T
Terry@PineRidgeOrchids
Guest
I have a question / observation to put toward the Forum --- ever since the four hurricanes last year (the last of which was Hurricane Wilma on 10/24/2005 which produced wind gusts of 185 mph (83 meter/sec) on our property), I have notice a strange condition affecting my breeding program. On an average year, I might make 400 - 500 breeding attempts on my Paphs, usually resulting in sending over 100 - 150 mature pods to the labs. Our greenhouses were recovered with brand new polycarbonate sheets several months before the hurricane season and I converted all the greenhouses over to fan & cool pads instead of the original natural ventilation. I still use the rigid roof vents on our sawtooth design houses for the first three cooling stages. Further cooling involves the wet pads and high pressure fog. I replaced out 10 year old polycarbonate panels with new panels because of chemical deterioration due to a negligent farmer starting a forest fire on our property. The resulting 2 months of smoldering resulted in the polycarbonate turning quite yellow and extremely brittle (to the point that the greenhouse construction fell through the roof on 6 different occasions).
The changes in environmental conditions include more normal pre-burn light conditions and a more controllabletemperature during our long hot summers. Enclosing the side and end walls in polycarbonate also resulted in a stronger structure - the winds of Hurricane Wilma that caused over $100,000 in damage around our home resulted in one plant falling off the benches inside the greenhouse.
The question / observation --- I've made the normal quantity of Paph hybrids this last blooming season, but the success rate has fallen to possibly 20 or 25 pods actually germinating. This is not just a phenomenon affecting my greenhouse. I have spoken to several other Paph breeders in the Florida area that was affected by Wilma --- all of them, including the person that does a fair amount of our flasking, have reported the same thing --- lots of pods simply falling off orstaying on the plants the required amount of time, but totally empty. In my case, several of the grexes were exact replications of crosses I have done before with great germination rates - using the same plants. The only difference in the plant material is that the plants are older by one or two years, and if anything, even hardier and more robust. Chemical and fertilization histories are the same - no changes in media or anything else. RO water for irrigation w/ 6.5 - 8.5 ppm EC readings (before fertilizer injection. pH of 6.3 in the irrigation lines.
I am wondering if there could be some relationship between the extreme lows in barometric pressure and breeding potential of the Paphs - even after the storms have passed. Sounds improbable, but what other explanation is there???
Terry A. Glancy
Pine Ridge Orchids, Inc.
21100 SW 300 Street
Homestead, FL 33030
ph (305) 247-4839
(305) 247-3086
[email protected]
http://www.PineRidgeOrchids.com
The changes in environmental conditions include more normal pre-burn light conditions and a more controllabletemperature during our long hot summers. Enclosing the side and end walls in polycarbonate also resulted in a stronger structure - the winds of Hurricane Wilma that caused over $100,000 in damage around our home resulted in one plant falling off the benches inside the greenhouse.
The question / observation --- I've made the normal quantity of Paph hybrids this last blooming season, but the success rate has fallen to possibly 20 or 25 pods actually germinating. This is not just a phenomenon affecting my greenhouse. I have spoken to several other Paph breeders in the Florida area that was affected by Wilma --- all of them, including the person that does a fair amount of our flasking, have reported the same thing --- lots of pods simply falling off orstaying on the plants the required amount of time, but totally empty. In my case, several of the grexes were exact replications of crosses I have done before with great germination rates - using the same plants. The only difference in the plant material is that the plants are older by one or two years, and if anything, even hardier and more robust. Chemical and fertilization histories are the same - no changes in media or anything else. RO water for irrigation w/ 6.5 - 8.5 ppm EC readings (before fertilizer injection. pH of 6.3 in the irrigation lines.
I am wondering if there could be some relationship between the extreme lows in barometric pressure and breeding potential of the Paphs - even after the storms have passed. Sounds improbable, but what other explanation is there???
Terry A. Glancy
Pine Ridge Orchids, Inc.
21100 SW 300 Street
Homestead, FL 33030
ph (305) 247-4839
(305) 247-3086
[email protected]
http://www.PineRidgeOrchids.com