a large basin, a hammer, scotch tape, clean paper towels, warm running water, pots (cups) for young animals.

Freedom or how to remove orchid seedlings correctly.

Please wear rubber gloves before you start. You will have to deal with broken glass. This, of course, is not 100% protection, but better than nothing.
So, wrap the bottle with tape so that the glass does not shatter on impact, but not too much. Do you want to get an orchid? With a sharp, not sweeping movement, hit the bottle with a hammer, while holding the bottle over the basin. Measure your strength, remember the fragile creatures inside. Remove the plants carefully and rinse under running water. Rinse ALL the gel off the roots and leaves. The nutrient medium in which the orchid seedlings grew, an ideal medium for the growth of fungi. Remaining gel on the roots can kill your plants when exposed to air. After showering, air dry on clean paper towels. Why must it be clean? Orchid seedlings have been developing all the time in the sterile conditions of the flask, microorganisms from the air are quite enough for them to adapt to new conditions, do not complicate their life, make the transition from one environment to another as smooth as possible. It is believed that after extraction and drying, they must be treated with a systemic fungicide (for example, foundationol). My personal experience says that if the orchid seedlings look healthy, then it is better to do with a milder remedy - do the treatment with phytosporin.

Adulthood.

Your crumbs are free. Congratulations! Now they need to be placed in pots / cups. Depending on what type of orchid you have in your hands, it will need different conditions content. In this part, I will share with you my positive experience of growing wand seedlings.
The most comfortable thing after a bottle is for Wanda children in small plastic cups that float in water with large glasses as in the photo below. Is a plant that is really sensitive to air humidity. If it is not possible to maintain high air humidity within your apartment, the glass-in-glass cultivation method can help you. Moreover, having covered a large glass with a glass of the same size, the structure easily turns into a greenhouse. I draw your attention to the fact that wanda grows WITHOUT SUBSTRATE. At all.

Orchid seedlings in the photo “float” in empty cups for more than 3 months, they are not going to die, on the contrary, they grow new leaves and roots. With this method of growing, it is convenient to water and feed them. You just need to get a glass with a plant, put it on a hard surface, pour just water or water with fertilizer into the glass and leave it for 15-20 minutes. Then pour the water out of the glass and DRY the plant. it required condition, since water gets to the growing point, and the growing point should not be wet for a long time. In order to dry the plant, you do not need to do anything special. It is enough to return the glass to its original position, but do not cover it with a glass on top, but leave it in the open air for a day. After drying, provided there is no moisture at the growth point, the glass can be returned to maintain high humidity. I sing / feed my children 2-3 times a week. This is usually enough for them.
Choose the habitat of the seedlings at your discretion, the main thing is that there is warmth and a lot of light. However, direct sunlight should be avoided. The delicate leaves of children are very easy to burn. Good luck with your experiments!