The future is here! The science fiction-like vision of white coated technicians working in space-aged laboratories endlessly cloning carnivorous plants is a reality. Given just a few live cells or seeds to work with, seemingly endless identical clones of the original plant can be reproduced.

Newly discovered carnivorous plants can now be in every collection
in just a few years, instead of decades and sterile flasks can be freely traded internationally without the need for quarantine inspection.

Having identified that the future propagation and trade of carnivorous plants is in flasks, sometime in the future, the collector or hobbyist may be faced with the problem of getting the plants out of the flask and into their collection.

To do this, we should first study the growing conditions inside the flask and then decide on a course of action to wean them into our own growing conditions.

The first problem is humidity. Whilst in the flask, the plants are accustomed to 100% humidity and therefore the leaf does not develop a complete protective layer of wax (cuticle) which normally reduces dehydration. During the weaning stage enough humidity must be provided to protect the plant but it must be less that 100% so that a wax layer will be produced within 2 or 3 weeks. In large commercial operations this is achieved by fogging or misting. The hobbyist can substitute this by placing the plants under a bench and covering with plastic. The plastic should be removed slowly over a 6 week period. A recent development is the application of an anti-transpirant, such as "Envy", which coats the plants with an artificial layer of wax while the plants produce their own. This
allows tolerance of lower levels, thereby reducing the risk of "damping off".

The next consideration is light. Plants grow in flasks at quite low levels, since they get considerable energy from sugars contained in the agar medium and therefore do not produce energy exclusively by photosynthesis. The de-flasked plants should be 90% shaded for the first 2 or 3 days, gradually allowing them to acclimatize to full light over a 6 week period. (Don't try to hurry this).

The third consideration is temperature. Most plants are grown in flasks at 22 degrees Celcius. When weaning, it is best to start the plant at a temperature as close to this as possible, gradually allowing bigger variations. The hobbyist can easily achieve this by using bottom heat. (Heat propagators are readily available in a variety of sizes).

The final task is to physically de-flask them. To do this, fill the flask with tepid boiled water, then tip the lot into a bowl containing some cooled boiled water. All the agar should be removed from the roots, taking care not to damage them. The media into which they should be planted is generally live sphagnum moss, although many growers have their "pet" mixes. We try to avoid using fungicide by making sure the humidity and air movement is correct, only using them when a fungal contaminant is found.

CEPHALOTUS FOLLICULARIS
We have had success in deflasking Cephalotus in a 50/50 mix of sphagnum peat moss and propagating sand.  We use a small amount of fungicide on the roots.  Do not cover them with anything i.e. plastic growing dome, as they need as much air movement as possible.  Ours are 6 foot under a ceiling fan to create air movement.  Water from below only.  Some look to be dying back when first deflasked, but then they establish new roots and new shoots will begin to appear.