fms
2 posts
Oct 11, 2007
7:35 AM
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Please help me! Whats the trick to making mini callas look good. Mine come out translucent and spotty and just ugly.
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Liz
2 posts
Oct 12, 2007
6:59 AM
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I bury mine in a container of rice, with no pre-treatment, and they come out perfect, as long as they are fresh to begin with. Be sure to cover the container with plastic wrap and poke holes in it to allow the moisture to come out.
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infinitybouquets
1 post
Oct 17, 2007
6:53 PM
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Try adding a day or 2 to your run cycle. Adding more time during the first 10 segments helps. This slows down the freeze drying process while they are still frozen. I run 17-18 days and they look amazing. I tried a batch running 14 day cycles and they looked exactly how you described. The last comment helps too! Keeping them covered and in the very back helps. Poke holes in them!
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floralscent
9 posts
Aug 13, 2008
9:39 AM
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Hello everyone!
I received some white calla lillies this weekend to preserve. I pre-treated 1/2 of them with Quick Dry Polyset and didn't pre-treat the other 1/2 at all. I was thrilled to have enough space to get these flowers in the freze drier right away and to not have to put them in the holding freezer. I feel that has always helped me in the past with this particular flower.
I slit the flower in a few places near the stem/flower and cut an X in the bottom of the stem as well (stems are short). I supported the flower on the tray and put a bit of cotton in the inside of the flower.
I am at 0 degrees right now with my load. I peaked through the door and noticed my white calla lillies have white spots on them. The shape is great and parts of the flowers look great. Why did I get those spots on all of the flowers?
I just noticed this post today, from awhile ago. I certainly will follow these steps next time to see what happens. As for now...are there any suggestions for the flowers that are in process? Any painting tips, etc? If replacements are the only answer, does anyone have a good source?
This has been a great wedding season for me and I haven't had flower issues for a long time. This is really bothering me-
Thanks in advance for any tips, info, etc-
Kim
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Rich48
5 posts
Aug 18, 2008
8:24 AM
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All the people who attended the Floral Symposium in Las Vegas this year had the opportunity to see some amazing mini callas and orchids that we had produced using a new, super simple method. After 3 years of searching for a source for .5 millimeter silica gel beads we found them, and here is how we are using them. For mini callas we hydrate them well, cut the stem off at about 2 1/2 inches,
pre-treat them with Polyset at a 1-3 dilution factor, and
let it soak in and dry. We then poke holes up the back of the remaining stem. We place them in a plastic tray on a
1 inch bed of silica gel beads, nestle them in, and cover them with more beads. Freeze dry them on an extended 14 to
16 day run cycle, with most of the drying time below 30 degrees F. We just place the remaining stems on a tray and
dry them separatly.. The only thing we do to the stems is poke holes up the side of the stem.
We have been doing this process with all types of orchids, mini callas, and regular callas for over a year and it works great.
For white orchids, mini callas and regular callas we touch
them up very lightly with Design Master flat white, and then spray them lightly with the aerosol Plastic Dip white.
For colored mini callas we use the layering techniques that
Preston presented at the Symposium. Gets kind of complicated but turns out nice.
Rich
fleur-CHEM, Inc.
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floralscent
11 posts
Sep 22, 2008
3:15 PM
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Thanks Rich for the tips! As it turned out, my mini callas ended up turning out great after a little color enhancement. Maybe the spots I noticed on these flowers during the early part of the drying process were just different parts of the flower drying at different rates?
I will be receiving some orange mini callas this weekend. I certainly will be incorporating some of the great tips that have been given on this topic. Should poly-set be used or would it be better to use Spectra Set II on these orange minis?
As far as color enhancement, has anyone found a nice fall orange color enhancement that could be used on orange callas?
Thanks-
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