Introduction

[Greenthings]

Hi to all,

Though I still grow a few orchids, I dedicate most of my time to those little green things we commonly refer to as orchid seedlings.

For the past twenty years I have been propagating orchids in-viro on a daily basis in my hobby laboratory. I never get tired of watching the miracle of germination and the beauty of seeing seedlings growing in-vitro and in compots.

I have been to the jungles of Peru, and I have a throrough understanding of the Phragmipedium kovachii saga and the players in it, especially the Peruvian players.

Let me leave at this for now, the rest you will find out in the disussions I hope to participate in.

 

[kentuckiense]

Welcome! I certainly look forward to hearing your thoughts/oberservations on the kovachii saga.

 

[Heather]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Marco]

Welcome the the forum greenthings I look forward to your input on kovachii as well.

 

[NYEric]

Ah, the kovachii problem. Welcome.

 

[SlipperFan]

Welcome, Greenthings. Glad you are here.

 

[Jon in SW Ohio]

Welcome aboard!

The kovachii thing reminds me of the movie Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. I can't wait until the day judges are sick of looking at them and vendors can't sell them because everyone has them. That will be about the time I get one.

Jon
________
Glass bong

 

[Ron-NY]

welcome...I am off to Peru this week. I will be spending the week with friends and Alfredo Manrique exploring the high jungle at Oxapampa. I am sure he will come into play in the kovachii saga...looking forward to participating in this discussion.

 

[Park Bear]

Welcome aboard!!!

 

[Greenthings]

Thank you all for your warm welcome. Ron, I know you will enjoy your trip to Oxapampa. I have been to the same jungles very close to Oxapampa and it felt like I experienced a little bit of Heaven.

 

[PHRAG]

Welcome!

So, do you ever take requests for orchid crosses? Or do any lab work for other hobbyists?

 

[Greenthings]

Hello Phrag,

No, I am not doing any commercial propagation; though I am retired, there simply are not enough hours in a day to do all the things I would like to do.

My main interest is in propagating orchid species of many genera as a hobby and as a small contribution to orchid conservation/preservation. I also do some work in my lab with orchid mycorrhizas, extremely interesting, though I have not had sufficient time to attend to it for a little while.

I understand other growers' interest in hybrids, I appreciate some of the beauties that have been created. However, hybrids will be with us forever, I like to help the species survive in the habitats, where possible.

I hope, by distributing some of the species I propagate in vitro, that many will be in greenhouses around the world for those who come after us, when these no longer exist in nature. The latter may sound both optimistic and pessimistic at the same time, but it will become reality, if history has taught us anything.
I am happy to note that most of you who grow hybrids are also growing species. Very encouraging.

 

[L I Jane]

Welcome!!

 

[Rick]

Welcome Greenthings.

Several of us on this site grow orchids with a similar view of propogation and conservation. I use the Meyers Conservatory to flask seed for me.

How do you come up with seed to flask if you grow very few plants?

 

[Greenthings]

Thank you L I Jane and Rick.

Seeds are tough to get. There are some seed sources on the Internet, but how reliable are they? When I purchase seeds, I want to be certain that I get what I ordered, i.e. true species. I want the seeds to be fresh and I want to know the percentage of embryos.

I prefer to get seeds from friends with nurseries near orchhid habitats.The problem of course is that where collecting still goes on, these nurseries are not producing seeds.

If you do your own flasking, you can ask friends in orchids to produce seeds for you in return for a few flasks.