P. Olympic Halo ‘Sol’ x Sorcerer’s Stone ‘Yellow Desire’

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southernbelle

southernbelle

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Interesting plant. HUGE bud. We’ll see…. Last bloom was also a large bud and flower was unremarkable. If it’s the same this time it might be time to find this a new home. IMG_2692.jpeg. UPDATE: second photo shows bud now. It is now 7.5 cm x 5.5 cm! I tried to put up a ruler for perspective, but it doesn’t really show it. I hope this isn’t the biggest disappointment in history…Anticipation! IMG_2699.jpeg
 
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southernbelle said:
Hillsview. I got this and another Sorcerer’s Stone cross (Rod McLellan ‘Hillsview’ AM/AOS x Sorcerer’s Stone ‘Yellow Desire’) at the same time, back in 2018. I dumped the second one after it had a deformed lip on 2 consecutive blooms. View attachment 43550
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It is hard to get a first rate plant from most complex Paph crosses. I think that the parents are always polyploid and when you shuffle the genes again it is easy to get things not quite right. There is a technique for mericloning Phragmipediums (and I think Paphiopedilums) that Jerry/Jason told me about and the future may let us get first rate Paphs more easily. You and I can’t buy a flask of these crosses to grow out and wait to find the few very good ones.
 
terryros said:
.... You and I can’t buy a flask of these crosses to grow out and wait to find the few very good ones.
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<devils advocate> why not? its just a commitment ... certainly can't do a lot of flasks... but for complex... even an indoor grower could have a flat from a flask in the growing space... but likely not a flask of @tnry5 's kolorand x roth :)
 
Well, other than the deformed pouch, the color looks amazing! I like typical green complex with wide band of white on the dorsal but I like ones without it more. They seem harder to find.

By the way, on the shorter growth of the very first photo in your very first photo, do I see mealy bugs or is it fertilizer residue?
 
Happypaphy7 said:
Well, other than the deformed pouch, the color looks amazing! I like typical green complex with wide band of white on the dorsal but I like ones without it more. They seem harder to find.

By the way, on the shorter growth of the very first photo in your very first photo, do I see mealy bugs or is it fertilizer residue?
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It’s residue from a spritz of insecticide to the bud prophylactically for thrips. Thanks for the caution, though.
richgarrison said:
<devils advocate> why not? its just a commitment ... certainly can't do a lot of flasks... but for complex... even an indoor grower could have a flat from a flask in the growing space... but likely not a flask of @tnry5 's kolorand x roth :)
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Rich, maybe some indoor growers but not in my 9x12 room with only one 3’x 8’ area for Paphs. As small ones grow I have to be selective.
 
southernbelle said:
It’s residue from a spritz of insecticide to the bud prophylactically for thrips. Thanks for the caution, though.

Rich, maybe some indoor growers but not in my 9x12 room with only one 3’x 8’ area for Paphs. As small ones grow I have to be selective.
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Yup. Those are hard decisions that aren’t unique to indoor growers. I used to lust after the ‘growing real estate’ that orchid zone had thinking about my small 14x14 greenhouse.
 
southernbelle said:
Okay, are you ready…??? It started to open a couple of days ago and was cupped. But even so, NS 14.5cm dorsal spread 10cm. I should have photographed it then. Oh well. As of yesterday it seems to be so heavy it just hangs and cups more. Here it is. View attachment 43690View attachment 43691

Here is a link from a post of its previous bloom in 2020
https://www.slippertalk.com/threads...ol’-x-sorcerer’s-stone-‘yellow-desire’.50600/
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I think it may take many days to fully open and expand so I would be optimistic! I think two weeks is not unrealistic to see its full extent.
 
southernbelle said:
Okay, it’s fully open now. This from Thanksgiving it’s gotten paler, I’ll get one tomorrow View attachment 44015
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Is it still pretty cupped when you look from the side? I guess the pouch is a little deformed? Color is nice, maybe the petals could be wider? It is so difficult with these complex Paphs. The combination of these two hybrids is a mix of about 14 different Paph species. Stir all those genes around and out comes large variation in plants and flowers. Sorcerer's Stone is the more awarded and famous of the two hybrids. I think your flower is not as nice as either the awarded Sorcerer's Stone or Olympic Halo plants. But I think that would be true of the majority of the plants from this cross.
 
terryros said:
Is it still pretty cupped when you look from the side? I guess the pouch is a little deformed? Color is nice, maybe the petals could be wider? It is so difficult with these complex Paphs. The combination of these two hybrids is a mix of about 14 different Paph species. Stir all those genes around and out comes large variation in plants and flowers. Sorcerer's Stone is the more awarded and famous of the two hybrids. I think your flower is not as nice as either the awarded Sorcerer's Stone or Olympic Halo plants. But I think that would be true of the majority of the plants from this cross.
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I agree. At the meeting yesterday people were attracted because of the size, but they don’t know what the judges look for and at least here, in complex Paphs they tend to like pretty flat. I had a pretty Sorcerer's Stone that I killed when I started out so was hopeful, but am giving up hope. Here is the photo of the bloom today. Nicer soft color but not better form. This photo is second flower to bloom. This one has a nice pouch and is 11.5 cm NS with the cupping.IMG_2848.jpeg

This photo is first flower to bloom with distorted pouch. It’s a 12 cm NS heavily cupped. It would be huge if flat IMG_2847.jpeg
Here is photo of it from the side. From where the ovary meets the lower sepal, it projects 9cm forward to tip of petal.
IMG_2849.jpeg
 
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terryros said:
The standards have been taken very high for complex Paphs. If we want just a fine complex Paph or two we may need to get a divisions of a few top ones and quit chasing new crosses.
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Yep, I’ve been very fortunate with Hadley’s seedlings as he took great pains to control his pollination and used exceptional parents so had a high % of excellent offspring. This one was not his and although from an excellent breeder, and had exceptional promise because of its parents and size, just doesn’t cut it with form. Also, some color forms are less common than green-golds which I think are, by necessity, held to a higher standard. My optimistic spirit wants to give this one more bloom cycle, which is how I felt last bloom…. So because of space, I think I’ll give it to a friend who will appreciate its good qualities without looking at it too critically. If the next bloom flattens out and is really good, we’ll try to get it awarded for her. That enables me to follow it and would warm my heart if it improves and she could get an award.
 

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