Gramma,

Virtually all modern day orchids are initially sown and reach seedling stage
inside a flask. The best flasks are all glass. Orchids may spend 4 months
inside a mother flask, 6-12 months in an intermediate flask and then up to
another year in hobby/wholesale size flask. The process of raising orchids
in flask is quite boring, tedious and fraught with many disappointments.
Flaskers sometimes pull all their hair out or become raving mad after a
decade in this business... that is, if their lungs survive that long from
the chlorine gas and associated chemicals.

Here is a picture of a hobby flask of orchids.
http://personalpages.bellsouth.net/f...asks/flask.jpg

If you would like to know a little more about the mechanics of producing
flasks get Adobe Acrobat Reader and then click on:
http://phytotechlab.com/TABSTYLE/web...wing%20Kit.pdf

Mick Fournier
HBI, Producers of Fine Orchids in Flask
www.OrchidFlask.com

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"Gramma" wrote in message
...
Can someone please explain just what is meant by 'flask' Is this the same
as
buying other plants in tubes??

I'm slowly being sucked in by all this growing things and life will never
be
the same

Gramma